English 315 » NCLB

Getting in Gear to Think about Assessment

hickstro — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:23:21 +0000

As we move toward a discussion of assessment next week, I encourage you to read this article with thoughts about how you are being assessed this semester with reading responses, field notes, your multigenre project, and your final portfolio.

What is common across all kinds of assessments? For what purposes might tests be better suited as an assessment tool? When would you choose to use these different kinds of assessments and why?

Command Performance: Creating Accountability That Works | Edutopia

While schools wait for innovation in accountability testing, some are taking matters into their own hands, creating performance assessments that guide and strengthen teaching and learning. Typically, these assessments come in the form of portfolios and presentations — tasks that bear something in common with the kind of work students may ultimately do in college or in a job.

Words of Wisdom from Jonathan Kozol

hickstro — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:18:07 +0000

As we move to the end of the semester and student teacher gets that much closer, it is worth pausing to consider the wider field of education and what challenges you may face. Kozol has been a passionate voice for all students and teachers over the years, and this article from Edutopia reminds us of how your first few years can be full of challenges, and how to overcome those challenges.

If you haven’t yet read any of Kozol’s work, I think that it would be worth your time to grab one of his books for your summer reading list.

Teaching with Passion: Advice for Young Educators | Edutopia

For more than forty years, Jonathan Kozol has taught in, worked with, and written about America’s inner city public schools. His straight talk in best-selling books such as Savage Inequalities and Amazing Grace has made him a hero of many teachers, and he fiercely opposes government policies he believes perpetuate educational inequities.

In his newest book, Letters to a Young Teacher, Kozol takes aim at the test-driven curriculum proliferating our educational system. Through a series of personal letters to Francesca, a fledgling first-grade teacher in Boston who invited him into her classroom, Kozol delivers sage advice, sharp criticism of the status quo, and stories of his own early teaching experiences. As Publishers Weekly remarked, it is “an impassioned book, not only for what it imparts of classroom doings, but even more so for the obstacles increasingly being laid at teachers’ hands.”

Presidential Election, NCLB, and Technology in Schools

hickstro — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:35:15 +0000

As you think about writing your professional responses for next week, you might consider this article about the presidential campaign, NCLB, and how the candidates view education reform and technology.

When we think about we can do (and want to do) with our students in relation to writing and revising with technology, this election may determine a great deal about the ways in which we are able to reimagine schools and the teaching of writing.

Top News – Education, technology, and the 2008 campaign

As the campaign picture continues to become clearer, it’s time to take a closer look at the positions of all three candidates on issues relating to education and technology.All three candidates believe the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) needs reform—but Clinton and Obama would go much farther than McCain in proposing changes to the law.