Search

I need to holdfast to the past a circle without beginning or ending --Carl Leggo (1953-2019) From 'Snippets' CJE, 41(1), p. 79 New Once again, this issue of the Canadian [...]

In this article, we look at three teacher education programs across three countries--Australia, Bhutan, and Canada--to examine how reflection is cultivated in pre-service teachers (also referred to as teacher candidates) through a pedagogy of self-assessment. We begin from the premise that a cornerstone of effective teaching is the capacity of an educator to reflect on their practice and to use their reflections for professional growth and development. Qualitative data were collected from teacher candidates from one teacher education program in each country to obtain the views and reflections of teacher candidates about the power and pedagogy of self-assessment to inform their learning and development. Analysis of results led to three overarching themes: (a) consistent learning priorities of pre-service teachers as they engage with reflection; (b) pedagogical features that leverage self-assessment strategies to enhance reflective practice; and (c) the possibilities for reflection to facilitate a professional stance towards learning. Each theme is discussed with consideration for teacher education practices and theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Create Impact Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (1): The position and the velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time, even in theory. The very concepts of [...]

December perpetually reminds us to look back, to remember, to chart our experiences. This year, the world has turned in unexpected directions. Some say it has become unhinged. Deep lines [...]

Within the current standards-based framework of early primary education, teachers must negotiate the integration of assessment with traditional, developmental orientations to teaching and learning. The purpose of this qualitative study [...]

One of the most exciting dimensions of this journal is its coverage of diverse topics in education and the intersectionality of scholarship within and among published articles. As editors, in [...]

In response to the existing accountability movement in the United States, a plethora of educational policies and standards have emerged at various levels to promote teacher assessment competency, with a focus on preservice assessment education. However, despite these policies and standards, research has shown that beginning teachers continue to maintain low competency levels in assessment. Limited assessment education that is potentially misaligned to assessment standards and classroom practices has been identified as one factor contributing to a lack of assessment competency. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to analyze the alignment between teacher education accreditation policies, professional standards for teacher assessment practice, and preservice assessment course curriculum. Through a curriculum alignment methodology involving two policy documents, two professional standards documents, and syllabi from 10 Florida-based, Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education-certified teacher education programs, the results of this study serve to identify points of alignment and misalignment across policies, standards, and curricula. The study concludes with a discussion on the current state of assessment education with implications for enhancing teacher preparation in this area and future research on assessment education. Keywords assessment education, preservice teacher education, assessment literacy, teacher competency standards, accreditation policy, Introduction Student assessment plays a central role within the current accountability and standards-based context of U.S. public education (Ryan & Feller, 2009). Federal policies outlined in No Child Left Behind [...]

This purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical foundation for inclusion in Canadian schools for this Special Issue on Inclusive Education. In response to the need for an interdisciplinary framework, this paper uses an interpretive literature review methodology to construct a framework for educational inclusivity based on four disciplinary perspectives: (a) special education and disability studies, (b) multiculturalism and anti-racist education, (c) gender and women's education, and (d) queer studies. The constructed framework elucidates four conceptions of inclusivity--normative, integrative, dialogical, and transgressive--positioned on a continuum with each conception representing a different approach to inclusion. Unlike previous models, this framework is not anchored to any one marginalized group; rather, it is intended to represent multiple forms of inclusivity to edify historical, existing, and idealistic educational practices and structures for all forms of difference. Keywords: Inclusivity, inclusive education, diversity, difference. Le but de ce document est de fournir une base theorique pour l'inclusion dans les ecoles canadiennes pour ce numero special sur l'education inclusive. En reponse a la necessite d'un cadre interdisciplinaire, ce document utilise une methodologie d'interpretation litterature examen de construire un cadre pour l'inclusion educative basee sur quatre points de vue disciplinaires: (a) l'education speciale et l'etude des handicapees, (b) le multiculturalisme et l'education antiraciste, (c) le genre et l'education des femmes, et (d) les etudes << queer >>. Le cadre construit elucide quatre conceptions de l'inclusion-normatives, d'integration, dialogiques et transgressives-positionne sur un continuum avec chaque conception qui represente une approche differente a l'inclusion. Contrairement aux modeles precedents, ce cadre n'est pas ancre a aucun groupe marginalise, mais plutot, il est destine a representer les multiples formes de l'inclusion d'edifier historiques, actuels et idealiste des pratiques et des structures educatives pour toutes les formes de difference. Mots-cles: Inclusivite, l'education inclusive, la diversite, la difference., Introduction Over the past 30 years, inclusivity has gained steady prominence as a national and international movement significantly impacting educational policy and practice (Egbo, 2009; Howard & Aleman, 2008). In [...]

