Suzanne Wilson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Suzanne Wilson
Educational Testing Service, 2015
Policy Issues are prepared by the Policy and Planning Center at the Appalachia Educational Labora... more Policy Issues are prepared by the Policy and Planning Center at the Appalachia Educational Laboratory in response to specific requests from state-level policymakers. The Center's purpose is to provide information to decisionmakers as they consider issues. The papers synthesize current thinking and practice on the particular topic. They typically provide a definition of the problem/issue area, discuss what is known from research, review what other states are doing, and discuss implications for policy. The Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL), Inc., works with educators in ongoing R & D-based efforts to improve education and educatior.11 opportunity. AEL serves as the Regional Educational Laboratory for Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It also operates the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. AEL works to improve: professional quality, curriculum and instruction, community support, and opportunity for access to quality education by all children. Information about AEL projects, programs, and services is available by writing or calling AEL,
This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and tw... more This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and two experienced elementary school teachers who spent 3 years team teaching an integrated curriculum that they developed for their third grade students. Four themes are most indicative of the teachers' experiences with the difficulties and rewards of learning to teach in innovative ways: courage, communication, trust, and time. These themes serve as focal points in a discussion and analysis of the personal and organizational resources that affect when and how teachers learn to teach. (MM)
Elementary School Journal, Nov 1, 1996
Journal of Teacher Education, May 1, 2002
Education to conduct a review of high-quality research on five questions concerning teacher prepa... more Education to conduct a review of high-quality research on five questions concerning teacher preparation. As part of that assignment, they were asked to develop a set of defensible criteria for including research in the review. In this article, they summarize what the research says about the five questions posed by their funders, and they discuss the development of the review criteria. The questions included attention to the subject matter and pedagogical preparation of prospective teachers, to the content and character of high-quality field experiences and alternative routes, and to research on the effects of policies on the enhancement of teacher preparation. Commissions and professional societies are issuing an increasing number of recommendations concerning the practices and policies of teacher preparation, and such recommendations are also debated in scholarly circles. Groups as diverse as the National Research Council, the Fordham Foundation, and the American Federation of Teachers have issued reports concerning the future of teacher preparation. Considerable debate has ensued concerning both how much we know and what we should do (e.g., Ballou & Podgursky, 2000; Darling-Hammond, 2000a). The U.S. Department of Education commissioned us to summarize the existing researchempirical studies, conducted with rigor and critically reviewed-on teacher preparation. We recognize, of course, that research is not the only basis on which decisions are made, especially in matters of schooling where the future of U.S. children is at stake, but we agreed to do this review because, as teacher educators and researchers, we felt that it was a helpful exercise to take a step back-as insiders-and look critically-as outsiders-at our own field. Here we highlight some of the report's major findings, encouraging readers to examine the full report on the Web site for the Center for the Study of Teaching & Policy, http://www.ctpweb.org. BACKGROUND The Department of Education asked for a summary of rigorous empirical research on five key questions asked by policy makers, educators, and the public, questions about the effects of major components of teacher preparation, about the effects of teacher education policies, and about alternative routes to teacher certification (see Table 1). We identified candidate studies by searching databases, examining reference lists of reviews and reports, reviewing prominent journals and Web sites, and consulting scholars. The domain of our review was empirical research on U.S. teacher education, published in the past two decades, that was directly relevant to the five key questions. With the assistance of our techni
American Educational Research Journal, 1996
Reform proposals for mathematics teaching and learning have clear implications for significant ch... more Reform proposals for mathematics teaching and learning have clear implications for significant change in curriculum and in traditional teacher roles. One contribution to the reform effort was the SummerMath for Teachers program, an inservice program committed to helping teachers develop cunstructivist orientations to teaching and learning by working with them in ways congruent with those constructivist orientations. The program began with a two-week residential summer institute, followed by a year of intensive individual follow-up with teachers in their own classrooms. This study investigated the lea7ning of two teachers who participated in the program from 1987 to 1989. The study focused on: (1) what each teacher brought to the program; (2) each teacher's experience of the program itself; and (3) changes in each teacher's visions and practices over two years. The teachers' experiences illustrate the ways in which individuals create their own "patchworks" of practice as they merge prior knowledge and experience with the new ideas presented to them as learners and teachers of mathematics. While the two teachers responded quite differently to the Institute experience and the intensity of the challenges it posed, both found the support and respect they needed to begin changing their practices. The contrast between these two cases points up a paradox inherent in teaching teachers: how to effect significant and specific changes in mathematics teaching while acknowledging that teachers themselves need to be active constructors of their knowledge and practice.
