Please consider that the questions should be answered one by one, and indicate the references in the context too!

Educational Assessment Research( 2 pages)

Search an article on ProQuest to read and review on an assessment topic that interests you. Provide the link to the article. Answer the following questions:
a. What issues were discussed in the article?
b. Do you agree with information contained in the article? Why or why not?
c. How could you use the information from the article in application to your position or intended career goals?

Instructor Developed Assessments (2 pages)

what is a reasonable approach to improving instructor developed assessments in the real world? How does access to technology affect the improvement of assessments?

The topic of essay is "Educational Assessment in the Future". It should be a persuasive essay that articulates a position on issues on assessment and the development of instructional plans for students with special needs. The essay should express personal beliefs and relationship between assessment, teaching, learning and discuss how it you would use in your teaching and how assessment will be done in the future.

There are faxes for this order.

Topic of Paper- Current Trends in Educational Assessment
12 pitch font of Times New Roman

Relate paper to current practices in education

I want the free works cited page also.

Write a six (6) page paper that answers the following:
1. Describe the characteristics of eigth grade learners in a regular education classroom.
2. With this specific group in mind, explain how cognition and learning will influence the design of instruction and assessment.
3. Explain how you would faciliate the development of expertise in the classroom.
4. Discuss the specific guidelines you would use for assessing students' developing.

Main resource should be taken from the "Knowing what students know: The science and design of educational assessment." By Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser.

Other sources must not be more than 3 years

8 pages double spaced. i will upload a couple example papers also. i will use the chat to communicate with you.

*The student who you will be writing about is a 7th Grader named Shawn who has an orthopedic impairment with limited use of his hands and arms. Everything in this paper is fake and all fictional. All the facts and numbers are whatever you want them to be.

Individualized Educational Program Project (IEPP) (20 points)
CEC Standard 6
The IEPP requires teacher candidates to demonstrate their ability to plan and
assess an instructional program for students with disabilities who are included in a
regular, inclusive classroom setting. Teacher candidates in this course will be assigned a student with a disability and will have to create a case study of this student including;
Providing a fictional but realistic family background of the student
(Assessment)
Identifying academic, behavioral, and social, and assets and deficits of the
student (Assessment)
Creation of a mock psycho-educational assessment battery including
educational assessment scores and psychological assessment scores in the
form of intelligence quotients (Assessment)
Develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for this student (Goals)
Development of how the IEP goals will be monitored and measured for
effectiveness (Measurement)

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Assignment 2: Background of Topic and Measurement Model, Part 2
Due Week 5 and worth 140 points
Refer to the Overall Scenario for Assignments 1-5.
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:
1. Revise Assignment 1 based on feedback from your professor. (Revision of previous assignment is not included in page count.)
2. Analyze at least three (3) key political or legal issues, changes to K-12 assessment goals, and / or factors that provide a context of the topic.
3. Evaluate at least three (3) current issues associated with the topic.
4. Analyze at least one (1) measurement model that is associated with the topic.
5. Propose at least three (3) ways the white paper and plan for professional development on the topic will benefit the school district for which it will be designed.
6. Provide at least three (3) reliable, relevant, peer-reviewed references published within the last 10 years. (Original text of laws or court judgments may be more than 10 years old. These may be the same or different from annotated list in Assignment 1.)
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
? Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
? Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the students name, the professors name, the course title, and the date. The cover page, revised assignment, and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
? Assess various measures for assessing learners progress, including formal, test-based measures, and informal and observational measures.
? Analyze traditional theories of assessment.
? Evaluate alternate forms of assessment for special populations.
? Use technology and information resources to research issues in educational assessment.
? Write clearly and concisely about educational assessment using proper grammar and mechanics.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.
?
?
Points: 140
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Assignment 2: Background of Topic and Measurement Model, Part 2
?
?
?
Criteria
?
?
Unacceptable Below 70% F
?
?
Fair 70-79% C
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Proficient 80-89% B
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Exemplary 90-100% A
?
1. Revise Assignment 1 based on feedback from your professor.
Weight: 5%
Did not submit or incompletely revised Assignment 1 based on feedback from your professor.
Partially revised Assignment 1 based on feedback from your professor.
Satisfactorily revised Assignment 1 based on feedback from your professor.
Thoroughly revised Assignment 1 based on feedback from your professor.
?2. Analyze at least three (3) key political or legal issues, changes to K-12 assessment goals, and /
?Did not submit or incompletely analyzed at least three (3) key
??Partially analyzed at least three (3) key political or legal issues, changes to
Satisfactorily analyzed at least three (3) key political or legal
?
??Thoroughly analyzed at least three (3) key political or legal
2012 Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University Confidential and Proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
EDU 510 Student Version 1128 (1118 6-25-2012) Final Page 11 of 23
?EDU 510 ??" Assignments and Rubrics
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or factors that provide a context of the topic. Weight: 20%
political or legal issues, changes to K-12 assessment goals, and / or factors that provide a context of the topic.
?
K-12 assessment goals, and / or factors that provide a context of the topic.
issues, changes to K-12 assessment goals, and / or factors that provide a context of the topic.
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issues, changes to K-12 assessment goals, and / or factors that provide a context of the topic.
3. Evaluate at least three (3) current issues associated with the topic.
Weight: 20%
Did not submit or incompletely evaluated at least three (3) current issues associated with the topic.
?
Partially evaluated at least three (3) current issues associated with the topic.
?
Satisfactorily evaluated at least three (3) current issues associated with the topic.
?
Thoroughly evaluated at least three (3) current issues associated with the topic.
?
4. Analyze at least one (1) measurement model that is associated with the topic.
Weight: 20%
Did not submit or incompletely analyzed at least one (1) measurement model that is associated with the topic.
Partially analyzed at least one (1) measurement model that is associated with the topic.
?Satisfactorily analyzed at least one (1) measurement model that is associated with the topic.
Thoroughly analyzed at least one (1) measurement model that is associated with the topic.
?
5. Propose at least three (3) ways the white paper and plan for professional development on the topic will benefit the school district for which it will be designed.
Weight: 20%
Did not submit or incompletely proposed at least three (3) ways the white paper and plan for professional development on the topic will benefit the school district for which it will be designed.
Partially proposed at least three (3) ways the white paper and plan for professional development on the topic will benefit the school district for which it will be designed.
?Satisfactorily proposed at least three (3) ways the white paper and plan for professional development on the topic will benefit the school district for which it will be designed.
Thoroughly proposed at least three (3) ways the white paper and plan for professional development on the topic will benefit the school district for which it will be designed.
?
6. Provide at least three (3) reliable, relevant, peer-reviewed references published within the last 10 years. (Original text of laws or court judgments may be more than 10 years old.) (These may be the same or different from annotated list in Assignment 1.)
Weight: 5%
No references provided
Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references poor quality choices.
Meets number of required references; all references high quality choices.
Exceeds number of required references; all references high quality choices.
?7. Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements Weight: 10%
?More than 6 errors present
??5-6 errors present
3-4 errors present
?
??

1. Attitude Rating Scales.

Using guidelines from the Diem (2002), Derrington (2009) and Seibert (2002) websites, create a 5-6 item rating scale to measure a teacher?s attitude toward state-wide educational assessments. Discuss some factors that might influence a teacher to rate honestly, including issues related to self-report inventories. What advantages and disadvantages does a forced choice rating scale such as this one have over other types of measures? Conduct a critique of your own scale and discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses in your item development and scoring (e.g., how effective are the items you identified/developed with respect to the construct you are trying to measure?attitude toward state-wide assessments)?

This part should be at least 300 words.


2. Interests and Personality Assessments.

Interests and personality assessments are often used to assist people in understanding themselves and in determining patterns of interests and behaviors. Select one of the tests discussed in Chapter 14 (e.g. Strong Interest Inventory, 16-PF, MMPI-2, etc.) and conduct a thorough search online (utilizing at least three reliable websites or journal articles) regarding what the test measures, what settings and/or populations the test is intended for, and what the test?s strengths and weaknesses are.

Your discussion should include the following:

a) A brief overview of what the test measures and the settings in which it can be used.
b) Discuss some situations when personality assessments such as the one you selected might be used in the workplace. What information could a personality test provide regarding behaviors, communication style, etc., and how would that relate to a workplace setting?
c) What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of the test?
d) What factors must be considered when examining and interpreting the results of personality and self-inventories such as this?

This part should be at least 300 words.

Resources
Thorndike, R. M. & Thorndike-Christ, T. M. (2009). Measurement and evaluation in psychology and education (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Chapter 11: Attitudes and Rating Scales
Chapter 14: Interest, Personality and Adjustment

Diem, K. G. (2002). A step-by-step guide to developing effective questionnaires and survey procedures for program evaluation & research. Available:http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS995

Derrington, M. L. (2009). A three step guide to developing effective surveys. Available: www.naesp.org/resources/2/Principal/2009/M-A_p46.pdf

Seibert, T. (2002). Designing surveys that count. Available: www.keene.edu/crc/forms/designingsurveysthatcount.pdf

I need the first three chapters as outlined below. APA format. 12 Point Font, New Times Roman. General alignment needs to be, Justified. I need you to compare one school that has block scheduling and one school that has traditional scheduling and show the effects of academic achievement based on those two school. The schools need to be from Missouri and within my living area. The two schools I prefer would be Sullivan High School and Owensville High School. They are of similiar size. Owensville has traditional Scheduling and Sullivan has AB block scheduling. the use of End of Course Exams and ACTS scores would be sufficient in using for the comparison. Charts and Graphs should be used in the Methodology section. A History Traditional and Block Scheduling Practices , a History of Educational assessments, Student Achievement, and Instruction in today's classrooms are some of the topics that should be covered in the review of the literature. The use of professional educational journals like Educational Leadership and other should have a presence in the paper if they meet the needs of the paper.





Chapter 1:Introduction and Statement of the Problem

Introduction: in this section you are to hook the reader by presenting a story that hooks the reader








Statement of the Problem: The purpose of this study is to examine block scheduling and its effects on academic achievement in high school classrooms






Definitions:

For the purpose of this study the following definitions will be used





Limitations: What the study is limited to,Where the research project will take place, the population, and other circumstances are written here.






