Welcome to The International Association of Laboratory & University Affiliated
Schools’ annual conference. Our friends in Pittsburgh have worked very hard
to plan an outstanding conference. Throughout each day, available sessions
will interest administrators, university faculty and students, and teachers from
all levels. In addition to informative site visits and presentations, I look forward
to the many opportunities to interact and share ideas with colleagues from lab
schools and university affiliated schools from around the country and the world.
I have improved my expertise and made some very good friends as a result of
attending the NALS conferences. This past year I was honored to serve as the
president of NALS. My experience informs me that NALS is growing and is serving an important
role. As president of NALS, I attended and led NALS Board meetings and traveled to Virginia
and Iowa to meet with groups interested in starting or improving lab schools. I know of two
groups, one from Illinois and one from Indiana, attending this conference because they are also
interested in starting new schools. Representatives from NALS have traveled as far as
Indonesia to talk with groups interested in starting new lab schools. I want to welcome all those
that are new to NALS, returning to NALS, or attending their first NALS conference. I am sure
you will find your time here rewarding. To all those, like myself, who have attended many NALS
conferences, I say, "Welcome back to the neighborhood; it’s good to see you again." I hope
everyone enjoys the sessions and the camaraderie. I hope you will continue to be a part of this
great organization and, if you have not already, consider becoming active on the Board or a
NALS committee. It’s a great opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Your friend and neighbor in the NALS community,
Jay McGee, NALS President 2010-2011
Greetings Colleagues,
It is an honor on behalf of the NALS Board of Directors and for me personally
to welcome you to Pittsburgh where three diverse schools collaborate as
neighbors and are, for this week, expanding the neighborhood to include
other laboratory and university affiliated schools around the country and the
world. I extend an exceptionally warm and grateful thank you to our host
school educators from Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, and
The University of Pittsburgh who have worked so hard and given so much
effort and expertise to make this a beautiful THREE days in this wonderful neighborhood. Once
again at this year’s annual conference, we are proud that for the past 54 years we have held our
conferences to discuss important educational issues. We are excited to share with you these
issues and ask that you engage in the presentations, the conversations, the group discussions,
the collaborations, and the information regarding our association. We extend a warm invitation
to you to let us know how we can better serve you and how you may want to contribute to our
shared endeavors. With all that said, don’t be a stranger to us. We are all in this significant
business together, and we hope to have the pleasure of working more closely with you in the
very near future.
Sincerely,
Patricia E. Diebold, Executive Director
National Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools
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International Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools
Officers
Patricia Diebold, Executive Director
Edinboro, Pennsylvania
Jay McGee, President
Ball State University
Donna Elder, Past President
Journal Co-Editor
National University
Elizabeth Morley, President Elect
Chairperson, NALS Endowment Board
University of Toronto
Sharon Carver, Vice President for Conference Planning
Carnegie Mellon University
Kathleen McKenna, Editor, The NALS Newsletter
Wendell McConnaha, Chairperson, International Programs
University of Pittsburgh
Laurie Parkerson, Journal Co-Editor
Rhode Island College
Mary Jane Taylor, Recording Secretary
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Board of Directors
Christine Kaes
Mills College
Hal Knight
East Tennessee State University
Sandra Brown-Turner
University of Memphis
Cathy Reid
Smith College
Vincent Rizzo
Howard Gardner School for Discovery
Mary Lou Vernon
University of Western Ontario
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Thanks …
… to the Conference Planning Committee whose dedication and hard work resulted in a
productive and challenging professional development opportunity. Your efforts are sincerely
appreciated!
• Pam Armstrong, University of Pittsburgh
• Sharon Carver, Carnegie Mellon University
• Patricia Cooper, Carlow University
• Diana Dimitrovski, University of Pittsburgh
• Linda Hancock, Carnegie Mellon University
• DeAnna Kwiecinski, Carlow University
• Wendell McConnaha, University of Pittsburgh
• Karen McDowell, Carlow University
• Jackie Metcalf, University of Pittsburgh
• Jill Sarada, University of Pittsburgh
• Jill Weiss, Carlow University
… to Barb Bianco and Lori Wertz at the Falk School for publicity work via the conference
newsletters and web site respectively.
… to Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, CMU’s Program in Interdisciplinary
Education Research, and the University of Pittsburgh for funding the registration for host school
educators and research forum presenters.
… to The Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC), Executive
Director Michelle Figlar, David Pribish, Kim Zimmerman and consultant Melissa McMasters for
facilitating our conference publicity via the PAEYC web site, PA Keys funding and professional
development credit, and registration via the Reg OnLine system.
… to Pennsylvania’s Title II Funding for sponsoring the keynote speakers and invited
workshops.
… to the presenters for your willingness to share your creative work in order to inspire others.
… to Fiona Seels and Karen Bassett at the University of Pittsburgh for providing technology
support for the conference.
… to the University of Pittsburgh for providing parking.
… to the Cyert Center for Early Education and the Pittsburgh Science and Technology High
School for welcoming NALS visitors for tours.
… to the Staff, Children, and Families of the three host schools for your consistent support of
excellence in education, professional development, and outreach.
… to the NALS Board for leadership of the association that sustains our professional community
and expands our horizons.
… to the Silent Auction Committees at the host schools for securing such diverse and valuable
auction items in order to raise money for both the NALS Endowment and our schools.
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NALS is proud to acknowledge the corporate sponsors for this year's conference. The
breakfasts, luncheons and the Dean's Reception are being funded by Sodexo Food Service,
Perkins Eastman Architects, P J Dick Construction, and ECSI School Finance Management.
Representing Sodexo at the conference will be Kendley Davenport, Susan Fukushima, Abdou
Cole and Randy Holden. Representing Perkins Eastman at the conference will be Alan
Schlossberg, Mark Barnett and Charles Krimmel. Representing P J Dick at the conference will
be Frank Babik, Danielle Ducouer, Jason Day, Bernie Kobosky, Brett Pitcairn, and Katie Brown.
Representing ECSI at the conference will be John Lynch, Tracy Schumann and Fran Bolanis.
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Won’t you be my neighbor?
