Session Information
03 SES 03, Balancing between School Autonomy and State/National Mandates
Paper Session
Time:
2009-09-28
14:00-15:30
Room:
JUR, HS 13
Chair:
Nienke M. Nieveen
Contribution
Background: In the United States, curriculum is a state matter; the federal government does not establish or enforce a national curriculum. This is unique among industrialized nations since most of Europe has nationalized curriculum. In the last 20 years while Europe has progressed toward greater teacher autonomy, especially regarding freedom of instruction, choice of curriculum materials, and primary decisions about assessment and retention (Eurydice, 2008), the US has moved toward more nationalized and standardized assessment expectations.
While most states in the United States established statewide high-school graduation requirements, in the state of Michigan this decision was left to the local school district. Concern over the loss of manufacturing jobs led to the adoption, in 2006, of a statewide set of high school graduation requirements called the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC). In order to earn a high-school diploma, every student must earn four credits each of English and math, and three credits each of science and social studies. In addition, students must pass a standardized assessment – the Michigan Merit Exam (MME). These new requirements are among the most stringent in the US.
Ironically, much of this curriculum reform was prompted by concern over global competitiveness of American students. Yet, while Europe has moved toward greater professionalization of teachers, in the US teachers are feeling deprofessionalized, their autonomy being limited through rigid, test-driven standards. The US may do well to consider the lessons from European colleagues and consider the impact of top-down reforms on the bottom-up work of teaching students.
Research question: Determining the actual sequence and pace of courses has been declared to be the “prerogative” of local school districts. The state mandates “what” must be taught, but local school districts determine “how" to implement the requirements, and when students have earned the credits. In this ethnography (2006-2009) we examine the impact of curriculum policies on participants and how participants, in turn, shape the way in which policy gets implemented.
Theoretical framework: This study is guided by the structuration theory of Anthony Giddens (1984) which shows the importance of considering both the structure of schooling and the agency of participants. Within this framework, in order to understand curriculum reform, we need to examine both the structural changes and how these changes are mediated through the actions of individuals.
Method
The findings of this ethnography are based on interviews with administrators (assistant superintendent for curriculum, principals, assistant principal, and guidance counselor) and teachers, observations of classroom instruction, and documents including the Michigan Merit Curriculum, school curriculum handbooks, textbooks, and the school schedule.
Expected Outcomes
Administrators changed the structure of the schedule from a semester (18 weeks each) to a trimester format (12 weeks each). Courses that formerly lasted two semesters were compressed into two trimesters, giving students who failed a chance to immediately re-take the course. Initially, all students were placed in college-prep courses (i.e., algebra, geometry, biology, chemistry) where teachers covered all curricular objectives mandated by the state.
Students who failed got grouped into sections emphasizing only content that was to be tested. New academic-support and test-preparatory courses were developed to help failing students.
Teachers received minimal professional development to reconceptualize the new content (i.e., algebra, chemistry) for a new format (trimester; longer class periods, fewer days of instruction), for a new group of students (non-college-bound). They felt pressured to “teach to the test.”
To accommodate freshmen who were at-risk of failure, this school implemented a separate school-within-a-school that follows a year-long schedule.
References
Eurydice European Unit (2008). Levels of autonomy and responsibility of teachers in Europe. Brussels, Belgium : Author Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Cambridge: Polity Press.
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