Research+Ideas

What do I want to research?

The broken school system

My theory – change assessment and school will change

HSD – complex adaptive system

Change the simple rules

Identify the simple rules of school

Culturally sensitive education – cultural mediation

So what is culture?

Assessment and 21st century literacies

Gifted students??

Assessment in other countries

"The history of social and academic inequity and oppression among certain groups in public schools is broader than the general public may understand and certainly deeper than laws can resolve through legislation." – Laura Slay

cultural responsiveness – we talk about multicultural education, we have divided the population into socioeconomic and ethnic groups for statistical, census reasons and presumably to insure adequate, equitable education, but have we not done to address the issues of culturally-mediated education

should the assessment be culturally mediated or should the teaching be culturally mediated or both – what has not been tapped into yet

what is equitable – what does it really mean?

In literacy, if reading is inhaling, is the intake of information, then writing is the exhaling, the delivery of information, a delivery of communication – I am interested in the communication portion, the delivery aspect of literacy

__Influences__ Rosenblatt Graves

Another area of interest regards inquiry – I have been reading or seen reference inquiry is not scientifically viable, proven???? What is creativity? Provisions for the arts and adult education Value and importance of inquiry The value of free-writing

How teachers think about teaching – their approach to teaching – I think about teachers who change subjects, or teachers who are new – the conversations in planning meetings and the teacher’s lounge – are these decisions affected by the high-stakes tests, personal philosophy – there are teachers who value the product, they want the lesson, the cute little activity that will teach the objective they find on the mandated curriculum. It is interesting to listen to them – are they basing their decisions on a culture of teaching or on a series of activities students must get through to cover the curriculum?

Culture of education – reshaped through technology – new literacies

Technology – anthropology of technology – social networking – its effects on developing writing proficiency and thinking

Relationship of complex adaptive systems to education.....assessment.....literacy.....21st ecentury literacies

Digital Writing Effects: A study on the impact of digital social networking on literacy achievement

The study of thought, language, and culture has long been a passion during my tenure in education. More recently I have been interested in understanding the relationship between Internet-based technologies and literacy achievement. As a constructivist I am interested in the generative qualities of writing instruction as a means to enhancing thinking and literacy competency in a digital and globalized society. Mastering the use of multi-modal new literacies is essential to success in modern society. Research exists to support the notion that writing enhances reasoning and reading comprehension. In fact, writing skill has become more vital today, than in any other time in man’s literary history. Yet, testing evidence suggests that a gap in literacy achievement between culture groups proliferates. Because social networking has become a common and informal mode of communication throughout society, I am interested in understanding the impact of digital social networking on literacy achievement among adolescents. What is the impact of digital writing on instruction and student achievement in reading, reasoning and writing? Above all, how is digital social networking transforming education in the 21st century and what are the implications for educators?