Summary




Chapter 2: Review of the Literature

Introduction



Statement of the Problem:The purpose of this study is to examine block scheduling and its effects on academic achievement in high school classrooms


Review of the Literature







Summary


Chapter 3: Methodology

Introduction



Statement of the Problem:The purpose of this study is to examine block scheduling and its effects on academic achievement in high school classrooms




Methodology



Summary


References

Assignment 1: Assessment Proposal, Part 1
Due Week 3 and worth 100 points
Refer to the Overall Scenario for Assignments 1-5.
Write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:
1. Propose a relevant topic for research. (Obtain your professors approval by Week 2 if the topic is other than those listed.)
2. Provide a rationale with at least three (3) developed reasons for selecting the topic, highlighting how the topic fits into traditional or alternative assessment research.
3. Describe at least three (3) characteristics and / or issues of the faculty for which the plan for professional development will be designed.
4. Describe at least three (3) key characteristics and / or needs of the students in the district served by the faculty.
5. Annotate at least five (5) reliable, relevant, peer-reviewed references published within the last 10 years. (Original text of laws or court judgments may be more than 10 years old.)
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
? Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
? Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the students name, the professors name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
? Analyze traditional theories of assessment.
? Evaluate alternate forms of assessment for special populations. (If applicable to the topic selected.)
? Use technology and information resources to research issues in educational assessment.
? Write clearly and concisely about educational assessment using proper grammar and mechanics.
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Essay requirements:

Write a 7 page paper (in 12-point, double-spaced, Times New Roman font) expanding upon your three issues (taken from your admissions essay in the field of education and/or social justice that you believe to be significant. This paper should include 5 resources cited in text and referenced in APA style. All articles used should be from peer reviewed journals and published within the last five years.

*****(I only need 3 pages and 5 reference/sources to go along with what I have completed previously-which I will submit to you and that I have pasted at the bottom of this email)*****

MY ESSAY

The field of education is a field in which you are given the opportunity to convey your love of learning and discovery, and equip your students with the tools to make their own discoveries. I have to admit it is a demanding profession and instructors wear many hats and serve in various capacities. The instructors are the students educators, motivators, guides, counselors, coaches, and disciplinarians; yet I find it rewarding beyond compare.

Although the education field is wide in its scope, the traditional thought of an educators line of work is teaching in a public, private school, or college setting but as we all know the duties far surpass these margins. My undergraduate area of concentration was in the elementary realm. The elementary instructor teaches core subjects, usually to one classroom of students, secondary teachers have an area of expertise and teach the given subject to several different classes of students. Beyond planning lessons, teaching and grading papers, teachers are also involved in non-teaching activities. Instructors have to confer with parents and manage after-school events as well as manger their own personal lives and monitor the education of their own children if they have them. Even with all the information stated, educators are faced with numerous issues within the classroom as if what we have to deal with isnt already enough. Two specific issues that educators face which are near and dear to me are the implication of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and the debate over classroom sizes.

I strongly believe that a students educational level should be assessed but I dont agree with the assessment methods of the FCAT. The FCAT is the statewide educational assessment for the state of Florida and is intended to measure a students prior and current knowledge of given subject matter. The student is assessed in the areas of reading, writing, science and mathematics. Its said that if a student attends school regularly, has in school and home based encouragement, eats a well-balanced diet and completes given class and home learning assignments he/she will have a better chance at passing this statewide test. I just dont think that this statement or better yet this assumption is correct. I feel that because each childs circumstance is different he/she should not be assessed simply based on the FCAT alone.

I think that this test places an extreme amount of pressure on the student as well as the teacher. The teachers are also evaluated depending on how well their students excel. I find this to be unmerited. When you think about social justice in the area of education you think of equal opportunities for all children to excel. Personally I just dont see this happening with the FCAT requirements, I dont see their being equal opportunities.

Now on the other hand another issue that needs to be addressed is the classroom size in the public school system. I support the states new classroom size requirments wholeheartedly. I robustly believe that a student must be brought fore in a classroom where learning is vigorous, interactive, significant and most importantly engaging. It is a proven fact that if a classroom is overcrowded a students retention and comprehension skills tend to dwindle.
Lowering classroom size limits is one of the best ideas that Ive heard The State of Florida bring forth in the field of education in a long time. Smaller classroom sizes will lead to more classroom participation, less strain on the educator, better test scores, lower dropout rates and more importantly students will be able to focus on learning. I am a firm believer that less clutter leads to more comprehension.
Nevertheless when it is all said and done our children are our future and we need to make every attempt to provide them with the most efficient education possible. Whether its the FCAT or the size of our classrooms there will always be some issue facing the field of education and its educators. Its up to us as a whole to do our part. We have to take these obstacles by the horns and look the bull face to face and hold on until the end of fight.






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Please use info below and previous papers to complete this paper. T Lavinder wrote my first paper.
I need a 1050-1750-word Self-Assessment and Reflection Paper that conforms to APA format, in which I discuss my personal learning style, which assess my strengths and opportunities for growth, and I need to create an improvement strategy based on this assessment. I also need a minimum of two references (both within the paper and on a reference page). The references should be obtained from the a college Library NOT my attached readings.

