Dissertation Overview of "The Influence of a Teacher's Beliefs, Belief Systems, and Reflection on the Enactment of the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards."

1. Dissertation Overview:
The Influence of a Teacher’s Beliefs, Belief
Systems, and Reflection on the
Enactment of the English Language Arts
Common Core State Standards
Phillip Pittman
2014

2. Current Educational Reform
Logic Model:
Increasing rigor
+ standardizing learning standards
+ intensifying accountability
+ expanding teachers’ instructional capacity
= Increases in student knowledge and skill;
= More success in the workplace;
= Higher levels of achievement in comparison to other nations

3. Problem Statement &
Significance of Study
At this point, researchers and educational leaders do not have a
deep understanding of how a teacher’s educational beliefs,
belief systems, and reflection influence the teacher’s enactment
of the Common Core State Standards.
With a greater understanding in these vital areas, educational
leaders can be more effective in facilitating a reflective process
that promotes teacher learning and growth, which can lead to
more effective instructional practices and higher levels of
student achievement.

4. Conceptual Framework

5. Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this single case study is
to understand the influence of a
teacher’s educational beliefs, belief
systems, and reflection on the
enactment of the English Language
Arts Common Core State Standards in
his classroom.

6. Research Questions
1. What educational beliefs appear to be central to the
teacher’s belief system(s)?
2. What are the teacher’s theories-in-use related to the ELA
CCSS?
3. How are the ELA CCSS enacted in this teacher’s classroom?
4. How do the teacher’s beliefs/belief systems appear to
influence the enactment of the ELA CCSS?
5. How does the teacher’s reflection-on-action and reflection-
in-action appear to influence his educational beliefs and
behaviors?

7. Research Design, Tradition,
and Methodology
• Qualitative Research
• Single Case Study
• Participant Selection: Criterion-based using network sampling
• Data Collection: Longitudinal cycle of multiple iterations of
interviews, observations, post-observation debriefing
sessions, and artifact collections over course of 2nd semester
• Trustworthiness, Credibility, and Authenticity: Critical
reflexivity, prolonging engagement with participant, coding
emergent themes, triangulating data, exploring disconfirming
evidence, using thick, rich descriptions, and member checking.
• Data Analysis and Interpretation: Inductive, using
memos, coding, looking for patterns, making
comparisons, producing explanations, and building models

8. Contact Information
Phillip Pittman
2800 Keith Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48324
(248) 956-3732
PhillipPittman@wlcsd.org