Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Introduction
Methodology
This chapter is based on interviews and observations of 32 teachers during the
1994–95 school year as well as on conversations with other relevant persons: stu-
dent teachers (two), resource teachers (two), principals (six), and teacher edu-
cators (four). I conducted all interviews and observations but two, which were
conducted by Bill Foraker in West City. Of the classroom teachers I personally
interviewed, 8 taught at the elementary level, 7 at the middle school level, and
15 at the secondary level. In most cases, I spent several hours or days with the
same teacher, talking informally as well as formally and visiting his or her class-
room for extended periods. Most of the teachers seemed accustomed to visitors,
and many seemed to enjoy the opportunity to talk about their lives and work.
Research Goals
The first section of what follows describes two aspects of teachers’ lives that were
of special interest: (1) the personal characteristics of teachers, including a discus-
sion of their educational background, teaching experience, motivation to become
a teacher, uses of time, and methods of teaching; and (2) teacher training and pro-
fessional development, including student teaching, past and current efforts at pro-
fessional development, salaries, benefits, and union involvement. The second sec-
tion also discusses working conditions in terms of physical environment, expecta-
tions, sources of instructional support, and locus of instructional decisionmaking
and planning.

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Characteristics of Case Study Teachers
Demographics. 
There were approximately 2.5 million teachers instructing more
than 43 million students in U.S. public schools during the 1993–94 school year
(U.S. Department of Education 1995a). Table 1 describes characteristics of all U.S.
public school teachers compared to Case Study teachers (U.S. Department of Edu-
cation 1995c). In 1991, the median age of public school teachers was 42 (U.S.
Department of Education 1995b). Projections indicate that the cadre of U.S. teach-
ers, already largely white and female, will become even more so in the 20th cen-
tury.