Diane Yendol-Hoppey

(E)pistemological Awareness, Instantiation of Methods, and Uninformed Methodological Ambiguity in Qualitative Research Projects

This article explores epistemological awareness and instantiation of methods, as well as uninformed ambiguity, in qualitative methodological decision making and research reporting. The authors argue that efforts should be made to make the research process, epistemologies, values, methodological decision points, and argumentative logic open, accessible, and visible for audiences. To these ends, they discuss two ways of conceptualizing the role of epistemological awareness and instantiation of methods, including (a) a series of decision junctures and (b) a spatial conceptualization of epistemological decision making. Through an analysis of researchers’ decision junctures drawn from studies published in high-impact education journals in 2006, the authors illustrate current methodological awareness and instantiation of methods in the field of education research.

Data Literacy: Understanding Teachers' Data Use in a Context of Accountability and Response to Intervention.

Abstract Within the current high-stakes accountability context, student achievement data have become a central focus for instructional decisions given that teachers are held accountable for student performance. Furthermore, as response to intervention is implemented nationwide to identify and monitor students with disabilities, teachers will be required to use student data and become effective instructional decision makers who tailor instruction to meet the academic needs of all students. The aim of this study is to understand the qualitatively different ways that current practicing teachers are using data to inform instruction. Findings from teacher interviews are presented through the image of a ladder representing the stages that teachers experience as they engage in data usage to inform their instructional decision making. These findings have implications and possible applications for teacher educators and school-based practitioners alike in better supporting the professional development of preservice and in-service teachers for this data-driven context of schools.

Critical Concepts of Mentoring in an Urban Context

Given the increasing challenges faced by high-poverty urban schools, mentoring has become the panacea for policy makers interested in a quick-fix solution to the teacher quality dilemma. As a result, mentoring programs have experienced exponential growth with little empirical attention during the last decade. This 16-month qualitative investigation within a large city in the northeastern United States, sought to better understand the work of mentors in high-poverty urban schools. Analysis of the data collected led to the identification of three assertions that highlight the interplay that occurs in the urban teacher mentoring context between four critical concepts: novice teacher survival, novice teacher success, onus of responsibility, and a social justice stance. Implications are discussed related to the need for adequate resources, placement, and preparation of mentors in high-poverty schools. Additionally, the study also asserts the role that a passion for or a disposition toward social justice plays in the success and survival of both mentors and novice teachers in urban contexts.

Peer Coaching and Technology Integration: An Evaluation of the Microsoft Peer Coaching Program

This article focuses on an evaluation of the Microsoft Peer Coaching (MPC) program in Florida, USA. First, the design of the MPC materials was analyzed using characteristics of exemplary peer coaching and technology integration models. Second, facilitators (n = 14) and coaches (n = 46) who attended the MPC workshops in Florida were surveyed relative to their attitudes towards technology and perceptions of professional development. The coaches (peer mentors) and facilitators (district support personnel) consisted of teachers and district‐level supervisors from several Florida school districts. Third, the facilitators and coaches were interviewed about perceived benefits and limitations of the MPC program. Analysis of the data suggests that the program design is in close alignment with the literature on exemplary peer coaching. However, the process of peer coaching frequently takes precedence over technology integration. Most of the coaches and facilitators who attended the workshops were enthusiastic about the peer coaching concept and had positive attitudes about the integration of technology. However, the perpetual issues of adequate time and resources for the implementation of peer coaching and the integration of technology in K‐12 classrooms were recurring themes.

High-Quality Teaching Requires Collaboration: How Partnerships Can Create a True Continuum of Professional Learning for Educators

Abstract Producing high-quality teachers should be a shared goal and a shared endeavor -between those who prepare teachers in universities and those who support teachers’ learning in schools. Yet, teacher education has been portrayed more as a dichotomy than a continuum of lifelong learning, beginning with the preservice teacher and continuing throughout an inservice teachers career. When schools and universities work together, especially in professional development school -contexts, this goal can be actualized.

