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Enhancing Commitment or Tightening Control: The Function of Teacher Professional Development in an Era of Accountability

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University

Kristie J. Rowley

Vanderbilt University

During the past decade or so, popular rhetoric has shifted away from site-based management and participatory governance as the centerpiece of school reform strategies as accountability and standards-based reform have become the reform mantra of policy makers at all levels of government. Critics of accountability-based reforms have suggested that teacher commitment is likely to be the main casualty of these control-based reform strategies. Annual polls of teachers, however, tend to show they generally support key aspects of standards-based reform. Thus, the impact of the apparent shift away from a commitment strategy of school organization toward a control strategy on teachers’ commitment to the profession remains unclear. Our analysis using the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey suggests that schools organized with a stronger commitment strategy may have better success in achieving their reform goals because of increased teacher participation in content-related professional development and greater stability in its teaching staff.

Key Words: professional development • teacher retention and turnover • accountability • commitment

Educational Policy, Vol. 19, No. 1, 126-154 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0895904804270773


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