Creating Campus & Community Collaborations
Program for Wednesday, April 13, 2011
7:00am
Registration Open at the Holiday Inn – until 9:00
Registration Open at the Falk School from 9:30 on
7:30am Welcome Breakfast at the Holiday Inn
University Host: Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, JD, University of Pittsburgh
9:00am Transport to 5 Tour Sites
9:30 – 11:15am School Tour 1
• The Falk Laboratory School at the University of Pittsburgh (K-8th) http://falk-school.org
• The Campus School of Carlow University (PreK-8th) http://campusschool.carlow.edu
• The Children’s School at Carnegie Mellon University (PreSch & K)
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/cs
• The Cyert Center for Early Education (Infant-PreK/K) http://www.cmu.edu/cyert-center
• Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy (6th-10th) http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/pst
11:15am Transport to the Falk School
11:30am - 12:30pm Box Lunches at the Falk School
12:30pm Transport to Tour Sites as needed
12:45 - 2:30pm School Tour 2
• The Falk Laboratory School at the University of Pittsburgh (K-8th) http://falk-school.org
• The Campus School of Carlow University (PreK-8th) http://campusschool.carlow.edu
• The Children’s School at Carnegie Mellon University (PreSch & K)
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/cs
Wednesday 12:30 – 3:30pm Workshops at the Falk School
For Administrators: Directing the Laboratory School: Surviving
and Thriving in this Unique Environment
Wendell McConnaha, University of Pittsburgh
Room 119
For Teachers: Teacher Round Tables for Close Attention to
Student Thinking
Robbie Murphy, Lara Ramsey, Jan Szymaszek, Smith College
Room 111
For All Educators: The Possible School: How John Dewey’s Bold
Vision Shapes Today’s Lab Schools
Elizabeth Morley & Richard Messina, U. Toronto
Room 208
2:30 & 3:30pm Transport to the Holiday Inn
5
5:45pm Transport from the Holiday Inn to the Frick Fine Arts Building
Wednesday 6:00pm University Reception & Poster Session
University Hosts:
• Dr. Margaret McLaughlin, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Carlow University
• Dr. John Lehoczky, Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
• Dr. Tony Petrosky, Associate Dean for Academic Programs for the School of Education,
University of Pittsburgh
Collaborative Mural Creation
Brynn Flynn, Katie Salvi, and Jennifer Balog
Carnegie Mellon University
We will share our collaborative process for creating large-scale
murals in a school setting. This will include breaking down the
muraling process from design to implementation and focusing on the
ways in which we incorporated the community. We designed the
project to incorporate the different sections of our school communityundergrads, parents, administrators, students, and teachers, and will
share how we created a design and process providing volunteer
opportunities for these various school community groups.
Early Childhood
Visual Arts
Kid Customers: Teaching Preschoolers to be Critical
Consumers Using a Play-Based Curriculum
Marissa Drell and Julie Riess
Vassar College
Studies suggest that children younger than eight have a limited
understanding of persuasive intent. Critics of children’s advertising use
these findings to argue that children are cognitively incapable of
resisting persuasive advertising appeals. While framing young children
as victims is beneficial in the fight for stronger regulations, it has
prevented educators from developing media literacy curricula for
preschoolers. By building upon children’s prior knowledge of
advertising and creating opportunities for them to be active agents in
their own learning, we created and implemented a developmentally
appropriate, play-based preschool media literacy curriculum.
Early Childhood
Curriculum
Young Children’s Curiosity and Questioning Skills: Are They
Related?
Jamie Jirout
Carnegie Mellon University
The goal of this project was to investigate the relationship between
young children’s curiosity and question-asking behaviors. Questionasking behaviors included generation of questions with and without
specific learning goals, categorization of helpful and not helpful
questions, and general inquiry behaviors. Participants were
preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade students at universityaffiliated schools.
Early Childhood
Research
6
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Development of Synonym-Based Reasoning: The Role of
Inheritance Information and Co-occurrence Probability
Karrie Godwin
Carnegie Mellon University
Prior research suggests young-children utilize semantically-similar
labels in the course of induction. However, children’s reliance on
semantically-similar labels is limited to word-pairs that share meaning
and co-occur (e.g., puppy-dog). Incidentally, the word-pairs also refer
to baby-parent relationships. This study explores whether children’s
induction is driven by kind, co-occurrence, or kinship.
Early Childhood
Research
Get Reading @ Your Library
Linda Herward
University of Pittsburgh
Encourage reading without competition, rewards, or tests. A Reading
Chain, Page Tally, and school wide Read-In are some of the
community building activities in this Reading Promotion Initiative.
Elementary
Library
A Resource Room serves as a Professional Development
Community Center
Sue O’Donnell and Diana Morton
Saint Joseph College
View a poster documentation of The School for Young Children at
Saint Joseph College’s Resource Room and its role as a community
center for early childhood care and education professionals and
prospective teachers. The School for Young Children has been
offering comprehensive professional development outreach activities
for ten years. Activities include workshops, symposiums, open house
events, and newsletter publications. Individuals throughout
Connecticut and from neighboring states benefit for The School’s
Resource Room and outreach activities.
Administration
Teacher Ed
Does Altered Presentation Style Impact Students with Auditory
Processing Dysfunction?
Terry Clark
Florida Atlantic University
This action research study examined three presentation styles used
by teachers, and how each impacted the behavior and/or response
accuracy of students with auditory processing difficulties. Overall,
considering gender, grade levels, Auditory Processing Dysfunction
(APD) subtypes, classroom or resource room, behavior or response
accuracy, being cognizant of how students respond with simple, yet
structured changes in prosody, benefits their ability to respond
accurately and to become involved in the lesson. It is critical to use
these techniques when and where they are most effective for the
benefit of our students with Auditory Processing Dysfunction.
Elementary
Practice
7
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Flash Drive
Handout? No
National Core Standards and the SMART Table®
Renee Huffman, Eva Zygmunt-Fillwalk and Jon Clausen
Ball State University
The proposed presentation details a semester-long immersive
learning experience for teacher candidates in a laboratory school
setting. In a kindergarten practicum experience, early childhood
majors used the SMART Table® to deliver National Core English and
Math Standards to kindergarten children. Candidates aligned
existing SMART® Table Content to the new Core Standards, and
created and delivered additional content using this new technology.
Florida’s Definition and Subsequent Calculations of a Public
High School Graduate: A Critical Race Theory Analysis
Terri Watson
Florida Atlantic University
Black America’s past and present reality in public education has
illustrated the need for new paradigms to address the achievement
gap promulgated by contextual factors that serve to impede the
academic achievement of all students. The statistical analyses and
Critical Race Realist perspective, which has evolved from Critical
Race Theory when applied to policy research, offered in this study
found Florida’s definition and subsequent calculations of a public high
school graduate to result in significant and consistent differences
among graduation rates relative to student race and graduation rate
calculation method.
Applying Worked Examples in the Context of Science
Dana Navaroli, Albert Corbett, Stephanie Siler & Cressida Magaro
Pittsburgh Science & Technology & Carnegie Mellon University
Researchers contrasted worked example handouts with traditional
problem solving skill worksheets in an attempt to provide students
with a more robust procedural and conceptual understanding of
density in natural world contexts. Students worked in same-ability or
mixed ability pairs. Results will be discussed in terms of cognitive
load theory and the effects of feedback and scaffolding.
