Constructing student portfolios: A process and product that fosters communication with families

When parents pick their children up from day care or preschool, one of the first questions that is typically asked of their child is “What did you do in school today?” At an open house parents usually ask teachers, “How is my child doing in your class?” “Is my child learning new things?” “Has my child improved any since the beginning of the school year, and in what ways?” Or think of the child who turns in a product and asks, “What do you think of this, Teacher?” or “Did you like my work today?”     

A Promise Deferred: Black Veterans' Access to Higher Education Through the GI Bill at the University of Florida, 1944–1962

Examining both the GI Bill and the origins of desegregation of traditionally segregated institutions of higher learning in the South, this historical essay argues that these 2 separate historic markers should not be considered independently. Indeed, to understand the full scope of the GI Bill, we must consider the limited options that Black veterans had when it came to college admissions. Conversely, when considering the desegregation of historically segregated southern colleges and universities, we must also evaluate the strong will many Black veterans expressed in their desire to redeem the federal government's promise for a college education. Building off the body of critical scholarship published on the GI Bill, this article closely examines the enrollment and experience of the first 2 Black veterans to attend the University of Florida (UF), contextualizing the experiences of these veterans with that of other African Americans seeking to gain acceptance to historically segregated public universities in the United States. It also contrasts the African American veteran experience at UF with that of the first White veterans to attend UF following World War II.     

A model for portfolio assessment in early childhood education programs

It is necessary for teachers to consider alternative means of evaluating their students. One method proving to be effective for gathering and organizing student productivity, growth, and development is the portfolio approach. This article describes the Early Childhood Portfolio Assessment Preparation (ECPAP) Model that was used to facilitate the use of student portfolios in two different early childhood education programs. The goals of the model, the six steps followed and the participants' responses to this project are discussed. This article may serve early childhood directors and supervisors who are preparing teachers to implement student portfolios as a supplement or an alternative to the existing assessment and evaluation programs. Also early childhood teacher education students can benefit from the design and implementation of ECPAP.     

Teachers' perceptions of policy influences on science instruction with culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students

This study asked elementary school teachers how educational policies affected their science instruction with a majority of English language learners. The study employed a questionnaire followed by focus group interviews with 43 third and fourth grade teachers from six elementary schools in a large urban school district with high populations of English language learners in the southeastern United States. Results indicate that teachers' opinions concerning all areas of policy evolved as the state enforced stronger measures of accountability during the 2‐year period of the study. Although relatively positive regarding standards, their opinions became increasingly negative regarding statewide assessment, and even more so toward accountability measured by reading, writing, and mathematics. The results suggest that it is important to understand how teachers perceive the influence of policies, particularly those relating to English language learners, as science accountability becomes more imminent across the states. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 725–746, 2007     

ENHANCING SELF‐REGULATORY SKILLS THROUGH AN INTERVENTION EMBEDDED IN A MIDDLE SCHOOL MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

We investigated the effects of a self‐regulatory intervention strategy designed to improve middle‐school students’ calibration accuracy, self‐regulatory skills, and math achievement. Focusing on self‐monitoring and self‐reflection as the two key processes of this intervention in relation to improving students’ math achievement and overall self‐regulation, we randomly assigned 30 sixth‐and seventh‐grade students to either a treatment or a delayed‐treatment control group. At the conclusion of the intervention, we conducted interviews to unearth students’ sources of calibration judgments. Results showed that participants who received the intervention had significantly higher math performance and predictive/postdictive calibration accuracy than did the control group. We provided educational implications of our findings for psychologists and educators.     

Fostering complex problem solving for diverse learners: engaging an ethos of intentionality toward equitable access

Complex problem solving is an effective means to engage students in disciplinary content while also furnishing critical non-cognitive and life skills. Despite increased adoption of complex problem-solving methods in K-12 classrooms today (e.g., case-, project-, or problem-based learning), we know little about how to make these approaches accessible to linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students. In this paper, we promote a conceptual framework, based on an ethos of intentionality, that supports culturally responsive teaching (CRT). We provide specific questions to guide teachers’ implementation of an ethos of intentionality, through critical reflection and meaningful action, and discuss a framework for culturally relevant practice that operationalizes key central tenets (e.g., high expectations, cultural competence, and critical consciousness). Finally, we include strategies that can help teachers and designers translate the principles of the CRT framework into action with a specific focus on complex problem solving in classrooms.

     

A framework for classroom assessment,learning, and self-regulation

ABSTRACT

We present a conceptual framework that leverages synergies between classroom assessment (CA) practices and self-regulated learning (SRL) theory to support academic growth and instruction. We articulate the processes shared by CA and SRL, drawing on a model of SRL with three phases: forethought, performance, and self-reflection. We blend this SRL model with CA to create the CA:SRL framework in four stages: (1) pre-assessment, (2) the cycle of learning, doing, and assessing, (3) formal assessment, and (4) summarizing assessment evidence. We elucidate how SRL processes are involved at each stage and can be drawn on to support learning development and teacher understanding and co-regulation of learning. This framework is important in that it depicts how assessment and learning processes interact dynamically for both teachers and students in classrooms, and demonstrates that such interactions encompass the full breadth of purposes in CA, from planning through summation of evidence.     

“If You Want the History of a White Man,You Go to the Library” 1: Critiquing Our Legacy,Addressing Our Library Collections Gaps

ABSTRACT

In 1864, the same year the University of Denver was founded by John Evans, then the territorial governor of Colorado and the superintendent of Indian affairs, a group of U.S. militia attacked and killed vulnerable members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho nations at Sand Creek. Using critical race theory and the feminist “ethic of care,” we critique our collections in terms of the massacre and absent Native American voices in order to develop a collecting philosophy and direction to acknowledge and address the gaps and to formulate strategies for teaching students to interrogate a predominately white institutional archive to give voice to the absent or silenced.     

Teacher pedagogical beliefs: The final frontier in our quest for technology integration?

Although the conditions for successful technology integration finally appear to be in place, including ready access to technology, increased training for teachers, and a favorable policy environment, high-level technology use is still surprisingly low. This suggests that additional barriers, specifically related to teachers' pedagogical beliefs, may be at work. Previous researchers have noted the influence of teachers' beliefs on classroom instruction specifically in math, reading, and science, yet little research has been done to establish a similar link to teachers' classroom uses of technology. In this article, I argue for the importance of such research and present a conceptual overview of teacher pedagogial beliefs as a vital first step. After defining and describing the nature of teacher beliefs, including how they are likely to impact teachers' classroom practice I describe important implications for teacher professional development and offer suggestions for future research.