There has been a surge in the demand for the establishment of high-quality after-school programs ... more There has been a surge in the demand for the establishment of high-quality after-school programs (ASP) predicated on professional collaboration between in-school and after-school educators (OECD, 2014). In this validation study, we outline the psychometric properties of the Collaboration Quality Index (CQI) comprised of four predominant scales, using data collected from 44 Swiss ASPs and 266 ASP staff members. Internal and external validity findings, as well as bivariate correlations, indicated that the CQI is able to measure specific aspects of professional collaboration that are not accounted for with traditional and stand-alone measurement scales. ASP policy-makers and practitioners are encouraged to utilize the CQI to assess ASPs and use the results to make evidencedbased decisions for improvement.
The purposeful design of social networks is increasingly recognized as a fundamental organization... more The purposeful design of social networks is increasingly recognized as a fundamental organizational improvement strategy. In the PK-12 education sector, school-based teacher collaboration is the primary vehicle through which educators are able to gain access to essential social capital, and through which leaders promulgate diffusion of innovation and continuous organizational learning. In partnership with school administrators, the authors undertook an evaluation to examine the size, structure, and composition of school-based networks. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to measure and visualize connections (or lack thereof) of ties between teams and between educators. Isolate and disconnected network actors were revealed through visual inspection of the sociograms. Administrators used findings to reconfigure team membership to enhance teacher ability to give and receive support and collaboratively problem-solve, and to ensure greater capacity for diffusion of instructional innovation and organizational learning. This paper contributes to the field's understanding of how evaluators and organizational leaders can use SNA to measure, visualize, and more purposefully design effective patterns of connection between people through which professional knowledge, support, and innovation will travel.
Professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as one of the nation’s most widely implemen... more Professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as one of the nation’s most widely implemented strategies for improving instruction and PK–12 student learning outcomes. PLCs are predicated on the principles of improvement science, a type of evidenced-based collective inquiry that aims to bridge the research–practice divide and increase organizational capacity to solve pressing problems of practice. In this article, the Teacher Collaboration Assessment Rubric (TCAR) is presented in which the evidenced-based attributes of rigorous PK–12 PLCs are operationalized. The author describes how the TCAR has been used for developmental, formative, and outcome evaluation purposes in PK–12 settings. The value of the TCAR and the evaluation of PLCs in other complex organizational systems such as health care and the sciences are also discussed. PLC evaluation can help teams to focus on improvement and to avoid “collaboration lite” whereby congeniality and imprecise conversation are confused with the disciplined professional inquiry vital to organizational improvement.
Teacher collaboration is a vital factor in successful school reform, and the networks in which ed... more Teacher collaboration is a vital factor in successful school reform, and the networks in which educators are embedded support (or constrain) access to essential social capital resources. In this study, authors used social network analysis to examine the changing structure of teacher collaboration networks over the course of a rural District’s 3-year Professional Learning Community (PLC) initiative. Visual depictions (sociograms) of district- and school-level teacher collaboration networks were generated, and measures of network cohesion – including size, density, connectedness, components, and degree – were calculated at three points in time. Authors worked in partnership with district administrators to explore how location of teachers and principals, and network capacity for diffusion of innovation, changed over time. School leaders may not know how to purposefully influence communication ties between teachers, relying instead on the invisible web of personal affiliations through w...
Social network analysis (SNA), a methodological approach that enables the mathematical examinatio... more Social network analysis (SNA), a methodological approach that enables the mathematical examination of interprofessional relationships, can be an important tool for understanding and leveraging the social relationships that support and restrain instructional innovation and the quality and pace of school reform initiatives. In this article, we explicate the conceptual underpinnings of SNA and summarize how it has been used in a range of preK–12 educational evaluation contexts. A school-based case study is presented in which school leaders examined formal and advice-seeking networks among teachers, staff, and administrators and used the findings to reduce teacher isolationism, promote efficient communication, and increase system capacity for instructional innovation. Challenges associated with SNA for educational evaluation and school improvement are also discussed.
