Browsing by Subject "Educational change--Texas"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Exceeding expectations: an exploratory case study of how a high-poverty elementary school sustained the high performance
(2006) Phan, Giao Quynh; Thomas, Michael; Northcutt, Norvell
This study broadly explored the following question: What are the conditions that led a high-poverty, high-performing elementary school to sustain the educational reforms over six years? Closing the achievement gap of the disenfranchised has been at the forefront of national and state educational issues, where public education has become the chief means of eradicating the disparities, and sustainable educational changes have become a necessity. Texas, like many other states, is experiencing demographic changes toward a predominantly minority school population (Murdock, 2005; Murdock, White, Hoque, Pecotte, You, & Balkan, 2002; Texas Education Agency, 2003). The demographic shift and the apparent failure of the Texas public schools to ensure a high level of academic performance and a minimum incidence of dropouts among minority schoolchildren, have spurred a variety of responses about how to improve low-performing schools where the student population is predominantly comprised of minorities living at the poverty level (Center for Public Policy Priorities, 2004). After more than three decades of educational reforms based upon the accountability system, the viability of creating educational change has been documented in studies of high-poverty high-performing schools in Texas that were able to significantly increase student achievement (Charles A. Dana Center, 1999; Charles A. Dana Center, 2002; Comer, 1988; Council of Chief State School Officers, 2002; Reyes, Scribner, & Scribner, 1999). Research on educational change has been advanced in that the factors influencing successful school change efforts are now known, yet a scarce amount has focused on how those invested in the process were able to sustain the changes (Berman & McLaughlin, 1978; Datnow, 2005; Fullan, 1993; Miles, 1983). Much of the educational change research has focused on developing infrastructures to accommodate the change efforts, but little has focused on how the individuals invested in the process sustained the organizational changes. Of the qualitative methods, a case study was deemed the most appropriate means for systematically studying and deriving understanding of the interactions within the complex environment of the school, uncovering answers to the research question, and supporting the overall purpose of the study regarding its value to the field. Previous studies on sustainability have found that the key factors to successful institutionalization include: stable and skilled leadership; having a clear vision; active interaction and participation by users of the innovation; mobilization and reinforcement through administrative and peer support; careful monitoring and adaptation of the innovation; development of ownership through widespread, rewarding use; sustained technical assistance; and allocating routine resources to support the change permanently (Berman & McLaughlin, 1978; Block, 1983; Datnow, 2005; Downer, 1992; Ekholm & Trier, 1987; Fullan, 1993; Fullan, 2001; Fullan, 2005; Newman & Wehlage, 1995; Zigeralli, 1996).
How high the stakes?: a critical ethnographic study of the changes in programs and instruction for low income children of color in a Texas elementary school
(2006) Guzmán, Sheila Bernal; Scribner, Jay D.
The purpose of this study is to identify parent and educator’s perceptions of reforms that were implemented within an elementary school to obtain higher test scores and the effects that these changes had on stakeholders, programs, and instruction. Currently, in a majority of states nationwide, students are being assessed using tests in the major content areas, based upon standards, to determine school effectiveness. This shift of emphasis from adequate resources and processes to assess student achievement and school effectiveness through the use of test driven assessment, coupled with sanctions, is a documented trend. The focus of this research is high stakes tests and accountability used for school reform and of the effects of these policy practices utilizing critical race theory. viii Three major questions were examined from a critical race theoretical perspective utilizing qualitative methods. The qualitative data was analyzed to discern the empowering or disabling consequences of these changes as perceived by members of the school community in a low income school for children of color. This study was undertaken utilizing a critical ethnographic strategy to record the events, processes, and policies that occurred in an elementary school setting within the environment of high stakes accountability. To complement the purpose of this study a single case study in one Texas school was undertaken to seek to “provide insight” regarding the consequences that an emphasis on high stakes test reform had on programmatic and instructional practices in an elementary school for low income students of color. Study participants provided compelling data sources through their interviews by presenting counternarrative accounts of events (Delgado & Stefanic, 2001). Thus, critical race theory was utilized as both an analytical, as well as a theoretical framework. The significance of this study is that provides practical and theoretical importance. This study presents analysis from a critical race theoretical perspective; one not commonly found in the literature. This investigation is also significant because high stakes testing is at the forefront of a current educational debate making additional research and discourse from the most affected stakeholders of vital relevance to policy makers and practitioners.
Narratives of transformation : education and social change in rural south Texas
(2003-08) Guajardo, Francisco Javier, 1964-; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-
This study shows how lives of teachers, students, and community members have changed as a result of a pedagogical approach based on story, relationship building, and community development. The study looks at 13 years of work of a high school teacher, his colleagues, their students, and members of the larger community, as they work to transform themselves, their schools, and their community. The framework for analysis employed in this study is a hybrid that integrates the use of grounded theory as espoused by Glaser and Strauss (1967), common sense theory as suggested by Gramsci (1988), principles consistent with critical theory (Freire, 1973; Giroux, 1997), and culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995). In addition, this study utilizes research methods grounded on an assets based approach (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1996), rather than the debilitating deficit-thinking models contested by Valencia (1997) and Guajardo (Guajardo, M., 2002). The study is a culmination of 13 years of field work, including stories collected through an oral history project and narratives created by students and other community members. Micro narratives fill the larger narrative that illustrate and explain how theory and action have merged to create social change in rural South Texas.
School district program improvement in Texas : organizational learning and educational change
(2003-08) Crook, Kelly Katherine, 1967-; Scribner, Jay D.
A superintendent's leadership of state-initiated reform in a high-poverty school district in Texas
(2004) Parramore, Charlotte Suzanne; Ovando, Martha N.
The purpose of this research was to examine the superintendent’s leadership of state-initiated reform in the context of a high-poverty school district in Texas. Specifically, the study was designed to identify the leadership acts and leadership strategies employed by the superintendent to implement the state accountability system, to increase student performance, and to achieve excellence and equity for all students. Three research questions guided the research process: 1) What are the strategies and leadership acts used by the superintendent to influence change in the district? 2) What is the perceived effectiveness of the superintendent’s strategies and leadership acts strategies? 3) How are the strategies and leadership acts linked to student performance? This study used qualitative methods to examine the strategies and leadership acts of the superintendent of Mariposa ISD. Data for this study were collected through a series of one-on-one interviews, observations, documents, and archival records. The resulting data were coded and emerging categories recognized through Grounded Theory qualitative procedures. The data analysis allowed for the emergence of categories that provided answers to the research questions posed in this study. Based on the findings of the study, the superintendent used specific leadership acts and strategies to create the organizational conditions receptive to system-wide change and to design an approach to reform that promoted student success. The superintendent’s interpretation of the reform policies, along with his assessment of the needs and pressures for change affecting the school district, gave rise to the leadership acts and strategies he employed and formed the targets for the restructuring plan. The superintendent’s plan for restructuring included the following components: transforming district culture; a district focus on performance; organizational restructuring of roles, responsibilities, and relationships; decentralization of authority; and systems of accountability. His unique interpretation and implementation of the policies of reform in relation to the culture and context of the school community resulted in system-wide change and brought reform to scale across the entire school district. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of the superintendent’s leadership in contextualized settings and how state-initiated reform policies can be used to leverage change and increase student performance in high-poverty, urban school districts.