Helping Children to Try, Try Hard, and Try Again; What are
Schools, Teachers, and Parents Doing to Shape a Fixed or
Growth Mindset in Children?
Milena Nigam
University of Pittsburgh, Office of Child Development
The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development and the
Fred Rogers Company recently collaborated with parents at Carnegie
Mellon University’s Children School to explore how adults can help
children embrace effort and persistence in school and in life. This
poster reviews two approaches to learning, a fixed mindset and a
growth mindset, and invites viewers to participate in capturing
everyday opportunities—in the classroom and at home—to
encourage students to learn through sustained effort.
8:00pm Transport to the Holiday Inn
8
Early Childhood
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Administration
Research
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Secondary
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Early Childhood
Parenting
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Creating Campus & Community Collaborations
Program for Thursday, April 14, 2011
7:00am
Registration Open at the Falk School, Plus Silent Auction & Internet Café
7:15am
Transport from Holiday Inn to the Falk School
7:30am Buffet Breakfast
University Host: Dr. Alan Lesgold, Dean, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh
Thursday 8:45 – 11:00am Double Session Options A (2 hours 15 min)
Little Things Make Big Differences: Ongoing Lessons in Designing
Educational Environments
Julie Riess, Debbie Falasco, Alex Crocker and Pat Voytko
Vassar College
Over the last four years, Wimpfheimer at Vassar College has been
undergoing an extensive remodeling to bring our early childhood lab
school into a 21st teaching and learning environment. During this
process, we learned just how much little things can make a big
difference. This panel discussion will focus on four aspects: designing
simultaneous child-centered and research-centered teaching
environments; the role of photographic documentation in informing
teaching practices; building an inclusive, mixed age preschool
classroom; and collaboration with inclusion support community
providers.
Looking to Learn: Using Close Observation and Drawing to Learn
Jan Szymaszek, Paul Matylas, Lara Ramsey and Roberta Murphy
Smith College
Many teachers use observational drawing as a tool to deepen students’
understanding in science. Over the past few years, teachers in our
school have been mining the richness of this practice and expanding it,
within and beyond science, to cultivate student learning about subject
matter and metacognition. In this session two classroom teachers (one
from third grade and one from fifth grade) will present the story of how
this curriculum strand has developed, offer examples of student work,
and consider issues related to this work.
How one Long Term Laboratory School Deals with the Three “Rs”
Relevance, Rigor, Relationships
Jay McGee and Lisa Berry
Ball State University
The presentation/forum provides information focused on the three “Rs”
of laboratory schools. These are: RELEVANCE to the university,
through pre-service teacher education, special projects, and research,
and to students through an active, engaging curriculum; RIGOR as
related to school and students accountability; and RELATIONSHIPS
with the university, community and parents of the school.
9
Room 119
Early Childhood
Learning
Environments
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 120
Elementary
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 118
Administration
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Thursday 8:45 – 9:45am Seminar Options B (1 hour)
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Introducing Young Children to the
Concept of Being Environmentally Responsible
Jean Bird and Maggie Rosenblum
Carnegie Mellon University
The earth has limited resources, many of which can be reused. Hear
about our in-depth study with young children about recycling.
Participants will learn about strategies to teach basic concepts such as
respecting the earth by reducing waste and reusing materials. Photos,
music, specific curriculum and hands-on activities will be included.
Meet the Children’s School worms!
The Great Mathematician Project at The School at Columbia
University
Sabrina Goldberg
Columbia University
This presentation on the Great Mathematician Project (GMP) will
feature a fifty-minute overview of a math history project that was
originally conceived and developed at Hunter College Elementary
School, a laboratory and demonstration school for intellectually gifted
students affiliated with Hunter College. Currently, 7th grade students at
The School at Columbia University, which is a laboratory school with a
one-to-one laptop platform affiliated with Columbia University
(TS@CU), are reaping the benefits of independent inquiry for the GMP
through the integration of technology and opportunities for collaboration
with the Columbia University community. This presentation on the GMP
will illustrate how (1) students use social networking theory to assume
the avatar of the mathematician, inventor or theorist that they have
researched independently for the GMP, and (2) tell how students
collaborate with Columbia University faculty to enhance the inquiry
process and develop a thoughtful understanding of the work of
historical figures whom they have researched for the GMP. During this
presentation, artifacts of students’ work will be shown, and a short
video of student’s perspectives will feature highlights of collaboration
between students from The School at Columbia University and other
members of the Columbia University community.
Room 121
Cross-age tutoring and adolescent readers
Maggie Prince, Debra Noelk and Rachel Fishbach
Florida Atlantic University
Teaching adolescent readers the word attack and fluency skills with
which they struggle can pose a challenge to even the most seasoned
teacher. These students often see themselves as inferior to their peers
and may disregard instruction in their need areas because it makes
them feel unintelligent and insecure. This calls for creative teaching
methods like cross-age tutoring. The model presented will explore a
unique design to a tried and true strategy that reaches both the
complicated adolescent population and their primary counter-parts.
Room 216
10
Early Childhood
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 213
Secondary
Technology
Global Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Elementary
Secondary
Learning
Disabilities
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Creating Community Through Literacy, Music & Dance
Debbie Campbell Cheatham and Maria Sassani
Columbia University
This presentation is for elementary school classroom teachers, music
and dance teachers who are interested in creating community building
activities inspired by children’s books. Teachers will experience a
series of creative music and movement warm-up activities, script
writing in a differentiated class setting, strategies to create and/or select
developmentally appropriate music selections, and choreography
techniques for teaching young children. A list of recommended books
and music resources for integrated performances will be provided.
X Marks the Spot! Government e-Resources for Teachers and
Students Unlock the Treasure Chest
Michelle Foreman and Chantana Charoenpanitkul
Shippensburg University
Teachers face budgetary challenges every day. Finding well-designed,
interactive learning materials for children without cost is a difficulty.
The presenters include a lab school librarian and a government
documents librarian from Shippensburg University. This session will
share a wide range of free government e-resources, from interactive
web “games” that explicitly teach things like advertising and media
awareness, to excellent unit plans using primary documents or current
data. The federal government has invested time and money into
making a variety of resources classroom friendly. Participants will
leave with ready-to-use materials for involving students immediately.
A School for All Seasons: Outdoor and Year Around School
Vince Rizzo
Howard Gardner School
The Gardner School has been exploring the potential of both outdoor
classrooms and year ‘round school. This interest was based on
conversations with a group of MI school representatives in preparation
for the publication of Howard Gardner’s “MI Around the World” in July
2009. Since then, our school has spent two months each school year
having classes in a municipal park and has sponsored up to six weeks
of summer school camps called SCAMP that have focused on the arts
and student special interests. This presentation will feature an
overview of both teacher and student impressions of the benefits and
difficulties of outdoor school experiences. The presentation will also
focus on helping interested attendees establish outdoor programs.
