Research Examines Consequences of Standards-Based Reform and High Stakes Testing
Associate Professor
Irvine, Calif., September 1, 2009
Judith Haymore Sandholtz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on teacher professional development, teacher education, and school-university partnerships. Prior to joining the faculty at UC Irvine, Dr. Sandholtz was Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Graduate School of Education at UC Riverside.
Dr. Sandholtz received her Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University with a specialization in curriculum and teacher education and a minor in sociology. As a doctoral student, she worked as a research assistant on the "Knowledge Growth in a Profession" project under the direction of Professor Lee Shulman and at the Center for Research on the Context of Secondary School Teaching under the direction of Professor Milbrey McLaughlin. Her dissertation, which combined her interests in subject matter differences and the organizational context of teaching, examined variations in the work environments of high school departments, identifying the sources of variation and their effects on teachers.
Dr. Sandholtz's interest in teachers and teaching stems not only from her research background but also from her varied teaching experiences. Before completing her doctorate, she taught in a private elementary school in South America, a public high school in the United States, a summer camp for emotionally disturbed children, and a community refugee program. She advised student groups, volunteered at a parent education resource center, and supervised student teachers. At the university level, she has taught courses in the undergraduate, teacher credential, masters, and doctoral programs.
After graduate school, Dr. Sandholtz moved to southern California and accepted a position at the University of California, Riverside. As Director of the Comprehensive Teacher Education Institute, she led a school-university partnership involving the School of Education, selected academic departments, and local schools. The central goal of the partnership was the creation of professional development schools to prepare prospective teachers, provide professional development opportunities for experienced teachers, and encourage research related to educational practice. Under her leadership, the collaborative program expanded from a pilot project to the full secondary credential program and gained both state and national recognition. The program won the Distinguished Program in Teacher Education award from the Association of Teacher Educators, received the Quality of Education Award from the California Council on Teacher Education, and was selected as an Exemplary Teacher Education Program by the National Education Association.
Professor Sandholtz's research program centers on teacher development, extending from initial pre-service preparation to ongoing learning by experienced teachers. The theoretical foundation of her research program lies in two bodies of literature: one on teacher knowledge and learning, and the other on organizational contexts. A main objective of her research has been to link individual-level factors and organizational contexts, recognizing that teachers make decisions as individuals but that they do so within a particular organizational context. Linking these dimensions is important because of the interaction (and frequent tension) between individual autonomy and organizational change. Her co-authored book, Teaching with Technology: Creating Student Centered Classrooms (Teachers College Press, 1997) demonstrates the connection between individual and organizational levels and offers a longitudinal perspective on the process of learning to teach with technology. Based on a decade of research on the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), the book is in its seventh printing and has been translated into French, Portuguese, and Chinese. As a Carnegie Scholar, Professor Sandholtz began a research project that focuses on how beginning teachers learn to critically analyze their teaching and adjust their instruction to further student understanding. Her recent work also examines curricular and instructional consequences, often unintended, of standards-based reform and high stakes testing.
Dr. Sandholtz has a passion for dark chocolate, rarely touches milk chocolate, and avoids white chocolate completely.
