TY - JOUR
AU1 - Braaten, Melissa
AU2 - Bradford, Chris
AU3 - Kirchgasler, Kathryn L.
AU4 - Barocas, Sadie Fox
AB - PurposeWhen school leaders advance strategic plans focused on improving educational equity through data-driven decision making, how do policies-as-practiced unfold in the daily work of science teachers? The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis ethnographic study examines how data-centric accountability and improvement efforts surface as practices for 36 science teachers in three secondary schools. For two years, researchers were embedded in schools alongside teachers moving through daily classroom practice, meetings with colleagues and leaders, data-centric meetings, and professional development days.FindingsBundled initiatives created consequences for science educators including missed opportunities to capitalize on student-generated ideas, to foster science sensemaking, and to pursue meaningful and equitable science learning. Problematic policy-practice intersections arose, in part, because of school leaders’ framing of district and school initiatives in ways that undermined equity in science education.Practical implicationsFrom the perspective of science education, this paper raises an alarming problem for equitable science teaching. Lessons learned from missteps seen in this study have practical implications for others attempting similar work. The paper suggests alternatives for supporting meaningful and equitable science education.Originality/valueSeeing leaders’ framing of policy initiatives, their bundling of performance goals, equity and accountability efforts, and their instructional coaching activities from the point of view of teachers affords unique insight into how leadership activities mediate policies in schools.
TI - How data use for accountability undermines equitable science education
JF - Journal of Educational Administration
DO - 10.1108/JEA-09-2016-0099
DA - 2017-07-03
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/emerald-publishing/how-data-use-for-accountability-undermines-equitable-science-education-S8k7Zd4XNr
SP - 427
EP - 446
VL - 55
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -