Excellence in English in Middle and High School How teachers' professional lives support student achievement

• Published in: American educational research journal Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 397 - 439
• Main Author: Langer, Judith A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Educational Research Association 2000; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Communities; Curriculum subjects: programmes and methods; Educational Environment; Educational Facilities Improvement; Educational research; Educational sciences; Empirische Untersuchung; Englischunterricht; English; English language; English teachers; Feldforschung; High Schools; Language arts; Language teachers; Learning; Lehrer; Leistung; Lifelong Learning; Middle Schools; Professional schools; Professionalität; Reading; Reading, writing; School Effectiveness; Schools; Schule; Schulklasse; Schulkultur; Schüler; Schülerleistung; Secondary School Teachers; Secondary schools; Student Diversity; Student Improvement; Students; Studies; Teacher Characteristics; Teacher Participation; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Teaching, Learning, and Human Development; Tätigkeit; Unterricht; USA; Writing (Composition); Writing instruction; USA; English; Academic achievement; Work Experience; Teacher role; Literacy; Secondary Education
• ISSN: 0002-8312; 1935-1011
• DOI: 10.3102/00028312037002397

This study examined the characteristics of teachers' professional lives that accompany student achievement in writing, reading and English. The study was conducted in the classrooms of 44 middle and high school teachers in four states, in 25 schools and districts that were attempting to improve students' literacy abilities. ... In 14 of the schools, students were "beating the odds", performing better than other students in demographically similar areas. ... A 5-year study of both the professional and classroom communities sought to identify characteristics in teachers' professional lives that accompanied higher student achievement. ... The effective schools and districts nurtured a climate that 1) orchestrated coordinated efforts to improve student achievement, 2) fostered teacher participation in a variety of professional communities, 3) created structured improvement activities in ways that offered teachers a strong sense of agency, 4) valued commitment to the profession of teaching, 5) engendered a caring attitude to colleagues and students, and 6) fostered a deep respect for lifelong learning. (DIPF/orig.)