I read the letter from AERA and I was disappointed and then after sleeping on it I decided maybe this was a great opportunity for our group to do some reflecting on direction, vision, and goals. I would like to get input from the group, but I was thinking maybe at our meeting next Wednesday we could look at the reviewers' comments and see how that can inform our work for this year.
Your thoughts????
Excerpt from the letter
It is with sincere regret that I must inform you that your submission
entitled "A Long View of Teachers' Experiences in a Comprehensive School
Reform Movement" was not accepted for presentation at the 2006 Annual
Meeting. We typically have an acceptance rate below 50% and we again
had a large number of exceptionally high quality submissions this year,
competing for fewer program slots than we had last year. Therefore
some paper and symposia that might have been accepted in prior years did
not make it into the program this year. Your proposal was sent to at
least two reviewers. Comments and recommendations made by the reviewers
will be available on line for your review by Nov. 10th.
Please note that copies of all program related email correspondence is
available online in the "message center." This link is available below
the "track proposal" link found on the main menu page of the All
Academic system.
I encourage you to seek outlets for the work you submitted and continue
to submit to AERA in the future.
Sincerely,
Co-Program Chairs, SIG Portfolios and Reflection in Teaching and
Teacher Education
Comments (3)
I am thinking about the Reflection, Collaboration, Focus triangle that many of us learned about at FRSSI. As a group who builds portfolios and advocates for portfolio development, we are all strong reflectors. However, I wonder how we can strengthen our focus and collaboration. As jobs have changed, it seems like our group has no overarching purpose, but rather many personal interests and foci which just happen to overlap.
Perhaps looking at the Teacher As Researcher grant and truly carrying out the stated plans could refocus the group. Here's a quote from the request from renewal: "In year two of the Teacher as Researcher Grant, the Portfolio Group CFG will focus sustained attention on the development of individual teacher portfolios, retaining the driving question, 'How do teachers and administrators know that their individual practice impacts learning in aesthetics and literacy?'
Are we doing this? How do we know that we are making a difference?
My gut feeling is that we have gotten sidetracked by PRESENTING the work rather than DOING the work and doing it DEEPLY.
Thanks, Michaelann, for starting this conversation. I hope I didn't step on anybody's toes with this post!
Posted by donna | November 8, 2005 9:52 AM
Posted on November 8, 2005 09:52
I think Donna's comments are right on target. Maybe part of our teacher research could be around the idea of sustaining and advancing teacher leaders as they move into other arenas. That seems to have happened to many of us. Or another idea would be how do we pass the torch on while sustaining our own learning.
See, Michaelann, I am now an avid blogger on this site. 15.5 miles last Saturday in my training and NO BLISTERS or SHIN SPLITS.
Tim
PS: Any more folks applying for the NSRF researcher presentations?
Posted by tim | November 8, 2005 3:04 PM
Posted on November 8, 2005 15:04
It is sad that schools don't recognize what powerhouses and rich research reside within them.
tim
Posted by tim | November 11, 2005 2:34 PM
Posted on November 11, 2005 14:34