There is an old chestnut that states the advertisements that beer companies produce for Canadian television are the best reflection of this country's diversity. Mountains, oceans, salmon fishing, hockey, the [...]

The presence and function of assessment in Canadian classrooms has changed in the past thirty years. Driving this continuously evolving landscape of classroom assessment is the fundamental belief that classroom assessment can be effectively used to monitor and support student learning and achievement. A central challenge amid this changing landscape is that teachers are required to keep pace with increasing assessment expectations, with research continuing to show that teachers are generally underprepared for the current context of assessment they may face. A potential root cause of this reported unpreparedness relates to teacher preparation in assessment during initial teacher education programmes. The purpose of this study is to examine approaches to assessment education across Canadian teacher education programmes. Drawing on data from teacher educators and teacher education documents (e.g. course syllabi), two research questions guided this study: 1. What are the programmatic provisions for assessment education across Canadian teacher education programmes? 2. What are teacher educators' approaches to assessment education? This study explores the landscape of assessment education across Canada through analyses of interviews with teacher educators (n = 25) and programme documentation drawn from 12 teacher education programmes. The analyses identified six overarching themes that characterise contemporary assessment education: (1) similar structures of assessment education; (2) limited time for assessment education; (3) inconsistent messaging; (4) focus of learning; (5) attitudes and explicitly modelling assessment; and (6) building explicit connections to teaching contexts across kindergarten – 12th grade (student ages 5–18). Understanding how teachers are educated in assessment is the first step in redressing teachers' low levels of assessment literacy. This exploratory pan-Canadian study provides a theoretical and descriptive foundation for future research into assessment education in Canada and elsewhere, with the aim of improving teacher education in assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the current standards-based framework of public education in the US, and in other parts of the world, teachers are required to purposefully use assessments to individualize instruction for students [...]