Purpose: This study examined an urban district’s capacity to diffuse instructional innovations. S... more Purpose: This study examined an urban district’s capacity to diffuse instructional innovations. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to examine the relationship between “informal” teacher support networks and “formal” teacher support networks engineered by administrators through required membership on a team. This study also sought to uncover how school leaders considered study findings in light of their district’s theory of change to improve teacher collaboration. Method: About 1,100 employees responded to a sociometric survey that queried for demographics, team membership, and advice-seeking behavior. SNA methods were used to examine network cohesion (i.e., size, density, isolates, ties) and degree centrality. Statistical analyses (chi-square and multinomial logistic regressions) were performed to examine how team membership were associated with teachers’ advice-seeking behaviors. Visual inspection of sociograms was used to communicate and make meaning of findings with district ...
In this NSF CSforALL funded research study, the authors sought to understand the extent to which ... more In this NSF CSforALL funded research study, the authors sought to understand the extent to which an urban district's teacher instructional support network enabled or constrained capacity to implement and diffuse Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) instructional practices throughout the K-12 curriculum. Social network analysis was used to investigate informal teacher advice-seeking and advice-giving patterns of DLCS support. Network measures of cohesion and centrality were computed. Findings revealed that DLCS-focused teacher support networks tend to exhibit very low density, have relatively few ties, include a high number of isolates (teachers with no connections), and centralize around a particular actor. In addition, a low level of overlap was found between DLCS networks and primary instructional networks. Overall, study findings suggest that teacher networks are not well-structured to support the flow of DLCS advice and support. The authors conclude that examining an...
In this paper, we share the results of a summative evaluation of PEILI, a US-based adult professi... more In this paper, we share the results of a summative evaluation of PEILI, a US-based adult professional development/training program for secondary school Pakistani teachers. The evaluation was guided by the theories of cultural competence (American Psychological Association, 2003; Bamberger, 1999; Wadsworth, 2001) and established frameworks for the evaluation of professional development/training and instructional design (Bennett, 1975; Guskey, 2002; King, 2014; Kirkpatrick, 1967). The explicit and implicit stakeholder assumptions about the connections between program resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes are described. Participant knowledge and skills were measured via scores on a pre/posttest of professional knowledge, and a standards-based performance assessment rubric. In addition to measuring short-term program outcomes, we also sought to incorporate theory-driven thinking into the evaluation design. Hence, we examined participant self-efficacy and access to social capital,...
International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 2016
An exploratory case study is presented in which social network analysis (SNA) was used to explore... more An exploratory case study is presented in which social network analysis (SNA) was used to explore how school teaming structures influence the implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The authors theorized that PBIS leadership teams that include members with connections to all other information-sharing teams (e.g., grade level teacher teams) within schools would enable more comprehensive PBIS implementation. Matrices and sociograms depicting the structure and attributes of school-based teams, PBIS implementation data, and teacher self-reports were analyzed in two schools. Findings suggest that the configuration and positioning of PBIS leadership teams within a school's communication network will influence school-wide implementation and the degree to which teachers accurately articulate school-wide core values and teach core values to their students. Implications for the configuration of PBIS leadership teams and the use of SNA to examine how teams constrain or advance PBIS implementation are discussed.
Nurses' fear of blame following a medication event and confusion about the error-reporting re... more Nurses' fear of blame following a medication event and confusion about the error-reporting requirements of multiple regulatory bodies that oversee nursing practice and nursing home operations can stifle the discussion and analysis of medication administration events to promote patient safety. The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing and the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Health Policy and Research convened the Massachusetts Medication Safety Alliance, a 15-member collaborative of regulatory agencies and long-term care providers, to develop the Nurse-Employer Medication Safety Partnership Model to cultivate a safety culture in Massachusetts nursing homes that supports voluntary medication-event recognition and disclosure by nurses. A proactive approach to the Board's public protection mission, the model will promote public safety through early intervention and quality improvement. To guide the model's development, the Alliance assessed the perceptions of 1,286 nurses working in 109 Massachusetts nursing homes, finding more than half rated their practice environment as punitive and identified fears of blame, disciplinary action, and lawsuits as barriers to medication-event reporting.
