The Portfolio Group http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/ The reflections and musings of a group of Houston area educators that has worked together on professional portfolios for several years en Copyright 2008 Sun, 18 May 2008 18:12:03 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Portfolio Meeting - 5/13/08 In attendance: Paul, Cheryl, Donna, Tim, and Michaelann The traveling journals are being held by Donna - Community, Cheryl - Leadership, and Paul has the other. AERA feedback: Janice Huber said that our traveling journals are the closest thing to Lugones concept of world traveling. Donna presented part of the presentation to her class at UH and it went well, we have to consider all presentations and the confidentiality of all people. This summer we will receive feedback from Nona on the chapter and will have to addr4ess those and relook at the comments that Donna suggested in rearranging the chapter. We have a proposal at the AATC conference pending in Austin, consider AERA presentations: Tim/Donna spearhead one on the TAR/CART work, one on the Reflection chapter, and one on the CFG work at Eagle. Each person is going to start their world-traveling journal (literally) this summer and then we are going to exchange them and see what themes emerge, rather than assigning themes. Have a great summer. http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/05/portfolio_meeting_51308.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/05/portfolio_meeting_51308.html Meetings Sun, 18 May 2008 18:12:03 -0600 Boundaries and respecting my colleague's privacy when so much of my work as a collaborator is entwined in other people's work?" One of my classmates in the residency class asked me some specific questions about our group member who is a school principal. It turns out that my classmate's own child is a student at the principal's school. I did not divulge any particular information about real journal entries, but the experience certainly made me think of the tensions that are involved.]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/04/boundaries.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/04/boundaries.html Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:50:01 -0600 Portfolio Meeting Great job everyone. PS. First draft has been sent to editors and reviewers.]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/04/portfolio_meeting.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/04/portfolio_meeting.html Meetings Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:25:21 -0600 AERA Update Today was the presentation and it was a full house. The room was spilling out to the hall and over 10 people were sitting on the floor. Paul, Donna, and myself did an excellent job representing the hard work of the group. The concept, content and context of the collaboration, reflection and documentation was really appreciated and valued. Paul did a great job with the research theory that grounded the work. Donna did a great job of teasing out the limitations and discoveries of the collaborative work (plus the powerpoint). And of course I did a great job (haha) highlighting the three emergent themes in the current work. I believe we could write more from the journals. More on AERA later - Thanks everyone for all the hard work and wish everyone could be here. http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/03/aera_update.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/03/aera_update.html Presentations Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:16:48 -0600 AERA 2008 Presentation Mapping the Journey of Collaborative Reflective Practices through Traveling Journals Abstract In the proposed paper, we share the development and evolution of several teacher researchers as individuals and as an organized teacher research group involved in a local national reform movement. Since 1998, we have created school portfolios, have participated in Critical Friends Groups (often simultaneously), and most recently, have engaged in a funded teacher research project in which we experimented with traveling journals as inquiry tools and forms of documentation to assist us in our individual and collective “move[ment] toward improved…reflective practice” (Schwab, 1958). This paper, which is methodological as well as substantive in nature, outlines what traveling journals are, and the ways in which our traveling reflections and discussions impacted our thinking, teaching, scholarship, and shared portfolio work. The paper is complete and uploaded for the discussant and we are all off to NYC. ]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/03/aera_2008_presentation.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2008/03/aera_2008_presentation.html Presentations Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:11:35 -0600 December Meeting The meeting was attended by Cheryl, Paul and Michaelann. The work started with lots of information. Cheryl brought articles to help us with terms and alignment. Michaelann brought the copies from past powerpoint presentations at AERA and the group found lots of material to include in the chapter. The upcoming chapter and presentation are going to require more time than in the past. The small group there worked on reading the section Cheryl had written and bringing Paul back into the portfolio group process. Paul's work around the state has really help to promote the teacher group/critical friends approach embraced by the portfolio group. Michaelann talked about the receiving a replication grant for the work at her school with CFGs. The sharing of information and process thinking will help the writing process. Future dates: January 21, 2008 - at the university - all day writing (8-4) January 31, 2008 - Regular meeting - 4:00pm February 21, 2008 - Regular meeting - 4:00pm March 13, 2008 - Regular meeting - 4:00pm The decision was made to have a mini-writing retreat on MLK day at the university to have access to resources and a group block of time. (Tim and Donna, I have your information I will get it to you after the holiday.) Have a Happy Holiday! http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/12/december_meeting.