Ed. Psy 490TER
Week Two Reflections
by Dianne Fulton

Chapter Two Learn & Live
Reflections on Performance Assessments
By Dianne Fulton

     The concept of performance assessments “has the advantage of knowing the standards against which he’ll be judged.”  “Performance assessments. More closely resemble challenges people face in the real world.”  “Portfolios- carefully selected collections of works are another element of a comprehensive assessment system.”  These quotes reflect the huge change of opinion about assessment.  I believe many teachers and districts are ready for the change, but are the parents and the general public ready?
    “Show what You Know As You Go” by G. Wiggins and “Creating a Culture of Student Reflection by C. Yoshida give a visionary opinion of the assessment process.  It is very important the students (including ourselves) know right from the beginning what the expectations are.  By looking at the assessment guidelines or rubrics we know exactly what is expected, and how we can even exceed that requirement.    Clyde Yoshida’s article has good points on how “critique circles and feedback” can be used productively.  One of Project Lincol’n goals has been to demonstrate how well the performance assessments can accomplish their purposes.  All of our curriculum guides and Units of Practice for Project Lincol’n must include rubrics for performance assessments.
    One statement included in these articles still has not come to fruition in my opinion.  “Policy makers and the media are no longer heard judging programs, schools, districts, or states solely on the basis of test scores.”  Teachers in my district still hear a lot about ISAT and IGAP scores that are reported in our individual school report cards and in the media.  We spend many hours planning on how to improve these or else!  I believe there will be a day that schools are solely judged on performance assessments, but we are not there yet.
back to the top                   back to the index

Chapter Three Learn & Live
Reflections on the Role of the Teacher
By Dianne Fulton

    This chapter includes the redefinition of “what it means to be a teacher.”
        · “Teachers are becoming managers, coaches, and facilitators of learning”.
        · “By developing stronger relationships with their students and a deeper          understanding of learning, they (teachers) are better able to meet the needs of each individual”.
        · “Teachers are involved in a ‘dramatic’ transformation.”
        ·  “Teachers are reinventing themselves.”
    In “Redefining the Role of the Teacher” by Judith Lanier and “The Teacher as a Learning Guide” by Bonnie Bracey, the new job  description abounds with positivity.  This chapter enlightens the reader with the role of the teacher in 2000.  Reading all of this is encouraging and reinforcing to my formerly pessimistic views.  I believe this positive attitude in all of the Learn and Live articles are the catalyst they intended.  Bonnie Bracey does an inspiring job showing how an individual teacher can make the changes necessary.  Ms. Bracey made these changes without the teaming concept that is recommended today.  It makes me truly believe that I can make a difference.
back to the top                      back to the index

Chapter Five of Learn & Live
Reflections of Involving Families
By Dianne Fulton

     The involvement of the family is necessary for learning success.  This success is achievable if parents are brought into the decision-making process and technology links the home and school together.  “The Home School Team” by Norris M. Haynes and James Comer demonstrates how site-based management systems open the decision-making process to include parents.  We need more parents like Mary Colon to work with schools to accomplish this parent connection.  She did not just complain, but worked to make improvements in her article entitled, “Home-Team School”.
     Teachers in my building are encouraged to communicate with parents.  Seven years ago, I helped write a grant to get phones and answering machines in our 3rd grade classrooms to establish a “Homework Hotline.”  We then realized how much more efficient it was to have a phone in the classroom for immediate connections to parent.  Currently, every classroom is wired for phones (however, we have to provide our own).  We also have a Home-Teacher in our building every weekday morning.  She is very valuable at relaying information to those families who do not have phones or who are reluctant to correspond with the school.  At Fairview, we try to have at least two or three parent/family workshops each year to encourage the family link.  Attendance for the last “Alternative to TV Night” had increased to almost 50% of our school population.  The following incentives were offered to achieve this: 1) free transportation, 2) take home games, 3) free food (families followed the directions and made individual pizzas) 4) technology demonstrations and 5) community celebrities as guest readers.
     However, our success rate is not as good for involving parents with decision-making.  We do have two parents on the site-based management team.  One shares his community resources and business connections to our advantage.  This summer I am working on a Literacy Design Team for our site-based management system, and we were unable to find even one parent volunteer for this committee.
     In closing, I agree whole-heartedly with this quote. “When children see their parents and teachers working together, it sends a clear and consistent message about the value of learning.”
back to the top               back to the index
 


Chapter Six Learn & Live
Reflections on Connecting Communities
By Dianne Fulton

      In my opinion these articles might be viewed more negatively than the other chapters.  The community is expected to support families because there is not a strong family bond.  In this scenario, the community programs, albeit “quality” programs, watch the kids after school, provide meals, and extend activities in the evening. Several other respondents included in their reflections the benefits of such programs in my city like SCOPE, Kid’s Café, and Safe Haven just to name a few.
    Some statements in the articles “A Common Ground for Learning” by Michelle Cahill and “Coming Together as a Community” by Stephany Hoover include:
        · “By extending their hours of operation and offering a wider range of programs and activities, many are now making even greater contributions to the local quality of life.”
        · School has “been changed from a limited-use building…to a social institution.”
    Both authors happen to be directors of youth development programs of family resource centers.  Both are showing positive attributes of their community service-based facilities.
    In some cases, I can see that centers are better than no family.  But let’s not have the community contributions take the place of the family.
back to the top                   back to the index
 


Chapter Seven Learn & Live
Reflections on Business Partnerships
By Dianne Fulton

     “Perhaps this intervention (the business partnerships) was one of the first to show how traditional schooling must change.”  Businesses can provide a wealth of information and advise to teachers and students.  “Working to Learn, Learning to Work” by Robert T. Jones and “Building Bright Futures” by Juliette Johnson were two articles that showed how the business connection benefits the school.
     The rapidly changing world has created a need for different school performance.  One suggestion by Jones states, “The single most important thing our nation can do to improve education is to develop high academic standards for all students together with assessments of make sure the standards are being met.”  The rumors I am hearing in my school district indicate there will be three different types of high school diploma offered.  One will note high academic achievement, one with adequate achievement, and another with ___?  (Just showing up?)  This differential type of diploma comes from the concerns of the business community.
     Businesses are now working more closely with schools to improve the quality of prospective workers.  Businesses can:
    · Help create links between academic subjects and the world of work.
    · Develop, apply, and create knowledge.
    · Utilize technology connections.
    Businesses can also donate technology and technology professionals to help schools.
    Have businesses come in to take over schools more efficiently?  Is this the attitude of the Edison Corporation who is starting up a school in Springfield next year?  One BIG attendance incentive is that every family with a student in grades 3-6 will get a home computer the second year.  Magnet schools that have become popular in our district are conducive to the business influences.  Our group discussion included how businesses helped our individual schools, and in the elementary, (with a few exceptions) the business provides limited funds for needed technology, supplies, or student incentives.  The “right” business can provide much more than material offerings.  Mentors and a working relationship with a business sponsor are still needed in my district.
 

Conclusion:  The times are changing.  There is no turning back.  We have come a long way.  Teachers, students, parents, administrators, communities and businesses must all join in to support the educational changes that are here.

back to the top            back to the index