Old Guard Case Study

The case study involves how a newly appointed principal of a smaller neighborhood school will improve student achievement on test scores for a diverse population of students. While the school itself is administered well, the environment lacks the necessary emphasis on teaching to improve learning. The school, being relatively small, only employs 20 teachers. Of that breakdown, 10 teachers are within their first three years of teaching and are eager to cooperate and learn, 7 are indifferent about change, and 3 are part of the “old guard” at the school and account for more teaching experience than the 10 new teachers. The problem that occurs in staff meetings is that the “old guard” continue to question and push back to suggestions put in place to improve student achievement by stating that they have tried all strategies in the past with little to no success (Hoy & Miskel, 2013, pg. 172). The question the case study raises centers …show more content…
To better understand the dynamics at play, one must look at the individual staffing needs at all three levels. Knowing that the majority of staff members are open and willing to incorporate that strategies implemented, I would look to partner the 10 teacher within their 3 years of teaching with the 10 teachers who have experience in the field. The question becomes how to effectively involve the “old guard” in a way that will enable their skills to be utilized in an effective way. The three teachers are likely in the relational distance or disengagement stage of teaching. Relational distance refers to teachers in who have taught roughly 19 to 30 and who were previously innovative