Chapter 2: Success Cycles At Hunter Elementary: Collaboration, Culture, Commitment, and Continuity

This case study described how teachers and administrators have responded to pressures for accountability by articulating a unique, two-dimensional vision that links their words and actions. By comparing observations and interviews, the researchers showed that this dual vision of meeting chil-dren’s needs and getting them ready for testing “was a lived vision and extended beyond the customary goals written for a school improvement plan.” This dual vision has enabled participants to integrate moral purpose (“teach the whole child”) with practical accountability (strategies for improving test scores). The examples reported, such as the EOG Camp, demonstrated how participants simultaneously prepare for exams and engage students in meaningful, responsive instruction. By examining the nature of participants’ conversations in planning sessions, the researchers highlighted the process of “enabling dialogue,” which captures “the continual emphasis on assessment, instruction, and individual student attention, as well as the collaborative give and take that occurred as classroom teachers, interns, volunteers, specialists, and the principal compared notes and formulated action plans for students.” This “value-added quality of talk at Hunter” helps us better understand the role of school conversations in improving the quality of instruction and in creating more supportive professional learning communities. [adapted from a manuscript published in Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 18 (3) Spring 2003, 222-239.]