Shelly Sheats Harkness

Experiencing action evaluation’s cyclic process: partnering conflict, reflection, and action

Abstract In this article, the authors describe experiences in and offer suggestions from a course entitled ‘Educational Innovation for Excellence Through Action Research, Conflict Resolution, and Organizational Learning’ – an action evaluation (AE). The class was taught using the principles of action research and AE. The authors explore the impact that the course had on the their personal perceptions and classmates’ perceptions of AE, grapple with the criteria for what constituted a shared definition of ‘success’ in the course, and offer a critical lens for viewing educational evaluation as a means to continued self-reflection or reflexivity. The theoretical framework utilized is symbolic interactionism and critical pedagogy. The process of AE, including resonance, positive disruptions, reflexivity, and conflict resolution, is discussed within the authors’ narratives. Action evaluation is revealed as the complex process of joining sometimes apparently disjointed participants as unlikely partners to create change. This study helps to fill a gap of enriching action research with narratives, by exploring AE through reflection, and by creating discussion regarding critical pedagogy and social change. Implications for a wide audience include suggested conflict resolution strategies and examples of evaluation uses for instructors in numerous classes. Recommendations for AE implementation and strategies to promote social change – including core values of democratic participation, community empowerment, and social justice – are also presented.

Pre-service teachers’ conceptions of the magnitude of large numbers

ABSTRACT This investigation examined the thinking of 128 pre-service teachers about the magnitude of large numbers and the relationships between large numbers. These pre-service teachers responded to a written task asking them to place one billion on a number line that included zero and one trillion and to provide an explanation for their placement. One billion was placed proportionately to zero and one trillion on the number line in only 20% of responses. The data revealed nine distinct strategies that emerged and different conceptions the pre-service teachers used for making the placements. The authors discuss possible reasons for the different conceptions.

The Importance of Up-Front Evaluation Planning Including Student Learning Outcomes

Professional development is hard work. It cannot be taken lightly if it is to make an impact in schools, with teachers, and ultimately on student learning. Within this chapter we report on the lessons learned from our participation in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded professional development program, Mathematics Teacher Leaders (MTL, pseudonym). The professional development leadership group first recruited local site teams at universities in three different regions (Midwest, Northwest, and Southwest) for the MTL program. The three local sites were comparable in that they committed to work with culturally diverse school districts identified as “urban, urban … predominately African-American, and predominately Hispanic” (program documents). Local site team leaders selected high schools in their districts and met with teachers and administrators in these school districts to begin to develop specific plans for MTL. Subsequently, these school leaders were asked to create plans for professional development that would meet each individual school’s needs and ultimately affect teachers’ practice and student outcomes.