Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Dannett Babb

Abstract

Educators at one middle school were continually failing to meet the reading and writing activities requirements written into its school improvement plans. Despite added district-provided collaboration time and the state’s 4-tier evaluation system, social studies, science and literacy grade-level teachers struggled to create a rigorous community-wide literacy program. No systematic investigation has been conducted to understand why these middle school teachers struggled to incorporate literacy learning into their learning environments. This qualitative instrumental case study examined how middle school educators use their state’s mandated Teacher Principal Evaluation Program, which includes an Eight-Criterion Rubric and University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership’s 5 Dimensions of Quality Teaching and Learning Instructional Framework, to create a rigorous schoolwide literacy program. This 4-tier two-component evaluation program is the conceptual framework of this case study. A constant comparison inductive analysis approach analyzed both oral and written data collected in a 4-month period at the research site. Six themes emerged during data analysis phase that helped identify barriers middle school educators face attempting to integrate and use higher-level literacy learning instructional practices. This case study illustrates a need for ongoing and specific professional development, additional time, and greater accountability for educators to make systematic changes needed to establish a rigorous schoolwide literacy program. The case study’s findings help create social change by highlighting the specific needs and training secondary educators require to ensure students are ready for college and career advancement in the 21st century.

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