Blazing New Trails - Connexions

194 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
these themes were not indicated as important by the principals who indicated that the two
biggest barriers to a successful multiage program would be the lack of professional
development and lack of time for planning and adapting the curriculum.
Research Question 6: How is the institutionalization of multiage programs in the
teachers’ and principals’ schools monitored and evaluated?
The researchers asked teachers and principals if they had multiage education in their
schools for at least three years, and 100% of the teachers and principals answered yes. The
second part of that question was to discover how they had monitored, evaluated and modified
their multiage programs over time. In order to avoid skewing the responses of the participants,
no prompts were suggested. Since prompts were not provided in the questioning, the answers
reflected the participants’ highest priority, not necessarily all their priorities in answering the
interview question. Table18 represents the seven emergent themes from the teachers and
principals in response to the open-ended questions: “Have you had multiage in your school at
least three years? How have you monitored, evaluated, and modified your multiage programs
over time?”
Table 18. Monitoring and Evaluating Multiage.
Factors Teachers (20) Principals (10)
Implementation of multiage at least three years 20 10
Student showing success and growth 20 00
Collaboration with colleagues 18 00
Self reflection 15 00
Standardized tests 00 10
Walkthroughs 00 05
Evaluations and at times eliminating staff 00 05
Principals stated that one way they monitored and evaluated a multiage program was
through an evaluation of the students and how well they did on standardized testing, such as
the Illinois State Achievement Test. The principals’ answers indicated that they were
concerned about numbers from assessments and how well their students achieved on those
assessments. They also referred to “walkthroughs” as a way to monitor classrooms. The
principals indicated that during those “walkthroughs” they would look at student behavior,
balanced literacy, and math in the classrooms. Principals indicated that if their program was
experiencing difficulty, they would consider eliminating staff who did not teach to this
process.
The teachers all agreed that they monitored and evaluated their program through the
success of their children. They talked about working together and developing a community of
learners where all students felt respected and empowered. The teachers spoke about setting
goals for themselves, such as, “Is my instruction student centered?” and “Am I empowering
students in their day to day operations?” Teachers talked about reflecting on these goals and
what they did to make sure that students had ownership in their learning. Through self
reflection, they were always modifying their instruction to make it better for their students. A
portion of the difference between teachers’ and principals’ responses was because of the
different roles of a teacher and a principal. Principals’ responses focused on school-wide
assessments while teachers’ responses focused on classroom assessments.