Reflection on their first five years of teaching: understanding staying and impact power

Teacher turnover in urban schools is occurring at a breakneck pace; thus, it is important for us to understand the characteristics of teachers who stay and succeed in these settings. In order to address this need, this study examines the preparation and induction experiences of teachers who completed a Transition to Teaching – a funded urban apprenticeship program. Three research questions guided the study: (1) How do participants describe the characteristics that influence their five-year retention? (2) How do participants describe their success as teachers? and (3) How do participants describe the professional support they received in their preparation program and during the subsequent four years after completing the program? Quantitative and qualitative data via interviews, focus group, and an examination of teachers’ district performance scores were utilized, as a means of understanding teachers’ staying and impact power. Staying power refers to the ability to endure or last within challenging contexts by possessing strength enough to persevere. Impact power refers to their ability to influence student learning. Four assertions describe the factors influencing developing teachers who stay and have impact as they teach in challenging urban schools, suggesting that these teachers possess a strong work ethic, seek specific resources to improve pedagogy, have the knowledge and skills necessary to differentiate instruction, and seek teacher leadership opportunities in their schools. This study suggests several implications for teacher educators, educational leaders, administrators, and researchers working with new teachers in urban schools or with populations that are predominantly children of color.

Preparing the Next Generation of Teacher Educators: The Role of Practitioner Inquiry

Although the NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel Report challenges those responsible for teacher preparation to design clinically rich programs, there is little discussion about preparing teacher educators to actualize these innovations. This study explored how practitioner inquiry could serve as a mechanism to facilitate the development of the next generation of teacher educators. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand what 16 doctoral student participants, from across two different university contexts, learned about becoming teacher educators as a result of engaging in practitioner inquiry. Findings suggest doctoral students developed an appreciation of inquiry as a tool for continuous instructional improvement and became active in program innovation. Doctoral students also broadened their understanding of educational research while uncovering tensions related to conducting research. These findings suggest inquiry as a relevant action for doctoral students to develop their abilities to innovate their own teaching, innovate programs, and conduct research at the institutions where they are completing their degree work as well as in their future work as teacher educators postgraduation. Findings also promote a discussion about current methods for teacher educator preparation, the future of the teacher educator role, and what constitutes research in teacher education.

Understanding Teacher Candidates' Engagement with Inquiry-Based Professional Development: A Continuum of Responses and Needs.

ABSTRACT Teacher educators recognize that teacher candidates must have authentic, scaffolded opportunities to transform knowledge into practice. This study explores teacher candidates’ engagement with teacher inquiry as a method for supporting professional development. Findings suggest teacher candidates differ tremendously in their responses to the inquiry process, creating a continuum of proficiency. This study extends the literature by providing concrete examples of the variation in readiness, sophistication, and quality in teacher candidates’ attempts to engage in teacher inquiry. Implications for teacher educators include the importance of providing differentiated support through structured, sequenced experiences that build an inquiry stance in teacher candidates.

Resisting ‘Crash Diet’ Staff Development

People often respond to the pressure of attending a high school reunion or their child’s wedding by going on a crash diet to get quick results. In response, friends may marvel about how good they look on the outside. But what folks don’t acknowledge is that, in the name of getting results, crash dieters have done some very unhealthy things to their bodies. Moreover, often these diets yield only short-term results. In a similar fashion, efforts to quickly respond to the pressures of high-stakes testing resulting from the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) often abandon much of what is known about job-embedded staff develby Nancy Fichtman Dana and Diane Yendol-Hoppey

Inquiry as a Tool for Professional Development School Improvement: Four Illustrations.

Abstract Given the increasing pressures of high-stakes accountability associated with state mandates and No Child Left Behind (U.S. Department of Education, 2002), linking teacher preparation within professional development schools to the goal of school improvement has become essential. This article illustrates the University of Floridas efforts to understand the ways that prospective teacher education can be linked to individual school improvement efforts. It explains how teacher educators and their school-based partners collaboratively craft their professional development school work with prospective and practicing teachers to target school improvement and teacher learning. Four models for engaging in inquiry-oriented school improvement are illustrated and the factors that underlie their design are outlined. The four models illustrate the ways that inquiry-oriented professional development school work contributes to individual school improvement efforts while cultivating in its participants an inquiry stance, a pedagogical content knowledge base, and a favorable disposition toward participating in school change.