Proficiency-Based Grading: Can We Practice What They Preach?

The practice of assessing and grading students on their ability to demonstrate proficiency related to a standard has grown significantly in K–12 settings over the past decade. This article invites teacher educators to consider how to respond to this trend by examining an approach for preparing teacher candidates to participate effectively in proficiency-based systems. The process of integrating a proficiency-based grading strand into one undergraduate assessment course for elementary teacher candidates is described to illustrate how an approach advocated in the K–12 environment may be adapted to a higher education setting. Reflections on both the challenges and the benefits of the adaptation suggest that approaching course design from a proficiency-based perspective, while perhaps most valuable in a course that builds candidates’ assessment literacy, can also enhance teacher educators’ efforts to design purposeful course experiences in other arenas

Collaborative inquiry to make data-based decisions in schools

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a long-term collaborative inquiry project for diverse teams of teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents. The teams engaged in collaborative inquiry to collect and analyze local data to make data based decisions about how to improve teaching and learning. The results suggest the collaborative inquiry not only positively influenced the teachers, but also helped them engage in a continuous improvement process that allowed them to take more ownership over local data and expand their role in their schools' decision-making processes. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English (2007)

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://search.proquest.com/docview/215344428?accountid=14556The young women established bonds through nonverbal communication (e.g., eye gaze) to assert their gendered, racial, and cultural identities in the face of dominant identities promoted in the classroom. Draws on research with a diverse group of high school students to demonstrate how portraiture and CRT work together to render rich descriptions of students' experiences within their social and political contexts that serve the larger goal of social action and transformation. Examines the discourse practices of two immigrant youth who use Internet communication to mobilize transnational diasporic identities, create affinity spaces across geopolitical borders, and creatively produce and consume popular media. Uses Critical Race Theory, whiteness studies, and critical discourse analysis to understand talk about race among second-grade white students and their teachers. Through comparison of text choice, vocabulary, and comprehension and composition activities in each context, the regular reading class emerged as student-centered, whereas the reading intervention class was test-driven with less student participation