It was three weeks into June, and there I was: still surrounded by portfolios. I was part of a Waterford (MI) School District team researching connections between our teaching, the Michigan English Language Arts Content Standards, and the district's new standards-based curriculum. I thumbed through the ten quality portfolios I had kept for in-depth analysis, coming back, once again, to Jenna's portfolio presentation. I remembered her saying,
As I grow, I learn that you need reading and writing skills all through life, you need to vine around it. I have learned a lot this past year, and this portfolio will show how I have grown and bloomed. This will show the evidence of how I vined around every chapter, every topic, every stick and branch I can reach to become the best I can.
When Jenna read her portfolio introduction, we all listened and watched. Peers, parents, and 1, as her language arts teacher, were tangled immediately in her metaphor and its vines of meaning. One of the class portfolio requirements was a self-selected metaphor with explanations of how the portfolio choices fit the symbol. Jenna's choice of the vine was an exquisite description of her fifth-grade learning. Her decision to use "vining" as a verb made it even more complete.
Jenna softly pointed to the spring greens her thin line marker had drawn to swirl and surround her introduction's title page with curls and loops. Yellow buds poked out of the swirls at intervals. The connection didn't stop with the introduction. Each portfolio chapter page held the same vine, but always with additions or growth. Strategies and Thinking had a multitude of yellow buds, not just poking out, but tangled in the vines, and "The vine's thicker," Jenna said. The Choices chapter showed blooming yellow flowers with bright red centers. "The buds are in bloom," Jenna explained. By the Turning Points chapter, her vines were displaying brown maturation surrounding the yellow which was now barely visible. In the last chapter on Quality Evidence, the mature green and brown swirls dominated the page in a thick tangle that almost touched the chapter's title. Jenna was talking about good stuff here. Not only was she drawing growth and change on her chapter title pages, she was showing growth and change with the evidence she chose to include within each chapter. I was thrilled to share in this celebration of Jenna's literacy.
I was reminded of Dorothea Lange, a photographer who documented displaced families and migrant workers during the Depression. During World War II, she photographed American Japanese neighborhoods, processing centers, and camp facilities. She said of her photographs, "You know there are moments such as these when time stands still and all you do is hold your breath and hope it will wait for you" (as cited in Rylant, 1994, p. 1). I felt the same way about the power of Jenna and her portfolio.
What made me keep coming back to Jenna's portfolio and presentation? For Jenna it was the culmination of her literate fifth-grade year. She told all of us a lot about what she had learned. Could Jenna also tell me something about myself and my teaching? Could Jenna's portfolio be the case study for assessment of what was going on in my classroom? Could I somehow use Jenna's portfolio to inform my practice, to see if indeed I had a handle on standards-based curriculum?
Throughout the year I had observed Jenna working hard. She always pushed herself to "write one more line" after the bell or to read "one more chapter" over the weekend. No more was that apparent than the June week before portfolio deadlines when she was at my classroom door every recess and lunch hour to use the computer to generate headings and descriptors. "She even called over the weekend to use my computer," her friend Allison reported the Monday of portfolio week.
Jenna is not "gifted." Her standardized test scores for reading are in the seventh stanine (average). She gave her fourth grade teacher "fits" because she "was slow to finish" any assignment, if she finished at all. Jenna's spelling on her daily work was below average. (Even in her journal she made common errors that most fifth graders catch: "frist," "senences," and "exiting" for exciting.) In September, Jenna came into my classroom reading R. L. Stine. Stine is often a choice of fifth-- grade boys and all fourth graders. I do not observe many fifth-- grade girls, even in September, reading much R. L. Stine. But Jenna did show signs of a writer's gift for observation, even in September. She responded to Up North at the Cabin (Chall, 1992) in a September journal free write:
There is a small wooden bridge that goes over a small stream that leads to the lake, all of the leafs on the trees are all colored with red, orange, and yellow. When I look across the lake it's like a mirror the trees on the other side of the lake are upside down in the water the wind rustles the leafs and I go inside the cabin and the fire is going. I lay with my family and watch the wood burn. It makes us tired and drowsy."
Jenna was an average fifth grader with an outstanding portfolio. Her story could be the story of over two thirds of my students. I put aside the other nine portfolios and concentrated on Jenna's. Her portfolio and the transcribed recording of her portfolio presentation became my primary sources: a collection of artifacts detailing not only what had happened to Jenna's literacy during one school year, but what had happened to my own teaching. As Bissex and Bullock (1987) said,
The process of observing even a single individual sensitizes us that much more to other individuals ... case study research is directed largely toward understanding; such descriptive research requires us to suspend judgement and just look. Researching in this way can be transforming because it changes the way we see others and ourselves. (pp. 14-15)
In a teacher as researcher group I was part of, we had been studying Denny Taylor (1993) and her book, From the Child's Point of View. Taylor's (1993) work taught me to question my own practice as it is reflected in a child's learning. I was drawn to Taylor's view that when teachers question their own practice,
Teachers and children [can] work together, becoming coinformants as the reading writing strategies of the one inform those of the other. This approach enables teachers to rethink the ways in which they can provide realistic instruction in situations that make sense to the children and to themselves. It also enables children to become involved in personal evaluations of the ways in which they are becoming literate. (p. 43)
Hubbard and Power (1993) observe, "The most important tool you have as a researcher is your eye and your view of the classroom life. You need to look hard and deeply at yourself and students at work" (p. 10). That summer, looking first at my own teaching and how it was exemplified by Jenna, and second at the Michigan English Language Arts Content Standards and how they fit into my teaching, Jenna's portfolio became my eye and view back into the classroom.
When I had facilitated the students' portfolio preparation I had used my own teacher portfolio as a model. It had served students as they built their portfolios and helped them reflect upon their own learning. Now I planned to use student portfolios like they had used mine, only this time in reverse, as a model for my teaching and learning, as it was and as it could be. Thus, the double mirror image, reflecting backward, reflecting forward. This study was first initiated by my school district. As I dug deeply into the evidence for my own classroom, I needed to remember the district purpose to find ways to match student learning to a standards based curriculum and to the standards themselves. If I found a match how could I clarify and share my findings with an audience of teachers who wanted to know how the evidence occurred in the classroom, not just that it did? Good teachers can not merely teach, we must be practitioners who understand our craft enough to share it with others. To become a true artist we must draft, compose, revise, reflect, mold, observe, and remodel our classrooms continually Shelley Harwayne (1992) says:
Quality texts are nonnegotiable .... Reflective teachers are also nonnegotiable. They are always asking "Why?" They are always stepping back to ask, "What's working, that I can build on?" "What's not working that I can eliminate?" Our work will always bear the label . . . "to be continued." (pp. 337-338) The evidence in front of me was my invitation to study my craft . . . to reflect on Jenna's portfolio to understand my own teaching, and use that reflection to inform my own classroom of the role of standards.
THE PORTFOLIO PROCESS
My ideas about portfolios and how they can best inform student learning change yearly. Jenna's portfolio was part of my evolving concept of what portfolios should be for fifth graders. Three years before Jenna came to my classroom, it had been a collection of student work, written and published in Writers' Workshop. A growth narrative and a process paper as suggested by Rief (1992) was included. Whatever their shape, portfolios have always served as a "big picture" part of year-end evaluation. They need to help answer the questions of "who a student is becoming and who he or she might become-as a writer and reader" (Atwell, 1998, p. 314). But portfolios must also do more. Atwell (1998) suggests that "our responsibilities as evaluators involve collecting and sifting through the evidence that reveals what a student can do and can't do, understand and doesn't understand, has accomplished and needs to accomplish" (p. 314). However, the student portfolios in my classroom focused on writing.
I wish I had shown them even more of my actual process of assembling the portfolio.
Last year, after observing my principal, Suzanne Antonazzo, evaluate new teachers who were required to have a portfolio, I enlarged my concept of portfolios. Each teacher portfolio showed authentic evidence of teacher growth and reflection and was a showcase of what the teacher practiced in her classroom. I extended my student portfolios beyond a focus on writing to include reading and drew on the concepts concerning authentic evidence I had observed in the new teacher evaluation.
Paralleling this change in focus was my own compilation of a professional portfolio as part of the teacher evaluation process. I drew on many models to assist in building my own personal portfolio. I remembered my experiences with student portfolios and my own observations of new teachers. I studied expert models and considered Graves' (1994) description of his own portfolio:
I begin with myself. I have to renew what it means to keep a portfolio constantly So I put in pieces, or artifacts, that I've written in class, letters, all different kinds of things to reflect my literacy Of course, I'm showing myself even more than the children. I'm going through the process of saying what is important to me. Although I share my portfolio with children, make no mistake, I'm keeping it for myself. I need to do that as the children do. And I need to write short three to four sentence statements about why I've selected the pieces I've put in. (p. 186)
The process was exhausting. I collected piles and piles of teaching materials that I thought might be appropriate for the ten required sections recognized on the formal teacher evaluation. The chapters included: instructional skills, classroom management, planning and preparation, content knowledge, human relations, understanding child development and growth, use of materials, lifelong learner, and goals. Sorting and organizing "all that stuff" was time consuming, but valuable for reflection upon my teaching. To help make a whole out of the different parts and highly varying data I organized each section into its own chapter and connected them with the theme of A Journey of a Lifelong Learner. Finally, I referred to my own process of portfolio building throughout the year as my students worked on their portfolios.
In September, I alerted students to their own portfolio requirements, outlining general criteria along with the changes. Students understood they were to throw nothing away-they would be keeping all drafts, student work, reading records, etc. in designated files. Journals were also viewed as living textbooks of their learning. I shared some of my own ongoing portfolio process: the collection, selection, reflection, and production. Toward the end of the year, we went through my finished portfolio, page by page. Now I wish I had shown them even more of my actual process of assembling the portfolio and not just the beautiful product. The mere weight of the volume suggested the hours of effort, however.
We then drew on our shared experiences. Many of the students had been in the fourth-grade section of Readers' and Writers' Workshop (not Jenna, however) the previous year and I had kept their portfolios for models. These portfolios were also used as a baseline for growth and reflection. After close observation and reflection upon all the available models, the students and I collaboratively set up the criteria and organization for this year's portfolio. The students and I labeled the portfolio sections or chapters: Strategies and Thinking, Choices, Turning Points for Me as a Reader and Writer and Quality Evidence.
PREPARING FOR PORTFOLIO PRESENTATIONS
Discussions and mini-lessons during the weeks before presentations centered on what a quality portfolio should look like. Student-generated focus questions helped target the collection and organization of evidence. Class time was used to set up a rubric with the criteria points we had decided would be evaluated. Students were given plenty of class time to use all their available resources: themselves, their peers, the school, the teacher. More time was spent on developing the logic and reasons for collecting evidence than the product appearance.
During this preparation one lesson reviewed metaphor selection for individual portfolios, drawing examples from the models of previous years. The portfolio metaphor used a student-selected symbol that could "grow" and would metaphorically connect literacy changes. We had studied metaphor in our readings and writings, but our poetry discussions, especially, offered many chances for indepth discussion of symbolism. Brooks and Brooks (1993) describe power of metaphors when they observe that "Metaphors help people to understand complex issues in a holistic way and to tinker mentally with the parts of the whole to determine whether the metaphor works" (p. 116). Another lesson involved small groups writing focus questions for each chapter in order to better guide selection and reflection. Peer conferences, both formal and spontaneous, were held during workshop time the week before scheduled portfolio presentations to rehearse for the presenting of portfolios. Peers used the focus questions and the rubric to center the discussions. Peers asked their partners about their collection of quality evidence which drew from saved student work, drafts and published pieces, reading records, and journals. They wanted to know how this evidence "fit" into the portfolio, how it demonstrated student learning and how the selected theme connected everything in the portfolio together.
Presentations were to happen in the classroom in front of peers, teachers, and invited guests. Guests included parents, administrators, teachers from our own and other schools and from other classrooms at our school. I especially wanted the middle school teachers who would "inherit" these kids to hear the presentations, but in most cases, scheduling could not be worked out. Students understood the expectations for portfolios. The portfolio was a large part of their final "grade" in language arts, as well as being a requirement for entering middle school. Each student would receive extensive feedback on the established criteria they had helped to create. Parents, teachers, peers, and presenting students all used the criteria to evaluate portfolios.
Parents were required to fill out a feedback form and listen to their child's presentation. A letter went home explaining this process. Parents could fill out the form at school if they attended the classroom presentation. If this was not possible, students took their portfolios home and held a student-led conference with their parents. There was never an expectation that parents wouldn't hear their child and respond in writing on the provided form. With a little pressure (and a few phone calls) I had 100% participation. The parent comments were wonderful, full of positive and affirming statements that truly showed they understood their child's learning.
Peers filled out feedback forms during and right after completion of each portfolio. Again, there was never an expectation that peers would not also evaluate each other, positively Active audience listening, questions, and comments, in the end, were purposeful and insightful. I too filled out a form as each student was presenting. I found that my comments were much more pertinent to the individual student if I made them "on site."
This was the context from which Jenna's portfolio emerged. I now turn to how I used Jenna portfolio to help me think about standards and my own teaching.
GETTING GRAPHIC ABOUT CONTENT STANDARDS
With Jenna's portfolio, a year's worth of lesson plans, and the Content Standards in front of me, I knew I first needed to organize my data. I started asking myself questions. When I was confused on how to explain ideas in the classroom, what had I done to clarify simplify, and make sense out of the muddle? If my students didn't understand a concept or were having trouble gaining depth, what did I do that helped? I followed the steps outlined in Figure 1 to design a chart that would help me reflect on all the data.
I began my chart on the computer and the first decision I had to make was labelling the columns. What were the main ideas I wanted to see on my chart? Jenna's Portfolio, Content Standards and Benchmarks, and Classroom Lessons, these were the three concepts I wanted to connect. These became my columns. (See Figure 2)
But where could I start for the horizontal rows? I needed a basis, an anchoring framework. By completely unpacking Jenna's portfolio I realized that I would have the data for the first column, the first set of rows. Everything she included in her portfolio, I included in my chart. Her written words and oral description explaining the inclusions were quoted. The actual physical evidence she included was printed in bold.
In the second column, I matched Jenna's portfolio comments and contents with the Michigan English Language Arts Standards, going back and forth, and back and forth, identifying which was best shown or demonstrated with the evidence I had before me. I found there was much overlapping of content within the standards themselves and I had to be selective on which standards or benchmarks were mostly shown. The chart development process gave me the opportunity to dig deep into content standards. I learned much more about the content standards, what they meant, how they were shown, and which way they could be demonstrated best. Because I mapped the standards onto Jenna's portfolio, the ordering of the standards on the chart resulted in a re-ordering of the sequence of the standards (In Figure 2, I have preserved the original numbering of the standards).



















Many school districts are using professional portfolios as part of their hiring, retention, evaluation, and promotion process. This article provides educators with guidelines and resources for developing professional portfolios that reflect their experiences, training, and achievements as educators. Although the guidelines are presented in the context of educators entering the profession, they can be adapted by educators who have been teaching for several years. You applied for a teaching position in a local school district by sending a letter of interest, a resume, and a completed employment application. A week later, the superintendent's office contacts you and asks you to come in for an interview and to bring your professional portfolio. How would you feel? What would you do? Like the district in this vignette, many school districts are increasingly using professional portfolios as part of their hiring, retention, evaluation, and promotion processes (Green & Smyser, 1995). If you attended one of the growing number of universities that require their teacher education students to complete a professional portfolio representing their teaching experiences and training (Bloom & Bacon, 1995; McCrea, 1998; Pleasants, Johnson, & Trent, 1998), you would probably respond to this request by happily, and perhaps a little nervously, scheduling the interview and reviewing your portfolio. You may realize that sharing your portfolio with others at the interview will help you make a favorable impression and allow you to feel more comfortable as you support your oral responses with visual evidence of your skills and experiences, such as successful reading and content area lessons you have taught (Guillaume & Yopp, 1995). However, if you completed a teacher training program that did not require you to develop a professional portfolio, your excitement about being called for an interview may be combined with a bit of panic and confusion. Once you overcome your panic, you start to work on putting together your portfolio, asking yourself such questions as ? What is a professional portfolio for teachers?; ? When and how should I start to develop my portfolio?; ? What items should I include in my portfolio, and how should I organize them?; and ? How can I package my portfolio? This article is designed to help preservice and inservice teachers and other professionals address these questions and provide them with guidelines for developing professional portfolios that reflect their experiences, training, and achievements as educators. Although the guidelines are presented in the context of educators entering the profession, these guidelines and resources can be adapted by inservice educators who want to develop professional portfolios that allow them to apply for new positions, document teaching effectiveness and professional competence as part of the teacher evaluation process, foster reflection and self-assessment, and identify and address professional development needs. The guidelines also can be used to assist teacher educators in implementing professional portfolios as part of their teacher education programs and in helping their programs move toward performance-based licensing (see the sidebar "Benefits of a Professional Portfolio"). What Is a Professional Teaching Portfolio? A professional portfolio is a thoughtful, organized, and continuous collection of a variety of authentic products that document a professional's progress, goals, efforts, attitudes, pedagogical practices, achievements, talents, interests, and development over time (Winsor & Ellefson, 1995). Portfolios are both product- and process-oriented and involve educators in the purposeful, collaborative, and reflective process of selecting and compiling multiple sources of information that reveal their beliefs, skills, knowledge, accomplishments, unique characteristics, and commitments with respect to a variety of teaching and learning experiences (Guillaume & Yopp, 1995). Through the development of professional portfolios, prospective and practicing teaching professionals can document their development and reflections as educators and can showcase their knowledge, skills, and accomplishments (Antonek, McCormick, & Donato, 1997). Dietz (1994) delineated three types of professional portfolios: a presentation portfolio, a working portfolio, and a learner portfolio. A presentation portfolio is one that documents and showcases a teacher's achievements, strengths, and areas of expertise. A working portfolio is one that contains items that are selected to conform to a set of prescribed competencies and standards to meet requirements for licensure or to certify the achievements of educators seeking national certifications such as the National Board of Professional Teaching standards or the Council for Exceptional Children's Professionally Recognized Special Educator. A learner portfolio offers a framework for reflecting on and providing evidence related to a set of learning outcomes. When and How Should I Start to Develop My Portfolio? The earlier you begin to collect items for your portfolio, the better (Heskett, 1998; May, 1997). The professional portfolio may be assembled near the completion of your teacher education program; however, you can start to select and collect items for inclusion in your portfolio each semester. Therefore, during each semester, it is recommended that you identify and save potential portfolio items by storing them in a box or folder and dating and annotating them so that you will remember their significance when putting your portfolio together (Wolf, 1996). If you are unsure about which items to store for possible inclusion in your portfolio, you may want to speak to your professors, advisor, and peers to help identify potential portfolio items. What Items Should I Include, and How Should I Organize Them? The items included in and the organization of a professional portfolio will vary from individual to individual and will depend on the purpose(s) and context for developing the portfolio (Wolf, Whinery, & Hagerty, 1995). Although others may offer guidance to assist you in identifying potential items, it is your portfolio and therefore your responsibility to select the items to be included. When making these decisions, you must choose from a wide range of potential items that you have produced during your training program. Where appropriate, it is recommended that you include authentic items such as actual products you developed and implemented; work samples from your students; and photographs, recordings, and videos of classrooms and classroom activities. When including photos, video, audio recordings, and samples of students' work, make sure you have the necessary permissions, maintain confidentiality, and use caption statements to provide the reader with a context for understanding the item. In selecting items, carefully examine each potential item and consider what it reveals about your teaching ability, philosophy, strengths, growth, self-reflection, unique characteristics and experiences, as well as who will be looking at your portfolio and for what reasons they will be examining it (Giuliano, 1997). Briefly, in choosing portfolio items, it may be helpful to ask yourself several questions: 1. What does the item reveal about my skills, knowledge, growth, experiences, self-reflections, and attitudes? 2. Is the item consistent with my educational philosophy and best practices? 3. Does the item demonstrate my best work? 4. Is the item free of grammatical and other errors? 5. Is the item authentic, and does it showcase my skills and experiences in working with students, families, and other professionals? 6. What processes and experiences did I engage in to produce the item? 7. What does the item reveal about me on a personal level? Another factor affecting the selection of items is the organization of the portfolio. The organizational structure of the portfolio has a reciprocal relationship with the items selected for inclusion in the portfolio. This means that the items you select may help you determine the ways to organize your portfolio, and the ways you organize your portfolio also may guide you in selecting items to include. Although your portfolio should be structured so that it is easy for others to follow, it can be organized in a variety of ways. Some educators organize their portfolios according to the chronological order in which items were produced; others develop theme-based portfolios (Dollase, 1996). For example, a portfolio of a special educator might be organized around the theme of the actual roles and tasks special educators perform in schools. We propose several potential categories for organizing a professional portfolio and offer a variety of potential portfolio items that relate to these categories. Introductory Information To assist the reader in understanding the organization and value of the portfolio, it is suggested that you include a table of contents (Heskett, 1998). The table of contents also orients the reader to the range of items included in the portfolio as well as assists them in locating specific items of interest. Some individuals supplement the table of contents by including a letter of introduction that provides a summary of the artifacts in the portfolio and states their career goals (Heskett, 1998). This section should also include a title or cover page that provides the reader with your name, address, and telephone number. Background Information The portfolio should include a section that provides background information about yourself. This section offers the reader an overview of some of your professional experiences and achievements. Potential items relating to this section include ? an up-to-date resume; ? transcripts, national and statewide examination results, certification documents, awards, honors, fellowships, and letters of recognition; ? a narrative about yourself or an educational autobiography of your experiences as a learner and a teacher; and ? letters of recommendation. Because many school districts are looking for staff members who can lead extracurricular clubs, teams, and activities, this section of your portfolio can also include a listing of your hobbies, interests, and special talents. In addition, because many school districts are serving students and families from linguistically diverse backgrounds, an indication of the languages you speak can also increase your chances of being hired. Educational Philosophy and Teaching Goals Potential employers will be particularly interested in your educational philosophy and teaching goals as these provide an understanding of the principles that guide you as an educator as well as offer insights into your personality. Because an understanding of your educational philosophy can also help you and the school district determine if you are compatible, an important part of your portfolio should be a narrative statement outlining your teaching goals and your core beliefs about education, teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, classroom management, diversity, family involvement, technology, and collaboration. The statement can also address how you arrived at these beliefs and include the theorists, theories, and experiences that have shaped your goals and beliefs, as well as the implications of these goals and principles for teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment, classroom management, family involvement, technology, and schools. The educational philosophy section of your portfolio can also be supplemented by relevant papers you have written and assignments you have completed that are consistent with or that expand on your educational philosophy and teaching goals. Fieldwork Experiences Potential employers also will be very interested in your experiences working with a range of students and professionals and in a variety of educational settings; for this reason, I suggest that your portfolio include a section that not only lists the number of fieldwork experiences you have had but also summarizes the nature of these experiences. The section should describe each of your fieldwork experiences, your responsibilities, and the types of students and professionals with whom you worked. This section can also present your observations and reflections regarding these experiences and outline the projects and activities you completed during each fieldwork or practicum experience. The narrative summary of your fieldwork experiences can be supplemented by use of accompanying photographs, recordings, and videos of the settings in which you worked; the students, professionals, and family members with whom you worked; and the products you developed. Educational Assessment Skills Special educators are asked to use their educational assessment skills to participate in many important educational decisions regarding students, including determining students' educational placement and need for related services, identifying teaching and Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and objectives, assessing students' mastery of skills, and evaluating the effectiveness of the educational programs of their students. Because of the importance of educational assessment, school districts want information displayed in your portfolio about your ability to employ a variety of formal and informal assessment techniques to identify students' needs, develop instructional programs that address these needs, and monitor students' progress on a continuous basis. Your skills at using assessment techniques that are typically part of the multidisciplinary team planning process can be documented in your portfolio by including the following: 1. a comprehensive assessment report you wrote including a school observation; family, teacher, and student interviews; and the administration of several standardized tests; 2. an IEP you developed; 3. products that reveal your participation in the process for identifying appropriate testing modifications, alternative testing techniques, and assistive technology for students; 4. examples of your use of nondiscriminatory assessment techniques with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; and 5. a summary of your experiences in differentiating cultural and linguistic differences from learning problems. Your skills at using informal assessment techniques to demonstrate evidence of student learning can be evidenced by inclusion of such portfolio items as authentic/ performance assessments and rubrics you have developed as well as copies of a curriculum-based assessment, a miscue analysis, a running record, and a functional assessment you have conducted. Including examples of a portfolio assessment performed with a student, self-evaluation questionnaires, think-aloud techniques, student journals, and learning logs also can document your ability to perform a variety of student-centered assessment techniques. Examples of teacher-made tests and testing modifications you have employed also can document your skill at designing procedures that provide students with the opportunity to perform at their optimal level. Your ability to employ a range of observational techniques such as anecdotal recording can be revealed through the inclusion of student observations, weekly progress notes on students, and summaries of student reactions to lessons. Because many school districts are using technology-based assessment techniques to evaluate their students, evidence to show your skill at using technology-based testing to tailor assessments to the skill levels of students also would be appropriate for inclusion in your portfolio. Instructional Skills School districts seek teachers who can link assessment and instruction and who can understand, develop, and implement developmentally appropriate instructional programs that promote student