How Principals Make Sense of Tensions While Leading a Teacher Professional Learning Initiative: A Case Study of a Districtwide Science of Reading Implementation

Grounded in sense-making theory, this qualitative study examines how school principals make sense of tensions while leading a teacher professional learning initiative under the broad districtwide instructional reform and the Science of Reading (SoR). This study gathered data from interviews with seven elementary school principals who were implementing a professional learning initiative for teachers under the SoR. The collected data were analyzed through inductive approaches using constant comparative analysis. Data analysis yielded three broad themes: (1) Learning While Teaching: Approaches in Teacher Professional Development, (2) Different Level of Teacher Buy-in on the Instructional Reform, (3) Teacher Accountability during a Reform. We discuss key implications for policy and practice.