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/12/december_meeting.html Meetings Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:01:20 -0600 Portfolio Meeting - Notes Present: Cheryl, Gayle, Donna and Michaelann Topics: Re-inviting and re-kindling past members to re-collaborate: Tim, Allison, Paul and Ron (on an in-school basis) Re-do Norms and ground rules with new combination of people. Dates for next Meeting for the semester – Tuesdays are best Deadlines approaching for group commitments: March: Nona Lyons book chapter – Cultivating and Scaffolding Reflective Practice Outline: Opening Individual Portfolios School Portfolios Individual Journals Traveling journals Synthesis with reflective practice Closing Possibly add in use of CFG protocols Can use as a foundation Craig’s three existing portfolio papers (Craig to bring copies next Meeting) Thoughts: Building a community is a foundational piece People do get better at reflection Use chunks from previous proposals Use pieces from previous AERA pieces (Michaelann to bring copies to next meeting) Ron’s Journals – Cheryl has these Student traveling journals – Ron and Michaelann have Cheryl – paper on Lanier about one teacher coming full circle – curriculum maker vs. curriculum implementation For Nona Lyon’s chapter we need to brainstorm different exemplars Accountability in student journals IP – Gayle from Reagan work vs. IKE PDAS SP – Donna and Janet (old chapter), Allison Drew, Paul and Michaelann IKE IJ – Tim and Ron TJ – Donna, Michaelann and Ron link to student journals Work on draft for December 18th meeting at Wilson at 3:30pm. Traveling Journals: Students First – Gayle Community – Michaelann Cheryl – Leadership Donna – Reflective Practice Each person gave a quick overview of the work they had been doing in the journals AERA Paper – Traveling Journals: 20 pages or more Themes – Running into Boundaries Incompetence and overworked and over stressed Bumping into the Compliance culture For December Meeting: Traveling Journals Paper has these three items: Theme: Process: Product: (Per areas individually discussed) {Theme: Collaboration; Process: idea of traveling journals; Product: Group journals and student journals} Remember the value of making connections Homework for DECEMBER 18, 2207 Brainstorm ideas for Lyons chapter based on your assignment Have traveling journal entries pulled and copied for you section of AERA paper. You control your destiny ]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/12/portfolio_meeting_-_notes_.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/12/portfolio_meeting_-_notes_.html Meetings Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:01:59 -0600 Portfolio Group Paper Accepted at AERA Accepted SIG-Portfolios and Reflection in Teaching and Teacher Education Mapping the Journey of Collaborative Reflective Practices through Traveling Journals Abstract In the proposed paper, we share the development and evolution of several teacher researchers as individuals and as an organized teacher research group involved in a local national reform movement. Since 1998, we have created school portfolios, have participated in Critical Friends Groups (often simultaneously), and most recently, have engaged in a funded teacher research project in which we experimented with traveling journals as inquiry tools and forms of documentation to assist us in our individual and collective “move[ment] toward improved…reflective practice” (Schwab, 1958). This paper, which is methodological as well as substantive in nature, outlines what traveling journals are, and the ways in which our traveling reflections and discussions impacted our thinking, teaching, scholarship, and shared portfolio work. Purposes/Objectives In this paper, we: • sketch the evolution and development of the teacher research group since 1998; • describe the urban context and the reform movement that forms the backdrop for our teacher inquiries; • discuss the challenges associated with teacher research communities whose members take on different jobs and responsibilities over time; • illuminate how a professor worked alongside teachers in a manner consistent with what Schwab (1969, 1971,1973, 1983) would have university professors do; • introduce traveling journals as a research tool to document our personal and shared inquiries and to inform our collaborative portfolio making; • offer a fine-grained account of instances in which teachers’ knowledge was developed and expanded in the traveling journals; • show how the use of the traveling journals in support of teacher learning served as a precursor to traveling journals being used in support of student learning as well the impetus for research and conceptualization in associated areas of inquiry. Theoretical Framework This proposed paper is based on the view that teacher knowledge is personally and socially funded (Dewey, 1938) and narrative in form (Bruner, 1987; Connelly & Clandinin, 1990; MacIntyre, 1981). Most specifically, it