The third theme to emerge from the data was the participants assertion that active engagement, trust, and support from administration is valued and needed by teachers as they transition to SBR. Each participant in the study spoke of the necessary trust between and among teachers and administrators, and although teachers initially expressed the need for professional learning in the area of grading and assessment, the administrators knew when to nudge teachers – individually and as a group – to try implementing either a new practice or one that would tighten services provided to students throughout the building. A common tenet noted in the process by all twelve participants was the importance of taking time to
generate teacher ownership of revised and innovative grading and assessment practices as opposed to receiving a directive from the administration.
Active engagement of administrators was identified as a crucial component in the transformation to SBR, according to all twelve participants. Allowing the process to happen with the teachers versus to the teachers was weighted as a priority. For example, Rachel explained the value of administrative support in the ebb and flow of adults collaborating and learning together, as well as the much needed support for administrators to take initiative to lead a situation when discourse surfaces:
It’s the learning support – the instructional support from administrators – and the willingness to catch us when we fall. It’s just feeling like we’re okay to try stuff in our classrooms and having a safety net of administrative support. We knew it was okay to give something a shot. It’s not just the support to give something a shot, though, because I’ve known administrators who are what I would call ‘rubber stampers’ where it’s like, ‘Yeah, sure it sounds good, so go ahead and try it.’ They may come to you with an idea and say, ‘Go ahead and do this,’ but then there’s no follow-through. What matters is having somebody in administration who follows through and reflects with us. It’s, ‘What do you think about this? About this?’ Then I go try it, and the administrator comes back and asks, ‘How did it go?’ If an
administrator doesn’t ask how it went, they’re just rubber-stamping and letting people do whatever they want. There’s no accountability or support. It’s also seeing the administrators actively involved. Our administration has been part of the reflective cycle and an active part of communicating. They created the wiki for parents and taught parent classes and met with parents when some teachers weren’t comfortable communicating about SBR yet. As teachers, it felt really good to us. I mean, it was very heartening to see that SBR mean just as much to the administrators as it did to us. It wasn’t a message from administration, ‘Just do this stuff.’ It was, ‘We’re all doing this together, and we’re leading the charge because it’s that important.’ So that was it – it was the support of seeing the administrators take a hold of it when we needed them to. (RachelIIP11-12)
Dana replicated the views of the other participants as she recalled the transition to SBR as a slow one in partnership with administration, providing her with time to transform her practices as well as strengthen her conviction regarding SBR:
Definitely a lot of support was obvious from administration at the building and
district level, and the understanding that this cannot be a fast process. Even though we knew it was best for kids and we wanted to move fast, we knew we needed to take the time to do it right. And I feel like I’m very flexible with change, and I don’t usually resist things, so I mean I think you need to consider the people that are going to be a lot more resistant. The slower the process, the better. The administrators didn’t say, ‘Here’s a book. Read it.’ They said, ‘Let’s read this together.’ We were able to process it together and engage in professional development and spend time learning about standards-based reporting. The administration realized that people were at different places, so they differentiated support for us. (DanaIIP6)
As communicated in the previous quote by Dana, woven into the gift of time was
differentiated support by administration. In other words, the value of honoring each teacher’s level of readiness and providing individualized support empowered teachers to move forward from where they were in regards to their level of understanding, skills, and beliefs with SBR. Assurance and nonjudgmental support extended to teachers by administration as well as teachers’ experiences of student success in the classroom generated trust among the community of educators throughout the school. Accordingly, teachers gradually became more confident and continued taking steps to improve and transform their instructional practices to align congruently with SBR.
The summary table below presents the sub-themes underlying participants’ needs from administration regarding active engagement, trust, and support.
Table 3: Theme III: Administrative Involvement
Theme III: Administrative Involvement Sub-Themes of Theme III III. Active engagement, trust, and support from
administration is valued and needed by participants.
1.Trust is necessary between the teachers and administration.
2. Taking the time to honor teacher readiness in the learning process around grading and assessment practices is essential for generating teacher
ownership. The decision to move to SBR should not be a top-down decision; rather, it should be made collaboratively between teachers and administrators.
Table 3, continued
3. Administrators and teachers actively learning in tandem about grading and assessment practices creates a safe culture of shared beliefs where teachers are comfortable taking risks.