THEME
Professional Learning
UPDATE
LeadCast Blog
NOTICE
Resource for Educators of Students Who Are Learning English
NCCRESt/LASER Collaboration
SPOTLIGHT
NCES DataLab
PEOPLE IN EDUCATION
Kathleen King
JoEtta Gonzales
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Teachers in Professional Communities by Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller
Because of Race: How Americans Debate Harm and Opportunity in Our Schools by Mica Pollock
TOOLS YOU CAN USE
NCCRESt Professional Learning Modules
RESEARCH BASED PRACTICE
Partner Schools: Denver, CO
FEATURED NIUSI-LEADSCAPE PRINCIPAL WORK
Beth Thompson, West High School, Madison, WI
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
Linda Darling-Hammond
FEATURED WEBSITE
The Education Alliance at Brown University
DID YOU KNOW
National Center on RTI Center Webinars Available Online
UPCOMING EVENTS
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Annual Conference
FOR PARENTS
PEAK Parent Center's 2009 Conference on Inclusive Education
FOR STUDENTS
Convention on the Rights of the Child Essay Contest
8th Annual Local to Global Justice Teach-in at ASU
There is much to celebrate about the increasingly sophisticated understanding of the role of professional learning in the teaching profession. Ongoing professional learning repositions teacher learning as active, ongoing inquiry of every day practice and its impact on student learning and accomplishments. Professional learning is increasingly more localized in classrooms and signals the reciprocal relationship between research in, on, and for practice. Importantly, the teacher is conceptualized as an active participant in research and inquiry on practice rather than a recipient of the work of researchers. This approach emphasizes the critical importance of learning in the professional lives of teachers (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). This view of professional learning is influencing the ways in which states, school districts, and local public schools create and support opportunities for teachers to learn in community about their practices and share with others as innovation and renewal occur.
Effective professional learning is accomplished through continuous, collaborative interaction with colleagues through discussion, knowledge development and understanding, and directed inquiry around professional practice. It is a facet of daily living, not a compartmentalized activity. Since professional learning is embedded within practice, it becomes part of daily discourse, shared discussions about student learning and student products, as well as more formalized mentoring and coaching, meetings, study groups, and examination of evidence from inquiry cycles. Professional learning focuses on the diffusion of professional knowledge to build sustainable educational communities focused on improving learning outcomes for all students and their families, particularly those students who are members of cultural and linguistic minorities. As educators gain knowledge, they also have the responsibility for sharing and mentoring others both in the practice of professional learning and in the expanded knowledge that comes from such activity (Kozleski & Zion, 2005, p. 7).
In this month's newsletter, we invite you to read about current efforts to promote professional learning in a variety of forms such as the NIUSI-LeadScape blog and in NCCRESt's Professional Learning Modules.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, D.C.: Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, National Research Council.
Kozleski, E. B. (2005). NCCRESt's Professional Learning Principles. In Kozleski, E. B. & Zion, S. NCCRESt's Professional Learning Modules. Tempe, AZ: National Center for Culturally Responsive Systems.
Embedded within practice, professional learning becomes part of daily discourse and can take on various formats. One such way to engage in professional learning is through education blogs. Blogs are publicly available web pages, with perspectives and links expressing the opinions and observations of a particular person or group of people. NIUSI-LeadScape has chosen to participate in the blogging community by partnering with guest bloggers who are considered experts in their respective fields. We strive to present ideas and viewpoints from researchers, practitioners, and authors that provoke, inspire, and complexify the way we understand and effect inclusive practices in our classrooms, schools, and communities. A popular blog from a few weeks back was entitled Closing the Achievement Gap: We Must Be As Diligent About Closing the Achievement Gap As We Were About Creating It by Dr. Donna Ford. In this blog, Donna Ford asserts, "We must have educators, regardless of their race/ethnicity, who are committed to doing all they can for students, who are committed to being non-discriminatory and culturally competent, and who are committed to their profession and the students in their care." Another blog, written by Dr. Carole Edelsky, provides a vivid description of educating for social justice for students with disabilities. NIUSI-LeadScape's LeadScape guest writers' blogs are posted at http://www.niusileadscape.org/bl.