learning in a variety of content areas. They look for educators who are knowledgeable about curriculum, learning styles, and instructional resources, and skilled at using learning strategies, peer-mediated instruction, student-centered and culturally relevant instruction, and instructional adaptations. Potential items that can showcase your teaching effectiveness include ? videocassettes or audiocassettes of your teaching; ? evaluations of your teaching from students, instructors, cooperating teachers, peers, and employers; ? samples of students' work as a result of instruction they received from you; ? photographs and/or descriptions of materials, learning centers, and bulletin boards you developed; and ? evaluations of curriculum materials or software programs that you have completed. Your instructional skills also can be demonstrated through the inclusion of product-based portfolio items such as sample lesson plans, units of instruction, instructional materials, cooperative learning activities, learning packets and IEPs you have developed, examples of your use of instructional technology (i.e., Web sites and Internet-based lessons you have developed), culturally relevant instruction, learning strategies, individualized instruction, multi-level instruction, and adapted materials for diverse learners. Classroom Management Skills When making hiring decisions regarding educational personnel, school districts place a high priority on a prospective educator's classroom management skills. In recognition of the importance of classroom management skills, your portfolio can provide evidence that shows you are able to create and manage effective, efficient, and appealing instructional environments that promote learning and foster appropriate behavior in all students. Your ability to design and manage effective learning environments can be demonstrated by such portfolio items as a copy of a behavior change project you conducted to increase an appropriate behavior or decrease an inappropriate behavior of a student or a group of students, graphs to demonstrate your success in helping students acquire new behaviors through use of self-management techniques, and a copy of a classroom management plan that you developed. The classroom management plan can include rules, routines, and procedures that students and teachers follow in your classroom as well as how you would organize space, time, materials, and furniture in your classroom and a drawing or photograph of a classroom you have designed. Other potential portfolio items that address your classroom management skills include self-reflections of your use of different classroom management techniques, examples of your use of student contracts, affective education strategies and peer-mediated techniques, and your analysis of a case study or incident involving classroom management issues. Collaborative Skills The ability to work collaboratively with families and other professionals is important for successful functioning as a special educator. While collaboration skills are employed in all types of special education positions, they are especially important when you are applying to work in inclusion and resource room programs. Therefore, your portfolio should include items that provide an indication of your ability to work collaboratively with families and other professionals, such as a summary of your interactions with families and your experiences teaching or working collaboratively with other professionals, samples of correspondence sent to families and other professionals (e.g., class newsletters and notes to parents), and examples of products you developed for families and products developed with other professionals. Your ability to work collaboratively with others can also be revealed in your portfolio by including items that address your community-based experiences and your involvement in extracurricular activities. For example, your involvement in community events and after-school activities can be documented by copies of thank-you letters you received from community organizations and groups and a summary of your involvement in community events and extracurricular activities. Commitment to Professional Development Education, particularly special education, is a field that is constantly changing and evolving to respond to new research, model programs, instructional strategies, and legislation. In light of these changes, school districts are looking for educators who keep abreast of new developments in the field and continue to develop their skills by engaging in professional development activities. Therefore, you want your portfolio to include items that serve to document your commitment to being a lifelong learner who takes advantage of opportunities to grow professionally. Potential items relating to this section include 1. a listing or summary of conferences and workshops attended, visits to model programs, observations of and meetings with master teachers, presentations you have given to others, and articles you have published; 2. a summary of your involvement in professional and community organizations (e.g., activities, leadership positions held, and memberships in professional organizations) and mentoring experiences; 3. an abstract of a research project you conducted; 4. copies or summaries of articles and books that inform your teaching; and 5. additional training you have received in specific areas (e.g., crisis intervention or peer-mediation training). In addition, your portfolio can include a professional growth plan that includes personal and professional goals and activities for professional development in the future. Reflective Thinking Skills An integral aspect of a professional portfolio is evidence of your reflective thinking, "a means of reliving and recapturing experience in order to make sense of it, and to develop new understandings and appreciations" (Wade & Yarbrough, 1996, p. 64). Through the inclusion of portfolio items that reveal your reflective thinking, you can demonstrate that you are an ethical practitioner who continually examines the impact of your decisions and actions on yourself and others. In addition, examples of your reflective thinking provide prospective employers with insights into how you learn from past experiences and dilemmas, analyze these experiences and dilemmas, view them from multiple perspectives, and apply new learning and perspectives to your future endeavors, goals, and professional development activities. A reflective thinking component of your portfolio also helps connect your experiences and the items included in your portfolio and offers the reader a context for understanding it better. You can build self-reflection into your portfolio in a variety of ways (McCrea, 1998). Each item that you select can include a caption statement reflecting on what the item reveals about your learning or growth as an educator (Wolf, 1996). For example, attached to each portfolio item, you can include such statements as ? Why did I select this item? ? What did I learn from this activity or experience? ? Was this activity or experience successful? Why or why not? ? What would I do differently? and ? What does this show about my growth as a teacher? (Antonek et al., 1997) Your ability to be a thoughtful and inquiring professional can also be documented by including specific reflective thinking items in your portfolio such as reflective journal entries or self-reflective narratives examining lessons you taught, assessment and instructional strategies you implemented, interactions with others, problematic situations you encountered, reactions to case studies, and the impact of students' cultural backgrounds on learning (Dieker & Monda-Amaya, 1997). In addition to using caption statements and including specific reflective thinking items, you can write an essay that reflects on how your portfolio as a whole demonstrates growth and changes in your skills, viewpoints, commitments, and knowledge base. In writing your reflective essay, you can consider the following: ? What is (are) the purpose(s) of your portfolio? ? What principles guided you in developing your portfolio? ? What does the portfolio reveal about you as a professional and as a person? ? What does your portfolio reveal about your experiences in your teacher education program and the skills you have developed as a special educator? and ? What does the portfolio reveal about your beliefs and attitudes about education? How Can I Package My Portfolio? Your portfolio should be neat and manageable in terms of size. It can be bound in a 2" to 3" three-ring binder or assembled using file folders, accordion file folders, and boxes with dividers. Binders are often preferable to folders because they allow you to add or delete items easily and limit the likelihood of items being lost (Stahle & Mitchell, 1993). In packaging your portfolio, consider your organizational framework and use dividers and pages with headings to delineate sections, and place things in sections using a logical sequence such as chronological order or thematic relevance (Giuliano, 1997). Your portfolio can be personalized, so be creative and use your imagination. For example, you may want to decorate your portfolio with photographs, logos, drawings, and other features that showcase your relevant interests, skills, and abilities. However, as you attempt to personalize your portfolio, remember to focus your displays around professionally related themes and features and avoid symbols that may be controversial or misinterpreted by others. You can also use technology and multimedia to create an electronic portfolio. In addition to having your portfolio readily available to others on diskette and CDROM, an electronic portfolio has the added advantage of allowing you to display and showcase your skills at employing technology. Electronic portfolios involve using software and hardware tools to create and record portfolio items and add sound and text. For example, you can use a digital camera to take pictures of a bulletin board you created and a videocassette recorder to record various classroom activities you directed. These recordings can then be scanned into your electronic portfolio. Resources are available to assist you in creating your own electronic portfolio. Several software-based portfolio programs are commercially available to assist you in creating your professional portfolio. These programs allow you to scan and organize portfolio items and enter sound, video clips, graphics, and text. A variety of resources on portfolios are also available through the World Wide Web. Summary Whether you are entering the profession or have been teaching for years, at some point you will probably be asked to develop a professional portfolio. The guidelines presented in this article are designed to assist you in developing your own professional portfolio, and you will want to adapt it to the unique skills and demands associated with your professional responsibilities. REFERENCES Antonek, J. L., McCormick, D. E., & Donato, R. (1997). The student teacher portfolio as autobiography: Developing a professional identity. The Modern Language Journal, 81, 15-27. Bloom, L., & Bacon, E. (1995). Using portfolios for individual learning and assessment. Teacher Education and Special Education, 18, 1-9. Dieker, L. A., & Monda-Amaya, L. E. (1997). Using problem solving and effective teaching frameworks to promote reflective thinking in preservice special educators. Teacher Education and Special Education, 20, 22-36. Dietz, M. E. (1994). Professional development portfolio. Boston: Sundance. Dollase, R. H. (1996). The Vermont experiment in state-mandated portfolio program approval. Journal of Teacher Education, 47(2), 85-98. Giuliano, F. J. (1997). Practical professional portfolios. Science Teacher, 64, 42-45. Green, J. E., & Smyser, S. O. (1995). Changing conceptions about teaching: The use of portfolios with pre-service teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 22, 43-53. Guillaume, A. M., & Yopp, H. K. (1995). Professional portfolios for student teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 22, 93-101. Heskett, M. (1998). Perfecting the professional portfolio. CEC Today, 4, 6. May, A. P. (1997). The professional performance portfolio. In American Association for Employment in Education (Ed.), 1997 job search handbook for educators (p. 18). Evanston, IL: American Association for Employment in Education. McCrea, L. D. (1998,April). Self-assessment tools: Reflective practices with preservice teachers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Council for Exceptional Children, Minneapolis, MN. Pleasants, H. M., Johnson, C. B., & Trent, S. C. (1998). Reflecting, reconceptualizing, and revising. The evolution of a portfolio assignment in a multicultural teacher education course. Remedial and Special Education, 19, 46-58. Stahle, D. L., & Mitchell, J. P. (1993). Portfolio assessment in college methods courses: Practicing what we preach. Journal of Reading, 36, 538-542. Wade, R. C., & Yarbrough, D. B. (1996). Portfolios: A tool for reflective thinking in teacher education? Teaching and Teacher Education, 12, 63-79. Wilcox, B. L. (1996). Smart portfolios for teachers in training. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40, 172-179. Winsor, J. T., & Ellefson, B. A. (1995). Professional portfolios in teacher education: An exploration of their value and potential. The Teacher Educator; 31, 68-74. Wolf, K. (1991). The schoolteacher's portfolio: Issues in design, implementation and evaluation. Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 129-136. Wolf, K. (1996). Developing an effective teaching portfolio. Educational Leadership, 53, 34-37. Wolf, K., Whinery, B., & Hagerty, B. (1995). Teaching portfolios and portfolio conversations for teacher educators and teachers. Action in Teacher Education, 17, 30-39. ~~~~~~~~By Spencer J. Salend Spencer J. Salend, EdD, is a professor of special education in the Department of Educational Studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz. His research interests relate to educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms and meeting the educational needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including migrant students with disabilities. Address: Spencer J. Salend, Department of Educational Studies, SUNY at New Paltz, 75 South Manheim Blvd., New Paltz, NY 12561. BENEFITS OF A PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO In addition to providing a picture of your knowledge and skills to prospective employers, professional portfolios benefit educators and schools in a variety of ways. For example, professional portfolios assist educators in understanding the portfolio process and using portfolios to examine the growth and progress of their students (Guillaume & Yopp, 1995). Portfolios help prospective teachers reflect on the complexity and subtlety of the teaching and learning process and serve as a framework for engaging in self-assessment to identify your strengths and weaknesses; to share ideas about teaching, learning, and the profession with others (Wilcox, 1996); to plan for your professional development (Green & Smyser, 1995); and to structure mentoring and collaborative activities (Wolf, 1991). Professional portfolios can also be used to evaluate teacher education programs by offering feedback to validate successful aspects of training programs as well as areas in need of revision.
Copyright of Intervention in School & Clinic is the property of PRO-ED. Copyright of PUBLICATION is the property of PUBLISHER. The copyright in an individual article may be maintained by the author in certain cases. Content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.Source: Intervention in School & Clinic, Mar2001, Vol. 36 Issue 4, p195, 7p

