Education Commons^™

Mediating Teachers As Learners: Conversations From Shared Experience, Paul Watkins

Administrative Issues Journal

Race to the Top mandates, much like other comprehensive reforms before, focuses on teacher quality and student outcomes. Measuring teacher quality, under Race to the Top reforms, remains a subject of uncertainty, particularly measuring for improvement. This article argues that a central purpose of classroom evaluation is to provide supportive, targeted feedback by differentiating teachers as learners. Drago-Severson and Mezirow offer a framework for adult learning that overlays this theoretical analysis. The three cases explored for this article demonstrate levels of adult learning among teachers, directing the novice to addressing the fully formed transformational learner. The cases promote professional learning …