Several small research studies are underway by graduate students. Their projects are aligned with the TERI Research framework developed in Spring 2011 and serve both a research and development purpose. They are meeting together as a TERI Research Roundtable on Thursdays from 10:30 – 12:00. Summaries of their projects are described below. Currently, TERI funds are not being used for these graduate student projects. But if you have an interest, have a course assignment, or would like to learn more about the research possibilities in TERI, please contact Misty Sato at msato@umn.edu if you are interested in joining the research roundtable.
Professional development school portraits
Shannon McManimon, Campbell Chair Research Fellow, is conducting interviews with principals and teachers in our newly formed Professional Development Schools (PDSs).
Research questions:
Immediate: What does the professional culture in a TERI Partner Network school look like at the beginning of the partnership?
Longitudinal: What is the impact of the Partnership Network on the University? What is the impact of the Partnership Network on the school partner?
Theoretical frameworks: organizational culture, professional collaboration, school change, professional networks
TERI Purpose:
Immediate:

• Ascertain school expectations of Partnership Network
• Document professional culture and profession collaboration opportunities at beginning of Partnership

Longitudinal:

• Document organizational culture change (if any) in schools over time
• Document organizational culture change (if any) in University over time

Co-Teaching in a high school context
Jehanne Beaton, Teacher on Special Assignment at PDS site Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis and CEHD doctoral student, is conducting a self-study of her new hybrid position as both UMN teacher educator and TOSA for professional learning. She is also engaged in a collaborative study of the co-teaching process with 4 high school social studies teachers at Roosevelt.
Research Questions:
Immediate: How do high school teachers negotiate the co-teaching experience with teacher candidates? What do they learn about teaching and about mentoring through this process? What are the hybrid or “third” spaces that co-teaching creates in the preparation of teachers?
Longitudinal: How does the co-teaching experience of high school teachers influence the professional learning culture of a high school? How do universities and schools manage hybrid or “third” spaces when sharing resources for the purposes of teacher development?
Theoretical frameworks: teacher collaboration, teacher learning, feminist research methods, hybrid or “third” spaces
TERI Purpose:
Immediate: To document the co-teaching process in a high school environment by engaging school partners (in this case, teachers) in the research process.
Longitudinal: To build trusting relationships between the university and schools around research endeavors that are valued by both institutions.
Elementary teacher candidates’ experience in redesigned program
Hallie Wunsch and Jessica Winkelaar, Elementary Education supervisors, will be conducting focus groups with Elementary Education Teacher Candidates to document their experiences with the new program model. Details of this study are still being worked out.