Effective Teaching and At Risk/Highly Mobile Students: What Do Award Winning Teachers Do?
Leslie Grant, James H. Stronge, and Patricia Popp
May 2008
This study was designed jointly between the National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) and researchers at The College of William and Mary. The project was funded through NCHE and was designed to explore a critical factor in working with at-risk/highly mobile students – the teacher. The researchers on this team had prior experience in developing and implementing teacher evaluation systems in various states, which is important as a context for thinking about different views of what constitutes teacher quality. The researchers also have been involved in a variety of studies related to teacher quality, including a similar international comparative study examining the teaching practices and beliefs of national and international award-winning teachers. The first goal of this study was to examine the literature related to effective teaching and at-risk/highly mobile students (Phase I). The second goal was to identify six teachers who had won national and/or state awards for working with these populations of students and secure their participation in the study (Phase II). The third goal was to explore the beliefs and practices of the six teachers who agreed to participate (Phase III).
