Toward a Reliable Measure of Prosody: An Investigation of Rater Consistency

Abstrac

Secondary National Board Candidates and Attitudes Toward Assessment: A Qualitative Study

This study investigated the impact that National Board certification had on the assessment practice of secondary candidates in Eastern Washington. The study was framed by three research questions: (a) To what extent do National Board candidates think about the place of assessment in their classroom practice before they begin the process? (b) Does the National Board certification process impact their beliefs about assessment so that they see assessment in a different light by the time they complete the process? (c) Do teachers who have undergone the National Board certification process change the type of assessments used in their classroom practice as a result of going through the process? The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six candidates in September 2007 and June 2008, before and after the certification process, and then coded and analyzed the results. All six participants revealed they had an idea about the place of assessment in their classroom practice before the process. Five of the six indicated that the process caused them to see assessment from a different perspective by the end of the year. Finally, five of the six indicated their classroom assessment practice had changed as a result of the National Board certification process

Teaching is Damn Hard Work: Advice for Those Considering Education as a Career

This article is addressed to undergraduates considering teaching as a career. After explaining what personal indicators students should have when deciding whether to enter a teacher-preparation program and examining the complexity of intentional classroom teaching, the author lists some suggestions potential teachers can adopt to prepare for future classroom practice. The author closes with some final thoughts about choosing education as a career

Taming the Crammed Curriculum: Selective Abandonment as a Strategy in Professional Learning Communities

Because time is one of the biggest limitations of teaching, lesson planning, and curriculum development, K-12 teachers must maximize this variable in their instruction by focusing on central priorities and practicing selective abandonment. One of the best venues for this is the Professional Learning Community (PLC). These groups of teachers must agree on a limited number of content standards, tailor instruction to them, and devise appropriate assessment instruments to gather data on student academic achievement. Even though 47 states have agreed to use the Common Core State Standards, it will take time for common assessments to be developed. Thus, PLCs must work now to align assessments with the new standards. PLCs must regularly review these assessment results data and refine instructional materials to meet student needs. Further, building and district leaders must support their teacher PLCs and avoid the urge to institute new programs until teachers have aligned standards, instructions, and assessment

Student Perceptions of Course Configuration: Hybrid and Face-to-Face Models

Hybrid or blended learning has gained enormous popularity in higher education because of its demonstrated ability to increase student learning, reduce undergraduate attrition rates, and maintain costs in an era of relentlessly increasing tuition. This study reviews the literature on hybrid or blended learning, enumerating both the benefits and liabilities of this type of instruction and the controversies surrounding it. The researchers then describe the two forms of a mixed-methodology survey instrument used to determine the satisfaction of primarily undergraduate students who are enrolled in separate sections of an introduction to education course, one taught in a traditional face-to-face mode and one in a blended configuration during two academic terms at a public regional comprehensive university in the Northwest portion of the United States. They then analyze the findings of the qualitative and quantitative data with recommendations for further research