Multi-site case studies on the collaboration of career technical education teachers and core teachers

In the 2014 school year, California implemented the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). These new standards provided California’s teachers, from multiple disciplines, the opportunity to collaborate on interdisciplinary curricula. Given the newness of the adoption, research on Career Technical Education (CTE) teachers and core teacher collaboration practices, in response to the CCSS, was lacking. This qualitative, multi-site case study, sought to examine the collaboration models employed by districts to integrate the CCSS curriculum taught by both core and CTE teachers, in response to the CCSS. Multiple school districts within the Southern California region known as the Inland Empire were chosen as locations to collect data. Administrators, CTE teachers, and core teachers from each of the districts were interviewed using a semi-structured format. The data were transcribed and coded to reveal the common themes shared by the participants throughout the region. The common themes that emerged during the study were participants’ understanding of the impending shifts associated with transitioning from the 1997 California state standards to the CCSS. Other themes including an awareness of the design of the CCSS, the professional development provided to district personnel, and teacher collaboration structures. Additionally, varying attitudes and dispositions associated with the implementation of the CCSS surfaced and were acknowledged. Moreover, a theme that emerged during the interviews with the districts were the various Local Educational Agency (LEA) initiatives that were prominent during the implementation of the CCSS. Although further research is needed to better understand the phenomenon of interdisciplinary collaboration, this study can assist educators in understanding the experiences of school districts in the Inland Empire through the examination of the collaboration models that were employed by districts to integrate the CCSS curriculum taught by both core and CTE teachers.2014学年，加利福尼亚州正式推行共同核心州立标准（Common Core State Standards, CCSS）。该全新标准为加州多学科教师提供了跨学科课程协作的契机。鉴于此次标准推行尚属初期，针对职业技术教育（Career Technical Education, CTE）教师与核心教师协作实践以响应CCSS的相关研究仍属空白。本项质性多案例研究旨在探究各学区在整合核心学科教师与CTE教师所授CCSS课程时所采用的协作模式，以适配标准推行要求。研究选取南加州被称为内陆帝国（Inland Empire）的区域内的多所学区作为数据采集场地。各学区的行政人员、CTE教师与核心学科教师均采用半结构化访谈形式（semi-structured format）开展访谈。研究人员对访谈数据进行转录与编码，以挖掘该区域受访群体共有的核心主题。本次研究得出的核心主题包括：受访者对从1997年加州州立标准向CCSS转型所伴随的即将到来的变革的认知；其余主题涵盖对CCSS框架设计的认知、为学区工作人员提供的专业发展支持，以及教师协作架构。此外，与CCSS实施相关的多元态度与倾向也浮出水面并得到证实。再者，学区访谈中还浮现出另一核心主题：在CCSS实施期间，各地方教育机构（Local Educational Agency, LEA）推出的多项重点举措。尽管仍需开展更多研究以深化对跨学科协作现象的理解，但本研究通过剖析学区整合核心学科教师与CTE教师所授CCSS课程的协作模式，能够帮助教育工作者理解内陆帝国区域内各学区的实践经验。