Using Student Teacher Meetings to Support Reflective Practice
Jane Simon and Sara Sutherland
Mills College
In this presentation, we will deconstruct the process of facilitating
Student Teacher evaluation meetings. Discussion and reflection,
sharing and giving feedback all support reflective practice that can
inform excellence in teaching and continued professional growth.
9:45am
Break
11
Room 122
Elementary
Curriculum
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 123
Elementary
Secondary
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 214
Administration
Learning
Environments
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 202
Grad &
Undergrad
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Thursday 10:00 – 11:00am Seminar Options C (1 hour)
Promoting Empathy through Environmental Inquiry in a Grade 2
Classroom
Cindy Halewood and Lorraine Chiarotto
University of Toronto
The philosophy at ICS supports the belief that inquiry is central to all
learning. By honoring students’ ideas, they are motivated to believe
that their voices and actions can make a difference. Further, when
the children are afforded the time to deeply investigate their own
questions and theories about the environment, they develop empathy
and a caring relationship with the natural world. In this session we
will explore how an environmental focus in a Grade Two classroom
supported the development of empathy leading to stewardship. This
classroom was involved in the North Atlantic Salmon Restoration
Project in which the children hatched, cared for, and released
endangered salmon fry. The work they did during this focus was
pivotal in continuing the development of empathy.
I Can’t Keep Still!—Using Drama to Enhance Reading, Writing &
Learning
Joanne Ridge
University of Pittsburgh
Creative Dramatics is more than just playing on the day before break.
The activities are fun and involve students in their learning. They
push students to make decisions, evaluate their behavior, and
analyze their own growth and learning. Drama also involves the
teacher as spectator and a participant. Creative drama activities can
be an integral part of any subject curriculum. This presentation will
introduce a few drama sequences and explain how to connect the
activities to writing and reading experiences.
Mind Body Tools for Classroom Management
Joanne Spence
Yoga in Schools
Mind-body research shows that mindfulness and yoga-based
activities in the classroom serves to support the whole child and
sustain well-being, enhancing behavior and academic achievement.
Mind Body Tools for Classroom Management provide proven,
practical strategies to integrate and energize mind and body for
reduced stress and increased focus, self-control, critical thinking and
memory. Participants learn to effectively manage their own wellbeing and positively impact the well-being, self-management and
learning readiness of students.
Hills, Steps and Slopes: An Exploration of Linear Equations
Suzanne Ament
Carlow University
Where better to learn about slope of a line than in the hilly
neighborhoods of the Greater Pittsburgh area? Graphs, tables and
equations all serve to illustrate the relationships of linear equations,
but real world experience on our campus includes climbing and
12
Room 121
Elementary
Learning
Environments
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 122
Elementary
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 202
All Ages
Teaching
Practice
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 214
Elementary
Secondary
Teaching
Practice
descending many sets of stairs. This workshop will explore the
concept of slope through a student-centered problem of data
collection and evaluation. Participants will hypothesize which is the
steepest flight of steps then use measures of slope to test their
hypotheses.
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Research that Makes a Difference in the 21st Century
Lynn Wicker and Lindsey Cole
Florida State University
This presentation will explore innovative approaches and
collaborations at the Florida State Developmental Research and
Laboratory School in the area of K-12 and Higher Education
Research and Development. Implementation of RD3 (Research,
Development, Demonstration and Dissemination) at the lab school
and university level will be showcased and strategies for building a
climate of teacher-researchers will be shared. Utilizing this
comprehensive model to expand research collaborations school-wide
and university-wide, FSUS serves as a demonstration site for leading
research that truly makes a difference in the 21st century. Attendees
will receive digital resources and support documents on building
dynamic research partnerships in order to carry out the RD3 model.
Room 213
State University Of Malang Laboratory Schools: Past – Present –
Future Policy and Professional Development
Kasihani Suyanto, Mirjam Anugerahwati and Dr. Sulton
State University of Malang
The presentation will be in the form of team-presentation of teacher
and consultant focusing on the policy and professional development
of the human resources of the State University of Malang (UM) Lab.
Schools. This will take the format of a 50-minute interactive seminar
where the presenters talk about the historical background of UM Lab.
Schools, the condition at present, and the plans for future
development of UM Lab. Schools.
Room 215
“Case Discussions”: Learning from Everyday Teaching
Experiences
Paula Buel, Nanu Clark and Christine Kaes
Mills College
Every day, teachers have complex interactions with children and
parents that can potentially be handled in a variety of ways. Through
in-depth dialogue with colleagues, alternative ways to approach these
situations can be explored. Such conversations can lead to new
understanding of our work in the field. In this seminar, we will
describe and practice the process of “case discussions,” which are
used as a tool for reflection and learning at the Mills College
Children’s School.
Room 123
13
Administration
Research
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Administration
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Grad &
Undergrad
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Equipping Future Educators of the 21st Century: A Collaboration
of a Lab School and University
Shannon Davis
Florida State University
This presentation will illustrate the model being used at Florida State
University Schools to extend relationships with university
coordinators, supervisors, and their students. Interviews of past and
current student teachers, along with university and lab school faculty,
will examine the benefits of collaboration and partnerships between
teacher preparation programs and the laboratory school. Activities
used with student teacher programs will be described and outcomes
discussed. As a lab school in the 21st century, we have the
opportunity to truly transform the future by equipping student
teachers. One of the most important contributions we can make to
education is the support and preparation of future teachers who
influence and impact the lives of students.
Room 216
Undergrad
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
11:15am Transport to the University Club
11:30am NALS Showcase & Brief Business Meeting
Keynote Luncheon – Hedda Sharapan
University Host:
• Dr. Mary Hines, President, Carlow University
Hedda Sharapan, The Fred Rogers Company
Working together as "neighbors":
Fred Rogers' inspiration for today's educators
Hedda Sharapan is nationally recognized as an outstanding speaker,
using her warmth, humor, and humanness to help professionals and
parents continue to learn from Fred Rogers’ timeless wisdom through
treasured videos and stories. Hedda holds an M.S. in child development
from the University of Pittsburgh, and since 1966 has worked closely with
Fred Rogers on his books for children and parents, and on professional development
materials for early childhood educators. Still on staff of the small nonprofit company he
founded, she is responsible for communicating about Fred Rogers’ approach to children
and families in multiple ways: she writes a monthly e-newsletter for early childhood
professionals, works on web materials, articles and brochures for parents, families, and
professionals; and is in demand around the country as a keynoter and workshop leader at
conferences for educators, parents, and religious, business, and community groups.
