College of Education

Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment

Conceptual framework

Authentic Assessment - Effective Teaching - Learning Targets
Marginalized Students - Multicultural Perspective
Classroom Management - Conclusion

The primary audience for the State of Washington "Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates" includes teacher candidates, teacher education faculty, and higher education faculty supervisors and P-12 cooperating teachers of student teaching internships. Another audience with a close interest in this document includes P-12 administrators, policy makers with statewide responsibility for public education, and nongovernmental organizations that deliberate on issues pertaining to teacher quality.

The Washington Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (WACTE) and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) collaborated in the design of the "Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates." The instrument is based on the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) effective teaching requirements for teacher preparation program approval by the State of Washington Board of Education , on contemporary research related to teaching and learning, on the work of the Multi-Ethnic Think Tank (2001) , and the federal law "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." Throughout the design process of the "Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates," representatives of statewide professional education associations provided input to and support for the creation of an authentic assessment tool of teacher candidates in real classrooms over a sustained period of time.

The assessment instrument incorporates expectations that are in response to state and national concern over an academic "achievement gap" based on race, socio-economic class, level of English-language learning, and gender. The academic achievement gap is generally evidenced (i.e., not exclusively) between (a) white economically advantaged students and (b) students of color, immigrant children, and students from lower socio-economic families. Federal legislation decries this achievement gap and calls for strategies "to close the achievement gap" with accountability, flexibility and choice so that "no child is left behind" (federal guidelines for Public Law 107-110) . OSPI further elaborates on this need in Addressing the Achievement Gap: A Challenge for State of Washington Educators (Shannon & Bylsma, 2002) .

A paradigm shift in Washington and across the United States is necessary for creating an inclusive approach to P-12 public education that is determined to leave no child academically behind. Thus, this change is characterized in teaching and learning from being centered on just teacher actions to a focus on student learning. The pedagogy assessment reflects this shift by evaluating teacher performance on the basis of student outcomes and engagement in learning. At the preservice teacher education level, the 21 colleges approved to offer teacher education have recognized the need for a paradigm shift through the collaborative efforts of WACTE and OSPI to create a meaningful performance-based assessment of teacher candidates for use in full-time student teaching internships in P-12 classrooms. The pedagogy assessment emphasizes what P-12 students are actually doing and learning in classrooms . This focus reflects the paradigm shift articulated in the WAC (180-78A-270) that requires teacher education programs "to prepare educators who demonstrate a positive impact on student learning." Preservice teacher education, however, cannot accomplish this task alone. WACTE and OSPI recognize that to effectively close the achievement gap, a broad-based collaboration that shares responsibility-one that includes public school teachers, administrators, school boards, legislators, families, communities, and tribal councils-is necessary for the systemic success of this project (also see Kober, 2001) .

This project is nationally unique in that a state educational agency collaboratively created with higher education an assessment instrument with the dual goal (a) to educate qualified P-12 school teachers and (b) to eliminate an achievement gap that leaves no child behind. To set our state target lower than this risks the perpetuation of inequities in achievement.

Taken together, Part II, "Directions" and Part III, "Observation Scoring Rubric," can have a positive impact on student learning through effective instructional planning and teaching. The performance-based expectations contained in this document hold the potential to accelerate student learning in all subject matter content areas while concurrently closing the academic achievement gap. This document represents authentic assessment of teacher candidate performance in P-12 school settings, especially as it impacts student learning.

Throughout this document the expectations are for all students to be engaged in meaningful learning that is based on the state's Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs). The pedagogy assessment requires future teachers to plan instructional lessons informed by research and best practices that directly relate to effective teaching for increased student learning and achievement. Given our culturally diverse society and schools, it is essential that all students be afforded the opportunity to learn meaningful academic content and that individuals beginning a teaching career have foundational knowledge, skills, and dispositions to that end. Conventional research on effective teaching in this document is placed within a broader research base indicative of a paradigm shift in teaching and learning. Educational policy research recognizes that:

The promise of standards-based reform will not be fulfilled unless we close the achievement gap. Equal opportunity and educational excellence are sometimes cast as competing priorities, but to close the gap we must approach them as complementary parts of a unified approach to reform. The rewards will be long-term economic and social benefits for the entire nation. (emphasis added) (Kober, 2001, p. 29)

Hence, this pedagogy assessment document assumes that excellence in education is inseparable from equal and equitable opportunities for all students to learn meaningful subject matter content as expressed through the EALRs.

The state's educational reform in the early 1990s mirrored similar reform initiatives in other states where the purpose was to make classroom assessment "more fundamentally a part of the learning process" (Shepard, 2000, p. 6) . The intention remains to create a "learning culture" in every classroom that connects a "reformed vision of curriculum" with both "cognitive and constructivist learning theories" and "classroom assessment" (p. 5) . The following section on authentic assessment helps frame this continuing paradigm shift that is demanded by both the state's Education Reform Act of 1993 (see OSPI n.d.a) and the "Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates."

