Collaboration in studying school-based teacher teams - Sustaining engaged teacher leaders: A needs assessment

This presentation is intended for pre-K to 12 school administration and teachers, faculty and staff of education-related programs, and education-focused community organizations. The presentation aims to explain a partnership between an Ohio State EHE doctoral candidate, Britt Collier-Gibson ("PI") and the Bellefontaine School District ("District") that occurred in the winter-summer 2018. A history of mutually beneficial work enabled the PI and District to engage in a study based in the district's needs and the PI's research interests. Grounded in situational research and action research, a needs assessment (Altschuld & Kumar, 2010) design was deemed appropriate for the project. Additionally, the dstrict sought timely, context-relevant, and research-informed data to guide their work in the initiative described below. Following a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, the PI and District collaborated for seven months to understand the workings of the district's newly established teacher-based teams. These teams engage in collaborative inquiry of Pre-K to 12 curriculum and pedagogy. Teacher-leaders guide the discussions and exercises where teachers collaboratively build on their professional knowledge and practice. Altschuld and Kumar's needs assessment framework (2010) provided a protocol and a participant-focused approach for the research. A stakeholder committee consisting of the PI, the District's instruction director, and four teacher-leaders from each of the district's school buildings met monthly to discuss research processes, data collection instruments, and contextual influences, as well as to analyze findings and provide feedback for data interpretation. This ultimately drove recommendations and action steps to improve the collaborative work of the teacher-based teams. Throughout the process, the stakeholder committee aligned the study processes and findings close to the culture of the District and the context of their teaching and learning. Therefore, the District research remained grounded in the relevancy of the teachers’ professional development work and the reality of the culture and values of the organization. Research-driven practices and methodologies informed the foundation, design and analysis of the data. Through sharing resources and expertise, joint accountability and data validity occurred using critical dialogue and member-checking. A trusting relationship based in mutual respect for stakeholders’ different perspectives and interpretations created joint ownership of the study and its findings. Collective work toward the PI's research and the district's initiatives built a meaningful and sustainable partnership. In connecting to the conference theme, this project utilized teacher leaders as part of the stakeholder committee and fostered the growth of pre-K to 12 teacher professional learning. Although not environmental sustainability, this project demonstrated a different conception of sustainability: sustainability of teachers as leaders.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Brittany Collier-Gibson, faculty in Educational Teaching and Learning, Ohio State at Lima, collier-gibson.1@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Shanel Henry, executive director of instructional services, Bellefontaine City SchoolsHow can public PK-12 school districts engage with university researchers to direct school reform efforts? How can we collectively foster and sustain teachers’ professional learning with current educational research? This project demonstrates a model of collaboration through participant expertise and situational knowledge, shared resources, and relational strength that exemplify collaborative research and relevant practice. This project was a school-university partnership based in mutual trust and stakeholder input. A central Ohio school district and an Ohio State doctoral candidate engaged in a seven-month collaborative study using a needs assessment framework. Diverse perspectives on contextual data provided joint interpretation and ownership of the data. The collaborative action research project looked closely at teacher-based teams focused on professional development of curriculum and pedagogy knowledge and skills