Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Music

The professional development of teachers is an ongoing process of learning that is essential to their personal and professional growth and plays a significant role in students' achievement and success. The purpose of this study was to examine how participation in a peer review and assessment program catalyzed changes in teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and practices as a part of their professional growth. Specifically, the study examined how participation in a peer review and assessment program catalyzed music teachers' professional growth (Borko, 2004; Desimone, 2009; Stanley, 2009). Nine music teachers were interviewed in this case study of a peer review program designed for the review and assessment of Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) and set in a large urban Midwestern school district in Ohio. The peer review program presented a unique opportunity to examine the capacity for music teachers' professional growth in varied contexts as teachers created and applied measurable student learning targets. Five key themes emerged from the findings: a) attitudes of resistance resulting from reviewee's misinterpretations of the SLO process and its purpose; b) advocacy for music teaching for the purpose of teaching and learning with clarity; c) asset-based vs. deficit ideology in which teachers examine standards for student achievement in urban settings; d) reflection and review upon individual teacher's practice; and e) enacting the role of reviewer as policy enactor, to enforce the authenticity and rigor of the content-specific initiative. Findings hold implications for: (a) informed peer review planning; (b) teacher evaluation; and (c) effective professional development linked to collaboration.

Committee: Julia Shaw PhD (Advisor); Jan Edwards PhD (Advisor); Antoinette Miranda PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Evaluation; Fine Arts; Music; Music Education; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2016, Educational Leadership

The Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) was created in response to the 2009 House Bill 1 mandate requiring the development of a state teacher performance assessment. This study examined K-12 public school teachers' dispositions toward OTES after the first year of implementation. Data were collected from 142 teachers over a 4-week period in 2015 using a 17-item survey with Likert-type responses. Findings revealed teachers' overall dispositions were considerably more negative than positive; specifically 86% of the respondents had a negative or moderately negative disposition toward the state model. With respect to specific aspects of OTES, the three most positive dispositions concerned individualized staff development, principal compliance with OTES, and walk-through observations. The three most negative dispositions concerned the amount of time required of teachers, infusing student value-added scores, and infusing vendor assessment scores. The levels of association between the criterion variable (a teacher's overall disposition toward OTES) and each of three predictor variables (gender, years of teaching experience, and grade level assignment) were small and negative. Collectively, the three predictor variables accounted for only 4.5% of the variation in the criterion variable. The findings have both professional and political implications. Most notably, negative dispositions reported in this study, especially those pertaining to the infusion of student assessments into teacher performance evaluations are highly controversial. Professionally, for example, many scholars, administrators, and teachers challenge the reliability, validity and fairness of using these measures. Politically, for example, policymakers should consider the negative dispositions in terms of improving existing policy. Accordingly, recommendations for improving OTES policy and for future research were made.

Committee: Theodore Kowalski Ph.D (Committee Chair); C. Daniel Raisch Ph.D (Committee Member); Carolyn Ridenour Ed.D (Committee Member); Teresa Thompson Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership