The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how teachers understood and changed their instructional practice in response to imposed teacher evaluation requirements. The strategy of inquiry was a single case study, representative of a large suburban high school adapting to the changes required under the provisions of Achieve NJ, the policy mandating new teacher evaluation (Yin, 2009). The theoretical framework of sensemaking and sensegiving guided the analysis of how teachers processed the changes to their evaluation system and the role the context played in the implementation of the MTEM (Weick, 1995, Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991). Data was collected in the form of archival documents, participant interviews and field notes from observations which produced clear and coherent themes around the implementation of the MTEM.
The findings of this study indicate that teachers perceive only incremental shifts in their instructional practice, that they perceive significant barriers to implementation, that a compliance orientation exists towards the MTEM, also that contextual messages influence teacher’s perceptions of the MTEM, and that school leadership acts as capacity builders. In this setting change is framed by a teacher’s experience, and providing support that is context specific, especially for veteran teachers, is critical to the implementation process. Teacher’s resistance to change is also influenced by the context, and supportive leadership designed to mitigate resistance must take into account the contextual factors impacting change.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how teachers understood and changed their instructional practice in response to imposed teacher evaluation requirements. The strategy of inquiry was a single case study, representative of a large suburban high school adapting to the changes required under the provisions of Achieve NJ, the policy mandating new teacher evaluation (Yin, 2009). The theoretical framework of sensemaking and sensegiving guided the analysis of how teachers processed the changes to their evaluation system and the role the context played in the implementation of the MTEM (Weick, 1995, Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991). Data was collected in the form of archival documents, participant interviews and field notes from observations which produced clear and coherent themes around the implementation of the MTEM.</p> <p>The findings of this study indicate that teachers perceive only incremental shifts in their instructional practice, that they perceive significant barriers to implementation, that a compliance orientation exists towards the MTEM, also that contextual messages influence teacher’s perceptions of the MTEM, and that school leadership acts as capacity builders. In this setting change is framed by a teacher’s experience, and providing support that is context specific, especially for veteran teachers, is critical to the implementation process. Teacher’s resistance to change is also influenced by the context, and supportive leadership designed to mitigate resistance must take into account the contextual factors impacting change.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Donahue, Brian P."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Educational Leadership","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educational Services and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Coaxum, James","Doolittle, Virginia","Horner, Barbara"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-04-05T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-04-05T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:46Z","subjects":["Case Study","Implementation","Leadership","Marzano","Qualitative","Sensemaking","Teachers--Rating of--New Jersey; Organizational change","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/895","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Coaxum, James","Doolittle, Virginia","Horner, Barbara"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Donahue, Brian P."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Services and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Educational Leadership"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Case Study","Implementation","Leadership","Marzano","Qualitative","Sensemaking","Teachers--Rating of--New Jersey; Organizational change","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/895"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how teachers understood and changed their instructional practice in response to imposed teacher evaluation requirements. The strategy of inquiry was a single case study, representative of a large suburban high school adapting to the changes required under the provisions of Achieve NJ, the policy mandating new teacher evaluation (Yin, 2009). The theoretical framework of sensemaking and sensegiving guided the analysis of how teachers processed the changes to their evaluation system and the role the context played in the implementation of the MTEM (Weick, 1995, Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991). Data was collected in the form of archival documents, participant interviews and field notes from observations which produced clear and coherent themes around the implementation of the MTEM.
The findings of this study indicate that teachers perceive only incremental shifts in their instructional practice, that they perceive significant barriers to implementation, that a compliance orientation exists towards the MTEM, also that contextual messages influence teacher’s perceptions of the MTEM, and that school leadership acts as capacity builders. In this setting change is framed by a teacher’s experience, and providing support that is context specific, especially for veteran teachers, is critical to the implementation process. Teacher’s resistance to change is also influenced by the context, and supportive leadership designed to mitigate resistance must take into account the contextual factors impacting change.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The implementation of a new teacher evaluation model: a qualitative case study of how teachers make sense of the Marzano Evaluation Model"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Coaxum, James","Doolittle, Virginia","Horner, Barbara"],"dc:creator":["Donahue, Brian P."],"dc:date.available":["2016-04-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how teachers understood and changed their instructional practice in response to imposed teacher evaluation requirements. The strategy of inquiry was a single case study, representative of a large suburban high school adapting to the changes required under the provisions of Achieve NJ, the policy mandating new teacher evaluation (Yin, 2009). The theoretical framework of sensemaking and sensegiving guided the analysis of how teachers processed the changes to their evaluation system and the role the context played in the implementation of the MTEM (Weick, 1995, Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991). Data was collected in the form of archival documents, participant interviews and field notes from observations which produced clear and coherent themes around the implementation of the MTEM.
The findings of this study indicate that teachers perceive only incremental shifts in their instructional practice, that they perceive significant barriers to implementation, that a compliance orientation exists towards the MTEM, also that contextual messages influence teacher’s perceptions of the MTEM, and that school leadership acts as capacity builders. In this setting change is framed by a teacher’s experience, and providing support that is context specific, especially for veteran teachers, is critical to the implementation process. Teacher’s resistance to change is also influenced by the context, and supportive leadership designed to mitigate resistance must take into account the contextual factors impacting change.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/895"],"dc:subject":["Case Study","Implementation","Leadership","Marzano","Qualitative","Sensemaking","Teachers--Rating of--New Jersey; Organizational change","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"dc:title":["The implementation of a new teacher evaluation model: a qualitative case study of how teachers make sense of the Marzano Evaluation Model"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Services and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Educational Leadership"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:46Z"}