Low-Income Schools

This qualitative analysis of teacher teams is part of a larger, comparative case study, “Developing Human Capital Within Schools,” conducted by the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers.  Within one city, we interviewed 142 teachers and administrators in six high-poverty schools (three charter and three district), all of which had achieved the highest ranking in the state’s accountability system.  Here, we analyze how each school approached the process of recruiting and hiring Black and Latino teachers.  All six schools reported that recruiting Black and Latino teachers was an enormous challenge—one compounded by the rapid rate of turnover among those they hired.  Each had strategically adapted its recruitment and hiring processes to address the unique challenges of recruiting and hiring teachers of color.  Principals recognized the important role that current teachers of color might play in recruiting more teachers of color, and therefore each school engaged teachers of color in their processes in some way.  At two schools, teachers of color were active partners in developing and enacting a strategy.  Teachers were clear that this worked because the school was already an inclusive environment where conversations about race were commonplace.  At other schools, however, school leaders and talent staff formulated an advertising strategy that depended on current teachers of color to convey the image of a diverse teaching staff.  But, they did not formally acknowledge the important role that teachers of color were expected to play in this process.  In these schools, teachers often expressed skepticism and sometimes resentment about their school’s approach.

This qualitative analysis of peer observation practices is part of a larger, comparative case study, “Developing Human Capital Within Schools,” conducted by the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers. Within one city, we interviewed 142 teachers and administrators in six high-poverty schools (traditional, charter, and turnaround), all of which had achieved the highest rating in the state’s accountability system. Here, we analyze how teachers and administrators experienced and assessed peer observation practices. At the time of this study, all six schools (three charter and three district) had achieved the highest level in the state accountability rating system, having demonstrated significant growth or high levels of achievement on the rigorous state standardized test. All schools were implementing a range of peer observation processes. Although traditional norms of privacy (Little, 1990) among teachers in American schools often discourage them from visiting colleagues’ classes, many teachers in these schools welcomed opportunities to observe others’ teaching, and in some cases to be observed. However, the extent to which the schools had developed their systems for peer observation varied, which was evident in their different programs’ purpose, procedures, support for teachers in implementing the processes, and the degree to which peer observation was integrated with other professional learning. Notably, across all six schools, teachers and administrators viewed peer observation as having great potential and hoped to continue this practice or in some cases reinstate it in the future. Across schools, the strategic use of video technology helped several schools address implementation challenges.