What They Left Behind: A Case Study of Teachers' Experiences with School Improvement at Evergreen Elementary School

With the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an unprecedented amount of pressure has been placed upon schools to increase student achievement. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, sanctions are imposed on schools that are considered underperforming for more than two years even though previous high-stakes accountability systems were unsuccessful in increasing students' performance (Goertz & Duffy, 2003; Mintrop & Trujillo, 2005). These "failing" schools enter into program improvement (referred to as "school improvement" in Virginia), where improvement options include providing tutoring to students, creating school improvement plans, and planning for alternative governance of the school. Failing schools tend to have higher rates of teacher turnover and often employ larger numbers of teachers working with emergency certification. Higher rates of turnover are reported for administrators in failing schools as well. Schools may have insufficient resources to address their needs because they tend to be located in high-poverty areas (Meyers & Murphy, 2007). Research has found that high-stakes accountability systems, such as NCLB, serve to create an environment of fear that stifles innovation and creativity. "The greater the consequences for not attaining testing goals, the more threatening and high pressure the school or district becomes as a work environment. High-stakes environments create a single-minded focus on avoiding sanctions, accompanied by a fear to attempt anything new or untried" (Schoen & Fusarelli, 2008, p. 192). As teachers attempt to meet accountability demands, the curriculum can be restricted to rote learning and a focus on content. Students in sanctioned schools need their teachers need to take risks and try innovative techniques and curriculum (Amrein & Berliner, 2002). The literature shows that failure to make annual yearly progress (AYP) as required by NCLB impacts teachers in multiple ways. We know that increases in teachers' workloads, increased stress from testing pressures, and changes in the environment result from NCLB and factor in to teachers' decisions to resign from schools that are in improvement or to leave the teaching profession altogether. In order for change to be successfully implemented in schools, teachers need to find the reforms meaningful and the changes need to align with their personal beliefs. However, there are fewer cases in the literature that illustrate teachers' experiences with school reform and school improvement. The majority of studies on NCLB and improvement focus on statistical outcomes, not teachers' experiences and how the implementation of NCLB affects them and their students. My study seeks to provide voice to teachers whose experiences go largely unheard by policymakers. With NCLB currently overdue for reauthorization, this research contributes an important piece to the debate over the effectiveness of NCLB by providing stories of personal experiences rather than test scores. During the 2009-2010 school year, Evergreen Elementary School was in Year Four of school improvement for failing to make Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) in both reading and math. Schools across the nation find themselves in similar situations as more schools enter improvement based on their failure to make AYP. Drawing on observational and interview data from upper elementary school teachers, this paper will explore how striving to make AYP impacted teachers including increased workloads and stress, and how these factors led to teachers leaving the school. One teacher's story of his decision to leave is highlighted. Role of the Researcher The role of the researcher in qualitative research is fluid, ranging from a passive observer to an active participant observer. However, as the instrument, the researcher also brings her own interpretations and experiences to the work. In my study, I initially began data collection as a passive observer and I took field notes during classroom instruction. …