Resource for Educators of Students Who Are Learning English
NCCRESt has a new partner in our work to support culturally responsive practices for students who are learning English. Bentiva Education Solutions provides materials and training based on developing cultural competence, rather than linguistic competence. Their products are designed to help educators communicate effectively with students' family members who don't speak English. Bentiva's educational products are for educators who work with students from Spanish-speaking homes and range from child-care settings to high school.
Project LASER and NCCRESt are collaborating in the creation of a website that will host multimedia resources aimed at promoting teacher learning and enhancing the quality of education offered to African American students and ELLs. Visitors to this website will be able to explore multimedia tools to understand how student linguistic and cultural practices can be used as assets and resources to support student learning. A key focus is the education of these students with special needs or who experience learning or behavioral challenges. The resources will be designed for use in professional learning activities with groups of practitioners in formal short term events or in long-term efforts of professional learning communities as a shared workspace for teachers and other practitioners who work with ELLs and speakers of African American English. Credit will be given to the authors of the accepted works. This website will be available for free use beginning in December of 2008. For more information, see the full call for submissions. You can upload your materials for review directly on our website at www.equityallianceatasu.org.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) announces a new website, DataLab. This new tool allows users to look at education data by choosing what variables or group of variables they would like to look at and how they would like them to be displayed graphically. Some of the features include QuickStats, a guided table generator that allows users to produce a table with ease, and PowerStats, available in spring of 2009, which permits users to produce complex tables, run regressions, and draw upon thousands of variables from many NCES studies.
This month we are pleased to feature two individuals with whom we have the privilege of working. The first is Kathleen King, who has worked with us at the National Institute of Urban School Improvement (NIUSI), National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) and NIUSI-LeadScape for the past 3.5 years. While working with us, Kathleen also balances other responsibilities such as finishing her Ph.D. in Special Education at Arizona State University (ASU) and publishing work in the area of college access for traditionally underrepresented students, including students with disabilities. While at ASU, she has designed and taught undergraduate and graduate level courses on bilingual/multicultural special education, has authored more than 20 publications and presentations, reviewed proposals for conferences and journals, and written large-scale grants for federal monies, including our recently awarded Region IX Equity Assistance Center, the Equity Alliance at ASU. Also, Kathleen was the recipient of the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education Division of Curriculum and Instruction Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award for her research on college access programs.
Before her years with us, Kathleen worked for several years as a school psychologist in Phoenix and Boston, where she was awarded several honors for her outstanding work, including her district's employee of the year distinction. In January, we are pleased to announce her plans to move from her current position as Professional Learning Coordinator, to the Co-Director of Technical Assistance and Professional Learning for our Region IX Equity Assistance Center, where she will continue to produce and use high quality culturally responsive materials with schools and districts on a wide variety of topics. Kathleen's dedication to education is inspirational, and we look forward to working with her and continuing to watch her career unfold.
The second individual we are featuring this month is also someone with whom we have the pleasure of working. We are very excited to welcome Dr. JoEtta Gonzales to our team. A career educator with extensive leadership experience, she will be serving as the Project Director of the Equity Alliance at ASU. Dr. Gonzales brings over 20 years of educational experience to our program, with a focus on providing equal opportunities for all students. She has held numerous positions of leadership within schools, introducing significant changes in terms of curriculum advancement and development, professional learning, and administrative reform. She has held leadership positions in urban, suburban, and rural school districts throughout Arizona. Dr. Gonzales is most proud of the work she did as an elementary school principal in helping her school community reject institutionalized racism. By engaging teachers in personal reflection and courageous conversations about race, identity and poverty, the school team was able to re-examine practices and develop policies that embraced inclusive, learner-centered approaches. In so doing, the school has broadened its view of leadership, extending it to teachers, students, and parents, and as a result the school became a family, welcoming the idea of raising achievement for all children.