builds on Clandinin’s (1986) notion of personal practical knowledge which is understood to be: in a person’s experience, in the person’s present mind and body and in the person’s future plans and actions. It is knowledge that reflects the individual’s prior knowledge and acknowledges the contextual nature of the teacher’s knowledge. It is a kind of knowledge, carved out of, and shaped by, situations; knowledge that is constructed and reconstructed as we live out our stories and retell and relive them through the process of reflection (Clandinin, 1992, p. 125). This definition of teacher knowledge gives way to another major underpinning of our teacher research work. In order to situate our professional knowledge in the contexts of teaching, Clandinin and Connelly offered a second narrative idea that nested the provisional knowing of teachers in the places within which their knowledge was storied and re-storied. In the authors’ words, a landscape metaphor allows us to talk about space, place, and time. Furthermore, it has a sense of expansiveness and the possibility of being filled with diverse people, things, and events in different relationships…Because we see the professional knowledge landscape as composed of relationships among people, places, and things, we see it as both an intellectual and moral landscape (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995, p. 5). School landscapes are also storied landscapes composed of in-classroom and out-of-classroom places and influenced by in-school and out-of-school forces. This traveling portfolio work in some ways addresses how politically and socially charged out-of-school forces and issues affect in-school and in-classroom places on school landscapes. These conceptualizations are integral to this paper on traveling journals. So, too are Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) and Clandinin’s (2006) discussion of narrative inquiry and Lyons’s (1998) and Lyons and LaBoskey’s (2002) ideas concerning portfolio development and narrative practice. Aggregated, these ideas form the foundation on which this paper will be built. Method of Inquiry/Mode of Analysis In our teacher inquiries, we find that the research tools which narrative inquirers typically use (i.e., Connelly & Clandinin, 1990; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) serve us well. Thus, we engage in interviews and conversations, participant observation sessions, document analysis, and use personal journals—and, most especially in this research enterprise—traveling journals as part of our data collection process. Additionally, a blog was set up to track our developing ideas and interim communications. Where modes of analysis are concerned, we employ broadening (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990) to set up the general context—indeed, the topics—of our traveling journals. Broadening helped us to identify shared interests pertaining to our teacher practices. It necessarily brings to the fore such contextual considerations as the ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and ability composition of the students peopling the campuses where we work. Through broadening, the influences and complexities of the professional knowledge landscapes where we are employed become revealed. How context—whose reach is believed to be limitless (Schwab, 1956/1978; Bruner, 2002)—shapes what is available for us to know bubbles to the surface. Burrowing (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990) is the second analytical tool we use. It allows for reconstructing events, which we routinely do in our traveling journals and associated research conversations. In this way, our perspectives deepen as layers of feedback become added to original entries. Burrowing also allows the emotional, moral and aesthetic qualities of teacher knowledge to surface. In the process, tough realities and gritty details are made public as “moment-by-moment relationships and happenings on the landscape” (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 76) are recorded. Our third analytical device, restorying, captures changes on our professional knowledge landscapes in terms of our own and others’ actions and meaning making. Restorying allows for “unsystematic, uneasy, pragmatic, and uncertain unions and connections” to be made, that give rise to “changing connections and differing orderings at different times” (Schwab, 1969b, p. 10). Restorying makes the turbulence, tensions, and epistemological dilemmas that invariably arise in our professional lives visible. The ways in which competing and conflicting stories bump into one another are teased to the surface. Through restorying, “new connections become probable, and new ways of interacting…arise” (Schwab, 1956/1978, p. 136). In the end result, restorying does not provide us with answers. Rather, it offers a means to think more deeply about the dilemmas and challenges we face as educators and enables us to revisit our inquiry questions as we become increasingly focused on following where the entries in our traveling journals lead. As Bruner (2002) has explained, narrative “is enormously sensitive to whatever challenges our conception of the canonical. It is an instrument not so much for solving problems as for finding them” (p. 15). Data Sources/Evidence Those of us in the research group proposing this paper somewhat mirror the diversity present in the urban core. We represent different subject areas, different career experiences, different genders, different places of employment, and, to a certain extent, different