Resources for Study Groups

Books

A Facilitator’s Book of Questions: Resources for Looking Together at Student and Teacher Work by David Allen and Tina Blythe
Teachers College Press, 2003
http://www.lasw.org/resources_books.html#books

Collaborative Analysis of Student Work: Improving Teaching and Learning - Georgia M. Langer, Amy B. Colton, and Loretta S. Goff
http://www.lasw.org/resources_books.html#books

Videos

"Making Teaching Public" presents a Critical Friends Group at Pasadena High School in California, where teachers use peer observations to improve their own and their students' work. (27 minutes)

 "A Community of Learners" describes Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire, where colleagues engage each other in frank discussions about teaching challenges. (28 minutes)

The package also features a series of reflections on "Becoming Critical Friends" by NSRF coach Jon Appleby (12 pp)
Available at http://www.nsrfharmony.org/videos.html

“Looking At Student Work” explores a variety of ways in which looking at student work can help improve teaching and learning. The video features students, teachers, and administrators at Norview High School in Norfolk, Virginia - a member of the ATLAS Communities school redesign project - who discuss their experiences in looking at student work. 

This video is $50 and comes with a copy of "Looking Together at Student Work: A Companion Guide to Assessing Student Learning" by Tina Blythe, David Allen and Barbara Schieffelin Powell. It comes with both VHS and DVD format.

Available at http://www.nsrfharmony.org/videos.html

The "Sarah Video" is a classroom observation video from the Smithsonian's Case Studies in Science Education video series. It has a lesson from Sarah interspersed with her own reflections. It is frequently used in CFGs and New Coaches' sessions for introducing the idea of classroom observation and conversation, and until now has been hard to find as the series is out of print. The NSRF has been granted permission to reproduce this video segment by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Science Education Department.
Available at http://www.nsrfharmony.org/videos.html

Websites

Looking At Student Work
http://www.lasw.org

National School Reform Faculty
http://www.nsrfharmony.org

Coalition of Essential Schools
http://www.essentialschools.org

Looking Collaboratively at Student Work: An Essential Toolkit
http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/57

History Teachers Dig Deep into Their Students’ Work and Their Own Teaching
http://www.middleweb.com/Hooverpromo.html

Articles (PDFs)