Dr. Gonzales has spent her career advocating for students, and is compelled to unite others in the pursuit of academic equity. Closing the achievement gap is of utmost importance, as is providing an inclusive educational setting that promotes excellence and opportunity. In addition to her position at the Equity Alliance, Dr. Gonzales currently teaches a course in multicultural exceptionalities at Arizona State University, continuing her passion for equitable education. We are very pleased to welcome JoEtta to our team, and look forward to her leadership and unique perspective.
Teachers in Professional Communities by Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller
Teachers in Professional Communities by Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller takes the stance that teachers learn best when learning takes place within their own professional communities. Lieberman and Miller discuss what research and practice have to tell us about these communities and how they grow and develop. Another important topic addressed in this book is how to help educators improve their competence while building a positive community atmosphere. To drive home their findings, stories are discussed which are illustrative of the real life issues educators face in the challenge of creating effective professional learning.
Because of Race: How Americans Debate Harm and Opportunity in Our Schools by Mica Pollock
Because of Race by Mica Pollock delivers a series of debates regarding racial inequalities in today's schools. Pollock provides reflections from her years working at the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) from 1999 to 2001. During this time, she listened to hundreds of parents, advocates, educators, and federal employees talk about the educational treatment of children and youth in specific schools and districts. Through these discussions created from the complaints served to the OCR, Pollock analyzes how Americans debate racial harm in such a way that minimizes the number of such harms that are treated as problematic and offers recommendations for more effective ways to work with school systems to improve educational access for children of color.
NCCRESt's Professional Learning Modules
The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) created a series of Professional Learning Modules (PL Modules) designed to be pre-packaged "software" for professional developers to use with educators. Six PL Modules have been created and include Collaborative Leadership Teams, Collection and Use of Evidence, Understanding Culture and Cultural Responsiveness, Culturally Responsive Literacy, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Practice, and Culturally Responsive Response to Intervention. Each PL Module is broken down by specific topic areas, referred to as academies, and consists of a facilitator manual, PowerPoints, handouts, and activities that go along with the topic being presented.
The University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) Downtown Campus School of Education works with about 20 partner schools to prepare its teacher candidates for licensure in elementary, secondary, and special education. These collaborative organizational partnerships between UCD, six school districts, and approximately 20 schools support professional learning for both pre-service and in-service educators. Over 17 years, principals site professors, site coordinators, and clinical teachers in these partner schools have worked to educate new teachers, and develop and improve exemplary practice to improve outcomes for ALL students. In these partnerships, teachers, teacher candidates, and site professors working together are all engaged in inquiry activities, co-planning, advisory committees, co-teaching and social activities, which contribute to the development of community between the partner school site and its university partner.
The individual schools are chosen because they serve students who are highly diverse. Clinical teachers work with their teacher candidates to explore ways in which content knowledge is anchored in the community experiences of the students. Teacher candidates learn how to observe, understand, and negotiate behavior as well as approaches to learning that are outside their own experiences. Teacher candidates learn to explore identity, heritage, privilege to build classroom cultures that span students' lives outside of school and inform the shape and nature of the school curriculum. These professional learning communities (PLCs) have become sites for teacher learning for both novice and veteran educators within an urban context, all supported by site professors. Denver's PLCs are a great example of ongoing professional learning that supports effective educational practices.
FEATURED NIUSI-LEADSCAPE PRINCIPAL WORK
Beth Thompson, West High School, Madison, WI
One of the newest members of our NIUSI-LeadScape community of inclusive educational leaders, Beth Thompson is an Assistant Principal at West High School in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD). A career special educator, Beth has been a leader in developing inclusive practices at the high school level in Madison. Organized into Smaller Learning Communities (SLCs), Madison's educators work to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Through the work of Ms. Thompson and her team of collaborating teachers, West High has been able to eliminate 60% of its self-contained classes.