1:30pm Transport to Falk
14
Thursday 2:00 – 4:15pm
Double Session Options D (2 hours 15 min)
GBLUES Composts and Grows
Sean Cornell, James Zullinger, Konnie Serr, Rebecca Blahus,
Loretta Howland, Cindy Pimental, Diane Root, and Nicole Wooten
Shippensburg University
This interactive discussion will outline the collaborative partnering
between GBLUES, Shippensburg University, and the Shippensburg
neighborhood. Following the panel discussion will be break-out
sessions featuring composting, rain water collection, gardening,
recycling, weather and data collections, and soil explorations.
Authentic student work will be displayed and a student-produced video
shown.
Community Building through Puppetry and Parades
Cheryl Capezzuti
University of Pittsburgh
Ms. Capezzuti will present her experiences as an artist who builds
giant puppets with people of all ages for community celebrations
around the City of Pittsburgh. She will discuss how joining the faculty
at Falk Laboratory School has created new collaborative possibilities
for her work. Participants will learn giant puppet-making basics and
will leave this seminar with new ideas about how to implement similar
projects in their own school communities.
Using Robots to Teach Mathematics
DeAnna Kwiecinski
Carlow University
Join us for a hands-on experience using Lego NXT robots to work
through one of the courses designed as part of The FIRE Project
(Fostering Innovation Through Robotics Exploration); an ongoing
collaboration between The Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy,
Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Pittsburgh to develop
problems that require the student to use mathematics and computer
science rather than “guess and check” and remote control. Explore
the Proportionality Unit (Asteroid 2012 JN4) of Robots in Motion,
applying proportionality to relate wheel rotations to distances. Learn
how to implement a robotics program in your school and how to form
a robotics team to participate in a FIRST Lego League Competition.
No robotics experience is necessary - only a willingness to learn!
15
Room 217
Elementary
Learning
Environment
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 208
Elementary
Secondary
Arts
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 124
Secondary
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Thursday 2:00 – 3:00pm Seminar Options E (1 hour)
Building & Buildings: Foundations for Exploring Structures with
Children while Supporting Relationships with Families
Tim Salinetro and Donna Perovich
Carnegie Mellon University
Discuss strategies for introducing preschool and kindergarten
children to the concepts of building. Hear about our initial open-ended
indoor and outdoor activities, as well as beginning group lessons.
Experience our thematic unit on Building via slides and
demonstrations. Consider how building can promote socio-emotional,
language, cognitive, and physical development while promoting
artistic expression and appreciation. Involve families by inviting them
to participate in the unit via classroom demonstrations and sharing
experiences during the culminating Family Festival.
FAU High School – A Paradigm of Academic Excellence
Terri Watson and Glenn Thomas
Florida Atlantic University
Twenty years ago, the United States ranked first in the world in the
percentage of college graduates produced; today that ranking is
tenth. If the US is to regain a competitive position in the emerging
global economy, students that have not traditionally attended college
must be better prepared, seamlessly supported and innovatively
transitioned into college success. Colleges and universities over the
past several years have stepped up their efforts to reduce incoming
high school graduates’ academic and transition issues to improve
retention. Little has changed however in the high school curriculum,
methodology or local articulation to address transition. Featured in
U.S. News & World Report among the best high schools in the
nation, FAU High is an intensive dual enrollment program in which
students, beginning in grade 9, earn high school credits and
university course hours simultaneously. FAU High School represents
an innovative research effort to test secondary curriculum and
teaching modifications, intense dual enrollment, academic bridge
courses, academic advising and transition guidance, and tight
university articulation. This presentation provides a menu of lessons
learned, handouts, e-resources and an open discussion format to
share individual lab schools’ and NALS’ potential contributions, roles
and opportunities in this emerging national policy and practice
concern.
Developing Positive School Culture at SMA Lab School Unsyiah
Usman Kasim
Syiah Kuala University
School culture can be defined as school tradition reflecting shared
ideas, assumptions, values and even beliefs. This shows school
identity and behavior standard expected. School culture is highly
expected to be developed based on internal factors, such as thoughts
of the school supported by the styles of school principal
management, teachers’ behaviors, administration staff’s behaviors.
16
Room 121
Early Childhood
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 216
Administration
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 202
Administration
Global Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
All this is expected to serve all students, teachers, parents, and its
environment. This paper discusses school vision & mission, religious
values, school environment, the role of teachers in teaching ethics,
school uniform, flag ceremony, eating lunch at school canteen,
moving classes, school disciplines, being freed from cigarette
smoking and drug abuse, and some tips for developing school
culture. Hopefully more input or comments will be welcome from the
participants of the conference for the improvement of education
quality of Unsyiah Lab School.
The Role of Reflective Supervision for Student Teachers in an
Infant/Toddler Classroom
Amy Houston and Janelle Rohl
Mills College
The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the importance of
consistent, thoughtful and individualized Reflective Supervision in the
Infant Toddler Classroom at the Mills College Children’s School. We
will share the process of Reflective Supervision as it pertains to
Student Teachers learning about typical infant and toddler
development in a mixed age group setting. We will also discuss how
the reflective supervision process supports student teachers in
learning how to be effective caregivers for a diverse group of children
and how to build thoughtful, respectful relationships with families.
Child Development Learning Project: A Scholar/Practitioner
Approach to Learning Theory through University and School
Collaboration
Rae Ann Hirsh, Stephanie Conrad, and Laurie Laird
Carlow University
Often, university students fail to realize the application of child
development theory. Development theory seems somehow removed
from classroom practice. To address this challenge, the Carlow
Campus School and Carlow University partnered together to allow
students an opportunity to see development in action as they were
introduced to it in class. This seminar will introduce the child
development learning project; describe how observations were
coordinated and used; share the culminating “Development Activity
Fair”; and provide an overview of the students’, teachers’ and the
children’s responses to the project.
Cancelled Session:
Peer-Coaching, Donna Elder and Wayne Padover, National University
(Powerpoint available on the Flash Drive)
3:00 pm Break
17
Room 120
Early Childhood
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 215
Undergrad
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Thursday 3:15 – 4:15pm Seminar Options F (1 hour)
How to Develop a Thematic Unit Based on Authentic Materials
and Experiences
Lacey Davis and Ashley Hellmann
University of Pittsburgh
The presenters will provide an overview of thematic unit development
and share examples of incorporating authentic materials and
personal experiences from a recent trip to Peru into their curriculum.
Participants will work in groups to create a thematic unit web based
on a topic of their choice. Participants will leave with a completed
web for a thematic unit, ideas for how to incorporate authentic
materials and personal experiences into their teaching, guidelines for
creating a thematic unit on their own, and two examples of completed
thematic units based on the teachers’ experiences in Peru.
