Mary F. Roe

Wicked problems: inescapable wickedity

The article explores the concept of wicked problems and proposes a reinvigorated application of this concept for wider educational use. This recommendation stems from the contributions of a number of scholars who frame some of the most contentious and recalcitrant educational issues as wicked problems. The present authors build upon these previous explorations of wickedity and initially apply it to literacy learning. They then discuss the relevance for wicked responses and wicked actions for the wider educational community (e.g. parents, teachers, policy-makers, teacher educators and educational researchers). The authors conclude with three proposals for understanding and addressing wickedity: (a) promoting careful observation and continuous curiosity, (b) increasing conversations with diverse stakeholders and (c) engaging in collective and distributed sense-making.

The Influence of Spanish Vocabulary and Phonemic Awareness on Beginning English Reading Development: A Three-Year (K-2nd) Longitudinal Study.

This investigation examined the influence of varying levels of Spanish receptive vocabulary and phonemic awareness ability on beginning English vocabulary, phonemic awareness, word reading fluency, and reading comprehension development across kindergarten through second grade. The 80 respondents were Spanish speaking children with no English language skills at the start of kindergarten and varying attainments in Spanish. They were divided into four groups based on Spanish-language ability in receptive vocabulary and phonemic awareness. Analyses of the group’s scores on an array of assessments in English revealed four significant results: (1) the development of English vocabulary favored the groups with at or above Spanish receptive vocabulary, (2) Spanish phonemic awareness helped the acquisition of English phonemic awareness but appeared not to influence other assessment results unless combined with Spanish receptive vocabulary, (3) the advantages of Spanish phonemic awareness in the absence of Spanish receptive vocabulary only applied to English word reading fluency and phonemic awareness and not English vocabulary and comprehension, (4) initial Spanish receptive vocabulary ability had the greatest impact on 2nd-grade reading comprehension. The researchers link the implications and importance of these findings to existing scholarship.

Cautionary Tales: Teaching, Accountability, and Assessment

Abstract Three teacher educators recount cautionary tales to serve as a catalyst for -discussion and share their collective musings about teaching, accountability, and assessment. From ongoing reflection and conversations, three themes emerged: expertise, certainty, and orthodoxy. They begin by clarifying their understandings of these three areas and then provide commentary about each one.

Four Faces of Differentiation: Their Attributes and Potential

T eachers, teacher educators, and researchers care deeply about students’ achievement. However, current assessments, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress in the United States, have noted the small percentage of 8th-grade students who achieve a proficient performance (Grigg, Donahue, & Dion, 2007). To address students’ various needs, we call for teachers to differentiate their practices. To better understand differentiation, we surveyed existing scholarship with a particular focus on three general areas: 1) various approaches to differentiation, 2) the implications of each approach for application and implementation by classroom teachers, and 3) the potential of these differentiation options for effecting achievement for all students. Our interest in these three general areas translated into the following specific questions: 1) How do scholars and public policymakers define differentiation?, 2) What implications do these various definitions have for teachers’ implementation of differentiation?, 3) What empirical evidence warrants the use of differentiation?, and 4) What unanswered questions about differentiation for achievement might the education community address?

A Review of “Mapping Multiple Literacies: An Introduction to Deleuzian Literacy Studies”