This Paper compares the mathematical understandings and pedagogical content knowledge of beginnin... more This Paper compares the mathematical understandings and pedagogical content knowledge of beginning teachers entering teaching through an alternate route program with those entering from three standard ti-acher education programs. The analysis challenges two common assumptions about becoming a secondary school mathematics teacher: (1) that people who major in mathematics without emphasis on education are more capable and know more than their mathematics education peers; and (2) that professional knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge are best acquired through practical experience as a teacher, university-based teacher education being unable to make practical or significant contributions to what ..achers need to know or be able to do. Yet, despite structural and philosophical differences between university and alternate route programs, the novice teachers across the two groups were much the same. Neither the teacher education students nor the teacher trainees in the sample were yell prepared to unpack meanings of manematical ideas on tha basis of their studies. Neither program had-ny consistently stroL. impact on novice teachers' ideas about the teacher's role or about d-sirable practices in teaching mathematics. Many in both groups were unable to represent basic content in meaningful ways at the end of their programs. The supposed advantage of teaching experience in the case of the alternate route teachers did not emerge as a significant factor in this study. (Author/JD)
Review of Research in Education, 1999
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
Teachers College Record, Nov 1, 2001
Historians will no doubt note the predominance of standards as they recount the late 20th century... more Historians will no doubt note the predominance of standards as they recount the late 20th century history of education. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s there was a virtual standards tidal wave. Some were issued by professional organizations as efforts to build consensus in vision and obligation.2 Others were issued by states as the foundation for system-wide alignment of policy levers, including assessments, textbook adoption, teacher education, and professional development. Standards for students led to standards for teachers, curriculum, evaluation and assessment, and opportunities to learn. Standards, some believed, held great promise:
National Academy of Education, Nov 12, 2009
The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION advances the highest quality education research and its use in ... more The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION advances the highest quality education research and its use in policy formation and practice. Founded in 1965, NAEd consists of U.S. members and foreign associates who are elected on the basis of outstanding scholarship or contributions to education. Since its establishment, the academy has undertaken numerous commissions and study panels, which typically include both NAEd members and other scholars with expertise in a particular area of inquiry.
Educational Testing Service, 2015
Collaborating with other professionals Using professional networks Communicating professionally, ... more Collaborating with other professionals Using professional networks Communicating professionally, both in person and via technology Collaborating in professional learning communities and on teams Exercising leadership, both formally and informally Attending to relational aspects of instruction Developing caring and respectful relationships with individual students Attending to and promoting student social and emotional needs and learning Building positive classroom climate Working with families and communities Fostering two-way, respectful communication with parents and guardians Using family-and community-related information as a resource for learning Establishing and maintaining the social and academic culture Implementing organizational routines, norms, strategies, and procedures to support a learning environment Managing the physical and material environment Managing instructional groupings Using time productively Fulfilling ethical responsibilities Enacting the basic moral principles and duties associated with the role of teacher and exercising diligence and prudence in observing these duties Responding to ethical dilemmas with sound reasoning and actions Detecting and correcting biases of various kinds via reflection and feedback Advocating appropriately for students Interactive teaching Attending to instructional purposes Enacting instructional tasks and activities Engaging students with subject matter Orchestrating productive discourses Providing strategy instruction Assessing and responding to student learning during instruction Meeting legal responsibilities Complying with all relevant laws and regulations Creating and maintaining accurate records of student progress and related matters Engaging in instructional improvement Improving instructional routines
The Elementary School Journal, 1996
ED307234 - Professional Standards for Teaching: The Assessment of Teacher Knowledge and Skills.
