An Integrative Approach to Portfolio Evaluation for Teacher Licensure

The purpose of our overall research agenda is to develop and evaluate a methodology for the assessment of teachers in which experienced teachers, serving as judges, engage in dialogue to integrate multiple sources of evidence about a candidate to reach a sound conclusion. The project that provides the venue for this research agenda is the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), which is developing a portfolio assessment system to assist participating states in making a decision about teacher licensure. To develop the theoretical foundation necessary to support and evaluate such dialogic and integrative assessment practices, we turn, in part, to the tradition of philosophical hermeneutics, as a complement to psychometrics. In this article, we characterize and assess the processes in which judges, trying out an integrative approach to portfolio evaluation for the first time, engage as they collaboratively construct and document their conclusions, and we locate this work in the larger research agenda. The premise of this project, which is being carefully evaluated in the course of inquiry, is that these integrative practices cannot only lead to an epistemologically sound evaluation of teaching but also promote an ongoing professional dialogue of critical reflection on teaching practice.     

The boundary-spanning role of a cooperative support organization: managing the paradox of stability and change in non-traditional organizations

This project provides an interpretation of how one cooperative support organization, the Nebraska Cooperative Council, discursively functions to help its constituent cooperatives consolidate resources in order to better intersect with organizations in a larger bureaucratic system. In analyzing qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews, surveys, and organizational documents, we found the paradox of stability and change a revealing prism through which to make sense of participants' experiences. We work toward locating and describing how the Council, through its boundary-spanning activities, helps cooperatives manage the paradox of stability and change while protecting their core participatory ideologies. By providing networks of learning, promoting the legitimacy of cooperative forms of organizing, and protecting cooperatives' interests, the Council is an entity helping cooperatives to reconcile their internal requirements for democracy with the external demands of the marketplace.     

The Contribution of Schooling to Literacy in Guatemala

The authors of this paper examine the relationship between level of schooling and literacy attainment in four rural communities in Guatemala. They first identify the grade at which most children become literate. Secondly, they estimate the net contribution of schooling to literacy. Finally, they ask whether literacy skills acquired under poor or restricted school conditions are likely to be lost over time after the pupil has left school.     

Browse and navigate: An advance in database access methods

This paper discusses the database design developed by the authors' company for its new range of database systems as an example of a design of database which allows a wider range of capabilities than does the conventional IR database. The paper discusses the range of searching options which are now possible. It describes how searches may be prestructured to pinpoint the desired target items, which are then selected from a browsable display. It describes the navigation capability which allows the user to move from record to record within the database, thus facilitating the extraction of “related” information. The design is discussed from the user viewpoint, and emphasis is placed on the facilities and how they complement existing Boolean/key access facilities.