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Full-Text Articles in Education
Developing Agency For Advocacy: Collaborative Inquiry-Focused School Change Projects As Transformative Learning For Practicing Teachers. The New Educator, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams
Developing Agency For Advocacy: Collaborative Inquiry-Focused School Change Projects As Transformative Learning For Practicing Teachers. The New Educator, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams
Kathryn Brooks
Many mainstream educators of English language learners (ELLs) have experienced neither adequate pre-service preparation nor appropriate in-service professional development. Yet, ELLs are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. While practicing teachers typically espouse the view that all students can learn, they often lack the knowledge and skills necessary to support ELLs in their academic and language development.This gap in preservice teacher education programs often leads general education teachers to rely heavily on bilingual paraprofessionals and language teachers for educating ELL students. This paper describes a 5-year professional development initiative, Project Alianza, during which the researchers …
Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney
Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney
Kathryn Brooks
School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …
Faculty Consensus Leads To Creative Solutions, Kathryn Brooks
Faculty Consensus Leads To Creative Solutions, Kathryn Brooks
Kathryn Brooks
The answers to many of the problems facing schools today "are in the minds of the teachers. Half our solutions are in their minds but they have to come out through open dialogue," says Gary Kruse, principal of Evans Middle School in Ottumwa, Iowa. When faced with leading a middle school that had a history of low reading scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), Mr. Kruse turned to the people who knew the students and the school climate best--the teachers...