Article
courtesy
of United Teacher, August 22, 2003
Member
Milestones
LAUSD
teachers Jane Fung, Jill Manning,
and Lara Goldstone, along with 50
other teacher leaders from throughout
the nation, recently participated
in a weeklong summit of the Teachers
Network Policy Institute on Bainbridge
Island, Washington. The TNPI summer
institute is grounded in the idea
that education policy continues to
be made without the voice of the
teacher, even though study after
study has affirmed that teacher expertise
is one of the most important factors
in student achievement.
At the institute, teachers and policymakers came together to help
bridge that gap. The purpose of this institute was for TNPI MetLife
Fellows all full time classroom teachers to ensure that the teacher's
voice is included in the development of federal, state, and local
education policy initiatives. During the TNPI summer institute,
teachers served as spokespersons for the profession, meeting and
holding conversations with high level policymakers.
TNPI MetLife Fellows also pooled their findings based on research
studies conducted in their classrooms during the past several years
using hands on, practical classroom experience to make crucial
education policy recommendations to policymakers. Fung's research
focused on how students defined quality teachers. Goldstone's research
study involved the impact on student achievement when reading intervention
teachers collaborated. Manning is studying the effects of parent
education on student achievement. More information about TNPI is
available on the Teachers Network's website, at http://teachersnetwork.org/tnli.
LAUSD teachers joined California
Secretary of Education Kerry
Mazzoni at the Teachers Network
Policy Institute, which brings
teachers and policymakers together
to ensure that the teacher's
voice is included in the development
of education policy. Flanking
Mazzonni (second from left) are
(from left) Jill Manning (Lafayette
Place), Jane Fung (Lafayette
Place), and Lara Goldstone (Foshay
Learning Center). |