C&T 4004
Assignment for November 12th
Students can choose to complete readings on Community Engagement; Professional
Development; or Assessment & Accountability (see below).
Recommended for discussion in design teams: Initial draft/outline of the school’s
curriculum & a (rough) estimate of the # of teachers needed
Due Monday November 17th at 6 PM: Drafts of the executive summary and supporting
documents for key elements of the design (such as curriculum and instruction materials
or hiring criteria and professional development plans, etc.)
Community Engagement:
Who is your community? How do we break down the boundaries between schools and
communities?
Required for November 12th:
Hatch, T. (1998). How community action contributes to achievement.
Educational Leadership, 55(8), 16-19.
Warren, M., Hong, S., Rubin, C. & Uy, P. (2009). Beyond the bake sale: A
community-based relational approach to Parent Engagement in Schools.
Teachers College Record, 111(9), 2209-2254.
Epstein, J. L., & Salinas, K. C. (2004). Partnering with families and
communities. Educational Leadership, 61(8), 12-18.
Sanders, M. G. (2003). Community involvement in schools: From concept to
practice. Education and Urban Society, 35(2), 161-181.
Recommended for December 3rd:
Center for Education Organizing (2012). Getting started in education organizing:
Resources and strategies. Providence, RI.: Annenberg Institute for School
Reform.
Parent Power: Education Organizing in NYC, 1995-2010 (Film, guide and
resources). Providence, RI.: Annenberg Institute for School Reform.
Mitra D. L. (2006). Youth as a bridge between home and school: Comparing
student voice and parent involvement as strategies for change. Education and
Urban Society,38, 455-480.
Hatch, T. (2009). “Managing the external environment.” Chapter 6 in Managing
to change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times.
New York: Teachers College Press.
The Hatch & Warren articles describe a community organizing approach to improving
schools while the Epstein approach describes a parent/community involvement approach
and the Sanders article describes some of the theoretical background behind that
approach. Read the four articles, paying particular attention to the roles and activities that
parents and families are asked to take on in different approaches and the different theories
of action they suggest.
On November 12th, work with the other members of your group to outline the different
theories of action of a community engagement and a parent involvement approach and
their strengths and weaknesses, and list any questions you have that you would like to
pursue further on December 3rd.
Key questions:
 What are the goals of the two approaches?
 What are their key strategies?
 What is the primary role of parents/families?
 What do you see as the advantages, challenges of each?
 What questions or issues would you like to pursue further?
Professional Development:
What do staff members need to know and do? What kinds of support do they need?
Required for November 12th:
Elmore, R. & Birney, D. (1997). “Investing in teacher learning.” National
Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
http://www.nctaf.org/publications/Elmore.pdf
Aldeman, C. & Chuong, C. (2014). Teacher evaluations in an era of rapid
change: From “unsatisfactory” to “needs improvement.” Sudbury, MA:
Bellweather Education Partners.
Recommended for December 3rd:
Leana, C. (2011). The missing link in school reform. Stanford Social Innovation
Review.
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_missing_link_in_school_reform
Heneman, H.G., Milanowski, A., Kimball, S. M. & Odden, A. (2006). Standardsbased teacher evaluation as a foundation for knowledge- and skill-based pay.
CPRE Policy Briefs, 45.
Hatch, T. (2009). “Working on hiring and turnover” and “Creating a productive
work environment.” Chapters 4 & 5 in Managing to change: How schools can
survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times. New York: Teachers
College Press.
The Elmore and Birney article and Aldeman and Chuong discuss two different kinds of
approaches to staff/professional development and building the “human capital” necessary
for schools to make improvements. As you read, pay particular attention to the particular
kinds of activities staff are engaged in each approach. What theories of adult learning
and development do they suggest?
On November 12th, work with the other members of your group to outline the
different theories of action of a district-wide approach to professional development and a
district-wide approach to teacher evaluation and their strengths and weaknesses, and list
any questions you have that you would like to pursue further on December 3rd.
Key questions:





What are the goals of the two approaches?
What are their key strategies?
What do these strategies suggest about what’s needed to support teacher
development?
What do you see as the advantages, challenges of each?
What questions or issues would you like to pursue further?
Assessment and Accountability
How should a school be assessed and to whom is it accountable?
Required:
Darling-Hammond, L. & Snyder, J. (1992). Reframing accountability: Creating
learner-centered schools.” In Ann Lieberman (ed.), The changing context of
teaching, Ninety-first Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of
Education, 11-36. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Abelman, C. & Elmore, R. (1999) "When accountability knocks, will anyone
answer?”
Hatch, T. (2013). Responsibility and accountability in (a Norwegian) context. In
M. Kornhaber & E. Winner, E. (Eds.), Mind, work, and life.
Recommended for December 3rd:
Furman, S. (1999) The new accountability. Consortium for Policy Research in
Education, University of Pennsylvania.
Hatch, T. (2009). “Managing the external environment.” Chapter 6 in Managing
to change: How schools can survive (and sometimes thrive) in turbulent times.
New York: Teachers College Press.
McDonald, J. The dilemmas of planning backwards. Providence, RI: Coalition of
Essential Schools.
As you read, pay particular attention to the different kinds of accountability and
accountability mechanisms that Darling-Hammond and Snyder discuss and consider how
they apply in Abelman and Elmore’s discussion of accountability in schools in the US
and Hatch’s discussion of the accountability-related systems in Norway and elsewhere.
Note as well the key distinctions that Abelman and Elmore make between “internal” and
“external” accountability and that Hatch makes between “answerability” for individual
tasks and goals ad “responsibility” for broader goals and collective purposes. What
different goals and theories of action are suggested by these distinctions?
On November 12th, drawing on the readings and your own
experiences/knowledge, work with the other members of your group to outline the
different theories of action of a test-based approach to accountability like that of NCLB
and of the Norwegian approach that Hatch describes. Consider their strengths and
weaknesses, and list any questions you have that you would like to pursue further on
December 3rd.
Key questions:
 What are the goals of the two approaches?




What are their key strategies?
What do these strategies suggest about what teachers/schools need to do to
improve?
What do you see as the advantages, challenges of each?
What questions or issues would you like to pursue further?