Prescribed commercially-prepared Language Arts intervention curriculum: Illuminating a practitioner perspective

This study investigates the perceptions of a small group of Language Arts intervention teachers who have been prescribed a commercially-prepared intervention curriculum for use with their students. Written surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data in pursuit of answers to the following research questions: (1) How do teachers perceive the purpose and features of a prescribed commercially-prepared Language Arts intervention curriculum? (2) How do teachers perceive their implementation of a prescribed commercially-prepared Language Arts intervention curriculum? (3) How do teachers perceive the professional development experiences designed to guide their implementation of a prescribed commercially-prepared Language Arts intervention curriculum? ❧ Participants’ responses to closed and open-ended prompts both confirm and add nuances to concepts found in literature on curriculum and curriculum implementation. The teachers describe the prescribed commercially-prepared Language Arts intervention curriculum as both a safety net for new teachers and as a tool to be used in the pursuit of learning objectives. ❧ The participants perceive the role of the classroom teacher as curriculum completer. They have a perceived partnership with the curriculum authors in which the authors provide a research-based curriculum designed for a broad audience of students and the teachers make adaptations that make the curriculum best fit the local context of their specific students. This perceived partnership is mitigated by district policies regarding curriculum implementation and the district-provided professional development experiences designed to support implementation of the curriculum.

本研究旨在调研一小批语言艺术干预教师（Language Arts intervention teachers）的认知情况，这些教师被指定采用商业化编制的干预课程开展学生教学。本研究采用书面问卷与半结构化访谈收集数据，以解答如下三个研究问题：
(1) 教师如何看待指定使用的商业化编制语言艺术干预课程的目标与特征？
(2) 教师如何评价自身对指定商业化编制语言艺术干预课程的实施情况？
(3) 教师如何看待为指导其落实指定商业化编制语言艺术干预课程而设计的专业发展培训项目？

参与者对封闭式与开放式问题项的回应，既验证了课程与课程实施相关文献中的核心观点，又为其增添了细节维度。教师们将指定使用的商业化编制语言艺术干预课程，视作新教师的保障依托，同时也是达成教学目标的实用工具。

参与者认为，课堂教师的角色为课程实施者（curriculum completer）。他们认为自身与课程编写者存在合作关系：编写者提供面向广泛学生群体的研究型课程，而教师则会调整课程内容，使其最适配所教学生的本地教学场景。但这种认知中的合作关系，会因学区关于课程实施的政策，以及学区为支持课程实施所提供的专业发展培训项目而受到削弱。