Authentic participation of New York State elementary teachers in shared decision-making: Implementing New York State English language arts learning standards

A number of initiatives have been implemented in the United States with the intent of stimulating change in the educational system. One initiative implemented in New York State (NYS) includes mandated shared decision-making (SDM) that focuses on altering the governance structures and practices in schools to increase the involvement of a variety of school stakeholders. Research conducted over the past 20 years indicates that SDM efforts have not been as successful as projected in changing governance patterns in schools. Some participants, namely teachers, perceive their involvement in SDM as contrived versus authentic. Previous research focused on the broad view of SDM involving all types of decisions. This study focused on SDM as it related to one instructional area, English Language Arts (ELA) state learning standards. The study focused on teacher perceptions regarding the degree and nature of their involvement in SDM when implementing ELA standards and whether teachers perceived their involvement as authentic or contrived.; Through surveys and interviews with teachers and administrators from four districts and elementary schools, the results of the study revealed that teachers perceived a varied level of authenticity in SDM related to the implementation of ELA standards. In each of the districts and schools in the study, the degree and nature of each central characteristic of authentic participation reported was dependent upon the organizational conditions present in that particular district and school. The study confirmed two factors proposed by Leithwood and Menzies (1998) that contribute to or inhibit the level of teacher involvement and authenticity in SDM. The first factor was the "school districts' historical way of doing business" as reflected in the organizational structure, practices and culture. The second factor involved the extent that the school districts' administrators experience external pressure regarding school accountability. The study concluded that the nature of these two factors as they existed in each district and school influenced the perceived degree and nature of teacher involvement in SDM. With more than a decade of mandated reform efforts with SDM in NYS, this study demonstrated that SDM still exists in varying degrees and is largely district and building specific.