Given the longstanding role of grades in education, and their increased use for high-stakes decisions including student mobility, admission, selection, and accountability, this paper presents a systematic review of grading policies across all 10 Canadian provinces and 3 territories. In total, 23 policies were inductively analyzed for their articulation of (a) the purposes of grades, (b) the methods used for generating grades, and (c) the relationship between grading and formative assessment. Our analysis revealed significant areas of consistency across Canada while also highlighting important areas of variation. Implications of these findings on the value and use of grades within and across educational systems in Canada are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher assessment literacy has become a central priority across many educational systems in North America and elsewhere in response to growing accountability demands. Although many scholars have aimed to measure teacher assessment literacy, recent research has identified that current assessment literacy instruments do not fully reflect current transformations in the assessment landscape and remain predicated on dated standards for teacher classroom assessment practice. Given significant shifts in classroom assessment over the past 20 years, the purpose of this article is to construct a reliable instrument reflective of contemporary assessment practices and contexts. Specifically, this article describes our instrument development process including construct validation and reliability testing with more than 400 teachers. The result of this research is the Approaches to Classroom Assessment Inventory, which can be used by researchers and practitioners to support teacher assessment literacy in relation to the current accountability framework evident across educational systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative inquiry (CI) has emerged as a dominant structure for educator professional learning in the twenty-first century. CI engages educators in collaboratively investigating focused aspects of their professional practice by exploring student responses to instruction, leading to new understandings and changes in classroom teaching. However, despite the increased presence of CI, research on CI frameworks has yet to be consolidated and synthesized. The purpose of this systematic, scoping review was to examine literature on the structure, challenges, and benefits of CI as a professional learning structure for educators (i.e. teachers, principals, school district leaders). In total, 42 sources were identified and analysed in relation to characteristics of CI, supports and resources for CI, empirically supported benefits of CI, and enactment challenges. The review found that the majority of texts and research in this field are highly practical, describing CI steps or case-study examples. Accordingly, the current literature reviewed in this paper largely serves ahow tofunction for engaging in CI projects with empirical data collected from primarily case-study work. The literature also provides preliminary theoretical articulations for CI as a professional learning structure for educators. The paper concludes with identified areas for future CI research related to: clarifying the focus of CI initiatives, articulating what ‘inquiry’ means in CI, and sustaining CI within the profession of teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The current global cohort of youth has been called ‘a generation at-risk’, marked by a dramatic rise in youth who are not in employment, education or training programmes. In 2010, youth were three times as likely as adults to be unemployed, with youth unemployment worsening in 2012 and 2013. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to examine educational structures that can promote greater labour market attachment and successful transition into employment for youth worldwide. Vocational and work-based education (WBE) has been identified as one of the most recommended and promising educational structures for curtailing youth under- and unemployment. However, WBE takes many forms, making it difficult to discern which WBE programme is most likely to meet the diverse needs of any individual at-risk youth. Moreover, there has been a dearth of theoretical conceptualisations to explain WBE as a context that promotes resilience for at-risk youth as they transition into the world of work. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a revised model for WBE as an enabling context for at-risk youth in transition from school to employment. Specifically, a person-in-context approach is used, situating youth-related facets (e.g. agency) in relation to systemic facets (e.g. political, cultural) to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for WBE. The revised model maintains three overlapping domains – the individual, the social-cultural and the economic-political – to address a theoretical gap in the literature on transition systems while providing a foundation for practical efforts to prepare at-risk youth for engaging in a changing labour market. Design and Methods: The model was constructed through a systematic and interdisciplinary integrative literature review that examined empirical, conceptual, policy-based and practice-based literature on at-risk youth transition from school to work. Articles and documents were analysed for both individual and contextual factors that influence transition, in order to contribute towards the development of a robust person-in-context model. Existing models of transition and other systems were also examined that addressed the needs of at-risk youth. A ‘person-in-context’ approach was selected for our model as it enabled representation of both macro- and microcosmic factors that shape effective WBE programming. Conclusions: The model is organised around three critical domains that were identified as being influential for school-to-work transition: the individual domain, the social-cultural domain and the economic-political domain. Within each of these domains, multiple facets are described that shape youth transition. WBE is positioned at the centre of the model as an educational structure that can attend to the multiple facets that shape engagement in school and work. The paper concludes with an explicit research agenda linked to the model and practical implications for WBE programming. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this research was to examine the implementation of a professional learning project aimed at building educators’ knowledge and skills in assessment for learning (AfL) within two school districts in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, the research examined the value of a two-tierInstructional Rounds(IR) professional learning model. This professional learning model was unique because it engaged both teachers and principals in collaboratively learning and implementing AfL strategies in order to develop systemic capacity in assessment. In total, 12 principals, 48 teachers, two superintendents and two school district assessment consultants participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of IR sessions, classroom observations, interviews, IR session reflections and a post-project survey. Findings from this study report on positive changes in teachers’ and principals’ conceptions and implementation of AfL as well as on the value and challenges of IR as a professional learning model. The paper concludes with a discussion on developing systemic capacity in AfL through an IR model of professional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers the authors' insight regarding their curriculum studies in the Canadian landscape and in other countries such as Brazil. Topics discussed include the history of crime and drug trafficking in Brazil, infant mortality in Favela housing in the country, and three areas of studies that supports scholarship at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library in Washington D.C. including Pre-Columbian, Byzantine, and garden and landscape.