A s indicated by the title of this 185-page text, Masny and Cole seek to specify the attributes of multiple literacies and to tap the ideas put forward by Deleuze. They combine these areas as a basis for interrogating multiple literacies. The two authors provide eight chapters of written text to individually (three chapters for each author) and collectively (the remaining two chapters) discuss multiple literacies. The chapter titles offer straightforward accounts for the direction of this text. As these titles indicate, the text begins with a general overview of the authors’ use of mapping to examine multiple literacies. In the subsequent chapters they map multiple literacies, explore affect, examine reading definitions by using cartography, proceed to language use and the power relationships behind them, evidence the wider role of power in literacy, and then explore the present and future contributions of digital learning options and products. The authors end with a summation, what they term exits, of their ideas. These titles, individually and collectively, spark an interest to acquire more complete understandings of these intriguing and potentially important topics. In fleshing out each chapter, Masny or Cole then either introduces concepts and orientations stemming from Deleuzian thinking or inserts unique orientations about multiple literacies. For example, in the first chapter, cowritten by the two authors, they explain their literal use of mapping and cartography attributes to analyze literacy. They invite readers to “develop unexpected places whereby maps can communicate and take on an inhuman life of their own” (p. 4). They purport the “rigorous skepticism about normatively determined forms of literacy” (p. 6) at the heart of Deleuzian literacy studies as a rationale for its appropriateness to the literacy issues of the 21st century. In many chapters, Masny and Cole take exception to many of the more orthodox views of literacy. For example, they criticize a propensity to propose simple solutions rather than attempt to fully grasp the problem. They bemoan the scant attention to social and cultural elements inherent in a consideration of literacy. They propose a wider and nonhierarchical consideration of literacy as opposed to a more fixed and subject centered orientation. These examples and the other ideas they consider provide important and timely points for wider consideration and critique. Overall, they want readers to join them in considering the “messy world of literacies-in-practice” (p .25). Readers of this text would most likely hold at least a basic understanding of multiple literacies. Some readers would bring more sophisticated understandings of multiple literacies. A smaller group of readers would hold a familiarity with Deleuze. Fewer yet would be accustomed to the authors’ language use. Their use of mapping holds great potential, but their use of terms such as territorialization, reterritorialization, and rhizomatic cartography introduces a level of tediousness that potentially tests a reader’s willingness to continue reading. Several questions arise: Would the substitution of more straightforward wording threaten the authors’ affinity to Deleuzian theory and their selection of mapping to understand literacy issues? Do references to erotic language affects, an inclusion that Cole states might make one flinch, clarify or mask the author’s important reminder about the role of affect in the teaching and learning of literacy? Do these presentation choices further or dampen the authors’ assertion that “with the publication of this book, concepts such as reading, literacies, affect and power have been reterritorialized” (p. 179)? These questions, while directed to the authors, also hold importance for the readers. This text as written would most appeal to a niche audience—one closer to the work of Deleuze and familiar with the nonconforming language of these authors. For those outside this group, reading this text is not for the faint of heart. However, it is worth the effort. The authors force readers to pause and ponder—to grapple with the intended meaning, the meaning they construct, and the additive value of the authors’ insights in light of the understandings they already hold. Readers can learn from this text if they are willing to assume the challenges these authors propose for all readers throughout their text: to read intensively, to disrupt ideas that are too readily accepted, and to make sense of it all.

A Review of "Carrots, Sticks, and the Bully Pulpit: Lessons from a Half-Century of Federal Efforts to Improve America's Schools"

T his recent book by Fusco complements existing resources that target teacher questioning. Fusco draws from extensive classroom experiences to assist K–8 teachers. The book is accessible, organized, and appropriate for novice, expert, and preservice teachers, as well as those who teach outside the specified student levels. The book is replete with examples of questioning concepts and processes, which illuminate the author’s central idea: that through effective questioning teachers can promote and enhance active learning and cognitive skill development rooted in theoretical foundations of Vygotsky, Piaget, and Dewey. One purpose of the book is to present the Questioning Cycle as a framework to prompt introspection and encourage teachers to evaluate their own questioning practices. Fusco descriptively presents and promotes the Questioning Cycle and proscribes how to best plan, design, and implement lessons using optimal questioning strategies. There are numerous strengths of the book, which include clarity in structure and organization and its prescriptive nature. Fusco advocates reflective practice and throughout the book utilizes extensive examples of classroom discourse to model and illustrate the questioning cycle in practice. She uses examples and action items as instruments to facilitate application and examination of effective questioning and other related topics covered in the book. Research-supported strengths of the book include sections that address wait time, scaffolding, and taxonomies. The critical importance of wait time is noted through references and examples. Teachers often struggle with effective scaffolding, and Fusco highlights how to recast and use effective follow-up questions, again with numerous examples. Taxonomies and levels of questions are discussed at length to highlight the importance of using questions to deepen student understanding. Effective questioning strategies can be difficult to implement. However, the book offers ample support, such as lists of types of questions and representative examples designed to promote variety in questioning and to best facilitate teacher change with recognition that such change is challenging albeit rewarding. Despite noted strengths, there are some sections of the book that would be supported by additional consideration. First, the book could be enhanced by deeper inclusion of the related empirical research in both questioning and classroom discussion. Second, the effectiveness of the provided examples and action items varies. While some are exceptional, others feel edited to the extent they lose a degree of authenticity. Third, the book makes assumptions regarding students in classrooms and appears to start from the stance that all students are engaged learners. Variance in prior knowledge among students is a particular challenge when implementing questioning and discussion strategies. Teachers might need to provide additional instruction to address knowledge deficiencies prior to implementing the questioning cycle. Finally, in the later section of the book, Fusco shares ideas regarding how to teach the questioning cycle to students. This section is less engaging and not central to the primary focus of the book. Nonetheless, this book would be a significant addition to any teacher’s library. In summary, Fusco presents important and practical information as well as guidelines to assist practicing teachers as they plan and implement effective questioning strategies. More questions are not necessarily warranted in classrooms. Better questions should be the focus for teachers. This book can support teachers on their journeys to develop and incorporate effective questioning.

