Papers by Melissa A . Baker
Theory and Practice in Rural Education, 2022
As teacher preparation paths change and rural areas have opportunities to engage qualified commun... more As teacher preparation paths change and rural areas have opportunities to engage qualified community members in the teaching profession, a flagship university co-developed a teacher residency program with two school districts located in rural communities. Through this partnership, the Networked Improvement Community focused on root causes of recruitment and retention challenges in the rural school districts. Using an improvement science approach, a 14-month residency model was developed to recruit qualified community members to transition to the teaching profession, with a focus on mirroring the diversity of the local community. This study focuses on the development of the residency model and the recruitment of teacher residents for the initial cohort of this alternative teacher preparation program.
School-University Partnerships, 2021
This article is the introduction that provides context for the Themed Issue of SchoolUniversity P... more This article is the introduction that provides context for the Themed Issue of SchoolUniversity Partnerships entitled The Response and Responsibility of School-University Partnerships in a Time of Crisis.
NAPDS NINE ESSENTIALS ADDRESSED:
Essential One: A Comprehensive Mission: A professional development school (PDS) is a learning community guided by a comprehensive, articulated mission that is broader than the goals of any single partner, and that aims to advance equity, antiracism, and social justice within and among schools, colleges/universities, and their respective community and professional partners.
Essential Three: Professional Learning and Leading: A PDS is a context for continuous professional learning and leading for all participants, guided by need and a spirit and practice of inquiry.
Essential Four: Reflection and Innovation: A PDS makes a shared commitment to reflective practice, responsive innovation, and generative knowledge.
Essential Five: Research and Results. A PDS is a community that engages in collaborative research and participates in the public sharing of results in a variety of outlets.
The South Carolina Teacher Education Advancement Consortium through Higher Education Research, 2020
Our nation continues to experience challenges with K-12 teacher shortages.
The same is true for S... more Our nation continues to experience challenges with K-12 teacher shortages.
The same is true for South Carolina. Teacher shortages in South Carolina
primarily result from teacher attrition which has transformed from a problem
to a state-wide crisis over the last decade. Between 40 and 50 percent of early career educators leave the profession within their first five years, which
emphasizes the critical point of intervention for teacher retention during this
early career stage. Teachers who receive early career support as they transition into the profession are less likely to exit the profession early. In this paper, I discuss the challenges associated with teacher attrition and the need for induction support, review promising practices of induction support programs in South Carolina, and share conclusions and recommendations.
Journal of Science Teacher Education, 2012
Grounded in Hallidayan perspectives on academic language, we report on our development of an educ... more Grounded in Hallidayan perspectives on academic language, we report on our development of an educative science assessment as one component of the language-rich inquiry science for English-language learners teacher professional learning project for middle school science teachers. The project emphasizes the role of content-area writing to support teachers in diagnosing their students’ emergent understandings of science inquiry practices, science content knowledge, and the academic language of science, with a particular focus on the needs of English-language learners. In our current school policy context, writing for meaningful purposes has received decreased attention as teachers struggle to cover large numbers of discrete content standards. Additionally, high-stakes assessments presented in multiple-choice format have become the definitive measure of student science learning, further de-emphasizing the value of academic writing for developing and expressing understanding. To counter these trends, we examine the implementation of educative assessment materials—writing-rich assessments designed to support teachers’ instructional decision making. We report on the qualities of our educative assessment that supported teachers in diagnosing their students’ emergent understandings, and how teacher–researcher collaborative scoring sessions and interpretation of assessment results led to changes in teachers’ instructional decision making to better support students in expressing their scientific understandings. We conclude with implications of this work for theory, research, and practice.
Grounded in Hallidayan perspectives on academic language, we report on our development of an educ... more Grounded in Hallidayan perspectives on academic language, we report on our development of an educative science assessment as one component of the language-rich inquiry science for English-language learners teacher professional learning project for middle school science teachers. The project emphasizes the role of content-area writing to support teachers in diagnosing their students’ emergent understandings of science inquiry practices, science content knowledge, and the academic language of science, with a particular focus on the needs of English-language learners. In our current school policy context, writing for meaningful purposes has received decreased attention as teachers struggle to cover large numbers of discrete content standards. Additionally, high-stakes assessments presented in multiple-choice format have become the definitive measure of student science learning, further de-emphasizing the value of academic writing for developing and expressing understanding. To counter these trends, we examine the implementation of educative assessment materials—writing-rich assessments designed to support teachers’ instructional decision making. We report on the qualities of our educative assessment that supported teachers in diagnosing their students’ emergent understandings, and how teacher–researcher collaborative scoring sessions and interpretation of assessment results led to changes in teachers’ instructional decision making to better support students in expressing their scientific understandings. We conclude with implications of this work for theory, research, and practice.
