Connecting the Dots: How One Teacher Navigates High-Stakes Testing While Cultivating Civic Engagement

• In Event: Resisting Oppression and Navigating Policy in Education

Abstract

This case study examines how a secondary science teacher navigates tensions between high-stakes testing and civic-oriented education through strategic pedagogical approaches. Drawing on goal congruity theory and masculine defaults framework, we analyzed two years of classroom observations, interviews, and artifacts from "Mr. V.," a Cuban-American teacher in Florida. Findings reveal how he alternates between collaborative explorations of environmental issues and rapid test preparation—what we term "gradually, then suddenly." His relational pedagogy reframes STEM participation through communal goals while meeting accountability requirements. This research demonstrates how educators can simultaneously honor institutional constraints and cultivate transformative science engagement, offering pathways for broadening STEM participation within existing systemic realities.

Authors

• Christopher Irwin, Florida International University

• Darryl Dickerson, Florida International University

• Nicholas Oehm, Florida International University

• Joshua Alexander Ellis, Louisiana State University