A Case Study on Teachers' Reactions to New Teaching Methods that Address Race, High-Stakes Testing, and Low-Income Communities

While many school districts continue to increase the accountability that teachers have for student achievement, school districts also look to find new approaches to math and reading instruction that successfully meet the academic needs of all learners and that accurately fit within the educational constraints of the all students. However, challenges occur when students are not meeting the standard of growth required by the state, and administrators pursue alternative assistance in bridging the gap, especially with African American students. Teachers as well as administrators search for programs and strategies that could support increased efforts among all students to implement effective math and reading instruction within their classroom setting. However, there is not much research that indicates that at some school sites, teachers may feel coerced by administrators to modify their instruction to meet the standard of proficiency for math and reading skills. This coercion could offer a challenging scenario for teachers to be able to differentiate their instruction for students to meet their individual needs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how elementary school teachers are affected by new teaching methods that are designed to increase test scores on high-stakes testing that measures performance levels, and to see how it affects African American students living in a high poverty area. This study took place in a rural school district in North Carolina and involved eight teachers that taught all grades from third to fifth grade and that contributed to the state mandated formative assessments at one specific Title I school on the east coast. The study examined qualitative data from face-to-face interview responses to determine how each teacher was affected by school administration introducing new teaching methods to use to adjust their teaching strategies to increase standardized test scores. These results suggested that teachers valued much of the guidance offered along with the teaching directives, and that teachers maintained strong opinions and teaching preferences throughout these processes. Such findings, if acknowledged, could be profound to some educators, giving them a voice in deciding how they teach their students based on their years of experience. In addition, the findings suggest that states might introduce personal expectations of teachers into the processes.