We Are The Blocks Of The Class” (or, how 180 Unit blocks
changed my entire approach to teaching)
Rebecca Wright
University of Pittsburgh
This seminar will involve discussion about the experiences of a
teacher of a 1st-2nd grade looping model class who introduced blocks
to her classroom in the early spring of the 1st grade year. The use of
blocks had an impact that went far beyond play. In addition to
strengthening her class and turning them into expert collaborators,
block play had the teacher re-evaluating and changing her entire
approach to teaching. Video, still photographic images, and, of
course, lots of blocks will be part of this seminar experience.
Professional Learning Communities in Laboratory Schools
Doyle Brinson
East Tennessee State University
Utilizing Professional Learning Communities provides faculty and
staff the vehicle to address the most important aspect of schooling:
student learning. Over the last two years, we have evolved into a
structure that allows us to address issues as they occur in a setting
designed to utilize professional communication and enables us to use
the existing expertise in our building to solve these issues. This
presentation identifies the strategies we used in developing our
current PLC structure as well as shares with the attendees the
obstacles and difficulties we faced as we moved forward with our
efforts to serve our students and enhance student learning.
How to Publish in the NALS Journal
Laurie Parkerson & Donna Elder, NALS Journal Co-Editors
Room 213
Directors’ Forum
Hosted by Jay McGee, Ball State University and
Cathy Reid, Smith College
Room 111
Elementary
Secondary
Language
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 20
Early Childhood
Teaching
Practice
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 120
Administration
Teacher
Support
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 118
4:30pm Transport to Hotel / 5:00pm Transport from Hotel to Evening Activities
18
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Creating Campus & Community Collaborations
Program for Friday, April 15, 2011
7:00am
Registration Open at the Falk School, Plus Silent Auction & Internet Café
7:15am
Transport from Holiday Inn to the Falk School
7:30am
Buffet Breakfast
Friday 8:45 – 11:00am Double Session Options G (2 hours 15 min)
Listening for Learning: Reflections on Two Years of Lesson
Study Collaboration at a Lab School
Sage Andersen, Debbie Brown, Julie Duff, Linda Kroll and Sara
Norris, Mills College
A professional development tradition among teachers in Japan,
Lesson Study is the highly valued practice of teachers working
collaboratively to examine their teaching and learning through a small
number of “study lessons,” focusing on student learning. Selecting
an overarching goal and related research question, teachers focus
and guide their collaborative work. This practice of Lesson Study
has been growing in professional learning communities as a practice
among educators in the United States. For the past two years, the
Mills College Children’s School teachers, administrator, and
professors from the School of Education have engaged in Lesson
Study focused on the elementary school mathematics curriculum. In
our presentation, we would like to reflect on and share our learning
as a result of this collaborative work between the Lab School and
Professors in the School of Education.
Room 123
Creating Memories with I-Movie
Diana Dimitrovski, Laura Hunt and Stephanie Weiss
University of Pittsburgh
Are you hesitant to use I-movie and I-DVD? We will ease your fears
with this interactive presentation as we demonstrate how to make
student work and picture documentations come to life. We will
explore this innovative technology and how to bring it your classroom
by adding pictures, videos and songs to the programs.
Room 124
Elementary
Professional
Development
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Teachers
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Cancelled Session:
• Comprehensive Design of a Purpose Built Laboratory School at Sultan Qaboos University,
Otherine Neisler
19
Friday 8:45 – 9:45am Seminar Options H (1 hour)
“Foodies”: Incorporating the Academic Curriculum into an After
School Cooking Club
John Arango, Lyn Otto and Vanessa Percoco
Rhode Island College
This session will provide teachers with an interactive, multidisciplinary
way to introduce children to healthy cooking and eating. Our
presentation demonstrates how an after school cooking club can be a
vehicle for addressing life skills, as well as to teach math, reading,
writing, social studies, science, safety and social skills. Monitoring
children’s progress through informal, as well as formal assessments
will also be shared with participants.
The Science Inquiry Expo: How Columbia University Scientists
Transformed a K-8 School into a Hands-on Science Museum
Laura Herszenhorn
Columbia University
In February 2009, The School at Columbia (an independent K-8
learning institution) collaborated with nearly 40 scientists from
Columbia University to transform The School for one day into a handson, child-friendly science discovery museum: the Science Inquiry Expo.
This workshop will explore the partnership between the scientists,
teachers and students, as well as the strategies used to introduce
children to complex cutting edge research through dynamic and
engaging exhibits. The workshop will also offer suggestions for how to
pursue similar collaborative relationships that allow for the exchange of
expertise between schools and local universities, research institutions
or even businesses, corporations and industry firms.
Taiko Drumming in the Classroom: An Interactive Workshop
Lee Ann Conover
University of Pittsburgh
Come experience Japanese Taiko Drumming first hand. This workshop
will give participants the opportunity to hear the Pittsburgh Taiko
Ensemble and learn to play basic Taiko Drumming patterns under the
direction of Benjamin Pachter, the Taiko Ensemble’s leader. Classroom
applications will also be presented. You will see examples of student’s
work combining Haiku and music composition. You will observe
student performances based on their study of Taiko drumming. You will
receive information on integrating Taiko and the music of Japan into
your Elementary or Middle School classroom.
Teacher Training in an Authentic Learning Environment: A
Collaborative Effort
Susan O’Rourke and William Bauer
Carlow University
Teachers trained in authentic learning environments (the classroom)
gain practical knowledge for application in student teaching and future
work settings. This presentation will describe a collaborative teacher
preparation model for preparing teachers to work with students with
special needs between Carlow University and the Children's Institute of
20
Room 122
Elementary
Learning
Differences
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 217
All Ages
Learning
Environment
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 003
Multipurpose
Elementary
Secondary
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 213
Teachers
Professional
Development
Flash Drive
Pittsburgh. Initially external funding supported the project, however
the collaboration continues after 10 years offering a rare example of
sustainability for collaboration.
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood: Parents Come to
School
Susan Gilbert
National University
Spend time exploring ways to include parents in the neighborhood of
school. Today’s parents face many demands on their time that make
it difficult for them to support the classroom in more traditional ways.
Let’s think outside the box and share ways that parents can be
involved in their child’s school in non-traditional ways.
The Technology Integration Specialist: A Key Role In Equipping
21st Century Educators
Megan Brink and Lindsey Cole
Florida State University
This interactive, hands-on session will explore an innovative role
developed by administration at Florida State University Schools (FSUS)
to bridge the gap between 21st century instructional technology and
teaching practices in a K-12 school. During this session, we will
overview the development of the “Technology Integration Specialist”
and the benefit of providing meaningful, experience-based support
through these teacher technology leaders as they engage the 21st
century learner. These technology leaders also serve as an essential
resource to university teacher preparation programs as they equip
future educators to meet the needs of digital learners.
