Joan E. Talbert

Teacher Professionalism in Local School Contexts

This study analyzes teacher professionalism as an outcome of collegial interaction in local schools contexts. Evidence from a multiyear study in 16 diverse high schools supports the argument that high school departments, schools, and districts play a role in supporting or undermining teacher professionalism--in particular, a shared technical culture, strong service ethic, and professional commitment. The data suggest that professionalism evolves within active, learning communities of teachers. However, evidence of tension between a strong service ethic and the technical culture that evolves within some high school departments calls for further research on tensions between these two standards of professionalism in teaching.

Conceptions of evidence use in school districts: Mapping the terrain

Current policies place unprecedented demands on districts to use evidence to guide their educational improvement efforts. How districts respond is likely to be influenced by how individuals in the district conceptualize what it means to use evidence in their ongoing work. This study draws on sensemaking and institutional theory to investigate how individuals in one urban school district conceive of evidence‐based practice. The study develops grounded typologies that describe the ways that individuals conceptualize high‐quality evidence, appropriate evidence use, and high‐quality research. It then explains variation in conceptions, pointing to the ways organizational responsibilities and reform history shape how individuals come to understand evidence‐based practice. The article closes by suggesting implications for district response to federal policy demands for evidence‐based practice.

Professional Learning Communities at the Crossroads: How Systems Hinder or Engender Change

In this chapter, I present a sobering assessment of the challenges facing the PLC movement. We are beginning to see that enthusiastic efforts to “scale up” PLCs often backfire. Rather than assessing student performance and collaborating to improve teaching and learning, many teacher groups formed through mandates simply comply with the letter of the law and fail to realize improved student achievement. This is because school administrators and leaders of change either fail to understand the deep principles that anchor PLC work or try to create them in ways that alienate teachers. I conclude the chapter by suggesting six principles for changing a school system in ways that will stimulate and sustain PLCs as described in the literature.

Bringing Context into Effective Schools Research: Urban-Suburban Differences.

This study extends a long line of research on factors that promote or undermine school effectiveness. Taking as the criteria two dimensions of effective internal organization, teacher community and principal leadership, the article examines effects of school context variables generally excluded from prior research. It further explores the possibility that models of context effects on internal school conditions differ for urban, suburban, and rural schools, given substantial differences in their social and organizational environments. The findings show distinct patterns for schools in urban, suburban, and rural settings and challenge researchers to take into account the diversity among U.S. schools in their research

In Dedication: Leigh Burstein: Enhancing the Validity and Usefulness of Large-Scale Educational Assessments: I. NELS:88 Mathematics Achievement

This study demonstrates that the validity and usefulness of mathematics achievement tests can be improved by defining psychologically meaningful subscores that yield differential relations with student, teacher, and school variables. The NELS:88 8th- and 10th-grade math tests were subjected to full information item factor analysis. Math knowledge and math reasoning factors were distinguished at both grade levels. Regression analyses showed that student attitudes, instructional variables, course, and program experiences related more to knowledge, whereas gender, SES, and some ethnic differences related more to reasoning. Teacher emphasis on higher order thinking, student use of home computers, and early experience with advanced math courses related to both dimensions. It is recommended that national educational surveys use multidimensional achievement scores, not total scores alone.