Educational evaluation (Ed Eval) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are two of the nati... more Educational evaluation (Ed Eval) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are two of the nation’s most predominant approaches to widespread instructional improvement. Yet key attributes of these reform initiatives are too often experienced by teachers as burdensome, or even detrimental, rather than helpful. The authors of this article contend that school leaders will be more successful in their school improvement efforts when they integrate the most promising elements of PLCs (disciplined collaboration, deprivatization of practice, and classroom-based assessment) and Ed Eval (use of professional performance standards, observation and feedback, and a focus on results) into a tiered system of job-embedded professional development. The authors articulate the promises and pitfalls of Ed Eval and PLCs and reenvision how they could be integrated into a system through which subpar teaching is systemically addressed, acceptable teaching is improved upon, and outstanding teaching is sustained and replicated. The authors showcase elements of integrated system using vignettes based on the experiences of an actual high school-level English language arts teacher team.
Although teacher collaboration is a school improvement imperative, it persists as an under-empiri... more Although teacher collaboration is a school improvement imperative, it persists as an under-empiricized construct that has proven difficult to establish and assess with certainty. In this article, the authors present a validation study of the Teacher Collaboration Assessment Survey (TCAS). The TCAS operationalizes and measures 4 key domains of teacher collaboration: dialogue, decision making, action, and evaluation, and has been used to examine the quality of teacher teaming in district-wide comprehensive school reform efforts in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Five sources of validity evidence recommended by Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999) are explicated, which establish a strong argument in support of the instruments' validity. The authors discuss how educational leaders and researchers can use the TCAS for leveraging teacher collaboration for instructional innovation and student achievement, and to systematically examine teacher teaming and its relationship to other educational outcomes.
There has been a surge in the demand for the establishment of high-quality after-school programs ... more There has been a surge in the demand for the establishment of high-quality after-school programs (ASP) predicated on professional collaboration between in-school and after-school educators (OECD, 2014). In this validation study, we outline the psychometric properties of the Collaboration Quality Index (CQI) comprised of four predominant scales, using data collected from 44 Swiss ASPs and 266 ASP staff members. Internal and external validity findings, as well as bivariate correlations, indicated that the CQI is able to measure specific aspects of professional collaboration that are not accounted for with traditional and stand-alone measurement scales. ASP policy-makers and practitioners are encouraged to utilize the CQI to assess ASPs and use the results to make evidencedbased decisions for improvement.
The purposeful design of social networks is increasingly recognized as a fundamental organization... more The purposeful design of social networks is increasingly recognized as a fundamental organizational improvement strategy. In the PK-12 education sector, school-based teacher collaboration is the primary vehicle through which educators are able to gain access to essential social capital, and through which leaders promulgate diffusion of innovation and continuous organizational learning. In partnership with school administrators, the authors undertook an evaluation to examine the size, structure, and composition of school-based networks. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to measure and visualize connections (or lack thereof) of ties between teams and between educators. Isolate and disconnected network actors were revealed through visual inspection of the sociograms. Administrators used findings to reconfigure team membership to enhance teacher ability to give and receive support and collaboratively problem-solve, and to ensure greater capacity for diffusion of instructional innovation and organizational learning. This paper contributes to the field's understanding of how evaluators and organizational leaders can use SNA to measure, visualize, and more purposefully design effective patterns of connection between people through which professional knowledge, support, and innovation will travel.
Professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as one of the nation’s most widely implemen... more Professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as one of the nation’s most widely implemented strategies for improving instruction and PK–12 student learning outcomes. PLCs are predicated on the principles of improvement science, a type of evidenced-based collective inquiry that aims to bridge the research–practice divide and increase organizational capacity to solve pressing problems of practice. In this article, the Teacher Collaboration Assessment Rubric (TCAR) is presented in which the evidenced-based attributes of rigorous PK–12 PLCs are operationalized. The author describes how the TCAR has been used for developmental, formative, and outcome evaluation purposes in PK–12 settings. The value of the TCAR and the evaluation of PLCs in other complex organizational systems such as health care and the sciences are also discussed. PLC evaluation can help teams to focus on improvement and to avoid “collaboration lite” whereby congeniality and imprecise conversation are confused with the disciplined professional inquiry vital to organizational improvement.
Teacher collaboration is a vital factor in successful school reform, and the networks in which ed... more Teacher collaboration is a vital factor in successful school reform, and the networks in which educators are embedded support (or constrain) access to essential social capital resources. In this study, authors used social network analysis to examine the changing structure of teacher collaboration networks over the course of a rural District’s 3-year Professional Learning Community (PLC) initiative. Visual depictions (sociograms) of district- and school-level teacher collaboration networks were generated, and measures of network cohesion – including size, density, connectedness, components, and degree – were calculated at three points in time. Authors worked in partnership with district administrators to explore how location of teachers and principals, and network capacity for diffusion of innovation, changed over time. School leaders may not know how to purposefully influence communication ties between teachers, relying instead on the invisible web of personal affiliations through w...
Social network analysis (SNA), a methodological approach that enables the mathematical examinatio... more Social network analysis (SNA), a methodological approach that enables the mathematical examination of interprofessional relationships, can be an important tool for understanding and leveraging the social relationships that support and restrain instructional innovation and the quality and pace of school reform initiatives. In this article, we explicate the conceptual underpinnings of SNA and summarize how it has been used in a range of preK–12 educational evaluation contexts. A school-based case study is presented in which school leaders examined formal and advice-seeking networks among teachers, staff, and administrators and used the findings to reduce teacher isolationism, promote efficient communication, and increase system capacity for instructional innovation. Challenges associated with SNA for educational evaluation and school improvement are also discussed.
Purpose: This study examined an urban district’s capacity to diffuse instructional innovations. S... more Purpose: This study examined an urban district’s capacity to diffuse instructional innovations. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to examine the relationship between “informal” teacher support networks and “formal” teacher support networks engineered by administrators through required membership on a team. This study also sought to uncover how school leaders considered study findings in light of their district’s theory of change to improve teacher collaboration. Method: About 1,100 employees responded to a sociometric survey that queried for demographics, team membership, and advice-seeking behavior. SNA methods were used to examine network cohesion (i.e., size, density, isolates, ties) and degree centrality. Statistical analyses (chi-square and multinomial logistic regressions) were performed to examine how team membership were associated with teachers’ advice-seeking behaviors. Visual inspection of sociograms was used to communicate and make meaning of findings with district ...
In this NSF CSforALL funded research study, the authors sought to understand the extent to which ... more In this NSF CSforALL funded research study, the authors sought to understand the extent to which an urban district's teacher instructional support network enabled or constrained capacity to implement and diffuse Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) instructional practices throughout the K-12 curriculum. Social network analysis was used to investigate informal teacher advice-seeking and advice-giving patterns of DLCS support. Network measures of cohesion and centrality were computed. Findings revealed that DLCS-focused teacher support networks tend to exhibit very low density, have relatively few ties, include a high number of isolates (teachers with no connections), and centralize around a particular actor. In addition, a low level of overlap was found between DLCS networks and primary instructional networks. Overall, study findings suggest that teacher networks are not well-structured to support the flow of DLCS advice and support. The authors conclude that examining an...