High-stakes testing plays a critical role in education today in the United States. Every state us... more High-stakes testing plays a critical role in education today in the United States. Every state uses a high-stakes test to comply with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate. While many believe high-stakes testing is an acceptable and accurate way to measure students' learning, one has to ask whether high stakes testing is an effective measurement tool for all children. Researchers continue to debate the effectiveness of high stakes testing and need to continually reexamine the possible impacts it may have on children from differing socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds especially disadvantaged youth.
Assessment experts have suggested that teachers are responsible to create and use tests that are ... more Assessment experts have suggested that teachers are responsible to create and use tests that are valid and reliable. Valid classroom tests are assessments that allow teachers
to make defendable inferences on their students’ achievement in the tested area because the test questions accurately reflect the domain. Reliable tests reflect the stability in the domain being assessed by yielding approximate scores upon repeated administrations. Score stability is not exact because students’ scores may be impacted by variables other than change in domain achievement including item ambiguity.
Other by Melissa A . Baker
The IB Interdisciplinary Connections Project (IBIC) connects middle grades curriculum standards t... more The IB Interdisciplinary Connections Project (IBIC) connects middle grades curriculum standards to related community issues/problems that bridge the content areas. This work includes opportunities for "a call to action," whereby middle grades students address the identified community issues/problems.
Uploads
Papers by Melissa A . Baker
NAPDS NINE ESSENTIALS ADDRESSED:
Essential One: A Comprehensive Mission: A professional development school (PDS) is a learning community guided by a comprehensive, articulated mission that is broader than the goals of any single partner, and that aims to advance equity, antiracism, and social justice within and among schools, colleges/universities, and their respective community and professional partners.
Essential Three: Professional Learning and Leading: A PDS is a context for continuous professional learning and leading for all participants, guided by need and a spirit and practice of inquiry.
Essential Four: Reflection and Innovation: A PDS makes a shared commitment to reflective practice, responsive innovation, and generative knowledge.
Essential Five: Research and Results. A PDS is a community that engages in collaborative research and participates in the public sharing of results in a variety of outlets.
The same is true for South Carolina. Teacher shortages in South Carolina
primarily result from teacher attrition which has transformed from a problem
to a state-wide crisis over the last decade. Between 40 and 50 percent of early career educators leave the profession within their first five years, which
emphasizes the critical point of intervention for teacher retention during this
early career stage. Teachers who receive early career support as they transition into the profession are less likely to exit the profession early. In this paper, I discuss the challenges associated with teacher attrition and the need for induction support, review promising practices of induction support programs in South Carolina, and share conclusions and recommendations.
to make defendable inferences on their students’ achievement in the tested area because the test questions accurately reflect the domain. Reliable tests reflect the stability in the domain being assessed by yielding approximate scores upon repeated administrations. Score stability is not exact because students’ scores may be impacted by variables other than change in domain achievement including item ambiguity.
Other by Melissa A . Baker
NAPDS NINE ESSENTIALS ADDRESSED:
Essential One: A Comprehensive Mission: A professional development school (PDS) is a learning community guided by a comprehensive, articulated mission that is broader than the goals of any single partner, and that aims to advance equity, antiracism, and social justice within and among schools, colleges/universities, and their respective community and professional partners.
Essential Three: Professional Learning and Leading: A PDS is a context for continuous professional learning and leading for all participants, guided by need and a spirit and practice of inquiry.
Essential Four: Reflection and Innovation: A PDS makes a shared commitment to reflective practice, responsive innovation, and generative knowledge.
Essential Five: Research and Results. A PDS is a community that engages in collaborative research and participates in the public sharing of results in a variety of outlets.
The same is true for South Carolina. Teacher shortages in South Carolina
primarily result from teacher attrition which has transformed from a problem
to a state-wide crisis over the last decade. Between 40 and 50 percent of early career educators leave the profession within their first five years, which
emphasizes the critical point of intervention for teacher retention during this
early career stage. Teachers who receive early career support as they transition into the profession are less likely to exit the profession early. In this paper, I discuss the challenges associated with teacher attrition and the need for induction support, review promising practices of induction support programs in South Carolina, and share conclusions and recommendations.
to make defendable inferences on their students’ achievement in the tested area because the test questions accurately reflect the domain. Reliable tests reflect the stability in the domain being assessed by yielding approximate scores upon repeated administrations. Score stability is not exact because students’ scores may be impacted by variables other than change in domain achievement including item ambiguity.