MST PORTAL – Promoting Open, Reflective Teaching & Learning

In an opening keynote for a Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute in Washington, DC, Richard DuFour presented “Hard Facts, Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense in Education.” Rick stated teachers are engaging in educational malpractice if they don’t work in a collaborative environment.

He went on to explain that in a collaborative environment, members of the team should work interdependently towards a common goal with all held mutually accountable. But the focus of the collaboration is critical. Energy and attention should focus on student learning. Professional Learning Communities look to evidence that their students are achieving the identified knowledge, skills, and dispositions and use that information to drive their instructional decisions.

So what is the best way to collect and use evidence? DuFour shared research supporting the use of formative assessments.

A focus on the use of formative assessment in support of learning, developed through teacher learning communities, promises not only the largest potential gains in student achievement, but also provides a model for teacher professional development that can be implemented effectively at scale.

Dylan Wiliam and Marnie Thompson (2007)

To the extent that teachers work together in teams to 1) analyze, understand, and deconstruct standards, 2) transform standards into high quality classroom assessments, and 3) share and interpret results together, they benefit from the union of their wisdom about how to help students continue to grow as learners.

Rick Stiggins (2005), p.82

Two strategies seem especially promising for schools. One is to expand the quality and variety of formative assessments; a second is to promote and organize collective inquiry into and discussion of student progress and achievement based on a range of assessments.

Judith Warren Little, (2006), p.9

Working in true Professional Learning Communities will help eliminate what DuFour refers to as the “educational lottery” of our children’s school experiences. If research identifies the effectiveness of teachers working in collaborative teams using formative assessments to increase student achievement and educators continue to resist, should educational malpractice be the charge?

Little, J.W. (2006). Professional Community and Professional Development in Learning-Centered School. Washington, D.C: National Education Association.

Stiggins, R. (2005). Assessment for learning: Building a culture of confident learners.  In R. DuFour, R. EAker, & R. DuFour (Eds.), On common ground: The power of professional learning communities (pp.65-83). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Wiliam, D., & Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with learning: What will it take to make it work? in C.A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Image credit: http://flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2137737248/in/photostream/

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This morning I met with Jim Schwartz, a professor in the Childhood Education Department at SJFC, to reflect on our goals for the partnership we have established between his pre-service class and the MST PORTAL at Klem South Elementary.

The goals for Jim are to have his students experience inquiry-based teaching and learning prior to their student teaching placements as well as to provide more authentic conversations regarding planning, student assessment, instructional best practices, and the reflective nature of teaching.

Here in the MST PORTAL we are looking to continue to promote open, reflective teaching and learning through shared conversations and experiences with professionals outside of our school via scheduled videoconferencing chats, streaming lessons/presentations, and face-to-face gatherings. Our continued goal is to expand the number of teachers taking advantage of the job-embedded professional development opportunities made possible because of this unique partnership. Whether teachers want to learn more about inquiry-based mathematics (especially with our new math series), the Backward Design process, using technology to support student learning, or simply to gather the collective ideas of 20 eager pre-service teachers to help plan a lesson or unit, these experiences can happen within the school day, side-by-side with another teacher(s) for guidance and support, and as an integrated part of classroom planning and instruction.

In February, Jim’s students will be exploring Understanding by Design and the Six Facets of Understanding including discussing what “counts” as evidence of understanding. To follow up on this work, we have a videoconference scheduled on March 6th to examine and discuss student work samples. If you’d like to join the conversation and perhaps share samples of student work (math problem-solving would be great), just let me know.

For our next videoconference on April 3rd, we are seeking interested teachers to collaborate with the pre-service teachers on the initial development of a math/science inquiry-based lesson. As part of their class requirements at SJFC, the pre-service teachers will work on the development of a webquest to support the content of the lesson. This activity will be inquiry-based, provide distinct roles for students, and may provide a hands-on component. Once completed, teachers will be able to implement the webquest with their students (either the entire class or with a small group) and then reflect on the experience and effectiveness of student learning.

If you have any comments on our progress to-date with this partnership or ideas to share, please comment.

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