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In the Action Reflection Process, a collaborative team composed of classroom teachers, special educators, technology specialists, and curriculum specialists work together to ensure that students with a diverse set of abilities and needs succeed in inquiry-based science education. Those involved in the process have said that the time set aside for collaboration is "time well spent." It allowed them to "build a deeper understanding of children" and to design instruction and assessment to meet students' needs.
In the Action Reflection Process, practitioners come together regularly over time to share their multiple perspectives. As one teacher commented,
"More eyes provide deeper perspective and insight on what a child's work represents."
The team meets three or four times over the course of a standards-based science unit to look at the work of three focal students: a student who is on an IEP, a student who the teacher determines is at risk, and a student whose development is typical of the class. These children are chosen to represent the range of abilities within the classroom.
When teachers meet to carry out the Action Reflection Process, they are guided by a facilitator, who uses a variety of strategies to ensure a productive conversation. The faciliator and team use a protocol that guides the discussion through several steps, from context setting to objective descriptions of student work, analysis, strategies to support student learning, and suggestions for future assessment. The team then records the key ideas on the action reflection tool.
What anchors this ongoing conversation is a structure--a well-defined process for looking at the work of three focal students (one on an IEP, one at risk for failing, and one typically developing student). Teachers have said that they appreciate having the artifacts, the student work, right there in front of them:
"It's like a picture is worth a thousand words. You can spend a lot of time describing a child's skills, but to have the piece of paper in front of you . . . opens your eyes to new things."
Through this process, the team determines each student's abilities, identifies clear goals about what students should know and be able to do, generates effective instructional strategies that integrate technology, and designs further assessments to determine if goals are being met. Teachers are impressed with the strengths students exhibit, especially students with disabilities. One teacher commented,
"I think so often when we are looking at students' IEPs, we look at the students' weaknesses, but with this process, we really look at the strengths of the students."
By looking closely at diverse students in this intensive way and by using a teacher-developed rubric, we are finding that teachers are better able to design a full range of instructional practices that meet the needs of every student. One teacher said,
"You can learn a vast amount about what strategies work for the entire class just by assessing the performance of three focal students."
This is basically the heart of Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 1999). Teachers have found that the process has a positive impact on their teaching practice. Not only did the process "help direct what you would do in your next lesson," but it also helped the teachers make modifications and adaptations that benefited many students in the class.
In order for this kind of intensive professional development process to effectively take place, administrators need to provide organizational support. Our work shows that with support, all three types of students demonstrate achievement in science. Positive impact can also be found for general and special education teachers, curriculum specialists, and administrators.
- Action Reflection Process in Action
- Value
of the Action Reflection Process (in the words of team members)
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