Weekend 2 Sat. Blog: Article “Spillover Effects”

I have witnessed spillover effects in my school. We, as administrators, need to be careful because “spillover” can work positively but it can also work negatively. Two years ago, we had two new instructors join our department. One was a new teacher, entering the profession after a successful career in another field. This individual was an optimistic and dynamic instructor. His philosophy and pedagogy were student-centered and his practice was built on research-based strategies. He was always reading journal articles about helping at-risk kids succeed, differentiating instruction and researching strategies for literacy in content areas. Instead of looking at problems, he looked for solutions. The second individual was the exact opposite. This instructor was extremely negative, had many years of teaching experience and had a master’s degree in education (I cannot recall the exact area). This instructor viewed students that struggled as “problems.” The structure of this instructor’s class involved lectures, daily homework, a 50% late policy (regardless of extenuating circumstances), and weekly progress reports. All of us taught 9th grade biology, half of our classes were higher level biology and the other half consisted of the lower level biology classes. The spillover occurred that following year when the first instructor remained a 9th grade biology instructor, but the second instructor was placed in the upper level sciences with the “better” students. It seemed as though our biology planning sessions (weekly meetings with the 9th grade biology teachers) were more positive and we began to share more information concerning research and the latest findings in our area. We became more innovative and willing to “take risks” in the classroom to help kids understand. There was another group that planned for the upper level sciences. The second instructor joined this group. I noticed that the members of that group became negative and narrow in their focus, lingering on problems. There was a lot of finger pointing at “the kids.” Morale began to sink in that group and it had a negative effect on the professional practices of individual members. Many of my colleagues stated that the students “seemed worse off” in terms of behavior and skill in that particular year than in any other. I could not help but question if their new colleague’s attitude and approach had affected their philosophies and practices. As administrators, we need to hire with caution because the “spillover effect” can help or hinder our mission and our vision.