Principled Neglect and Compliance: Responses to NCLB and the CCSS at an Expeditionary Learning Middle School

This qualitative study explored educators' sense making of and responses to No Child Left Behind and the Common Core State Standards at one urban Expeditionary Learning middle school. Sense-making theory (Spillane, Reiser, & Reimer, 2002) and inquiry as stance (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) were used as complementary conceptual frameworks to unpack and analyze teachers' and administrators' conceptions, critiques, and responses to these federal initiatives. Analysis revealed that principled neglect and principled compliance were the primary responses to these initiatives, which enabled educators at the school to maintain hands-on, authentic student-centered curriculum and instruction aligned with the Expeditionary Learning philosophy.