TY - JOUR
T1 - Getting from here to there
T2 - The roles of policy makers and principals in increasing science teacher quality
AU - Shen, Ji
AU - Gerard, Libby
AU - Bowyer, Jane
N1 - Funding Information:
The second data set includes four, 2-h meetings from a principal community that met regularly to discuss issues related to integration of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded technology-enhanced science curriculum, called TELS (http://telscenter.org/) (see Bowyer et al. 2008, for further information regarding the principal community). These meetings focused specifically on implementation of local school policy to improve science teaching and learning. We used the federal and state policy maker interview questions and key quotes from the federal and state policy maker interviews to initiate the principals’ discussion during these meetings. Seven middle and high school principals from one school district participated in these meetings as shown in Table 2.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant 2611570, Center for Learning and Teaching on Technology Enhanced Learning in Science. (TELS). Any opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The authors appreciate the helpful comments from the TELS research group and the feedback provided by the anonymous reviewers of the journal.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - In this study we investigate how federal and state policy makers, and school principals are working to improve science teacher quality. Interviews, focused discussions, and policy documents serve as the primary data source. Findings suggest that both policy makers and principals prioritize increasing incentives for teachers entering the science teaching profession, providing professional development for new teachers, and using students' data to evaluate and improve instruction. Differences between the two leadership groups emerged in terms of the grain size and practicality of their concerns. Our findings indicate that the complexity of educational challenges to improve science teacher quality call for the co-construction of policy by multiple constituent groups including school principals, federal and state policy makers, and science education researchers.
AB - In this study we investigate how federal and state policy makers, and school principals are working to improve science teacher quality. Interviews, focused discussions, and policy documents serve as the primary data source. Findings suggest that both policy makers and principals prioritize increasing incentives for teachers entering the science teaching profession, providing professional development for new teachers, and using students' data to evaluate and improve instruction. Differences between the two leadership groups emerged in terms of the grain size and practicality of their concerns. Our findings indicate that the complexity of educational challenges to improve science teacher quality call for the co-construction of policy by multiple constituent groups including school principals, federal and state policy makers, and science education researchers.
KW - Policy
KW - Principal community
KW - Science education
KW - Science teacher quality
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U2 - 10.1007/s10972-009-9180-5
DO - 10.1007/s10972-009-9180-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77952289795
VL - 21
SP - 283
EP - 307
JO - Journal of Science Teacher Education
JF - Journal of Science Teacher Education
SN - 1046-560X
IS - 3
ER -