“’You can’t close your door here:’ Leveraging teacher collaboration to improve outcomes for immigrant English Learners”

​Assistant Professor Adriana Villavicencio (right) is first author of an article in Teaching and Teacher Education examining the role of teacher collaboration.

​The title of the article is “’You can’t close your door here:’ Leveraging teacher collaboration to improve outcomes for immigrant English Learners.”
 
Co-authors are Reva Jaffe-Walter (Montclair State University) and Sarah Klevan (Learning Policy Institute).
 
Villavicencio’s research foci include inequities in education, racial equity frameworks, and English learning and immigrant students. She has expertise in research-practice partnerships, mixed-methods research studies, and program evaluation Previously, she served as deputy director at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, and as a research professor. Villavicencio earned a B.A. in English from Columbia University; an M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; and a Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy from NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.  

Abstract
 
In this paper, we examine the role of teacher collaboration in a school that produces positive academic outcomes for immigrant, English Learners (ELs). We also draw on a comparative case study of another school in the same district that has not achieved the same level of success. We illustrate how the high performing site supports and implements deep and sustained collaboration, while the professional conditions of the comparison site results in fragmentation and the isolation of EL teachers. In doing so, we provide qualitative insight into how schools can foster authentic teacher learning and collective responsibility for EL students.