What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how urban middle school math teachers experience the sustainability of educational reform and how their thinking, practices, and collaboration routines evolve over a 4-year instructional improvement project.

August 26, 2025American Journal of Education

Becoming Different: Teachers’ Perspectives on the Sustainability of Reform

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Authors

ADAmanda DatnowUniversity of Pittsburgh HWHayley WeddleUniversity of Pittsburgh MLMarie LocktonUniversity of California System

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Implication

Longitudinal qualitative study uncovers factors sustaining instructional reform among urban math teachers, highlighting persistent threats from accountability pressures and fading support.

Key Points

To examine how urban middle school math teachers experience the sustainability of educational reform and how their thinking, practices, and collaboration routines evolve over a 4-year instructional improvement project.
Conducted a longitudinal qualitative study tracking a 4-year instructional improvement project across four urban middle schools.
Analyzed data from 165 teacher interviews, observations of 185 teacher team meetings, and observations of 15 professional development workshops.
Teachers initially expressed skepticism rooted in past experiences with frequent, disconnected reform efforts, but sustainability was later fostered by collaborative networks and alignment with practical classroom challenges.
Shifts in thinking, instruction, and collaborative routines occurred, yet ongoing sustainability was undermined by accountability pressures, complex team dynamics, and the termination of external capacity-building support.

Cite This Study

Datnow et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0fe008d13714ec96febcda https://doi.org/10.1086/737519

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Implication

Longitudinal qualitative study uncovers factors sustaining instructional reform among urban math teachers, highlighting persistent threats from accountability pressures and fading support.

Becoming Different: Teachers’ Perspectives on the Sustainability of Reform

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Becoming Different: Teachers’ Perspectives on the Sustainability of Reform

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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