regional cultures. In addition to teachers being in the group, there is also a university professor who has been a longstanding member. Like those of us who are teachers, her role has shifted over time. Initially, we, as members of the teacher research group, initiated and coordinated the development of school portfolios on our campuses (1997-2002), which were lead schools in the reform movement. More recently, our efforts have centered on individual teacher inquiries about a shared theme. In 2005-2006, for example, the topic of investigation was an examination of how we work with students and, on occasion, fellow teachers who appear to be “falling through the cracks.” In addition to our independent inquiries, we, as members of the teacher research group, met monthly in a local school as well as concurrently with a second teacher research group in 2006-2007 in order to author a yearbook chapter. In 2006-2007, traveling journals were added to our research repertoire to expand our data sources and multiply our available evidence, but mostly to establish additional “commonplaces of experience” (Lane, 1988) in order to increase the common core around which the increasingly diffuse interests of our group members (due to several promotions) cohered. Our use of traveling journals, in addition to our existing research tools (personal journals, participant observation notes, document analysis, interviews, informal conversations) helped us address the following research questions: 1) How do diverse teacher learners interact and learn in an established teacher research group setting? 2) What common educational issues are examined by group members in the traveling portfolios? 3) How have these chosen topics shaped and informed individuals’ teacher practices over time and who has benefited from our increased understandings? The evidence (field texts) arising from our individual and collective research will be interpreted in two different ways: (1) in terms of individual teacher researchers as a unit of analysis; and (2) in terms of our teacher research group as a unit of analysis. The over 1000 pages of traveling journal notes—used in conjunction with our other research tools—will greatly assist us in transforming our work from field texts to research texts. Results/Conclusions/Point of View The proposed paper makes the following contributions: • it allows attendees to get inside the current exchanges and activities of a longstanding teacher research group; • it enables attendees and group members to reflect on instances when traveling journals worked as research tools and times that they did not; • it elucidates conditions and shared work that are conducive to the development of teachers’ knowledge and teachers’ professional sustenance; • it shows how reflective work associated with the traveling journals made its way (traveled) into classrooms and other areas of inquiry and became used as tools to spur students’ critical thinking skills and reflectivity; • it makes an important contribution to the literature concerning the value of self-directed teacher development groups and how such groups affect student learning as well as generate other forms of scholarship.]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/11/portfolio_group_paper_accepted_at_aera.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/11/portfolio_group_paper_accepted_at_aera.html Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:45:44 -0600 Portfolio Meeting 10/30/07 In attendance: Michaelann, Ron, Donna and Cheryl Each member gave an overview of the traveling journal that they had been writing in over the past month. I had the Reflections journal – I talked about how I was continually on the search for time. How that quest is affecting/effecting my life and commitments. Ron had the School Leadership journal – he talked about how bureaucracy raises people to the level of the incompetence. He also shared a moving story of a senior student who was falling through the cracks and how he intervened on the student’s behalf and the successful conclusion. Donna shared he work in the Students First journal – she shared her reflections on articles and her perspective as a parent and community member. A question was raised, whose students should be first? Donna continued with additional newspaper articles and her point of view on those articles. Cheryl was writing in the Community journal – she shared her way of reading and re-reading the previous author to build and reflect as a means of priming the pump for writing. The diverse perspectives and roles that Cheryl has in the educational community add to the depth of her interpretations of major issues. Traveling Journal log Michaelann – Students First Ron – Community Cheryl – School Leadership Donna – Reflection The second half of the meeting was each member sharing the threads that were emerging from last year’s journals.
We settled on the following action for next meeting. Using the four threads of process, group dynamics, stories, and other --- affix post-it notes (which include the journal name and page number) and delve into each journal. The post-its will then be used to do a large affinity map for the November meeting. Meeting November 27th.
