Case Study #1
Writing a Case Study Analysis
This case study involves a high school math teacher. This teacher was hired prior to the current principals arrival. The heart of this problem lies around the lack of student achievement in his classes. The principal states that his content knowledge is very deep, however, he has very poor classroom management. His students are off task more than not. Because of his weakness in classroom management, his students are not adequately learning the materials, thus performing poorly on their classroom assessments. Additionally, these students are also performing poorly in this content area on their standardized assessments.
It appears, based off of previous encounters that this teacher is open you the principals feedback about classroom management and structure. One of the root problems that is hindering an appropriate solution is that he seems unable to notice when students are not learning at optimum levels in his classroom. Additionally, he has previously expressed the opinion that he feels it is merely his job to teach. He stated that he feels it is the students job to learn, thus, when students fail their exams, the fault lies with them, rather than a result of his inadequate instructional approach.
Parents are becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact that their children are not being held to a higher level of achievement in the classroom and have also heard from their children about the classroom atmosphere and structure, or lack thereof. Word is beginning to spread about these dislikes as the parents are now communicating with each other at games as well as talking publicly with each other about it on social media. Recently, parents have began contacting the principal requesting that action be taken. They want to see this teacher leave the district and are pressuring the administration to find another replacement that will offer their child a better opportunity to learn and receive better grades. The parents are concerned about the impact this class is having on their child’s overall GPA. In a recent conversation with the superintendent, he has stated that the board members are also questioning as to whether this teacher’s contract should be continued for the following year.
In my opinion, there are two main problems that see with this scenario. The first problem is a philosophical or pedagogical difference. The teacher feels that it is not his job to manage student behaviors....
