Teachers’ Professional Growth Through Data and Dialogue: Case Studies With Mid-Career Teachers in a Small Urban District

• In Event: Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Deepening Our Understanding of Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

This study explored the professional growth experiences of six teachers as they participated in a collaborative initiative across a school year. Leaders in a small urban district invited mid-career teachers to submit proposals for their own professional growth. Sixteen teachers participated. Case studies with six participants chronicled ways that levels of collaboration and learning varied across experiences. Impact was greatest with those who experienced the highest levels of collaboration and the most sophisticated use of data. Results affirmed previous descriptions of professional growth as an interactive process fueled by relationships and suggested a promising framework for studying these dynamics. Continued analysis in the second year may offer insights for differentiating professional development by facilitating deeper conversations about learning and teaching.

Author

• David B. Strahan, Western Carolina University