]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/11/portfolio_meeting_103007.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/11/portfolio_meeting_103007.html Meetings Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:19:05 -0600 Book Review This book review appeared on this week's TCRecord website. Comments? International Research on the Impact of Accountability Systems: Teacher Education Yearbook XV reviewed by Laura Hamilton — September 25, 2007 Title: International Research on the Impact of Accountability Systems: Teacher Education Yearbook XV Author(s): Louise F. Deretchin and Cheryl J. Craig (Eds.) Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham ISBN: 1578865476, Pages: 251, Year: 2007 Search for book at Amazon.com This Yearbook addresses a timely topic. In the United States, a debate is under way to reshape the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation as the law’s reauthorization approaches. There is a clear need for research to inform this process: Much of the praise as well as criticism for the law is based on anecdotes regarding its effects on schools and classrooms rather than on a systematic review of evidence. At the same time, several other nations are experimenting with new systems for motivating improved student and educator performance, and many of them are looking to the experiences of countries with long histories of test-based accountability to determine the best way forward. In addition, there is a resurgence of interest in pay-for-performance programs that would use test scores alone or in combination with other criteria to determine teacher or principal pay. A volume that brings together international evidence on these effects is a welcome contribution to the ongoing policy discussion surrounding various forms of test-based accountability (TBA). Although this book does not provide a complete or fully balanced review of existing evidence, its chapters cover a large number of important issues and examine TBA in a wide variety of contexts, so the book should be useful to anyone thinking about how to create accountability systems that promote high-quality teaching and learning. The major strength of this volume is the attention given to the experiences and perspectives of teachers, both in the chapters and in the commentaries that introduce and conclude each section. Whether TBA polices eventually lead to positive or negative outcomes will depend not only on how those systems are designed, but on how the educators who are subjected to their provisions respond to them. Research on school reform implementation has demonstrated the importance of teacher support and buy-in, and the broader literature on performance-based accountability in a variety of sectors reveals the need for incentive systems to include goals that are perceived as fair, important, and attainable. This book provides teacher perspectives gathered in a variety of contexts, and together the chapters suggest some important lessons about how teachers respond to accountability and what really matters to them as professionals. A majority of the chapter authors express skepticism about the value of standardized tests and the accountability policies that rely on them. Some of the skepticism is informed by the research, but in several cases the authors’ negative views appear to be unsupported by evidence and shaped by a somewhat simplistic view of measurement and of current TBA systems. For example, references to the consequences NCLB imposes for failure to meet AYP tend to focus on the punitive aspects and fail to recognize the support systems the law is intended to promote. Recent research on NCLB implementation suggests that districts are providing extensive support to schools identified as needing improvement, and that some of the law’s more severe sanctions are rarely imposed even when schools fail to meet their targets for several years. In addition, despite the volume’s title, the United States is given much more emphasis than any other nation, except in the final section that discusses promising approaches to accountability. This emphasis is not surprising, given the recent focus on NCLB and the upcoming reauthorization, but readers should be aware that the representation of international material in the book is somewhat limited. The Yearbook is divided into four sections. Each section is introduced by an overview and framework section written by educators from K-12 schools or from university-based teacher education programs, and the same set of authors provide concluding remarks at the end of the section. These commentaries provide a valuable practitioner perspective and help bring coherence to each section. The first section, “Philosophy, History, and Design of Accountability Systems,” includes three chapters that address some of the broad influences of externally mandated accountability on classrooms, schools, and school systems. All three chapters discuss the limited value of the kind of measurement that is central to today’s test-based accountability systems, and describe some of the problems that arise when measurement becomes the primary motivator. Some of the assertions appear to emphasize extreme rather than typical responses to accountability, such as in Chapter 2 when the author describes an environment of “performativity” in which “Raising standards (as indicators of quality) is the aim and nothing else seems to matter” (p.16), and criticizes scripted curricula by claiming that “Teachers following this scripted curriculum hardly have to do any thinking themselves—not even in terms of adapting the materials or the learning activities to the particular characteristics and needs of their actual students and the particular circumstances in the school” (p.17). There is evidence that in many schools, the response to standards and accountability has been more nuanced and that multiple goals continue to drive practice. And even if complete standardization