Educational Neuroscience

Educational neuroscience is an exciting new discipline that brings together research from psychology, neuroscience and pedagogy to help educators make the best curriculum, instructional and assessment choices for effective learning. Provide a brief summary of the article and explain how the findings could be translated into what educators do in schools and classrooms. Do the findings support differentiated teaching and learning? Why or why not?

ASSESSMENT PAPER- this paper is due April 14,2010
Students will complete a paper which presents a self assessment of ones motives for choosing a career in social work and how those motives are consistent with the knowledge, values and skills of social work as learned thus far. Assessment should include strengths and limitations for a career in social work. This assessment should be sensitive to racial, cultural and other lifestyle diversity.
Please feel free to discuss any aspect of this paper with me. This should be viewed as a "Current learning and evaluation process" that relates to the general course objectives ofSCWK 220.
Self- awareness, objectivity about current strengths, and additional development of areas in need of your attention are the main factors you should consider.
This paper is between you and me. No individual reports or small group discussion will be required. Your copy will be returned to you with my comments by the time of the class fmal exam.
I. This paper needs to be not less that IS, not more than 20 pages long, typed, and double-spaced with normal margins. It must include an Introduction and a Conclusion.
2. It needs to include how you size up in the areas of social work (1) skills, (2) knowledge and (3) values.
3. Need to see yourself in a holistic approach: social, emotional, physical and spiritual and address all.
4. Have you established some empathy or competence for racial, cultural or lifestyle diversity? Or, how do you intend to do this? Please answer and address.
5. Student should discuss personal background. Specifically how does your personal background strengthen or challenge you for the field of social work? Are there specific issues in your background that need to be addressed prior to engaging in an effective helping relationship and how have you or do you intend to address these issues? Please address.
6. Discuss who in your life mentors you, holds you accountable, challenges you, and encourages your growth. If you don't have someone in your life to do this for you, what are your plans for establishing effective mentorship/ directions?
7. Be very specific when discussing your strengths and limitations. Regarding your limitations, what are your plans for developing capacities in this area?
8. What do you hope to see yourself doing in 5 years? 10 years? within the social work field?
9. This paper is to be taken seriously and written as such.
10. Make sure that you address all the areas required.
SPECIAL REMINDER: YOU MUST RECEIVE a GRADE OF "C" OR BETTER IN TillS CLASS, AND a "C" OR BETTER ON YOUR SELF ASSESSMENT PAPER to achieve candidacy.

I have worked at a placement center for delinquent and neglect, abused children for 18 months. I want to receive a bachelors degree in social work, get a state license and work with the older generations or possibly with veterans who need social work assistance. I am 62 years old and this is my second (or third) career attempt. My major is: Social Work Gerontology with a minor in Psychology. Please don't hesitate to ask for more information. Right now I am not sure what you need.

Educational Experience

Reflect on your own experiences in education since elementary school. Discuss some of the ways teachers used differentiated instruction and how this supported learning in your own life. If you do not have any experiences with being involved in a classroom where differentiation was used, reflect on some of the ways either content or teaching process could have been differentiated to support your learning. Have you found any particular strategies discussed this week to be powerful to you as a learner? Use one of the following options when responding to this journal:

Submit a written reflection
Use Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html) to create a reflection with visuals
Submit a peer dialogue reflection. For this option, discuss the questions above with a peer or colleague and write a reflection based on your discussion.

Educational Excellence

Review the goals put forth by the Educational Excellence for All Children Act (1999).
Goal 1: Ready to learn by the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn.
Goal 2: School Completion by the year 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.
Goal 3: Student Achievement and Citizenship by the year 2000, all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including English, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Languages, Civics and Government, Economics, Arts, History, and Geography, and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation?s modern economy.
Goal 4: Mathematics and Science by the year 2000, United States students will be first in the world in mathematics and science achievement.
Goal 5: Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning
By the year 2000, every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Goal 6: Safe, Disciplined, and Alcohol- and Drug-Free Schools
By the year 2000, every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol, and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.

Assignment Instructions:
After reading Chapters 6 and 7 in your text, research current data for your state to determine how the goals of the Educational Excellence for All Children Act (1999) and write a 3-4 page (excluding the cover and reference page) paper assessing how the United States has done in meeting the goals set forth by the Educational Excellence for All Children Act in 1999.
What areas have improved?
What areas do still need improvement?
Research this information for your local school, district, or county.
How does your area compare to the national data available?
Compare the High School graduation rate from your area to another area in the Nation.
Finally, what suggestions would you recommend to your local school board regarding these goals?
Support your position with references to the text and at least one additional source.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.



In Ashford courses, there are two different ways to submit assignments for grading. Depending on the system the course utilizes, assignments will either be submitted via the classroom Assignment Basket or Waypoint .


Waypoint Assignment Submission The assignments in this course will be submitted to Waypoint. Please refer to the instructions below to submit your assignment.
Click on the Assignment Submission button above. The Waypoint "Student Dashboard" will appear.
Browse for your assignment.
Click Upload.
Confirm that your assignment was successfully submitted by viewing the appropriate week's assignment tab in Waypoint, or clicking on Check Assignment Status within the Meet Your Instructor unit in the left navigation panel.
For more detailed instructions, refer to the Waypoint Tutorial.

Assessment of environmental processes includes agents and factors that may cause injury, illness, or death. Choose one of the following age groups: toddler, preschool, and school-age child. List some of the most frequent causes of injuries, illness, or death at the age level. Discuss and describe safety concerns specific to the age, listing the most common causes of injury, illness (acute or chronic), trauma, and death for the age level. Describe how health promotion and health prevention interventions can be incorporated into parent and child teaching. Including in-text citations and references for each of the scholarly sources used. (1PAGE-1 RESOURCE)

As adolescents separate from their parents and gain a sense of control, sometimes they are unable to balance stresses. As a result, depression may occur, and, at times, suicide may be the outcome. Choose the topic of either adolescent depression or adolescent suicide. Discuss contributing factors and signs and symptoms that may be observed or assessed in these clients. Describe primary, secondary, and tertiary methods of health prevention for this topic. Research community and state resources and describe at least two of these for your chosen topic. What nursing interventions could you use to assist an adolescent you suspect is depressed beyond referring the adolescent to a state or community resource? Include in-text citations and references for each of the scholarly sources used. -1PAGE, 1 RESOURCE.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS
You will write a 6-page paper in APA format outlining your beliefs about the purposes of education. Relate those beliefs to the content of this course. You are to include at least six references for this paper. Turnitin will be used to evaluate the originality of your paper.

The following elements should be clearly defined throughout your paper using headings and subheadings:

Title Page

Consider the title of your paper to be your motto, slogan, or bumper-sticker version of your philosophy. It should be clear enough to give the reader some idea of what you believe about education. Include your name, ID number, course and section, and your instructors name and be sure it follows the APA format.

Abstract

Write a one-paragraph abstract that conveys your philosophy of education and would be what you would write on a job application in response to a request to "describe your philosophy of education." The abstract need not summarize all aspects of the paper but should correspond with the title and thesis statements. You may target your abstract to be appropriate for either a public or Christian school application.

Consider this an abridged version of your full philosophy statement, similar to a vision or mission statement. This would also be something similar to what you would write on an employment application, or would say in an interview when asked about your educational philosophy.

Introduction

In your introduction, present a strong thesis statement that conveys what you believe to be the purpose of education. The thesis statement should correspond to the title of the paper. Construct the remainder of the paper to support the thesis statement.

The best place for your thesis statement is the last sentence of the introduction. It serves as a transition to the rest of the paper.

Worldview & Philosophy of Life

This is what you know and believe about the world and life. This section should flow smoothly into and be consistent with your thoughts about schools and learning. How would you describe your view of life in general? How will your worldview influence your practice as an educator? (The questions listed here are strictly to provoke thought and to help you know how to focus your writing. Do NOT write your paper as a list of direct answers to these questions.)

Remember to include your feelings on the main types of philosophies:
Metaphysics: What is ultimately real or true? What gives life purpose or meaning?
Epistemology: Do students come to know reality?
Axiology: What do you most value? What do you want your students to value most? What ethical principles will guide you?


Philosophy of Schools & Learning

This is what you know and believe about schools and learning. It should connect with the previous section and flow smoothly into the next section about instructional practice. Identify key theories from your courses that will impact your teaching. In this section describe the theories and in the next section discuss how you would practice the theory in your instructional methods. How will professional knowledge guide your practice? Refer to the knowledge base in teacher education that includes educational psychology, philosophy, and learning theory. Dont try to cover everything; just identify two or three key theories you espouse. From what specific professional knowledge will you draw in your practice? Whose theories, ideas, etc., are meaningful to you?

Explain your beliefs about education, comparing and contrasting them to historical figures studied in this course. Discuss your beliefs regarding educational trends and societal currents that affect education. You are encouraged to integrate content from other courses as well.

Educational Practice

This is what you will implement in your practice. This section should flow smoothly from the previous one. In the previous section you should have identified and briefly discussed what theories you plan to implement. In this section you will explain how you will put those theories into practice. What pedagogical practices or methods will you tend to use most frequently? Why? What instructional strategies will you value and implement? What do you hope to accomplish by using these strategies?

Briefly explain how your life and/or educational experiences have shaped your philosophy of education. (Because this is not an autobiography, avoid long narratives.) Explain how your philosophy of education shapes, or will shape, your professional practices. Connect theory to practice.

Teacher-Learner Relationships

What is the role of the learner? What is the role of the teacher? How should they relate to each other and why?

When constructing this section of your paper, remember not o simply answer these questions. They are only a guide to stimulate thought.

Diversity

What factors need to be taken into account by the teacher? How do factors of student diversity impact instruction?

Conclusion

Conclude with a paragraph that ties your paper together and reinforces the main idea that presented in the thesis statement and title.

If you have other headings, or important information you want to include in your paper, be sure to include them before your conclusion. Other ideas you may want to consider are your calling to teaching, classroom management philosophy, assessment philosophy, parent role and the relationship with the teacher, current ethics issues in education.


Use the chart below to help you organize your thoughts:
Because this paper is made up of your personal views, it will be graded on how well you followed the rubric, supported your ideas and presented them in a clear, consistent manner. You may disagree with your instructor without penalty. Make sure you are careful in your use of grammar and sentence structure. Check your spelling and have someone proof-read your paper for content and correctness.

Try not to dwell too much on biographical or testimonial information. How you came to believe what you do is not as important as what you believe and your rationale for it.

You should use a variety of references when composing your paper. Do not use Wikipedia or other non-reliable resources. Possible sources include:
Textbooks for this course
The Bible
Educational journal
Books youve read that influence your educational philosophy

No more than 15% of your paper should be made up of direct quotes. Short quotes should be in quotation marks and longer quotes should be indented (see APA).

Educational Policy Analysis Paper

Throughout this course, you will be exploring various educational policies that have played a role in educational reform. For your Final Paper, you will be researching a current educational policy (local, state, or national), analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the policy, and identifying specific changes that need to take place. In this assignment, you will need to demonstrate that you can analyze a current policy and use problem-solving strategies for conflict resolution to improve the current policy.

Writing the Final Paper

Assignment Guidelines:
Your paper needs to be eight to ten pages long (not including your title or reference page) and formatted according to APA guidelines.
Your paper needs to include a minimum of six references in addition to your textbook. Make sure at least one of your references is from a scholarly journal found in the Ashford University Library.
Your paper needs to include the following sections:

Introduction

Summary of Current Educational Policy

Critique of Current Educational Policy

Policy Recommendations

Analysis of Recommendations

Political Analysis

Governmental Role

Conclusion


Here is a summary of what needs to be in each section of your paper:
Introduction

The introduction section will include the current educational policy that you have chosen to analyze. Make sure you have a clear thesis for your paper.

Summary of Current Educational Policy

Within this section you will need to provide a clear summary of the educational policy. Make sure you discuss the history of the policy, how it came into existence, the purpose of the policy, goal(s) of the policy, and the impact it has had on education.