Choice Reviews Online, 2004
This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and tw... more This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and two experienced elementary school teachers who spent 3 years team teaching an integrated curriculum that they developed for their third grade students. Four themes are most indicative of the teachers' experiences with the difficulties and rewards of learning to teach in innovative ways: courage, communication, trust, and time. These themes serve as focal points in a discussion and analysis of the personal and organizational resources that affect when and how teachers learn to teach. (MM)
Educational Testing Service, 2015
Policy Issues are prepared by the Policy and Planning Center at the Appalachia Educational Labora... more Policy Issues are prepared by the Policy and Planning Center at the Appalachia Educational Laboratory in response to specific requests from state-level policymakers. The Center's purpose is to provide information to decisionmakers as they consider issues. The papers synthesize current thinking and practice on the particular topic. They typically provide a definition of the problem/issue area, discuss what is known from research, review what other states are doing, and discuss implications for policy. The Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL), Inc., works with educators in ongoing R & D-based efforts to improve education and educatior.11 opportunity. AEL serves as the Regional Educational Laboratory for Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It also operates the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. AEL works to improve: professional quality, curriculum and instruction, community support, and opportunity for access to quality education by all children. Information about AEL projects, programs, and services is available by writing or calling AEL,
This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and tw... more This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and two experienced elementary school teachers who spent 3 years team teaching an integrated curriculum that they developed for their third grade students. Four themes are most indicative of the teachers' experiences with the difficulties and rewards of learning to teach in innovative ways: courage, communication, trust, and time. These themes serve as focal points in a discussion and analysis of the personal and organizational resources that affect when and how teachers learn to teach. (MM)
Elementary School Journal, Nov 1, 1996
Journal of Teacher Education, May 1, 2002
Education to conduct a review of high-quality research on five questions concerning teacher prepa... more Education to conduct a review of high-quality research on five questions concerning teacher preparation. As part of that assignment, they were asked to develop a set of defensible criteria for including research in the review. In this article, they summarize what the research says about the five questions posed by their funders, and they discuss the development of the review criteria. The questions included attention to the subject matter and pedagogical preparation of prospective teachers, to the content and character of high-quality field experiences and alternative routes, and to research on the effects of policies on the enhancement of teacher preparation. Commissions and professional societies are issuing an increasing number of recommendations concerning the practices and policies of teacher preparation, and such recommendations are also debated in scholarly circles. Groups as diverse as the National Research Council, the Fordham Foundation, and the American Federation of Teachers have issued reports concerning the future of teacher preparation. Considerable debate has ensued concerning both how much we know and what we should do (e.g., Ballou & Podgursky, 2000; Darling-Hammond, 2000a). The U.S. Department of Education commissioned us to summarize the existing researchempirical studies, conducted with rigor and critically reviewed-on teacher preparation. We recognize, of course, that research is not the only basis on which decisions are made, especially in matters of schooling where the future of U.S. children is at stake, but we agreed to do this review because, as teacher educators and researchers, we felt that it was a helpful exercise to take a step back-as insiders-and look critically-as outsiders-at our own field. Here we highlight some of the report's major findings, encouraging readers to examine the full report on the Web site for the Center for the Study of Teaching & Policy, http://www.ctpweb.org. BACKGROUND The Department of Education asked for a summary of rigorous empirical research on five key questions asked by policy makers, educators, and the public, questions about the effects of major components of teacher preparation, about the effects of teacher education policies, and about alternative routes to teacher certification (see Table 1). We identified candidate studies by searching databases, examining reference lists of reviews and reports, reviewing prominent journals and Web sites, and consulting scholars. The domain of our review was empirical research on U.S. teacher education, published in the past two decades, that was directly relevant to the five key questions. With the assistance of our techni
American Educational Research Journal, 1996
Reform proposals for mathematics teaching and learning have clear implications for significant ch... more Reform proposals for mathematics teaching and learning have clear implications for significant change in curriculum and in traditional teacher roles. One contribution to the reform effort was the SummerMath for Teachers program, an inservice program committed to helping teachers develop cunstructivist orientations to teaching and learning by working with them in ways congruent with those constructivist orientations. The program began with a two-week residential summer institute, followed by a year of intensive individual follow-up with teachers in their own classrooms. This study investigated the lea7ning of two teachers who participated in the program from 1987 to 1989. The study focused on: (1) what each teacher brought to the program; (2) each teacher's experience of the program itself; and (3) changes in each teacher's visions and practices over two years. The teachers' experiences illustrate the ways in which individuals create their own "patchworks" of practice as they merge prior knowledge and experience with the new ideas presented to them as learners and teachers of mathematics. While the two teachers responded quite differently to the Institute experience and the intensity of the challenges it posed, both found the support and respect they needed to begin changing their practices. The contrast between these two cases points up a paradox inherent in teaching teachers: how to effect significant and specific changes in mathematics teaching while acknowledging that teachers themselves need to be active constructors of their knowledge and practice.
