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In an effort to reverse the purported crisis in U.S. public schools, the federal government, states, districts have mandated policies that favor standardized approaches to teaching and assessment. As a consequence, teachers have been relying on teacher-centered instructional approaches that do not take into consideration the needs, experiences, and interests of their students; this is particularly pronounced with English learners (ELs). The widespread implementation of these policies is particularly striking in California, where more than 25% of all public school students are ELs. This volume reports on three studies that explore how teachers of ELs in three school districts negotiated these policies. Drawing on sociocultural and poststructural perspectives on agency and power, the authors examine how contexts in which teachers of ELs lived and worked influenced the messages they constructed about these policies and mediated their decisions about policy implementation. The volume provides important insights into processes affecting the learning and teaching of ELs.

Teachers of English Learners Negotiating Authoritarian Policies

Chapter 1: Introduction . U.S. Educational Policy and English Learners . A Brief Overview of How Literacy Has Been Taught in the U.S. . Contrasting Views on the Role of Teachers in Policy Making . Poststructural Perspectives on Agency . Teacher Agency and Educational Policy . The Three Studies Reported on in This Volume .- Chapter 2: Teachers of ELs Negotiating Top-down Literacy Initiatives in Two Urban Districts . Research Design and Data Sources . Findings . Teachers Made Principled Adaptations to the Program . People Overseeing Teachers' Implementation of OCR Influenced Teachers' Actions . Administrators Differentiated Enforcement of the OCR Mandate . Supportive Principals and Colleagues Affected Teachers' Actions . Resistance as Principled and Accommodating . Conclusion .- Chapter 3: Case Studies of Teachers Negotiating a Top-Down Literacy Mandate . The Case Study Teachers . Data Collection and Analysis . Classroom Observations . Post-Observation Interviews . Findings . Teacher Talk Predominated . Whole-Class Instruction Characterized Almost All Teaching . OCR Skill and Strategy Instruction Predominated . Teachers Frequently Read the OCR Texts Aloud to Students . Students Had Very Few Opportunities to Read Independently . Students Had Virtually No Opportunities to Write . Teachers Were Concerned About How OCR Was Not Meeting Their Students' Needs . Over Time, Teachers Became More Compliant with the District Policy . Discussion . A Desire to Remain Part of the Burgess Community Motivated Teachers to Conform . Institutional Authority Exerted a Tremendous Influence on Teachers' Actions . Professional Roles and Relationships Influenced Teachers' Actions . Conclusion