Beth has taken the lead in developing a subcommittee of general and special educators to collaborate and develop shared understandings about practices to support inclusive teaching including developing appropriate accommodations and modifications, equitable grading practices, and shared lesson planning. She is also leading a pilot study group to establish best practices for co-teaching.
With her ongoing efforts to tackle the daily practices and understandings necessary to establish and support inclusive teaching practices, Beth Thompson is more than a leader, she is a facilitator of change and equity. She is the type of tireless educational leader that NIUSI-LeadScape is proud to be able to support in doing the hard work necessary to create inclusive educational environments for all students.
Teachers who spend more time collectively studying teaching practices are more effective overall at developing higher-order thinking skills and meeting the needs of diverse learners. - Linda Darling-Hammond
The Education Alliance at Brown University
The Education Alliance at Brown University offers professional learning services that address a wide range of educational needs at the state, district and school level. The professional learning services offered vary and include structured professional development along with supports for educators and ways to progress monitor educational programs. Individuals who will find this website useful include educators, parents and community-based leaders who seek to improve educational conditions for students, teachers, and communities.
National Center on Response to Intervention's Discussion Forums
The National Center on Response to Intervention offers numerous ways to gather information to improve practice. One of these is through their Discussion Forums. These forums are designed to generate a discussion between participants on important topics related to response to intervention (RTI) including progress monitoring, RTI for English language learners, RTI implementation, and RTI at the secondary level. Participants must login as a guest or can register for more frequent participation. Visit their website and make your voice heard!
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Annual Conference
The 2009 NABE conference will be held in Austin, Texas February 18-21. NABE is devoted to representing both English language learners and bilingual education professionals through professional learning opportunities, partnerships with other civil rights and education organizations to fight for the interests of language minority students, and grassroots advocacy to mobilize parents and communities on behalf of educational excellence and equity.
PEAK Parent Center's 2009 Conference on Inclusive Education
Mark your calendar to attend the PEAK Parent Center's 23rd Annual Conference on Inclusive Education February 12-14, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. PEAK's annual conference is attended by hundreds of parents and educators and is a part of this Center's comprehensive work to support families of children with disabilities in advocating successfully for their children.
Convention on the Rights of the Child Essay Contest
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a human rights treaty that was created to promote and protect the well-being of children worldwide, invites youth throughout the U.S. to participate in its second nationwide essay contest. The purpose of this contest is to continue to raise awareness of the CRC among youth and to engage them in thoughtful reflection on the potential impacts of the Convention.
All U.S. students in grades 6-12 are eligible to enter the contest. The top five winning essayists will receive airfare and accommodations for himself/herself and one parent/legal guardian to participate in the Campaign for U.S. Ratification of the CRC's National Symposium at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, DC on June 1-2, 2009. Winners will be asked to share their essay with event participants and will be honored at a formal luncheon. The essay contest will be launched January 5, 2009. Applications and guidelines will be posted on the Campaign's web site, http://childrightscampaign.org , under the tab entitled, "Youth". Essays must be received by March 20, 2009 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time in order to be entered into the contest. Contest winners will be announced in April 2009.
8th Annual Local to Global Justice Teach-in at ASU
ASU is hosting its 8th Annual Local to Global Justice Teach-in on February 28th and March 1st. Last year, over 500 participants from all over the southwest came together for a weekend of free workshops, speakers, food, films, and music. Planning is currently underway for this year's event which promises to be bigger and better!
The Local to Global Justice organization was founded by undergraduate and graduate students at ASU in 2001 for the purpose of educating ASU students and the greater community about issues of local and global justice, while promoting diversity, freedom of speech, and academic freedom of discussion.
eQuiNews reflects the collaborative relationship between the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt), the National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI), NIUSI-LeadScape, and the Equity Alliance at ASU Region IX Equity Assistance Center. eQuiNews will keep you informed of the work of these projects as well as other news and information in related fields.
With a new issue every month, eQuiNews can communicate with a broad audience to provide the most innovative, vital and current information on issues in education, school reform, cultural diversity, disproportionality, inclusive practices, and much more.
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