When teachers are new to a school, they must make sense of policies within a new context. In this horizontal comparative case study, I analyze interview data from three teachers in North Carolina taken at two points in a school year to explore how new teachers make sense of and respond to teacher evaluation policy. Study participants framed the evaluation problem around the extent to which school-level enactment focused on assessment. Teachers demonstrated the following reform typologies in response to their sensemaking around evaluation policy: Assimilation, Adaptation, and Avoidance. When new to a school, teachers are expected to follow the same policies and processes as teachers who have long operated in that school's policy context. So, new-to-the-school teachers must reconcile new-to-them policies with their personal preconceptions of practice in an entirely new context. Teacher evaluation policies outline what is valued in teaching by delineating and measuring those values. So, it is worth considering how teacher perceptions of evaluation may influence their practice and career choices, particularly teachers trying to balance such valuation with their daily work in an unfamiliar context. This case study of three teachers in North Carolina utilizes sensemaking theory and problem framing to explore the question, how do teachers who are new to a school make sense of and respond to teacher evaluation policy?
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etsu-works-2-2015 |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Creators | Frasier, Amanda S. |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | ETSU Faculty Works |
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