A Review of “Teaching 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools … Now and in the Future”

T he title of this text invites the attention of a variety of readers who, regardless of the job title they hold or their role as a community member, care about the education of the nation’s youth. Across the eight chapters, Berry, who describes himself as “a former teacher who advocates for the profession” (p. xiv), along with 12 colleagues, “classroom experts” (p. xiv), promote their ideas for the teaching profession. At the onset of this book, the authors present six levers for change: (a) engaging the public, (b) changing school finance, (c) reconsidering teacher preparation and licensure, (d) creating school environments that foster effective teaching, (e) reconsidering the approach to accountability, and (f) redirecting teacher unions to become “professional guilds.” These ideas aggregate present and pertinent issues. Other educational stakeholders might alter the list or take a different stance in explaining the individual items, but few would discount the merit and timeliness of considering these six levers. To set the stage for their proposals, Berry and the Teacher Solutions 2030 Team first recount several historical markers for the field of education. This information highlights issues and references reports that received national attention. It allows readers less familiar with educational trends to understand the historical positioning of the ideas of this text. The authors then turn to four “emergent realities”: ideas that they see as the burgeoning stances and practices of some educators that warrant wider attention and implementation. They use the following phrases to express them: “a transformed learning ecology for students and teachers,” “seamless connections in and outside of cyberspace,” “differentiated pathways and careers for a 21st-century profession,” and “teacherpreneurism and a future of innovation.” Beyond the phrasing of these ideas, they coincide with the thinking of a wider educational community. As with the levers for change, the authors expound on established directions for educational transformation rather than introducing new ideas. While staying within the realm of known notions, these “emergent realities” hold varying support in the public press and from existing research. Regardless of this ongoing contestation and thin or absent empirical support, and as indicated in the title of this text and throughout this account, the authors consider their consolidation of proposals as a “must.” Berry and the Teacher Solutions 2030 Team’s general approach to persuade readers to their way of thinking involves sharing examples from classrooms and schools, many of which involve the authors, along with testimonials from students, teachers, and community members. These personal accounts will most likely resonate with those readers who share these authors’ vision. Other readers might become impatient with the use of new terms for well-established ideas, the thin references to existing scholarship, the omission of an implementation plan, and the assuredness of the authors that their list matters most. Berry and the Teacher Solutions 2030 Team and other education stakeholders understand that the present educational period is replete with an array of complicated issues. Perhaps more than any decade, the search is on to accomplish the long-held goal to foster academic success for all students. These authors suspect that a wider use of their proposals would effect changes to move this hope from a strong desire to reality. Setting aside reservations about whether these particular authors have it right, their approach to its fruition makes notable shifts less than probable. Instead of a strongly explained action plan, they select a few ideas from the wealth of those available, evidence their existence in some teachers’ classrooms, and hope that they might encourage others to follow suit. In the concluding pages of this text, the authors invite school administrators, teachers, and the professional organizations to which they belong to rally around their ideas. If invitation is sufficient, then promoting the reading of this text might accomplish the authors’ intention. However, if doubts remain about the packaging of these ideas or the sufficiency of invitation and exhortation to enact change, then a challenge remains to pinpoint a more proven set of actions and a more viable dissemination plan.

A Review of “The Spirit of the School”

the Reggio Experience that is all too common in this volume and—as Chapter 5 demonstrates—in the Reggio literature as a whole, Hall et al. describe Reggio Emilia’s response to that diversity. They write that the municipality has formulated goals of dialogue and inclusion and that “it is likely that the preschools and infant-toddler centers will have a major role to play” (p. 79) in achieving those goals. We are not told whether the percentage of immigrants in Reggio Emilia’s preschools approaches the 32% in the city’s preschool-age population. Nor are we told how those immigrant children and their families are experiencing Reggio. Despite the elusiveness of the Reggio Experience, Hall et al. do help the reader to gain a greater understanding of it. Especially, they provide convincing evidence of the importance of context and thereby bolster the related admonishment against trying to copy Reggio Emillia’s schools. A better appreciation of the origins of those schools, their strengths, and their foibles may render the Reggio Experience adaptable, if not copiable. This book begins to facilitate such an appreciation.