What?! Again?!

As an educator, I have experienced issues with program implementation from several viewpoints. I have been a classroom teacher, bogged down with the limited time, overwhelming materials and limited training. I have also been a trainer for a national reading company attempting to provide the training on the use of material purchased and I have been a literacy coach attempting to "pass along" my training to the teachers in my building on the new materials/programs. With this background, I know first-hand the frustration that comes from program implementation. But let me be clear; it's not the implementation of a new program here and there. It is the CONTINOUS implementation of program after program after program!! No program seems to be given adequate time to prove itself. It seems as soon as millions are spent (literally millions) in materials and training, something else comes along. Once again teachers are expected to learn new methods and materials, spending hours in training! Certainly this leads to burnout and frustration as much as other factors including student behavior, lack of parental participation and lack of effective administrative support.

My research on this topic has led to some, but not many studies observing this problem. I hope to add new research that will hopefully make a difference.

Teacher Frustration with Continuous Implementation of Programs

Teaching can be a rewarding profession, but it can also be challenging, as evidenced by the number of educators who are dissatisfied with or leaving the profession. (Collingridge, 2008)  Suffice to say, teacher frustration is seen more and more, year after year. The variety of factors, include, but are not limited to lack of parental support, lack of support from school administration and student behavior. Yet, what teachers are faced with most recently is being held accountable, almost entirely, from student achievement.

Recent studies suggest an ongoing exodus of many educators from the profession because of challenges associated with teaching (Henke, Chen, Geis, & Knepper, 2000; McCoy, 2003). Teachers are frustrated with the continuous implementation of program after program and then being held responsible for the academic results. In many instances, these programs are only used briefly or inconsistiently and often the training is little to none. Many studies have been and continue to be conducted to identify how these and other issues are leading to stress and dissatisfaction of educators.

References

Collingridge, Dave S. (2008). Phenomenological insight on being hindered from fulfilling one’s primary responsibility to educate students. The Alberta Journal of Educational Research.54,112-123

Henke, R.R., Chen, X., Geis, S., & Knepper, P. (2000). Progress through the teacher pipeline: 1992-93college graduates and elementary/secondary school teaching as of 1997. NCES Report No. 2000-152.Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics