Looking at Student Work For Teacher Learning, Teacher Community, and School Reform

Phi Delta Kappan

Volumn 85, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 185-192

  Little, Judith Warren ^a   Gearhart, Maryl ^a   Curry, Marnie ^a   Kafka, Judith ^a  

^a University of California Berkeley   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0242659832     PISSN: 00317217     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/003172170308500305     Document Type: Review

References (30)

1. For a summary report on the California School Restructuring Program, see Judith Warren Little and Rena Dorph, Lessons About Comprehensive School Reform: California's School Restructuring Demonstration Program (Berkeley: Graduate School of Education, University of California, 1998).
2. Joseph P. McDonald, "Students' Work and Teachers' Learning," in Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller, eds., Teachers Caught in the Action: Professional Development That Matters (New York: Teachers College Press, 2001), pp. 209-35; Steve Seidel, "Wondering to Be Done: The Collaborative Assessment Conference," in David Allen, ed., Assessing Student Learning: From Grading to Understanding (New York: Teachers College Press, 1998), pp. 21-39; and Judith Warren Little, "Organizing Schools for Teacher Learning," in Linda Darling-Hammond and Gary Sykes, eds., Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Teaching and Policy (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999), pp. 233-62.
3. Joseph P. McDonald, "Students' Work and Teachers' Learning," in Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller, eds., Teachers Caught in the Action: Professional Development That Matters (New York: Teachers College Press, 2001), pp. 209-35; Steve Seidel, "Wondering to Be Done: The Collaborative Assessment Conference," in David Allen, ed., Assessing Student Learning: From Grading to Understanding (New York: Teachers College Press, 1998), pp. 21-39; and Judith Warren Little, "Organizing Schools for Teacher Learning," in Linda Darling-Hammond and Gary Sykes, eds., Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Teaching and Policy (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999), pp. 233-62.
4. Joseph P. McDonald, "Students' Work and Teachers' Learning," in Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller, eds., Teachers Caught in the Action: Professional Development That Matters (New York: Teachers College Press, 2001), pp. 209-35; Steve Seidel, "Wondering to Be Done: The Collaborative Assessment Conference," in David Allen, ed., Assessing Student Learning: From Grading to Understanding (New York: Teachers College Press, 1998), pp. 21-39; and Judith Warren Little, "Organizing Schools for Teacher Learning," in Linda Darling-Hammond and Gary Sykes, eds., Teaching as the Learning Profession: Handbook of Teaching and Policy (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999), pp. 233-62.
5. See, for example, www.essentialschools.org; www.annenberginstitute.org; http://scs.aed.org/rsw; www.pz.harvard.edu/research/evidence.htm; and www.edtrust.org.
6. See, for example, www.essentialschools.org; www.annenberginstitute.org; http://scs.aed.org/rsw; www.pz.harvard.edu/research/evidence.htm; and www.edtrust.org.
7. See, for example, www.essentialschools.org; www.annenberginstitute.org; http://scs.aed.org/rsw; www.pz.harvard.edu/research/evidence.htm; and www.edtrust.org.
8. See, for example, www.essentialschools.org; www.annenberginstitute.org; http://scs.aed.org/rsw; www.pz.harvard.edu/research/evidence.htm; and www.edtrust.org.
9. See, for example, www.essentialschools.org; www.annenberginstitute.org; http://scs.aed.org/rsw; www.pz.harvard.edu/research/evidence.htm; and www.edtrust.org.
10. For a review of five programmatic approaches and corresponding bodies of research, see Judith Warren Little, Maryl Gearhart, Marnie Curry, and Judith Kafka, "'Looking at Student Work' for Teacher Learning and School Reform," paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, 2002.
11. For exceptions, see Cynthia L. Greenleaf and Ruth Schoenbach, Close Readings: A Study of Key Issues in the Use of Literacy Learning Cases for the Professional Development of Secondary Teachers: Final Report to the Spencer and MacArthur Foundations (Oakland, Calif.: Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, 2001); Elham Kazemi and Megan Loef Franke, "Using Student Work to Support Professional Development in Elementary Mathematics," Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington, Seattle, April 2003.
12. For exceptions, see Cynthia L. Greenleaf and Ruth Schoenbach, Close Readings: A Study of Key Issues in the Use of Literacy Learning Cases for the Professional Development of Secondary Teachers: Final Report to the Spencer and MacArthur Foundations (Oakland, Calif.: Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd, 2001); Elham Kazemi and Megan Loef Franke, "Using Student Work to Support Professional Development in Elementary Mathematics," Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington, Seattle, April 2003.
13. We have identified the three organizations and projects by name, but we have employed pseudonyms for all participating individuals and school sites.
14. Harvard Project Zero, "The Evidence Project: Proposal Narrative: Proposal to the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund," 1998, p. 1. See also Steve Seidel et al., The Evidence Process: A Collaborative Approach to Understanding and Improving Teaching and Learning (Cambridge, Mass.: Project Zero, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, 2001).
15. Harvard Project Zero, "The Evidence Project: Proposal Narrative: Proposal to the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund," 1998, p. 1. See also Steve Seidel et al., The Evidence Process: A Collaborative Approach to Understanding and Improving Teaching and Learning (Cambridge, Mass.: Project Zero, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, 2001).
16. Academy for Educational Development, "Reviewing Student Work/Improving Student Achievement: Proposal to the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund," 1998, p. 1.
17. Coalition of Essential Schools, "Instructional Improvement Through Inquiry and Collaboration: Proposal to the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund," 1998. See also Lindsay Claire Matsumura and Joan Rector Steinberg, Collaborative, School-Based Professional Development Settings for Teachers: Implementation and Links to Improving the Quality of Classroom Practice and Student Learning (Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, UCLA, 2001); and Bill Nave, Critical Friends Groups: Their Impact on Students, Teachers, and Schools: Results of a Two-Year Qualitative Study of the National School Reform Faculty Program (Providence, R.I.: Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 2000).
18. Coalition of Essential Schools, "Instructional Improvement Through Inquiry and Collaboration: Proposal to the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund," 1998. See also Lindsay Claire Matsumura and Joan Rector Steinberg, Collaborative, School-Based Professional Development Settings for Teachers: Implementation and Links to Improving the Quality of Classroom Practice and Student Learning (Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, UCLA, 2001); and Bill Nave, Critical Friends Groups: Their Impact on Students, Teachers, and Schools: Results of a Two-Year Qualitative Study of the National School Reform Faculty Program (Providence, R.I.: Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 2000).
19. Coalition of Essential Schools, "Instructional Improvement Through Inquiry and Collaboration: Proposal to the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund," 1998. See also Lindsay Claire Matsumura and Joan Rector Steinberg, Collaborative, School-Based Professional Development Settings for Teachers: Implementation and Links to Improving the Quality of Classroom Practice and Student Learning (Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, UCLA, 2001); and Bill Nave, Critical Friends Groups: Their Impact on Students, Teachers, and Schools: Results of a Two-Year Qualitative Study of the National School Reform Faculty Program (Providence, R.I.: Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 2000).
20. For a more extended analysis of how local approaches to looking at student work affect teachers' opportunities to learn, see Maryl Gearhart, Judith Warren Little, Judith Kafka, and Marnie Curry, "Looking at Student Work: Locating Opportunities for Teacher Learning in the Context of Practice," paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, 2002.
21. One site relied exclusively on members of the group to facilitate protocol-based discussions; other sites also used teachers to facilitate, sometimes supplemented by external facilitators or coaches. Summary descriptions of specific protocols may be found at www.lasw.org.
22. These protocols evolved during the project. Current versions may or may not have the identical features.
23. Not all protocols are designed to help participants withhold judgment. In approaches oriented explicitly toward standards implementation, protocols may be designed to structure an assessment of student work in relationship to specific tasks and standards. For example, see the approach advocated by the Education Trust (www.edtrust.org).
24. www.lasw.org.
25. The term "mutual adaptation" was coined by Paul Berman and Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Federal Programs Supporting Educational Change, Volume VIII: Implementing and Sustaining Innovations (Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, 1978). Researchers in fields ranging from cognitive science to anthropology similarly show how individuals and groups "appropriate" innovative designs to suit particular purposes and contexts.
26. Most of the available research focuses on subject-specific professional development activity. In one recent study, researchers found that teachers were able to derive more insights from student work as they began to devote very close attention to its details and to link the student work to their own classroom observations and conversations with students (Kazemi and Franke, op. cit.). For an example of a subject-specific protocol for looking at student work, see the "Protocol for Looking at Student Work in Reading Apprenticeship Classrooms," developed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd. You can contact the Strategic Literacy Initiative at 510/302-4245.
27. See, for example, Christopher M. Clark, ed., Talking Shop: Authentic Conversation and teacher Learning (NewYork: Teachers College Press, 2001); Pam Grossman, Sam Wineburg, and Stephen Woolworth, "Toward a Theory of Teacher Community," Teachers College Record, vol. 103, 2001, pp. 942-1012; and Milbrey W. McLaughlin and Joan E. Talbert, Professional Communities and the Work of High School Teaching (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).
28. See, for example, Christopher M. Clark, ed., Talking Shop: Authentic Conversation and teacher Learning (NewYork: Teachers College Press, 2001); Pam Grossman, Sam Wineburg, and Stephen Woolworth, "Toward a Theory of Teacher Community," Teachers College Record, vol. 103, 2001, pp. 942-1012; and Milbrey W. McLaughlin and Joan E. Talbert, Professional Communities and the Work of High School Teaching (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).
29. See, for example, Christopher M. Clark, ed., Talking Shop: Authentic Conversation and teacher Learning (NewYork: Teachers College Press, 2001); Pam Grossman, Sam Wineburg, and Stephen Woolworth, "Toward a Theory of Teacher Community," Teachers College Record, vol. 103, 2001, pp. 942-1012; and Milbrey W. McLaughlin and Joan E. Talbert, Professional Communities and the Work of High School Teaching (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001).
30. See, for example, Carne Barnett, "Mathematics Teaching Cases as a Catalyst for Informed Strategic Inquiry," Teaching and Teacher Education, vol. 14, 1998, pp. 81-93.