Despite assessment-based accountability movements throughout educational systems in the United States, teacher assessment literacy continues to be an identified area of concern. Contributing to this concern is a dearth of research on preservice assessment education including both its curricular and pedagogical approaches. The purpose of this study was to examine pedagogies that support positive changes in teacher candidates' conceptions of assessment. Drawing on open-ended questionnaire data from teacher candidate participants, this study found four explicit pedagogical constructs that teacher candidates identified as instrumental in contributing to their learning about assessment. Specifically, these constructs were: (a) perspective-building conversations, (b) praxis activities, (c) modeling, and (d) critical reflection and planning for learning. In addition to providing practical descriptive examples of each pedagogical approach, this article concludes with suggestions for future research and practice in assessment education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the current accountability context of education in the United States and Canada, there is a clear need to educate teachers on effectively using assessments to support, measure, and communicate student learning. Despite this need, assessment has historically been a neglected area in teacher education programs with comparatively little research to support assessment education structures. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to develop a preliminary assessment education framework as a foundation for future teacher education research and for designing theoretically informed assessment education that responds to multiple stakeholder perspectives. As a basis for this framework, three critical perspectives on assessment education are delineated (i.e., preservice policy perspective, teacher educator perspective, and teacher-candidate perspective) by reviewing current research, standards, and policies in fields of teacher education and assessment. The article concludes with recommendations for a research agenda aimed at further developing a scholarship for assessment education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we rethink validation within the complex contexts of high-stakes assessment. We begin by considering the utility of existing models for validation and argue that these models tend to overlook some of the complexities inherent to assessment use, including the multiple interpretations of assessment purposes and the potential interaction of assessment uses. We respond to these limitations by proposing an interpretive approach to validation that we call validation as narrative case description. This approach uses a case-based framework and hermeneutic methodology to construct and analyse validity evidence and suggests narrative as a representational format for communicating validation claims. We illustrate this approach by considering a case study of a secondary mathematics assessment administered in Ontario, Canada. In introducing this approach, we are contributing to the ongoing dialogue on reconceptualising validation as an interpretive process that serves a generative function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing concern over disengagement of teacher candidates during on-campus periods of pre-service programs due to the perceived disconnect between educational theory and practice. In response, teacher education has been called to engage candidates in praxis through authentic learning. In this paper, we bring together the fields of teacher education, authentic learning, and arts-based learning to articulate a means of enhancing pre-service programs. Specifically, this paper documents and analyzes the process of engaging teacher candidates in an authentic learning experience of a musical theatre production. Data collected from 30 teacher candidates through rehearsal observations, a post-production questionnaire, and focus group interviews indicated that participation created a sense of community and belonging, as well as developed skills necessary to carry forward art-based learning activities into their teaching careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the standards-based movement in education there is an increased need for teacher competency in the area of student assessment and evaluation. This study examines assessment education at one pre-service teacher education program in Ontario, Canada. Through a questionnaire administered to 288 teacher candidates, this study identified teacher candidates' perceived confidence levels in assessment practice, theory, and philosophy. These teacher candidates also provided their views towards assessment topics that it is important to include in a pre-service educational assessment course. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and analysis of variance were used to analyse questionnaire responses. In general, findings support the need for direct instruction in assessment with specific topics identified (e.g. reporting achievement, modifying assessments, developing constructed-response items, item reliability, validity, articulating a philosophy of assessment, etc.) as important to developing teacher assessment literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the influence of education on democracy. Education influences the participation of people within democracies and the roles played by them as engaged citizens. In the 2016 presidential elections in the U.S., level of education was one of the most stable indicators of voter support.

In recent years, an increase in the number of large-scale assessment programs in Canada has been observed. However, due to the provincial/territorial control of education throughout Canada, the format and purposes of these assessment programs vary. The central purpose of this study was to document the format and explicit purposes of the current large-scale assessment programs in each of Canada's ten provinces and three territories. Through document analysis of publicly accessible policy documents, examination of Ministry websites, and telephone interviews with Ministry of Education officials, specific and general characteristics and purposes of large-scale assessment practices in Canada were obtained and analyzed. This analysis provided an opportunity to examine the commonalities and variations in the frameworks guiding the current large-scale assessment culture that is evolving in Canada. Assessment programs were categorized by their explicit purposes as they related to the functions of accountability, gatekeeping, instructional diagnosis, and monitoring student achievement over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the R.W.B. Jackson and the Audet-Allard Awards from the Canadian Educational Researchers' Association that recognize the best English and French language articles published in the "Canadian Journal of Education," and offers an overview of the topics of the current issue such as gay-straight alliances, portrayal of exceptionalities within children's literature and love as the key to inclusivity.