Navigating the Sociocultural Web: Introducing a theoretical model for evaluating teaching residency programs

1. Navigating the Sociocultural Web:Introducing a theoretical model for evaluating teaching residency programs Dr. Lisa Gonsalves Dr. Tricia Kress The University of Massachusetts Boston NOYCE, July 8, 2010

2. Teach Next Year:Presentation Overview • Teaching residency programs have emerged nationally as one response to the need to recruit and prepare high quality urban teachers • Intense (year long teaching residency) • Success depends upon mutual trust and clear communication among stakeholders – partnerships are deeply relational • Model helps us think more systematically about the impact of inter-organizational dynamics and stakeholder goals on the preparation of new teachers • Model encourages goal alignment at all stages of the partnership

3. Teach Next Year • How Teach Next Year (TNY) was built • Strong relationships between school, funder & university • Initial meetings with all stake-holders (teachers, School administrators, faculty, university administrators, funder) • Later meetings with only teachers • Two-step interview process • Step one is university based (application, admissions, acceptance to university) • Step two is school based (candidate interviews with school personnel)

4. Teach Next Year: Integrated Course Work & Practice

5. Teach Next Year: Giving back to the School Community • Legacy Projects • School/community project that adds value to the qualify of school life for DHS students • Drama club • Math club • Junior entrepreneur’s club • Fashion club • Homework club • School website

6. Teach Next Year: Professional Development for Teachers • Alternative PD for School Teachers • Mentor teacher’s in TNY schools are relieved from half of their teaching assignment from February through June. During this time, mentor engage in self-directed professional development projects that contribute to the schools overall improvement goals • Looking at Student Work • Analyzing Data • Developing a science fair • Developing a college prep guide & program • Creating orientation materials for new teachers • Developing a public speaking curriculum

7. Teach Next Year: The Conflicts • The First Conflict • Needs of the university versus the needs of the high school • The Second Conflict • Deciding on which applicants to accept • The Third Conflict • Who would have the greater say when placing interns with the school teachers (university faculty, teachers, school administrators)

8. Teach Next Year: Expanding to other Partnerships • After 11 years, TNY has expanded to 13 schools within two districts • One site – balance of control rests with teachers • Another site – balance of control rests with school administrators • A third site – balance of control rests with the university faculty/partner

9. Teach Next Year: The Evaluation Model • How can we make sense of the variance in implementation between schools, and even within the same school? • How do sociocultural relationships and power dynamics between and among stakeholders contribute to this variance?

10. Three organizations… • School • University …unique identities, goals and priorities… • Foundation

11. The interns’ experiences and classroom practice • Situated with the school, but impacted by the actions and interactions of all three organizations. • School • University • Foundation

12. Assembling a Multidimensional Lens Ecological Systems Theory (EST) Individual development is shaped by an ecological system (Bronfenbrenner, 1979)

13. Assembling a Multidimensional Lens Structure|Agency Individual and collective agency is regulated and shaped by cultural structures, while agency recursively impacts and shapes structures (Sewell, 1992). Structure: a system of schema (beliefs and customs) and resources (anything that can serve as a source of power, e.g. objects, tools, ideas, etc.) that comprise culture. Agency: one’s ability to act within a given cultural locale.

14. Common goal: Improving urban education by improving teaching • School • University • The organizations are separate units, loosely bound by common macrostructural beliefs. • This results in exosystem convergence. • Foundation

15. Goals Diverge on the Micro level • Individual organizations have different needs and goals that emerge within unique cultures of microstructures. • Schema and resources are understood differently in different miscrostructures. • This results in power-struggles.

16. Microsystem impacts Individual Implementation The daily happenings of the classroom are loosely regulated by the exosystem and macrosystem but greatly influenced by micro level interactions. Individual agency is regulated by proximity and goal alignment vis-à-vis exosystem organizations.

17. Power/Agency Shifts For example, teachers had little control over university admissions, but greater influence over daily implementation. Still, all stakeholders continue to work towards the common macrostructural goal even though individuals’ beliefs and practices during microlevel implementation may vary significantly. This results in unpredictable implementation.

18. The Model helps us Consider: • How the balance of program control impacts the intern/resident experience • Impact of inter-organizational dynamics • Impact of individual stakeholder goals • Importance of maintaining macro and exo goal alignment, while being cognizant and respectful of microlevel needs and goals

19. Implementing the Model • Beginning • Apply the model from the beginning as part of the process of choosing a school/university partner • Assess the relational dynamics and stakeholder goals of each partner • In-Process • Assess for goal alignment between all stakeholders • Pay attention to the interplay between Macro, exo and micro levels of the partnership

20. Questions for the Activity • What is the pattern of your partnership? What would it look like if you were using this model? • How might you suggest altering this model to suit your context/partnership? • What other theoretical frames or perspectives might we think about to enhance or alter the model?