Better late than . . .

Hi All,

I finally got it together to join the blog. Sorry it took me until now.

How're you all doing? I still haven't been fired, and I still haven't quit, so I guess all is still at least well enough :-)

In two months (on April 30th) we have a state program approval interim visit -- yes, the last visit from the state (Nov. 2006) was less than stellar, so they're coming back to see how much progress Roger Williams University's School of Ed has made since the last visit. My biggest challenge has been to move the faculty beyond "anger and denial" to positive action, and I'm glad to report that we've turned a big corner on that score. I'm hearing less and less of the bitter talk that has characterized the conversation whenever the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has been referenced (e.g., "RIDE is making us . . .," "it's for RIDE but we can do whatever we want . . .," "RIDE won't let us . . .," blah, blah, blah). Thank goodness the faculty is gradually assuming ownership of the work they're doing in order to get to the place they ought to be vis-a-vis a genuine performance assessment system, curricular reform that they know must take place, and so forth. Goodness, I had no idea what a toll "lack of consistent leadership for five years" could take on an otherwise good group of faculty members. Question is, how much is it possible for a group to achieve between late January and late April -- I guess the next two months will tell.

I got a lot out of a paper on dispositions that's posted on the AACTE website under . . . maybe it was "Resources" and then "TEAMC" -- it's a pdf download. If you're feeling uncertain about the topic as I often am, I recommend looking at that paper.

Does anyone know of any interesting "middle school - to - college programs" being run out of colleges or universities, aimed at encouraging (and developing academic success skills in) students from under-served communities? If so, please let me know. We're trying to design one, and I don't believe in re-inventing wheels :-)

Let me hear from you!

All the best,

Mieko