Critique of Current Educational Policy

This section will include a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of the current policy. What areas are working? What areas are not working? What problems do you see with the policy? Make sure you support your position with current facts/research.

Policy Recommendations

Provided within this section are your own recommendations for improving the policy. Be specific when identifying which areas you will change, and be as detailed as possible when describing how these changes will take place. Anticipate the implementation requirements and financial implications of your proposed changes. Make sure you consider how this will prepare students for a global society.

Analysis of Recommendations

Your analysis of proposed changes will be included in the section entitled Recommendations. Explain how and why you believe these changes will lead to improved performance as a result of the policy. Make sure you also address globalization in education.

Political Analysis

This section will include a political analysis of the prospects for your proposals, and should include suggested strategies to garner support for them. Make sure you consider both liberal and conservative views.

Governmental Role

Within this section, you will evaluate the balance between federal, state, and local government and responsibility. Make sure you are clear on the role of each of the entities in your policy changes, and address the distribution of power. Justify your position for the role each entity is given.

Conclusion

The conclusion section will include your summary of the policy changes and address the influence of the proposed policy changes on education.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.








Description:

Total Possible Score: 25.00
Introduction, Thesis Statement, and Conclusion
Total: 1.00
Distinguished - Paper is logically organized with a well-written introduction, thesis statement, and conclusion. The introduction includes the current educational policy chosen to analyze. The conclusion includes a summary of the policy changes and addresses the influence of the proposed policy changes on education.

Summarizes a Current Educational Policy
Total: 4.00

Distinguished - Clearly summarizes a current educational policy. Discusses in detail the history of the policy, how the policy came into existence, the purpose of the policy, the goal(s) of the policy, and the impact it has had on education.

Critiques a Current Educational Policy
Total: 4.00

Distinguished - Provides an in-depth critique of a current educational policy, including a review of the policy?s strengths and weaknesses, what is working and what is not working, and problems seen with the policy. Uses many supporting details.

Provides Recommendations for Improving the Educational Policy
Total: 3.50

Distinguished - Provides thorough and reasonable recommendations for improving the chosen educational policy. The recommendations include an identification of the areas that will change, with a detailed description of how the changes will take place. Thoroughly anticipates the implementation requirements and financial implications of proposed changes and considers how this will prepare students for a global society.

Analyzes Recommendations and Political Prospects
Total: 4.00

Distinguished - Provides an in-depth analysis of the proposed changes, recommendations, and political prospects for the proposals, using several supporting details. Explains how and why the changes will lead to improved performance and addresses the impact on globalization in education. Conservative and liberal views are thoroughly considered for the prospects for the proposal.

Evaluates the Balance Between Federal, State, and Local Governments and Responsibilities
Total: 4.00

Distinguished - Provides an in-depth evaluation of the balance between federal, state, and local governments and responsibilities. Clearly describes the roles of each of the entities in the policy changes and addresses the distribution of power. Justifies the position taken for the role each entity is given and uses several supporting details.

Integrative Thinking: Transfer
Total: 0.50

Distinguished - Adapts and employs, independently, skills, abilities, theories, or methodologies gained in one situation to new situations. Solves difficult problems or explores complex issues in original ways.

Creative Thinking: Solving Problems
Total: 0.50

Distinguished - Develops a logical, consistent plan to solve a problem, identifies consequences of the solution, and can clearly communicate the reason for choosing the solution.

Critical Thinking: Student?s Position
Total: 0.50

Distinguished - Specific position is inventive, considering the intricate ideas of an issue. Limits of position are recognized. Other viewpoints are synthesized within position.

Creative Thinking: Acquiring Competencies
Total: 0.50
Distinguished - Evaluates creative process and product using appropriate criteria; creates an entirely new object, solution or idea that is appropriate to the domain. Successfully adapts an appropriate exemplar to own specifications.

Written Communication: Control of Syntax and Mechanics
Total: 0.62

Distinguished - Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no errors, and is very easy to understand.

Written Communication: APA Formatting
Total: 0.62
Distinguished - Accurately uses APA formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.

Written Communication: Page Requirement
Total: 0.63

Distinguished - The paper meets the specific page requirement stipulated in the assignment description.

Written Communication: Source Requirement
Total: 0.63

Distinguished - Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Introduction, Thesis Statement, and Conclusion
Total: 1.00

Distinguished - Paper is logically organized with a well-written introduction, thesis statement, and conclusion. The introduction includes the current educational policy chosen to analyze. The conclusion includes a summary of the policy changes and addresses the influence of the proposed policy changes on education.

Assessment : Learning plan
This assessment focuses on your ability to develop a Learning Plan that is based on the ELA 1 Course Objectives (CO4. Utilise a variety of electronic resources to construct a learning plan for the community health visits. CO5. Apply appropriate communication strategies to promote an optimal physical, psychosocial, cultural and spiritual environment for individuals and groups. ), the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA, 2006) National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse (RN), and serves as a framework for clinical learning during your Professional Placement. You will need to review the Professional Placement activities within the Professional Placement information provided on the ELA 1 course site.

Task:
In order to prepare for this assignment, you will need to review the following documents and information:
? Learning Plan Template: located within the Assessment information provided on the ELA 1 course site
? NMBA (2006) National Competency Standards for the RN: http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Codes-Guidelines.aspx#competencystandards
? NURS 1055 Course Outline
? Professional Placement Clinical Activities: located within the Professional Placement information provided on the ELA 1 course site

Task:
In order to complete this assignment, you will need to reflect on your learning in previous courses and develop a learning plan to guide your learning during the Professional Placement.
This assignment has two (2) sections that you are required to complete:
1. Clinical Learning Summary (Self-assessment): To focus your early clinical learning, please review the course objectives and reflect on your existing clinical knowledge and skills (areas of achievement). These areas would be considered to be personal strengths that will support you to be successful in completing the clinical activities during your Professional Placement. Also identify areas in which you want to improve your clinical knowledge or skills (areas for improvement). These would be considered to be personal areas that you need to develop in order to be successful in completing the clinical activities during your Professional Placement. You need to identify at least two (2) areas of achievement and at least two (2) areas for improvement and document these within the Learning Plan Template.
2. Learning Plan: Using your Clinical Learning Summary self-assessment, develop your areas for improvement into a learning plan to support you to be successful in completing the clinical activities during your Professional Placement. The Learning Plan will need to record at least two (2) learning objectives which focus on the development of your areas for improvement and at least two (2) learning strategies (things you will do) and resources (things you will use) you will need to meet these objectives. You will need to match each learning objective to the NMBA (2006) RN Domains and/or Competencies from within the National Competency Standards for the RN. You have been provided with one learning objective on the Learning Plan Template as an example. Your learning objectives need to be different to this example and specific to your own personal learning needs (areas for improvement).

As you complete your learning plan, use the feedback rubric that is attached to the Learning Plan template and insert a 'tick' in the 'student tick' column as you complete each section. This will ensure that you have completed all essential components of the assessment item.
Background:
This learning plan brings together the Experiential Learning Activity Course Objectives with the UniSA Graduate Qualities and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA, 2006) National Competency standards for the Registered Nurses, and serves as a framework for clinical learning during your Professional Placement. You will need to review the Professional Placement activities within the Professional Placement information provided on the ELA 1 course site.
Nursing and Midwifery Board Australia (NMBA) National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse (NMBA, 2006).
Domain 1: Professional Practice
1. Practices in accordance with legislation affecting nursing practice & health care
2. Practices within a professional & ethical framework
Domain 2: Critical Thinking & Analysis
3. Practices within an evidence-based framework
4. Participates in ongoing professional development of self & others
Domain 3: Provision & Coordination of Care
5. Conducts a comprehensive & systematic nursing assessment
6. Plans nursing care in consultation with individuals/groups, significant others & the interdisciplinary health care team.
7. Provides comprehensive, safe & effective evidence-based nursing care to achieve identified individual/group health
8. Evaluates progress towards expected individual/group health outcomes in consultation with individuals/groups, significant others & the interdisciplinary health care team.
Domain 4: Collaborative & Therapeutic Practice
9. Establishes, maintains appropriately concludes therapeutic relationships.
10. Collaborates with the interdisciplinary health care team to provide comprehensive nursing care.

Experiential Learning Activity: Foundation Practicum 1 (ELA 1) Course Objectives:
CO 1. Conduct a basic health assessment to support the development of a plan of care
CO 2. Utilise paper based and electronic clinical record systems to document nursing practice
CO 3. Identify evidence that would inform the development of a plan of care
CO 4. Utilises a variety of electronic resources to construct a learning plan for the community visits
CO 5. Apply appropriate communication strategies to promote an optimal physical, psychological, cultural and spiritual environment for individuals and groups.
CO 6. Critically reflect on current learning and the implications for ongoing professional practice

Educational literature review under general concept of "Discipline with Dignity." Concentrating on how administrators can implement system with teachers and entire school, keeping High School students in the classroom and out of the deans office. Having teachers to have more "instructiional time" and less classroom behavior intervention time. Same for administrators having more time for school improvement and less time for behavior intervention. Relevant Research on "Best Practice." Can use theorists studies, can compare/contrast other theories, statistics on graduation rates or state testing, and experiences of example schools or leaders on topic.

Can provide other details upon request.

ASSESSMENT TASK 2: WRITTEN REPORT

AIM: To develop students' ability to critically understand marketing problems in the arts
and entertainment industries.

RATIONALE: To provide an opportunity for students to engage in and to examine the
marketing literature on the arts and entertainment industries in regards to creation and
management of brands.

PROCESS: Using concepts, models and theories associated with the effective use of arts
and entertainment marketing learned during the course, students are required to critically
assess and evaluate one aspect of a chosen arts/entertainment brands marketing
activities (for example branding, new product development, pricing, distribution channel
management or promotion) and the underlying strategy or strategies (as far as these can
be determined). In particular, attention must be given to how, when and where a brand
attempts to differentiate itself from competitors. Students are expected to examine texts
and marketing journals that are related to arts and entertainment marketing and to present
concepts and arguments in a cogent and comprehensive report. The report must be the
result of demonstrated research which is well referenced and argued.
The assessment task 2 for this course is in the form of an individually prepared report.
You are asked to critically assess the success or otherwise of one aspect of a chosen
arts/entertainment brands marketing activities, their apparent strengths and
weaknesses as observed by you. It is important that you use academic theories to
structure and reinforce your thinking and your report and not just describe your
brands marketing activities. Merely reproducing the PR messages copied from your
brands website is not sufficient: the key to this report is the intelligent use of academic
theories to explain, analyse and make sensible conclusions. The research and preparation
of the report requires good research skills, self-directed learning skills, good time
management and a sound understanding of the appropriate marketing principles achieved
through reading of the literature and participation in classes. You are expected to apply the
theoretical models covered on the course to real-life examples, show criticality in your
writing, and be able to explain discrepancies between the models and theories and your
actual experience. In order to be successful your report must give evidence of research
and demonstrate your ability to think critically and independently about marketing from a
theoretical and practical perspective. You must justify your suggestions and critically
evaluate your ideas.