This Paper compares the mathematical understandings and pedagogical content knowledge of beginnin... more This Paper compares the mathematical understandings and pedagogical content knowledge of beginning teachers entering teaching through an alternate route program with those entering from three standard ti-acher education programs. The analysis challenges two common assumptions about becoming a secondary school mathematics teacher: (1) that people who major in mathematics without emphasis on education are more capable and know more than their mathematics education peers; and (2) that professional knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge are best acquired through practical experience as a teacher, university-based teacher education being unable to make practical or significant contributions to what ..achers need to know or be able to do. Yet, despite structural and philosophical differences between university and alternate route programs, the novice teachers across the two groups were much the same. Neither the teacher education students nor the teacher trainees in the sample were yell prepared to unpack meanings of manematical ideas on tha basis of their studies. Neither program had-ny consistently stroL. impact on novice teachers' ideas about the teacher's role or about d-sirable practices in teaching mathematics. Many in both groups were unable to represent basic content in meaningful ways at the end of their programs. The supposed advantage of teaching experience in the case of the alternate route teachers did not emerge as a significant factor in this study. (Author/JD)
Review of Research in Education, 1999
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
Teachers College Record, Nov 1, 2001
Historians will no doubt note the predominance of standards as they recount the late 20th century... more Historians will no doubt note the predominance of standards as they recount the late 20th century history of education. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s there was a virtual standards tidal wave. Some were issued by professional organizations as efforts to build consensus in vision and obligation.2 Others were issued by states as the foundation for system-wide alignment of policy levers, including assessments, textbook adoption, teacher education, and professional development. Standards for students led to standards for teachers, curriculum, evaluation and assessment, and opportunities to learn. Standards, some believed, held great promise:
National Academy of Education, Nov 12, 2009
The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION advances the highest quality education research and its use in ... more The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION advances the highest quality education research and its use in policy formation and practice. Founded in 1965, NAEd consists of U.S. members and foreign associates who are elected on the basis of outstanding scholarship or contributions to education. Since its establishment, the academy has undertaken numerous commissions and study panels, which typically include both NAEd members and other scholars with expertise in a particular area of inquiry.
Educational Testing Service, 2015
Collaborating with other professionals Using professional networks Communicating professionally, ... more Collaborating with other professionals Using professional networks Communicating professionally, both in person and via technology Collaborating in professional learning communities and on teams Exercising leadership, both formally and informally Attending to relational aspects of instruction Developing caring and respectful relationships with individual students Attending to and promoting student social and emotional needs and learning Building positive classroom climate Working with families and communities Fostering two-way, respectful communication with parents and guardians Using family-and community-related information as a resource for learning Establishing and maintaining the social and academic culture Implementing organizational routines, norms, strategies, and procedures to support a learning environment Managing the physical and material environment Managing instructional groupings Using time productively Fulfilling ethical responsibilities Enacting the basic moral principles and duties associated with the role of teacher and exercising diligence and prudence in observing these duties Responding to ethical dilemmas with sound reasoning and actions Detecting and correcting biases of various kinds via reflection and feedback Advocating appropriately for students Interactive teaching Attending to instructional purposes Enacting instructional tasks and activities Engaging students with subject matter Orchestrating productive discourses Providing strategy instruction Assessing and responding to student learning during instruction Meeting legal responsibilities Complying with all relevant laws and regulations Creating and maintaining accurate records of student progress and related matters Engaging in instructional improvement Improving instructional routines
The Elementary School Journal, 1996
ED307234 - Professional Standards for Teaching: The Assessment of Teacher Knowledge and Skills.
Choice Reviews Online, 2004
This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and tw... more This report describes the collaboration of a teacher educator at Michigan State University and two experienced elementary school teachers who spent 3 years team teaching an integrated curriculum that they developed for their third grade students. Four themes are most indicative of the teachers' experiences with the difficulties and rewards of learning to teach in innovative ways: courage, communication, trust, and time. These themes serve as focal points in a discussion and analysis of the personal and organizational resources that affect when and how teachers learn to teach. (MM)