Teacher activities in CHSRI small schools' professional communities were primarily oriented toward supportive rather than developmental practices¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2006 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Most discussions about instruction happened informally between pairs of teachers and provided short-term assistance, and teachers rarely used group meetings to discuss systemic aspects of core instructional practices. → Stevens 2006

Evidence¶

Stevens 2006¶

Stevens, W. D., with Kahne, J. (2006). Professional Communities and Instructional Improvement Practices: A study of small high schools in Chicago. Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/professional-communities-and-instructional-improvement-practices-study-small-high

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

Qualitative fieldwork during the 2004-05 school year in seven CHSRI schools, including interviews and staff meeting observations, found supportive practices dominated. The report states there were "very few formal and structured discussions in teacher groups around instructional improvement."

"Most discussions about instruction happened informally between pairs of teachers and provided short-term assistance with things such as problematic student behavior or what content to cover in class."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Teachers in CHSRI schools reported statistically significantly higher perceptions of trust and collaboration than teachers in non-CHSRI schools — related
• Daily teaching demands competed with and distracted from a sustained developmental focus on instructional improvement — related
• Small school contexts may both enable and constrain professional communities: collegiality rises but heavy workloads make collective instructional focus difficult — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Teachers and principals in CHSRI small schools describe an environment marked by trust, commitment, and strong professional community in year two — related
• Professional development from CHSRI and CPS is valued by some small-school staff but viewed by others as irrelevant, hard to schedule, and poorly connected to school needs — related
• Time for teacher learning and collaboration is scarce and fragmented under the standard CPS contract, limiting reform and professional community — related
• Professional learning, broadly defined to include teacher collaboration, coaching, and workshops, was the most important support strategy for instructional change — related
• Teachers in CHSRI small schools report significantly more supportive contexts for reform than similar teachers in other Chicago high schools — related
• Effective professional development is content focused, active, collaborative, modeled, coached, feedback-rich, and sustained over time — related
• Most teacher well-being interventions target individual actions rather than community well-being — related
• Schools that improved focused on multiple mutually-reinforcing aspects of school organization rather than a single aspect — related
• Multiple trends point to a de-professionalization of teachers in both the North and the South — related
• In one school, well-defined instructional priorities plus deliberate leadership facilitated sustained developmental practices — related