A School District-University Collaboration in Professional
Development on Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Judith Touré, Carlow University and
Rhonda Taliaferro, Pittsburgh Public Schools
The presenters will discuss their collaboration in planning and
providing sustained school-based professional development on
culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). For thirteen weeks, they worked
with a principal and leadership team in a Pittsburgh public high
school to increase teacher knowledge of features of CRP and
strategies to connect CRP to content area instruction. In this
session, they provide a sampling of PD sessions and share feedback
from the teachers, along with successes and constraints they
encountered.
Handout? No
Room 120
All Ages
Parents
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 121
All Ages
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 118
Secondary
Culture
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Cancelled Session:
• Integrated, Independent Research Study: A 2-Year Joint Venture Between High School
Juniors/Seniors, University Professors and Community Professionals, Nova Southeastern
University
9:45am
Break
21
Friday 10:00 – 11:00am Seminar Options I (1 hour)
Good Neighbors: Our Campus Children’s Center Encourages
Social Responsibility & Community Collaboration
Sharon Carnahan and Diane Doyle
Rollins College
Our campus children’s center is a Good Neighbor to the college and
community. We will describe the methods used and projects we’ve
planned to connect with the College’s mission of social responsibility
while enhancing the skills of undergraduate students, young children
through service projects, and family perceptions of raising children to
be socially aware in the community.
A Daily Interactive Reading Model for Primary Grades
Marian Vollmer
University of Pittsburgh
This presentation will demonstrate a reading instructional technique
that has been piloted in a first and second grade classroom. The
technique is both interactive and multisensory. Have you ever
wanted a way to “warm up” or energize your students before you
begin teaching? This may give you ideas to start your own “warm
ups”.
Thinking Outside the Box: Ways to Collaborate with Parents
and the Community
Linda Gresik
National University
Let’s think outside the box as to how we include parents in the school
community. We will discuss the use of technology, parent
participation during the school day, and ways for parents to support
their own individual children. We need to include all parents of
various ethnic background and languages. We will look at what the
research says to encourage parental support. In addition, information
for encouraging the community partnerships will be discussed. We
want to gain support from the community to promote understanding
of early education and ways they can influence and support early
education.
Come Sit by Me, Neighbor: The Use of Backchanneling Tools in
Discussion-Based Secondary Classrooms
Kathleen Malone Clesson
Illinois State University
This session shares the findings from a mixed methods research
project using Chatzy.com and BlackBoard backchanneling tools in
discussion-based secondary classrooms. The 2010 study included
freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes in English language
arts, foreign language, and social sciences classrooms. Nine
teachers and 279 students participated. Primary data included pre
and post speaker anxiety measures and open-ended surveys from
participating students and teachers.
22
Room 121
Early Childhood
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 118
Elementary
Curriculum
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 122
All Ages
Parents
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Room 215
Secondary
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Mutually Beneficial Collaborations between Schools and
University Schools of Nursing
Mary Lou Bost and Renee Ingel
Carlow University
Collaborative relationships can be developed between schools (K-12)
and university schools of nursing. These relationships can be
mutually beneficial! This session details how faculty in the
Community Health Nursing courses at Carlow University’s School of
Nursing established a relationship with the Carlow Campus School to
the benefit of both. Other beneficiaries of this relationship were the
Campus Childcare, faculty, staff and students.
Room 119
Get Outside! A School-ground Habitat Enhancement and
Restoration Project
Trish O’Neil, ASWP, Lori Wertz, Ellen Smith, Eileen Coughlin,
Jackie Metcalf, Megan O’Brien, Phyllis Scherrer and Jill Sarada,
University of Pittsburgh
Join us for a walk along our hillside trail and learn about our
partnership with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania that
has our school community involved in a long-term environmental
education initiative that promotes experiential learning across grade
levels and disciplines, and improves our green space. Classroom
teachers and students are working to assess, enhance and restore
our hillside plot of land to natural areas rich in species diversity that
contain the essential habitat components of food, water, shelter and
space. Presenters will provide a brief overview of the project. Then
we’ll head outside for group activities that will give you a sense of
how students and teachers at all levels helped gather the initial data
on our site. Participants can choose to perform soil sampling, look
for signs of animal life, measure slope, or conduct a tree diversity
index. Closed toe shoes with a tread and long pants are required for
these activities.
Room 003
Multipurpose
Teachers Under Construction: Building Community and
Collaboration
Ginni Fair
Eastern Kentucky University
Middle grades methods students at Eastern Kentucky University
engage in multiple forms of field experience, the first of which is
based upon collaboration with the on-campus lab school. In this
collaborative effort, teams of pre-service teachers are partnered with
laboratory teachers for a period of four weeks, during which time the
pre-service teachers teach, observe, receive feedback, debrief in the
university classroom, and discuss pedagogical “lessons learned.”
This session will share the process, challenges, and successes of
this collaboration between the university and the lab school.
Room 213
23
All Ages
Health
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
All Ages
Learning
Environment
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
Undergrad
Teacher Ed
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
From Maze to Labyrinth: Preparing Educators as ScholarPractitioners
Marilyn Llewellyn, Patricia McMahon and Maria Piantanida
Carlow University
The image of a labyrinth offers a metaphor for Carlow’s approach to
preparing educators (both teachers and administrators) as scholarpractitioners. Unlike the maze with its emphasis on speedy navigation
to one pre-determined exit, a labyrinth offers a contemplative space
in which thoughtful practitioners can choose to follow any number of
intriguing pathways. “Walking the labyrinth” offers respite from the
hectic demands of daily practice and affords an opportunity to gain
new perspectives, insights, and understandings. Within the space of
the labyrinth, unnecessarily rigid boundaries between theory and
practice, university and schools, research and application, teacher
and learner, administrators and teachers, novices and experts can
soften, allowing for the exchange of ideas. This interactive seminar
would begin with a brief (20 minute) presentation of key concepts
associated with the role of scholar-practitioner in relation to the
undergraduate and graduate curriculum in Carlow’s School of
Education. The remaining time would be used for discussion among
all participants.
Room 214
Professional
Development
& Research
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
11:30 am Silent Auction Closes & Transport to Pittsburgh Athletic Association
24
11:45am Keynote Luncheon – Louis Gomez
2012 Conference Promo & Silent Auction Results
University Hosts:
• Karen Sproles, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Carlow University
• Dr. Michael Scheier, Psychology Department Chair, Carnegie Mellon University
Louis Gomez, University of Pittsburgh School of Education
Mutual Benefit:
Research at the Nexus of Community and University
Louis M. Gomez is the Helen S. Faison Chair in Urban Education at
the University of Pittsburgh in the Learning Science and Policy Program
within the School of Education. He is also senior scientist at the
Learning Research and Development Center. Previously, he was Aon
Professor of Learning Sciences and Professor of Computer Science at
Northwestern University. Gomez’s primary interest is in working with
school communities to create social arrangements and curriculum that support school
improvement. Along with his colleagues, he has been dedicated to collaborative research
and development with urban schools to bring state-of-the-art instruction and support for
community formation to traditionally underserved schools. Most recently, Gomez has
worked with Anthony Bryk, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, to develop a new approach to education research and development, DesignEducational Engineering-and Development (DEED). They argue that isolated, short-term
projects in a few sites must give way to longer-term, cooperative initiatives that move
through repeated cycles of problem diagnosis, design, assessment, and redesign—a
process carefully attuned to the variations among sites and circumstances in which
improvements must take root. The DEED approach is based on the notion that it is not
sufficient to know that a program or innovation can work. What is also important is to
know how to make it work reliably over many diverse contexts and situations. Gomez
received a BA in psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a
PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of California at Berkeley.
