Lists 17 resources that may serve as a springboard to help teachers familiarize themselves with a wide variety of literature and teaching strategies to include cultures from around the globe in the classroom with responsibility and respect. (SR)

Illustrates dilemmas of "self" and "other" through memories of the author's relationship with her grandmother. Discusses assessment involving three close encounters: a reflective encounter (self to self); a reflexive encounter (self to other); and a dialectical encounter (a teacher who can act as mediator between self and other). (SR)

Outlines the limitations of letter grades and the problems with giving percentage points. Discusses authentic evaluation and the author's daily process of evaluation with her low-reading students as they engage daily in reflecting, rethinking, selecting, and deciding. (SR)

Argues there is a problem with how California local school boards and district administration interpret curriculum and instruction in terms of their role in the evaluation of schools, teachers, and students. Notes that the California Teachers Association proposed legislation that would allow teachers to negotiate their role in decision-making…

Provides an annotated list of 12 web sites to turn to for information concerning the ramifications of high-stakes testing. (SG)

Describes events of the Maine Writing Project Summer Institute. Notes that what happened in this past summer's institute can serve as a model for the ways poetry can be integrated throughout educators' work with students and throughout the lives of educators. (SG)

Describes briefly the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and its assessment methods. (SR)

Presents extracts from the Preface of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Early Adolescence/English Language Arts Standards. Discusses the educational context, the young adolescent in context, the philosophical context, and the standards format. Presents the 14 standards. (SR)

Notes that almost everybody has contributed to the list of requirements for teacher certification except teachers. Argues that the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Project provides one place for teachers to build community and shape standards. Hopes that the project will become an important professional development opportunity…

Discusses what national board certification means and the current status of the certification program in English language arts. Offers an interim evaluation of what has been accomplished to date. Describes the Early Adolescence/English Language Arts Standards report and rubrics for evaluating teaching. Discusses what the profession of English can…

Describes the author's highest hope for the current National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Early Adolescence/English Language Arts certification process. Looks at factors that could undermine the potential benefits that a National Teaching Certificate can have on the profession. Encourages middle school teachers to support the project…

Describes an expert panel member's experiences in working with Educational Testing Service to redesign the scoring for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Early Adolescence/English Language Arts Assessment. Maintains that a less mechanistic and more valid scoring system could have been developed if criticism and open discussion…

Sketches three criteria for thinking about an assessment of teaching. Discusses assessment versus professional development, and argues that even if assessment of teaching is only a test, intended to separate the "accomplished" from the "unaccomplished," then it is not a vehicle for reform or change or professional development,…

Relates the experiences and reflections of a teacher who was a field test participant for the Early Adolescence/English Language Arts Assessment of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (SR)

Presents the experiences and reflections of a teacher who was a field test participant for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification, and who served on the Standard Setting Panel which defined levels performance on the Early Adolescence/English Language Arts Assessment. (SR)