Closing the Achievement Gap Through Teacher Collaboration Review 1

Closing the Achievement Gap through Teacher Collaboration:

Facilitating Multiple Trajectories of Teacher Learning

Review

Alvin Wiggins

Troy University Dothan

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Abstract

Closing the achievement gap among students has become a growing concern among legislators,

professional educators and advocates on behalf of education reform. In this summary review, we

will discuss two methods that address this issue. The first approach engulfs the concept of

mandated curriculum. School leaders choose a curriculum that has been tested and the end

results achieved the academic goals. These results must be measurable. The second approach

suggests teacher collaboration among teacher at the same grade level. Teachers will meet to

discuss how to improve skills. They would be able to trade ideas and come up with strategies for

different problems in the classroom. This approach would only be effective if teachers fully

engage. Teachers have work independently for many years. Teachers must learn to share their

practices and ideas with colleagues.

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Academic institutions have made great strides in evolving into the advance learning

centers that we know as schools today. Even though we have come a long ways, there is still

room for improvement. Researchers and policy makers have identified the various academic

progresses of U.S. students based on race, class, and language. In the research article called

“Closing the Achievement Gap through Teacher Collaboration”, by Thomas H. Levine and Alan

S. Marcus, they discuss two approaches that schools and leaders may use to close the

achievement gap.

The first approach increases control over teachers by subscribing to a curriculum that has

been tested and the desired goals were achieved. These results must be measurable. The

success of this strategy is dependent upon the fidelity of educators that administer the

curriculum.

The Second approach favors the building of professional learning communities for

teachers. These communities are structured to help teachers take more ownership for self-

development. This approach can help improve educator’s work by providing an forum to obtain

new teaching concepts, ideas, and education on topics pertaining to special emphasis students

transitioning through their current teaching assignment.

Levine and Marcus believe that a decrease in incentives for continuing implementation of

these approaches will drop off as soon as incentives become scarce. Reducing teachers to

technicians takes away their ability to adapt the curriculum to all students in their classroom.

This also cause a decrease in their understanding of the curriculum . Creating a limit on teacher’s

ability to be creative takes away their authority to make decisions on the curriculum. This

method detours pre-service teacher form teaching at schools that implement this technique. The
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Second approach focuses more on the developing of teacher’s knowledge and skills

collaboratively. This concept proposes that focusing on teachers learning alongside

implementing the program combined with prior experience increases the chance of the program

goal being achieved.

Teacher skills can be improved by participating in learning communities within their

school. Teachers can learn alternate ways to deal with problem issues in their classroom by

observing each other’s and implement concepts that were successful. This method also builds

cohesion among teachers within the school and community. Teachers can adopt new practices

that will strengthen their classroom skills. Educators who participate in such an exercise are

more likely to grasp the desired outcome of such a program and continuing implementing these

new approaches without the presence of incentives.

The concept of multiple trajectories place teachers in situations where they are receiving

multiple learning trajectories at the same time. This research article uses data from the

observation of two teams of teachers at different schools collaborating over a two year period.

Results stated that this method’s end result was not as successful. This approach incorporates

bottom-up coding, which allows ideas and concepts derived from the data collected. Top down

coding was also helpful providing valuable data about how teachers share their own practices,

critiquing methods, and how they engage in different discussions with peers. These discussions

should lead to stronger and effective classroom practices. The inner operations of these

communities are broken down into three trajectories. These trajectories are collaboration,

promoting school-family partnership and instructional modifications for English Language

Learners (ELLs).
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Collaboration among teachers within the same grade level will allow teachers to share

teaching techniques, ask for recommendations on problems that theory have in their classroom.

In theory this will work if teachers can overcome their autonomous nature and open themselves

to constructive criticism form peers. Levine and Marcus states that asking for help can be

difficult in a culture that values autonomy. (Levine and Marcus 2007). Teachers must offer

suggestions to other teachers and share their own practices as well.

The second module to this approach is promoting school family partnership involvement.

Family involvement with children’s education plays a very important role. Studies show that

family involvement decreases the likelihood of student drop-out and improve academic

achievement. (US Dept. of Education 1995). Teachers must promote family involvement by

keeping parents inform on a consistent basis. Schools can come up with different ways of

encouraging families to become more involved with their children education.

The Third trajectory addresses the importance of ELLs. Observation data used for these

articles reflect that poor education could be a factor if unsupported by leaders. Not Promoting

improvement with ELLs could result in limited progression in other aspects of this approach

which prolongs closing the achievement gap.

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References

Marcus, T. H. (2007). Closing the Gap Through Teacher Collaboration: Facilitating Multiples Trajectories

of Teacher Learning. Journal of Advanced Academics, 116-138.