The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) call for a greater focus on informational reading and nonfiction writing during high school instruction. The ELA standards assume that teaching reading and writing will become a shared responsibility within a school and include standards for teachers of science and social studies as well as English. However, not all teachers may be prepared to incorporate informational reading and nonfiction writing into their curriculum and instruction. Using a basic qualitative research methodology, this study examined how educators in one Maryland school district—including English, science, and social studies teachers and school administrators—made sense of the CCSS-ELA and how these educators worked, or did not work, to incorporate more informational reading and nonfiction writing into their classrooms. Educators’ understanding of the CCSS-ELA was shaped, in part, by their district’s curriculum frameworks and a district-required literacy project. This study found (a) that while most of the educators interviewed supported the Common Core, teachers were generally overwhelmed with multiple competing or conflicting polices that made it difficult to focus on implementing the standards; (b) educators had mixed responses to the district-offered supports intended to help them implement the CCSS-ELA; (c) the departmentalization inherent in most high school structures limited collaboration around the standards among teachers of different subjects (d) improving student writing proved to be particularly difficult. The study suggests a need for increased policy alignment at the district and state levels to facilitate implementation of key aspects of the Common Core. Another implication is the continued need for differentiated professional development and other implementation supports based on the subject taught and level of teacher experience.

Art education has faced cutbacks in school funding because of the mandates and current trends in our nation’s educational policies. The United States Department of Education states that its federal involvement in education is limited. In fact, federal legislations, regulations, and other policies dictate the structure of education in every state particularly with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and now the Race to the Top (RTTT) initiative. The arts have been unfavorably impacted under the nation’s most predominant policy, NCLB, and run the risk of further adverse impacts with RTTT, regardless of the public’s support of the arts and its educational benefits. By linking federal funding to the school's yearly progress in reading and mathematics, NCLB created an environment in which art is viewed as nonessential and secondary to the academic mission of the school. Policymakers have underestimated the critical role the non-profit cultural sector can offer to arts learning for academic support. Collaboration of the arts community with local schools expands access to the arts for America’s schools. Some schools have already adopted this strategy to tap the expertise of local community arts organizations to address the issues surrounding arts education, like the lack of funding and resources. The future of our educational system must create innovative ways for students, teachers, parents, and the community to work together in partnerships to ensure all American children is provided a high-quality education. An example of this promising practice would be to connect schools with the arts community, particularly schools and museum partnerships. School and museum partnerships have a long-standing history of collaborating with one another and therefore share a commitment to some of the same educational goals (Osterman & Sheppard, 2010). The purpose of this study investigated features and operational logistics of successful partnerships between museums and schools. The study explored an existing partnership with an art museum and an urban public school district. To understand the elements of these partnerships, the study investigated art education and cultural governing policies, program goals and long-term goals, operation and funding. It is my hope that through this study a discourse about policy recommendations or policy-making eventually develops that could aid in the creation of successful partnering relationships to sustain art education in the state of Georgia. In this qualitative case study, the research design utilized several methods of data collection, including semi-structured interviews, documents, and visual methods, specifically image elicited exercises as positioned by Harper (2002). Participants in the study included school administrators, principals, art teachers, and museum educators.

<p> Research reveals that for American secondary teachers, mere participation, or the desire to participate, in professional development is not a matter of concern, as many in the educational community have assumed. Yet, there is a void in the literature regarding American, lower secondary educators of literacy and their overall perceptions of professional learning. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of lower secondary English language arts (ELA)/literacy teachers, specifically in regard to what motivates these educators to participate in professional development, what they value in professional learning opportunities, the challenges that keep them from participating, and their overall professional development needs. </p><p> This qualitative study draws on two theoretical frameworks, constructivism and adult learning theory, as there are varied philosophies that contribute to the understanding of a teacher&rsquo;s perception of professional learning. A non-experimental, phenomenological methodology was chosen, aiming to better understand participant&rsquo;s individual experiences through their comprehensive, self-reported descriptions. The population of this study consisted of experienced, lower secondary ELA/literacy teachers employed in southern California public schools. Purposive, criterion sampling was used for this research, collecting data from a total of 13 semi-structured interviews of participants from two school districts. </p><p> The findings from this study resulted in five thematic categories that present the essential drivers and impediments to the participants&rsquo; involvement in professional learning opportunities: (a) teachers desire to improve their professional practice, (b) professional learning should be immediately applicable to professional practice, (c) teachers prefer to learn from other experienced teachers, (d) the culture of the school district and or site influences teacher learning, and (e) a teacher&rsquo;s learning is influenced by their perception of themselves and previous experiences. Six conclusions were drawn from the thematic findings of this study. They rely upon the literature and findings to argue how teachers&rsquo; motivation, personal values, and aspirations for participation in professional learning opportunities is centered on personal and organizational factors along with the historical and current culture of American K-12 public schools.</p><p>

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