were the goal of the curriculum developers and of those who decided to adopt the curriculum, the reality in schools is that teachers make a large number of decisions, do a lot of thinking themselves, and implement even heavily scripted curricula differently than their colleagues next door or down the hall. The tendency of some chapter authors to use overly strong language or to focus on extreme responses diminishes the utility of the book to some degree. At the same time, all three chapters make important points about the ways accountability can negatively affect instruction, and the experiences as described by teachers in the chapters and the commentary are worth consideration. The second section includes five chapters that focus on the consequences of accountability systems. The chapters address a range of outcomes and populations, and together they provide a good sampling of the kinds of issues that should be attended to by those who implement TBA systems, though all but one of these focus exclusively on the United States. This section contains one of the only chapters in the volume that provides a reasonably favorable view of TBA. Chapter 4, by Fletcher, Strong, and Villar, illustrates how the growing availability of longitudinally linked achievement test scores can facilitate program evaluation, and provides a helpful discussion of what conditions are necessary to support good use of data in evaluation. Although the authors mention some of the concerns raised in other chapters—such as the narrow emphasis of many standardized tests—for the most part the chapter emphasizes the value of this information for promoting better decision making. The following chapter, by Lee, provides another analytic example, this time using TIMSS data to study the effects of high school exit exams on student outcomes. Although the TIMSS data are of limited value for answering questions about country-level policy effects, the analysis provides some suggestive evidence of pathways through which high-stakes exams might influence affective outcomes. The remaining three chapters in this section address important outcomes related to testing. Unfortunately the authors’ arguments, which are often compelling, are in some cases tainted by misrepresentations of the research or of the accountability systems themselves. In Chapter 6, for example, Klug makes some important points about the ways NCLB fails to address the needs of Native American students, but she also makes some overly strong statements about the punitive nature of NCLB, which fail to acknowledge that although the law imposes sanctions, there are also technical assistance provisions and school supports that are supposed to be provided. Section three, “Perceptions and Perspectives of Accountability Systems,” includes one chapter that discusses teacher education in the U.S. from the perspective of an author who had previously worked in Canada; the author provides an interesting outsider’s perspective and presents some good ideas for improving teacher education while accommodating the current policy environment (e.g., by improving value-added modeling systems through the incorporation of higher-quality assessments into those systems). The second chapter presents an analysis of teachers’ drawings expressing their reactions to NCLB; the findings are consistent with those presented in earlier sections, emphasizing feelings of frustration resulting from seemingly unattainable goals. The third chapter applies a framework for democracy to education and analyzes the extent to which NCLB fails to conform to a democratic notion of public education. The findings described in these chapters should not be interpreted as broadly representative of teachers’ perspectives, but can serve as useful case studies to complement some of the larger, survey-based research that has been published recently. The last section, “Underpinnings of Powerful Accountability Systems,” presents a broader conceptualization of accountability than the test-based variety that is the focus of most of the earlier chapters. Interestingly, it is also the only section that consists exclusively of non-U.S.-based research, which is consistent with the generally critical view of U.S. accountability policy that pervades the volume. Together, the three chapters in this section point out the value of recognizing the place of education in the broader society, and the need to provide teachers with support and opportunities for collaboration, self-reflection, and continuous growth. These chapters point out many of the conditions necessary for promoting high-quality teaching, and for the most part they are consistent with other research, emphasizing ongoing, school-based (rather than external) professional development, principals’ instructional leadership, strong professional communities, a social safety net for students, and continuous self-evaluation using a variety of formative and summative approaches. Given the heavy U.S. emphasis in previous sections, it would have been informative to include at least one example of districts or schools in the U.S. where these conditions are present and where responses to NCLB have been more productive. The volume does not attempt to answer some of the most fundamental questions about TBA, but gives readers a wealth of information and opinions to help them reach their own conclusions. Some of the key questions that are raised and that may be informed by the chapters, though not answered definitively, include whether it is possible to design TBA systems that promote rather than restrict teacher autonomy and professionalization, whether elements of other nations’ TBA systems should be adopted by the U.S. in the upcoming NCLB reauthorization, and the extent to which standardized test scores should continue to play a role in evaluating the success of educational interventions. The volume’s editors raise additional questions in their concluding remarks, and provide some useful suggestions for needed research. Although this book has limitations and does not provide a complete summary of what is known about the effects of TBA, it should be helpful for informing the continuing debate on how to create TBA systems that lead to beneficial outcomes for students. Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date Published: September 25, 2007 http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 14622, Date Accessed: 10/10/2007 10:51:42 AM http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/10/book_review.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/10/book_review.html Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:04:57 -0600 Carl Glickman lecture at AATC Critical Colleague session with moderator and panel After the Glickman AATC talk (Suggested guidelines) Moderator introduces the format (focus on content of presentation) Section one (15 minutes) Glickman answers questions to gather further background information only, he then removes himself from the group to listen and take notes. Section Two (30 to 45 minutes): Moderator asks each panelist to respond to each question and holding each person to 2 to 3 minutes per response As you followed the presentation, what were the central ideas found in the presentation by Glickman? What would improve this presentation; additions, revisions, deletions, transitions? What further application of the ideas, could have been made to your own professional and personal work? Last 10 to 15 minutes of this section, comments from the floor Section three (15 to 20 minutes): Moderator has panel synthesize and make three to five recommendations as to how to improve the presentation in the future. In addition, each person in attendance is asked to write at least one statement as to how Glickman could improve the presentation Section 4 (10 minutes) Moderator asks for any lingering thoughts about the process itself and what was learned and ensures that all written comments are collected. Section 5 if time allows, Glickman concludes This is very interesting in that it does not use specific CFG lingo, but the essence is there. ]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/09/carl_glickman_lecture_at_aatc.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/09/carl_glickman_lecture_at_aatc.html Lectures Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:47:09 -0600 Our First Meeting Journal Tracker Community - Donna - Cheryl Reflective Practice - Cheryl - Michaelann School Leadership - Michaelann - Ron Students First - Ron - Donna Our next meeting is October 30, 2007 at 4:00pm at Gayle's school.]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/09/our_first_meeting.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/09/our_first_meeting.html Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:53:24 -0600 Happy New Year What Works in Schools Donna - Community Michaelann - School Leadership Cheryl - Reflective Practice I also will bring copies of last year's journals, books, and our portfolio copies. See you then.]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/08/happy_new_year.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/08/happy_new_year.html Meetings Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:19:21 -0600 Journal Tracking and FYI Tracking System of the Journals (best I know as of 5/13/07) Keith Harring Journal - Special Needs Students -- Ron -- to Allison -- to Michaelann – to Gayle Gray Journal - Politics of Education -- Donna --to Donna -- to Ron – to Cheryl – to Tim Black Cover Journal - Reflective Practice -- Michaelann -- to Cheryl -- to Allison – to Ron – to Ron Buddha Journal - Leadership -- Allison -- to Ron -- to Cheryl – to Donna – to Michaelann Flower Journal - Relationships -- Gayle -- to Gayle -- to Donna – to Tim – to Cheryl Blue/Map Journal - Culture/Climate -- Gayle -- to Mari -- to Tim – to Jennifer – to Jennifer Pink Circles Journal - Community -- Jennifer -- to Jennifer -- to Gayle – to Gayle – to Ron I feel... Journal- Emergent Issues -- Cheryl -- to Tim -- to Michaelann – to Allison Dream Journal - Literacy -- Tim -- to Michaelann -- to Jennifer – to Donna – to Donna It has been a long time since updating the portfolio blog. Since the last time we have had meetings and planning sessions for the presentation American Educational Research Association Conference in Chicago. The presentation went fabulous. We had a nice mix of people and had some good questions to push my thinking and that of the group. The presentation was digitally recorded so that we can reflect on the both the quality of the presentation and questions from the audience. The final session of the group will be May 15th. ]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/05/journal_tracking_and_fyi.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/05/journal_tracking_and_fyi.html Meetings Sun, 13 May 2007 19:43:31 -0600 Tag Cloud on Hatch Book Review
created at TagCrowd.com
]]> http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/02/tag_cloud_on_hatch_book_review.html http://donna.robreid.com/portfolioblog/2007/02/tag_cloud_on_hatch_book_review.html Book Review Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:20:56 -0600