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Teachers' Perspectives on the Standards of Learning School Reform in Virginia Melanie A. Bolt Submitted to the Faculty Of

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Teachers' Perspectives on the Standards of Learning School Reform in Virginia Melanie A. Bolt Submitted to the Faculty Of Teachers’ Perspectives on the Standards of Learning School Reform in Virginia Melanie A. Bolt Submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Research and Evaluation April 2003 Blacksburg, Virginia Committee chair: Kusum Singh Committee members: Lawrence Cross, Jim C. Fortune, Jim Garrison, and Sue Magliaro Keywords: high-stakes accountability, testing, standards, classroom effects, curricula, instructional strategies, student learning, teacher professional autonomy, teacher tension, school quality Copyright 2003, Melanie A. Bolt Abstract Teachers’ Perspectives on the SOL School Reform in Virginia Melanie A. Bolt School of Human Sciences and Education Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Dissertation Committee Chairperson: Kusum Singh This study discussed the need for a broader public discourse on high-stakes accountability-based school reform that underscores teachers’ perspectives. Also, the study discussed the need for fuller disclosure of the possible undesirable classroom effects of the reform. To address these needs, this study described teachers’ perspectives on the Standards of Learning (SOL) school reform in Virginia, focusing upon teachers’ views on the reform’s classroom effects. The domains of interest were (1) the adequacy of curriculum and the diversity of teachers’ instructional strategies, (2) the quality of student learning, (3) teachers’ sense of professional autonomy and level of teacher tension, and (4) school quality. The study examined whether there are differences in teachers’ views based on the income level of the school locale where the teachers teach (low-, middle-, or high-income), school type (elementary, middle, or high school), and teachers’ status on whether they teach a SOL-tested subject (yes/no). iii The participants of the study included 360 randomly selected teachers who were listed as members of Virginia Education Association (VEA). A survey research design was employed. The instrument included 80 Likert-type items, eight demographic items, and three open-ended questions. Inferential and descriptive statistics were reported for eight scales of the survey, as were thematic trends in the qualitative data. The study’s results suggested that the SOL program contributes to a hurried, high-pressure classroom culture that depletes the potentiality of the very ends of education the program is intended to achieve. Teachers tended to report (1) an inadequacy of the SOL content standards, (2) a reduction of teachers’ use of diverse instructional strategies and an inability of the SOL program to meet diverse student needs, (3) arbitrary SOL test cut-scores, (4) an inadequacy of the SOL pass rates to represent school quality, (5) a lack of diagnostic usefulness of SOL test scores, (6) an inadequacy of SOL testing and SOL test scores to hold schools accountable, (7) teachers’ sense of diminished professional autonomy, and (8) teachers’ mounting tension in the classroom. These results were juxtaposed to the views of policymakers and business leaders, the public at large, parents, and scholars in the field of education concerning the issue of high-stakes accountability-based school reform. Finally, the study underscored a conflict related to the purpose of public schooling between a prevailing narrative of many policymakers and business leaders and what have been the marginalized views of classroom teachers. iv Acknowledgments As a doctoral student of educational research and evaluation at Virginia Tech, my role as an educational researcher has been extended and transformed by the expertise and generosity of others. First I would like to thank the professors at Virginia Tech whose excellent variety of coursework and expertise have been brought to bear upon the present study. I would like to thank Dr. Susan Magliaro for her interactive teaching style as well as her comprehensive and instructive feedback, particularly at the time this research was proposed. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Jim Garrison for his contemplative courses, particularly his course including Deweyan pragmatism that was recommended by a fine Deweyan scholar, Dr. Douglas Simpson, prior to my pursuing the doctorate. Dr. Garrison has been instrumental in enriching my thinking about public schooling and in suggesting a dialogic framework for this study’s conclusions. I would like to thank Dr. Jimmie Fortune for his collaborative approach to teaching evaluation and qualitative research methods. Having taken his courses, I have gained practical experience in conducting research with classmates, particularly Launcelot Brown, a colleague I have greatly esteemed. Further I am indebted to Dr. Fortune as he has provided me the opportunity to help teach his graduate level qualitative research methods course, which has afforded me invaluable teaching experience. As my committee chairperson, I am grateful for the approachable teaching style of Dr. Kusum Singh, including her practical applications in teaching quantitative research. Also I am thankful for the opportunity Dr. Singh provided me to help teach a graduate level course in behavioral research methods alongside my respected colleague, Cecile Cachaper. This v opportunity has marked a great learning experience during my time in the educational research program. Finally I am appreciative to Dr. Singh for her conceptual and technical insight that has assisted me throughout this study. I would like to thank Dr. Lawrence Cross for his witty and candid approach to teaching what was my first research course as a student at Virginia Tech in the educational research program. Additionally I am indebted to Dr. Cross as he has generously given of his time to discuss the focal points of this study and to offer copies of relevant journal articles and newspaper editorials. More importantly, the development of the study’s survey instrument would not have been possible without his expert critiques and recommendations for improvement. I am most appreciative to the Virginia Education Association (VEA) and Dr. Ralph Shotwell, Director of Research, for providing the sampling frame for the present study. I deeply appreciate the assistance of VEA as well as the numerous classroom teachers who participated in this research. Finally I am indebted to my family who has helped care for my three-year-old daughter Erica Grace so that I could have generous blocks of time to conduct this study. Erica Grace reaped a wealth of affection from my parents Walt and Anne Bates, mother-in- law Ann Bolt, grandmother Emma Lee Weiss, and my sister-in-law Tammy Martin. I would also like to note sincere appreciation for my husband Karl who has been a consistent encouragement throughout this research, and for my dear father-in-law, the late Ben D. Bolt, whose vision for others and whose delight in others’ accomplishments helped me imagine possibilities for my life that otherwise I would have never considered. vi Indeed it was the support of my professors, colleagues, and family who helped create the conditions for my intellectual growth and ultimately helped make this study possible. I am indebted to these co-partners whose expertise and generosity I will remember with deep gratitude. vii Foreword During the mid 1990s I was a teacher of sixth grade children of working class families and of rich ethnic diversity near the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. While aiming to create conditions for students’ learning that might engage their interests and meet their diverse learning needs that were related to the subjects of English and social studies, I was expected to meet the requirements of Texas’ new public school reform effort. The Texas system was based upon high-stakes accountability for students and schools in an effort to improve academic achievement and equity. School reform programs such as this are common in most states today. Although I enjoyed the support of a talented school administration, I became frustrated about the constraints that I perceived the State reform placed upon my pedagogical practice. There seemed to be a lack of time for teachers to communicate with one another concerning subject matter as well as a lack of time for children to deeply study important topics of their interest. In addition to these, expanding curriculum requirements contributed to my frustration. I did not desire our classroom activities to be utterly driven by the specified curriculum. Nor did I desire my pedagogical freedom to be impinged upon. The tension that I sensed led me to more thoughtfully consider my role and responsibilities as a classroom teacher. While teaching in Texas I was a master’s student at Texas Christian University studying educational research. The program emphasized a qualitative approach to research that was immersed in theory. Among the philosophical sworks that the program emphasized, the writings of John Dewey were particularly useful in helping me wrap words around my viii efforts to teach and meet the requirements of the Texas high-stakes accountability program. Accordingly, my master’s thesis resulted in a philosophical work that explored a Deweyan perspective of teachers’ roles and responsibilities against the backdrop of my teaching experiences. Out of this work grew a deeper interest in educational research and in how high- stakes accountability-based school reform affects the classroom as viewed by teachers. Deepening interest in these areas led me to pursue the doctorate
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