A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual ... more A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual book club curriculum for students during the pandemic. Third-grade students were encouraged to explore social justice issues prevalent in their community first by reading relevant children's books, doing research, and collaborating to develop potential action plans to address the issues. The study examined the impact of the books, the identification with characters, and the benefit of small group pedagogy. Students were intrinsically motivated to read, research, and collaborate over social justice issues voluntarily given free choice, minimal guidance, and opportunities. The results showcased the importance of small group discussion with young children, the power of choice in research-based activities, and the desire for students to have their voices heard in important matters.
Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 2015
There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected,... more There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected, quantified, and as per current educational policies, used as an accountability tool to hold America’s public school teachers accountable for that which they do (or do not do well). In this commentary, authors (all of whom are former public school teachers) argue that rubric-based teacher observational systems, developed to assess the extent to which teachers adapt and follow sets of rubric-based rules, might actually constrain teacher expertise. Moreover, authors frame their comments using the Dreyfus Model (1980, 1986) to illustrate how observational systems and the rational conceptions on which they are based might be stifling educational progress and reform.
Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature, 2016
While English teachers are working to incorporate various versions of the Common Core State Stand... more While English teachers are working to incorporate various versions of the Common Core State Standards into their curriculum, they are often emphasizing canonical fiction over alternative literature that students may connect with at a higher engagement level. Young Adult (YA) literature may help teachers meet the needs of the whole student as well as local standards. The purposes of this study were (1) to explore how students engaged with reading and writing after reading YA literature, (2) to evaluate whether the YA students’ writing samples differed from the canonical group’s, (3) to determine if students see themselves as better writers after the experience, and (4) to examine the teacher’s perception of reading YA Literature. The research was conducted in a single teacher’s 9th grade classes at an urban high school in the Southwest with a primarily Hispanic population. Two groups worked with canonical literature, and two groups worked with YA literature. All students were given...
There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected,... more There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected, quantified, and as per current educational policies, used as an accountability tool to hold America’s public school teachers accountable for that which they do (or do not do well). In this commentary, authors (all of whom are former public school teachers) argue that rubric-based teacher observational systems, developed to assess the extent to which teachers adapt and follow sets of rubric-based rules, might actually constrain teacher expertise. Moreover, authors frame their comments using the Dreyfus Model (1980, 1986) to illustrate how observational systems and the rational conceptions on which they are based might be stifling educational progress and reform.
A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual ... more A third-grade educator and university researcher collaborated to develop an after-school virtual book club curriculum for students during the pandemic. Third-grade students were encouraged to explore social justice issues prevalent in their community first by reading relevant children's books, doing research, and collaborating to develop potential action plans to address the issues. The study examined the impact of the books, the identification with characters, and the benefit of small group pedagogy. Students were intrinsically motivated to read, research, and collaborate over social justice issues voluntarily given free choice, minimal guidance, and opportunities. The results showcased the importance of small group discussion with young children, the power of choice in research-based activities, and the desire for students to have their voices heard in important matters.
Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 2015
There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected,... more There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected, quantified, and as per current educational policies, used as an accountability tool to hold America’s public school teachers accountable for that which they do (or do not do well). In this commentary, authors (all of whom are former public school teachers) argue that rubric-based teacher observational systems, developed to assess the extent to which teachers adapt and follow sets of rubric-based rules, might actually constrain teacher expertise. Moreover, authors frame their comments using the Dreyfus Model (1980, 1986) to illustrate how observational systems and the rational conceptions on which they are based might be stifling educational progress and reform.
Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature, 2016
While English teachers are working to incorporate various versions of the Common Core State Stand... more While English teachers are working to incorporate various versions of the Common Core State Standards into their curriculum, they are often emphasizing canonical fiction over alternative literature that students may connect with at a higher engagement level. Young Adult (YA) literature may help teachers meet the needs of the whole student as well as local standards. The purposes of this study were (1) to explore how students engaged with reading and writing after reading YA literature, (2) to evaluate whether the YA students’ writing samples differed from the canonical group’s, (3) to determine if students see themselves as better writers after the experience, and (4) to examine the teacher’s perception of reading YA Literature. The research was conducted in a single teacher’s 9th grade classes at an urban high school in the Southwest with a primarily Hispanic population. Two groups worked with canonical literature, and two groups worked with YA literature. All students were given...
There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected,... more There is something incalculable about teacher expertise and whether it can be observed, detected, quantified, and as per current educational policies, used as an accountability tool to hold America’s public school teachers accountable for that which they do (or do not do well). In this commentary, authors (all of whom are former public school teachers) argue that rubric-based teacher observational systems, developed to assess the extent to which teachers adapt and follow sets of rubric-based rules, might actually constrain teacher expertise. Moreover, authors frame their comments using the Dreyfus Model (1980, 1986) to illustrate how observational systems and the rational conceptions on which they are based might be stifling educational progress and reform.
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