This dissertation examines the complexity involved in teachers’ perceptions and experience of time on school-related activities. The
Intensification Theory explains that test-based accountability has caused a time crunch for teachers, increasing their stress level and
burnout rate. Research literature has shown that teachers experiencing high levels of stress and burnout correlated with lower student
achievement. Teachers, like all professionals, have a finite amount of time, and as the workload increases, less time is left for
replenishment and personal family time. Time is a critical resource in schools, and how teachers navigate its use can determine the ultimate
success or failure of students. In a variety of ways, researchers have shown an understanding of the relationship between time in school and
student achievement. I studied three important aspects of time in a charter school in Florida: (1) How do 3rd grade teachers use their
school-related time? (2) How do 3rd grade teachers and their principals perceive school time? and (3) How is high stakes accountability
perceived to be shaping teacher time? Using observations and interviews, my goal was to give a voice to teachers and administrators regarding
how they perceived school time. This was a phenomenological qualitative research study involving five third-grade teachers and two
administrators in one K-12 charter school in Florida. It was a high achieving school with exemplary teachers, who fully experienced the time
crunch brought on by test-based accountability. Third-grade was chosen because it was the first grade level at which students experienced
repercussions due to achievement scores. With each teacher participant, I conducted semi-structured pre- and post-interviews, completed five
full days of observations as a nonparticipant observer, and requested seven full days of time-use diaries for after work hours school-related
activities. Two administrators were interviewed to obtain their perspectives on teacher time in order to compare teacher and administrator
perceptions. After all data was collected, interviews were transcribed, and subsequently coded using NVivo software. During a preliminary
exploratory analysis of the data, I developed themes and patterns relating to teacher time. Details of what occurred in the classrooms during
a school week were used to cross-analyze the thematic data and to triangulate time perceptions. After the final analysis of the data, member
checking was used to substantiate the accuracy of the findings. Findings related to time as a resource indicated that this third-grade team
of teachers spent an average of 54 hours per week working on school-related activities, compared to their contracted workweek of 40 hours.
Most often during school hours, teachers were engaged in several activities at once, or rapidly moving from one activity to the next, called
context switching. Teachers did most of their instructional planning and professional learning outside paid schoolwork hours. Findings on
teacher perceptions of time showed that teachers did not believe that theirs were finite, 9-5 type of jobs, as they spent many hours after
contracted work hours completing tasks. Teachers felt they had enough time for instruction if they planned carefully, and left out creative
activities. They described the three months before testing as “crunch time”, meaning they had to review, re-teach, and squeeze in any
standards that were missed, and they shared how stressful this time period was. Administrators perceived that third-grade teachers used time
effectively and produced outstanding results, but felt that teachers should have had enough time during paid work hours to complete all their
work except grading papers. Responses from administrators on comparing their time with teachers’ time were mixed. One administrator thought
that teachers had much more control over their own time than did administrators, and one thought exactly the opposite. In the third set of
findings, teachers shared their perspectives on the precise pacing required by testing, and how instructional time was lost to time spent
using pre-packaged test preparation materials during crunch time. Administrators noticed that teachers were allowed less leeway for creative
activities in their instruction due to the time crunch. I found support in my data for six of the eight assertions of the Intensification
Theory, suggesting that teachers’ time has become “intensified” due to test-based accountability. My findings regarding the pace of the
school day for teachers and interrupted, fragmented time in the classroom confirmed what researchers have learned in the extant literature.
Unlike the findings in the research though, Irvin School teachers in my study, were paid for a longer, contracted day than teachers in most
schools in the surrounding areas of Florida, and they reported using that extra time to benefit students through greater teacher
collaboration, increasing interest in lessons, and reflecting on student mastery of skills. Implications of this research include the need
for further studies on teachers’ context switching during the school day and the contrast between teacher and administrator perceptions of
teacher time. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2017. / August 14, 2017. / intensification theory, subjective time, teacher stress, teacher time, test-based accountability, time / Includes bibliographical references. / Stacey A. Rutledge, Professor Directing Dissertation; Alysia D. Roehrig, University Representative;
Courtney Preston, Committee Member; Robert A. Schwartz, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_604998 |
| Contributors | Neal, Brenda Gale Griffin (author), Rutledge, Stacy A. (professor directing dissertation), Roehrig, Alysia D., 1975- (university representative), Preston, Courtney (committee member), Schwartz, Robert A. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (234 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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