Perceptions of agency in teachers within international baccalaureate primary years programmes in the Chicago public schools

While the achievement gap between students of color and White students in the United States continues to exist, there have been efforts towards identifying models of education that may better serve students from lower socio-economic and minoritized backgrounds (Chae & Gray-Rice, 2019; Conner, 2008; Cortes et al., 2013; Saavedra, 2014). An International Baccalaureate (IB) education has been viewed as a vehicle for increasing student achievement while also preparing students for college and the global labor market (Cortes et al., 2013; Dvir et al., 2018). The focus at the federal level to fund the IB as a mechanism for closing the achievement gap has been researched with studies suggesting an IB education may positively impact students from low-income backgrounds (Connor, 2008; Hemelt, 2014; Perna et al., 2015; Stillisano et al., 2011). The recent and rapid expansion of IB programming in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the focus of this research, has signaled a shift for students and families from what has been historically been considered ‘school choice’ to ‘choice schools’ as more neighborhood schools offer the IB among other specialty programs to students from minoritized communities (Chicago Public Schools, 2018; Chicago Public Schools, 2021; Danns, 2018). The primary purpose of this research was to explore the impact of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) within the CPS system on teachers with a focus on perceptions of agency, or the amount of voice, choice, and ownership they have in their classroom and school. This included understanding how IB PYP teachers conceptualize and operationalize agency in their local context, and ultimately, how this influenced their work in classrooms that primarily serve students from minoritized backgrounds. Due to the lack of research to date on the PYP in the district, the secondary purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the IB on schools who have been authorized to offer the PYP, specifically within the Chicago urban school setting. Using an exploratory qualitative design, 11 IB PYP teachers and IB Coordinators were recruited using a screening questionnaire, then interviewed using a semi-structured format via Zoom. Interview questions were focused on teachers’ perceptions of agency, as well as how classroom and schoolwide practices that contribute to a higher degree of agency for teachers and students. Results indicate how IB PYP teachers and IB Coordinators conceptualized and operationalized agency contributes to classroom practices that are also perceived to support the development of agency within students. Schoolwide practices were elevated by participants to either hinder or increase teachers’ feelings of autonomy and agency within their context while participants’ belief systems, as well as programmatic or student outcomes emerged as an unexpected finding when exploring the impact of the IB PYP in CPS. Ultimately, the IB PYP appears to have a positive impact on students from minoritized communities and contributes to the limited existing research on the IB Diploma Programme in the district.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Pirillis, Freeda

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mason, Curtis
• Pak, Yoon
• Lindgren, Samantha
• Kang, Hyun-Sook

• International Baccalaureate
• Primary Years Programme
• Chicago Public Schools
• Agency
• Teachers' Perceptions

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Freeda Pirillis

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129882

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129882