Resources That Support Beginning Teachers' Ambitious Instruction

• In Event: Beginning Elementary Teachers' Development of Ambitious Instructional Practices in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics

Abstract

Objective. Policymakers increasingly expect beginning teachers to teach ambitiously. Research documents the influence of resources on beginning teachers’ instruction (Grossman et al., 2000; Pogodzinski, Youngs, Frank, & Belman, 2012). This study examines how the availability and use of resources across teacher preparation programs (TPPs) and school contexts supports beginning elementary teachers’ (BTs) ambitious instruction in mathematics and English language arts (ELA).
Theoretical Framework. We ground the study in cultural historical activity theory (CHAT). CHAT conceives BTs’ teaching as shaped by their goals, individual histories, available resources, and social interactions (Engeström, 1999). Whether BTs teach ambitiously depends on the availability and norms guiding the use of material and conceptual resources from prior experiences, teacher preparation, and school contexts (Grossman, Smagorinsky, & Valencia 1999).
Data Sources and Methods. We use case studies of 16 graduates of five TPPs, who were first- and second-year teachers in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. Each year, participants completed three surveys and interviews and participated in observations of three mathematics and three ELA lessons. We used the Protocol for Language Arts Observation (PLATO; Grossman, Loeb, Cohen, & Wyckoff, 2013) to rate BTs’ instruction. We purposively selected participants whose teaching in each subject was highly ambitious in both subjects, one subject, or neither subject.
We double-coded interview data iteratively (Saldaña, 2015) to identify type and source of resources, creating data matrices to identify patterns. We then created resource profiles for each case, which we used to generate themes related to resource characteristics and the participants’ mathematics and ELA PLATO scores.
Findings. The coherence of district expectations and school social resources and alignment among district, TPP, and individual BT instructional approaches were associated with the ambitiousness of BTs’ teaching. The BTs with the least ambitious instruction (Low Math/Low ELA) described unclear district expectations and inconsistent social resources from school colleagues supporting the use of concrete curricular and instructional materials. BTs also described materials mis-aligned with instructional approaches promoted by their TPPs. BTs rated ambitious in both subjects reported receiving comprehensive concrete materials from their districts with clear expectations about their use and aligned professional development. District resources also aligned with approaches promoted by these BTs’ TPPs and with their own preferences, in one or both subjects. BTs with ambitious instruction in only one subject reported clear district mandates and aligned school-level social resources in that subject area. Notably, while all BTs utilized concrete district resources, TPP resources were most often conceptual.
Significance. This study highlights the organizationally-nested nature of BTs’ instruction. This has implications for induction and teacher education. For districts, enabling ambitious instruction among BTs rests on developing instructional coherence across concrete and social resources. TPPs need to consider providing conceptual resources that will enable BTs to use district and school resources ambitiously. Since they cannot control these resources, TPPs should consider the material and social resources they can provide BTs who teach in districts with low instructional coherence.

Authors

• Jillian M. Cavanna, University of Hartford

• Tutita M. Casa, University of Connecticut

• John L. Lane, Michigan State University