1:30pm Transport to the Falk School
25
2:00–4:00pm Research Forums
What Are We Learning about Reading from Studies in Labs, a
Reading Tutor that Listens, and People at Schools?
Dr. Jack Mostow, Joe Valeri, Juliet Bey, and Dr. Jessica Nelson
Carnegie Mellon University
This forum will sample some of the ways researchers are learning
about reading. A new PhD will explain how tracking readers’ gaze
can distinguish identifying a word from retrieving its meaning. The
Director of CMU’s Project LISTEN will show how data logging and
randomized experiments by its automated Reading Tutor shed light
on what kinds of reading practice and instruction are most effective.
Project LISTEN’s field staff will share lessons learned from educators
and children at schools that use the Reading Tutor.
Technology Empowerment through CREATE Collaborations
Dr. Illah Nourbakhsh, Jeremy Boyle, Emily Hamner, Tom
Lauwers, and Clara Phillips, Carnegie Mellon University
In this session, members of our research group will describe several
of the CREATE Lab's projects bringing technology programs to
students in pre-school through college. Specifically we will talk about
Message from Me, a project enabling communication between young
children (3-5 years old) in child-care and their parents at home or at
work; Robot Diaries, a combination of arts and crafts and robotics
technology designed to engage middle school students in creative
expression through technology; Kindergarten Robot Diaries, a hands
on program for kindergarten students to explore electrical circuits; the
Finch robot and its application as a tool for teaching programming to
students in high-school and college; and GigaPan, a panoramic
imager and its various uses in education for students of all ages. The
session will include demonstrations of the various robots and
technology tools used in these projects.
Research With Schools: Cultivating, Doing, Benefitting
Dr. Samuel Stebbins, Charles Vukotich, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Barbara Rudiak, Pittsburgh Public Schools
Good research with schools has something in common with farming.
It requires cultivation. Schools and Investigators need to know each
other, and build trust, in order to create an environment where
research can be successful. They need to work together. Research
is best when it is done 'with', as partnership. Finally the investigator,
the school and society must all benefit through translation of research
into policy and practice. This Research Forum will explore the efforts
of the University of Pittsburgh to create a network of schools and
investigators. The School Based Research and Practice Network
incorporates grades K-12 and investigators from the University of
Pittsburgh, the UP Medical Center, and Carnegie Mellon University.
It will talk about the basic principles of doing research with schools,
the basic models of school based research, and look to educators to
advance understanding. It will look at several successful
collaborations, including influenza and children's mental health
26
Cafeteria
Elementary
Reading
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 003
Multipurpose
All Ages
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 217
Research
Health
Flash Drive
Handout? Yes
issues. Research should be translated into policy and practice; an
example from pandemic influenza research will be presented. Finally,
the presenters will share their vision of school-based research in the
future, and invite you to share yours.
Training in Experimental Design (TED): Integrating Lab and
Classroom Research into the Design of Computerized
Instruction for Elementary and Middle School Students,
Dr. David Klahr, Stephanie Siler, Kevin Willows, Cressida Magaro
Carnegie Mellon University
In this session, our research group will discuss our work transforming
a research-based lesson on the domain-general topic of experimental
design into computerized instruction that is adaptive across a diverse
student population with respect to such characteristics as age (4th
through 8th grade), ability level, and prior knowledge. We will talk
about how, in this process, we uncovered an array of misconceptions
students—especially those of lower-ability—had related to the lesson
that interfered with learning—including those about its goal—and how
we modified instruction as a result. We will also summarize recent
studies in which we tested a hypothesized causal mechanism of far
transfer—understanding the logical rationale for designing nonconfounded experiments—derived from analyses of tutoring protocols
from earlier studies. After a demonstration of the tutoring system, we
will summarize the model for teacher-researcher collaboration and
professional development used in our lab in recent years.
Plus a special session in the computer lab:
Hands-On Intro to “SCRATCH”: Animation Fun For All Ages!
Barb Bianco
University of Pittsburgh
Two comments made by teachers, “If a student in Kindergarten can do
this, so can I” and “I‘ve been looking for some type of technology to
integrate into my classroom that will be engaging for the students, but
not too technical.“ In this presentation, I will introduce you to
SCRATCH, a visual programming language resulting in cartoon type
animations suitable for young children and progressing to college level
game animation. SCRATCH is a free downloadable Internet program
created and promoted by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
SCRATCH provides the learner with samples that can be used in the
classroom and a robust website that includes a special educator area.
Take an advance look at the site, http://scratched.media.mit.edu/ (for
educators) and http://scratch.mit.edu/ to see examples of animation
created by children.
Room 133
Library
Elementary
Secondary
Science
Flash Drive
Handout? No
Room 124
All Ages
Technology
Flash Drive
Handout? No
4:00pm Transport to Holiday Inn
Thank you, colleagues, for participating in the NALS 2011 Annual Conference !!
27
Dear NALS Friends,
I am delighted to be in the midst of so many inspiring educators and
administrators as we gather for this year’s NALS conference. Among the
strengths of an organization like ours are the relationships built on shared
experiences of life in Lab Schools. May the program you are part of in
Pittsburgh bring you both new connections and familiar faces, and may it
infuse your professional thinking with challenging, surprising and useful ideas.
Founder John Dewey said of Lab Schools that they exist to “explore what is
possible in education”. And that is what we do together as members of the only Lab School
Association in the world. May your connection to NALS invite that exploration at conference
time and throughout the year ahead.
Elizabeth Morley, President-Elect
Principal, Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
NALS 2012 Annual Conference
Sharpening the Aim:
Targeted approaches in research,
teacher education, and
an assessment culture
in laboratory schools.
April 4th to 6th at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
Conference Committee:
Dr. Lynn Wicker, Florida State University School (FSUS) Director
Shannon Davis, Professional Development Coordinator
Lindsey Cole, Research and Teacher Education Coordinator
Megan Brink, Assessment and Accountability Coordinator
Mascot of the Florida State Seminoles
(Photo: Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images Oct 27, 2007)
28