In this paper, we share the results of a summative evaluation of PEILI, a US-based adult professi... more In this paper, we share the results of a summative evaluation of PEILI, a US-based adult professional development/training program for secondary school Pakistani teachers. The evaluation was guided by the theories of cultural competence (American Psychological Association, 2003; Bamberger, 1999; Wadsworth, 2001) and established frameworks for the evaluation of professional development/training and instructional design (Bennett, 1975; Guskey, 2002; King, 2014; Kirkpatrick, 1967). The explicit and implicit stakeholder assumptions about the connections between program resources, activities, outputs, and outcomes are described. Participant knowledge and skills were measured via scores on a pre/posttest of professional knowledge, and a standards-based performance assessment rubric. In addition to measuring short-term program outcomes, we also sought to incorporate theory-driven thinking into the evaluation design. Hence, we examined participant self-efficacy and access to social capital,...
International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 2016
An exploratory case study is presented in which social network analysis (SNA) was used to explore... more An exploratory case study is presented in which social network analysis (SNA) was used to explore how school teaming structures influence the implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The authors theorized that PBIS leadership teams that include members with connections to all other information-sharing teams (e.g., grade level teacher teams) within schools would enable more comprehensive PBIS implementation. Matrices and sociograms depicting the structure and attributes of school-based teams, PBIS implementation data, and teacher self-reports were analyzed in two schools. Findings suggest that the configuration and positioning of PBIS leadership teams within a school's communication network will influence school-wide implementation and the degree to which teachers accurately articulate school-wide core values and teach core values to their students. Implications for the configuration of PBIS leadership teams and the use of SNA to examine how teams constrain or advance PBIS implementation are discussed.
Nurses' fear of blame following a medication event and confusion about the error-reporting re... more Nurses' fear of blame following a medication event and confusion about the error-reporting requirements of multiple regulatory bodies that oversee nursing practice and nursing home operations can stifle the discussion and analysis of medication administration events to promote patient safety. The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing and the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Health Policy and Research convened the Massachusetts Medication Safety Alliance, a 15-member collaborative of regulatory agencies and long-term care providers, to develop the Nurse-Employer Medication Safety Partnership Model to cultivate a safety culture in Massachusetts nursing homes that supports voluntary medication-event recognition and disclosure by nurses. A proactive approach to the Board's public protection mission, the model will promote public safety through early intervention and quality improvement. To guide the model's development, the Alliance assessed the perceptions of 1,286 nurses working in 109 Massachusetts nursing homes, finding more than half rated their practice environment as punitive and identified fears of blame, disciplinary action, and lawsuits as barriers to medication-event reporting.
Educational evaluation (Ed Eval) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are two of the nati... more Educational evaluation (Ed Eval) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are two of the nation’s most predominant approaches to widespread instructional improvement. Yet key attributes of these reform initiatives are too often experienced by teachers as burdensome, or even detrimental, rather than helpful. The authors of this article contend that school leaders will be more successful in their school improvement efforts when they integrate the most promising elements of PLCs (disciplined collaboration, deprivatization of practice, and classroom-based assessment) and Ed Eval (use of professional performance standards, observation and feedback, and a focus on results) into a tiered system of job-embedded professional development. The authors articulate the promises and pitfalls of Ed Eval and PLCs and reenvision how they could be integrated into a system through which subpar teaching is systemically addressed, acceptable teaching is improved upon, and outstanding teaching is sustained and replicated. The authors showcase elements of integrated system using vignettes based on the experiences of an actual high school-level English language arts teacher team.
Although teacher collaboration is a school improvement imperative, it persists as an under-empiri... more Although teacher collaboration is a school improvement imperative, it persists as an under-empiricized construct that has proven difficult to establish and assess with certainty. In this article, the authors present a validation study of the Teacher Collaboration Assessment Survey (TCAS). The TCAS operationalizes and measures 4 key domains of teacher collaboration: dialogue, decision making, action, and evaluation, and has been used to examine the quality of teacher teaming in district-wide comprehensive school reform efforts in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Five sources of validity evidence recommended by Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999) are explicated, which establish a strong argument in support of the instruments' validity. The authors discuss how educational leaders and researchers can use the TCAS for leveraging teacher collaboration for instructional innovation and student achievement, and to systematically examine teacher teaming and its relationship to other educational outcomes.
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Papers by Rebecca Woodland