Choose a suitable brand in order to investigate its marketing activities. Try and be original,
choosing a dynamic, interesting, successful and forward-looking brand. Identify a brand
that you think needs to work on its marketing activities. Make recommendations to the
brands marketing director as to how the analysed marketing activities could be improved.
Creative approaches will be rewarded. Your work should be analytical and not merely
contained at the descriptive level:
- basic marketing theory on its own will fail,
- background to your chosen brand may well be interesting, but without attempts to
integrate with marketing theory will fail,
- basic marketing theory applied to the brand is what is wanted here: you should
identify both areas; the more the theoretical knowledge is able to be applied the
higher the mark,
- top marks will be reserved for reports where it is clear that you know and
understand the theoretical bases, can apply these to the subject matter, and can
critically evaluate the usefulness or otherwise of the theory.
You must structure your report as follows:
1. Title
2. Terms of Reference (the task set as you understand it)
3. Executive Summary of Main Points and Recommendations
4. Main Report
5. Recommendations
6. Conclusions
7. Appendices (if any)
8. References
The question is deliberately meant to be broad: your report should reflect the reading you
have completed and build a viewpoint based on this reading. You are required to make
reference to academic texts and peer-reviewed journal articles (at least 10 sources
as a minimum, including 3 peer-reviewed journal articles). Please do not rely on nonacademic
sources, the internet and newspapers. All work should be approximately 2,000
words in length (excluding title, terms of reference, executive summary, appendices and
references), word processed, typed in double-line spacing using 12pt text. You may
include diagrams, figures, appendices etc. without word penalty. All pages should be
numbered. Please do not submit your work in any kind of binding that encloses each page
in a sheet of plastic. State the number of words used at the end of the assignment. The
assessment task 2 accounts for 30% of the overall module assessment. All reports
should be submitted in class and online before 4pm on 28th September 2012.
You will be given an opportunity at the end of each class to discuss with me any issues or
problems you may have with your assignment, and to bring your chosen journal articles
and books to check that they are appropriate. You will be responsible for your own
bibliographical research and should not merely rely on the references given during
classes. Do not underestimate the time a literature search takes. You are free to quote
directly or indirectly from any publication, provided that you provide a reference for the
author or originator. In other words, if the research or the views you cite are not your own,
then you must acknowledge your source(s) in accordance with the Harvard style whereby
citations are made in the text by author and date, with a full alphabetical listing at the end
of the paper. If you fail to acknowledge your sources, you run the risk of being accused of
plagiarism, which is an academic offence. You must be aware that plagiarism is forbidden.
It is regarded as cheating and might be penalised. In order to avoid any accusations of
plagiarism make sure you always fully reference used materials, and work independently.


The criteria used to assess your essay will be:
Use of academic concepts and theories (10%)
Quality of research, reflection, interpretation and evaluation (10%)
Structure and clarity of presentation (10%)
No other criteria will be used to assess your work.
There are faxes for this order.

Customer is requesting that (infoceo) completes this order.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY PAPER INSTRUCTIONS
You will write a 4-page paper in APA format outlining your beliefs about the purposes of education. Relate those beliefs to the content of this course. You are to include at least six references for this paper. Turnitin will be used to evaluate the originality of your paper.

The following elements should be clearly defined throughout your paper using headings and subheadings:

Title Page

Consider the title of your paper to be your motto, slogan, or bumper-sticker version of your philosophy. It should be clear enough to give the reader some idea of what you believe about education. Include your name, ID number, course and section, and your instructors name and be sure it follows the APA format.

Abstract

Write a one-paragraph abstract that conveys your philosophy of education and would be what you would write on a job application in response to a request to "describe your philosophy of education." The abstract need not summarize all aspects of the paper but should correspond with the title and thesis statements. You may target your abstract to be appropriate for either a public or Christian school application.

Consider this an abridged version of your full philosophy statement, similar to a vision or mission statement. This would also be something similar to what you would write on an employment application, or would say in an interview when asked about your educational philosophy.

Introduction

In your introduction, present a strong thesis statement that conveys what you believe to be the purpose of education. The thesis statement should correspond to the title of the paper. Construct the remainder of the paper to support the thesis statement.

The best place for your thesis statement is the last sentence of the introduction. It serves as a transition to the rest of the paper.

Worldview & Philosophy of Life

This is what you know and believe about the world and life. This section should flow smoothly into and be consistent with your thoughts about schools and learning. How would you describe your view of life in general? How will your worldview influence your practice as an educator? (The questions listed here are strictly to provoke thought and to help you know how to focus your writing. Do NOT write your paper as a list of direct answers to these questions.)

Remember to include your feelings on the main types of philosophies:
Metaphysics: What is ultimately real or true? What gives life purpose or meaning?
Epistemology: Do students come to know reality?
Axiology: What do you most value? What do you want your students to value most? What ethical principles will guide you?


Philosophy of Schools & Learning

This is what you know and believe about schools and learning. It should connect with the previous section and flow smoothly into the next section about instructional practice. Identify key theories from your courses that will impact your teaching. In this section describe the theories and in the next section discuss how you would practice the theory in your instructional methods. How will professional knowledge guide your practice? Refer to the knowledge base in teacher education that includes educational psychology, philosophy, and learning theory. Dont try to cover everything; just identify two or three key theories you espouse. From what specific professional knowledge will you draw in your practice? Whose theories, ideas, etc., are meaningful to you?

Explain your beliefs about education, comparing and contrasting them to historical figures studied in this course. Discuss your beliefs regarding educational trends and societal currents that affect education. You are encouraged to integrate content from other courses as well.

Educational Practice

This is what you will implement in your practice. This section should flow smoothly from the previous one. In the previous section you should have identified and briefly discussed what theories you plan to implement. In this section you will explain how you will put those theories into practice. What pedagogical practices or methods will you tend to use most frequently? Why? What instructional strategies will you value and implement? What do you hope to accomplish by using these strategies?

Briefly explain how your life and/or educational experiences have shaped your philosophy of education. (Because this is not an autobiography, avoid long narratives.) Explain how your philosophy of education shapes, or will shape, your professional practices. Connect theory to practice.

Teacher-Learner Relationships

What is the role of the learner? What is the role of the teacher? How should they relate to each other and why?

When constructing this section of your paper, remember not o simply answer these questions. They are only a guide to stimulate thought.

Diversity

What factors need to be taken into account by the teacher? How do factors of student diversity impact instruction?

Conclusion

Conclude with a paragraph that ties your paper together and reinforces the main idea that presented in the thesis statement and title.

If you have other headings, or important information you want to include in your paper, be sure to include them before your conclusion. Other ideas you may want to consider are your calling to teaching, classroom management philosophy, assessment philosophy, parent role and the relationship with the teacher, current ethics issues in education.

Because this paper is made up of your personal views, it will be graded on how well you followed the rubric, supported your ideas and presented them in a clear, consistent manner. You may disagree with your instructor without penalty. Make sure you are careful in your use of grammar and sentence structure. Check your spelling and have someone proof-read your paper for content and correctness.

Try not to dwell too much on biographical or testimonial information. How you came to believe what you do is not as important as what you believe and your rationale for it.

You should use a variety of references when composing your paper. Do not use Wikipedia or other non-reliable resources. Possible sources include:
Textbooks for this course
The Bible
Educational journal
Books youve read that influence your educational philosophy

This course uses Turnitin to determine originality. No more than 15% of your paper should be made up of direct quotes. Short quotes should be in quotation marks and longer quotes should be indented (see APA). If you do not set off direct quotes in this manner and also cite them, it is plagiarism. If the idea or fact is not your own, you must cite its source. When not directly quoting, summarize or analyze the idea in your own words.

There are faxes for this order.

Assessment 1


i) Produce a portfolio with completed questionnaires.

ii) Draw conclusions regarding your own strengths and weaknesses

iii) Identify 3 key priorities for you to work on. (These should be in terms of your study and your relationships with others).


Assessment 2

i) Identify a significant problem or issue of relevance to developing people.

ii) You are asked to reflect on the issue and to identify some of the choices that a community worker might make in seeking to encourage others to develop.

iii) Produce a report of around 1500 words. The report should provide a record of the key issues and take account of comments that peers have made to you.

Assessment Title: Multicultural Responses in an Irish School

SCENARIO:
You have qualified as a teacher and are now in the first full year of teacher professional practice
You have been appointed to a school in Dublin
There is a large ethnic mix in your class group
You are teaching your own subject area (geography)
In addition, you have been appointed class tutor for this group


PLEASE RESPOND TO EACH OF THE FOLLOWING:

1. Identify one opportunity for classroom harmony you might encounter in your role as class tutor and describe your proposed action? In your response, you might consider one or two of the following headings integration, separation, racism, community, cultural scripts, ethnic violence, assimilation. Please refer to some readings [625 WORDS].

2. Critically outline one key example of how you might facilitate your teaching subject. In your response, you might consider details relating to the cultural mediation of pedagogical approaches, including curricular substance and assessment practices. Please refer to some readings [625 WORDS].

There are faxes for this order.

Educational Philosopher Analysis Paper
An in depth examination of John Dewey's philosophies and its possible implications for contemporary educational policy and school leadership.
Primary task GATHER and ANALYZE a core of scholarly work written BOTH by and about John Dewey using both primary and secondary source materials related to John Dewey. A paper is required that analyzes how John Dewey's educational philosophies can be used to analyze TWO or more of the following contemporary issues in education as related to teaching and educational leadership. The following issues are: A) The unfair testing programs of both Federal and State levels on bilingual students who not able to comprehend the English that is presented in the testing materials; B) The lack of freedom of teachers to educate students, because students have more power and legal status than both the teachers and the students parents C) The lack of teachers and motivation and incentives for teachers resulting from the massive over crowding of classrooms mandated by both federal, state and local authorities.
The paper should include the following:
1)A brief biography of John Dewey
2)Analysis of the above contemporary issues which should include a critigue of the research literature as cited in the bibliography
3)A bibliography of at least 15 additional ACADEMIC resources related to John Dewey whose ideas are the basis of the paper
4)A concise reflection on the insights gained while completing the paper
5)Dewey's educational philosophies should include but not be limited to Educating democratic Citizens, Critical Theory, Social constructs, social systems, and the study of history
6) The TEXT "Wheels in the Head" by Joel Spring must be excluded from the paper for purposes of QUOATION and BIBIOGRAPHY.
7) The paper must be in APA format