Authentic assessment of teacher candidate performance and student learning ^

Authentic assessment of (a) teacher candidate planning and performance and (b) student learning is foundational to the "Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates." Authentic assessment is an overarching concept that refers to the measurement of "intellectual accomplishments that are worthwhile, significant, and meaningful" (Wehlage, Newmann, & Secada, 1996, p. 23) . When applying authentic assessment to student learning and achievement, a teacher candidate must attend to criteria related to "construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and the value of achievement beyond the school" (p. 24; also see Glossary) . The centrality of authentic assessment in the pedagogy assessment reflects a recommendation from educational policy research that places "high priority on strategies that research has already shown to increase student learning" (Kober, 2001) .

The concept of authentic assessment is congruent with the state of Washington Basic Education Goals which are also referred to as Student Learning Goals (OSPI, n.d.b, n.d.c) . The Basic Education Goals permeate all areas of the school curriculum and contain expectations for students to be able to intellectually "read with comprehension, write with skill, and communicate effectively and responsibly in a variety of ways and settings" (OSPI, n.d.b) . Authentic assessment by a teacher candidate must be applied to subject matter content in order that students can "think analytically, logically, and creatively, and to integrate experience and knowledge to form reasoned judgments and solve problems" (OSPI, n.d.b) . The Basic Education Goals are clear that intellectual development of students also needs to be extended to potential life opportunities and experiences that exist in careers and post-secondary education. Underlying infusion of the Basic Education Goals throughout the curriculum is an expectation that parents and community members will be involved with school districts in helping students meet these goals. This is one reason why a teacher candidate is expected to communicate with families to support student learning.

The pedagogy assessment's authentic assessment expectations for a teacher candidate are related directly to the EALRs. The EALRs are specific learning targets that are "based on the student learning goals" (OSPI, n.d.c) . The EALRs represent "the specific academic skills and knowledge students will be required to meet in the classroom" (OSPI, n.d.c) . Authentic assessment of student learning requires that a teacher candidate's instructional planning include pedagogical approaches designed to engage students intellectually with subject matter content. Research indicates that teachers who use pedagogical approaches that focus on authentic assessment of student learning can improve "academic performance at all grade levels" (Marks, Newmann, & Gamoran, 1996, p. 69) . Furthermore, pedagogy directly connected to authentic assessment "can be distributed equitably to students from all social backgrounds with reasonably equitable benefits" (p. 70) .

An overview of key concepts and terms that are foundational to the Part II, "Directions," and Part III, "Observation Scoring Rubric," are presented in the following sections. Each approach is essential for a teacher candidate to promote and increase the learning of all students. These interrelated concepts include the necessity of (a) effective teaching, (b) the establishment of clear learning targets and assessment approaches, (c) the engagement of low status/historically marginalized students, (d) a multicultural perspective, (e) the incorporation of transformative academic knowledge into the curriculum, (f) culturally responsive teaching, (g) the provision of classroom management approaches for inclusive and supportive learning communities, and (h) caring and democratic classrooms.

Effective teaching ^

Pedagogy, in its contemporary usage, is a perspective that envisions effective teaching "as a process, not a technique" (Hamilton & McWilliam, 2001, p. 18) . Pedagogy situates effective teaching more as "two-way communication than a mode of one-way transmission or delivery" of information to students (p. 18) . A teacher candidate, then, practices approaches to teaching and learning that build relationships with and among students and "prioritizes the constitution of learning over the execution of teaching" (p. 18) . This is congruent with research that finds achievement is improved through active student participation in the learning process (Gallego et al., 2001) . Hence, it is imperative that a teacher candidate create instructional conditions where students are actively engaged in learning. National standards "clearly favor teachers who emphasize advanced content, deep understanding, reasoning, and applications over a strong focus on just basic skills and facts.[and] leans more toward constructivist teaching than toward direct instruction" (Porter, Young, & Odden, 2001, p. 292) . In essence, then, an evaluator of a teacher candidate is focused on the effects of teaching on students that result in active learning of subject matter content (see Floden, 2001) .

Effective teaching encourages student interaction within an academically rigorous curriculum. Based on cognitive research, Resnick and the Institute for Learning note, "For classroom talk to promote learning it must be accountable-to the learning community, to accurate and appropriate knowledge, and to rigorous thinking" (Institute for Learning, 2001) . This requires a learning environment that promotes student application of their intelligence. Additionally, research on effective teaching also supports a learning environment that:

Effective teaching is congruent with what is often referred to as "best practices." Daniels and Bizar (1998) , for example, describe "six basic structures that help to create Best Practice classrooms.[and] inherently give students a real voice and meaningful choices" in their learning community (pp. 5, 8) . These teaching and learning structures include integrative units, small group activities, representing-to-learn, classroom workshop, authentic experience, and reflective assessment. As examples of effective teaching strategies, the following are descriptions of these six structures:

  1. Integrative units are evident in instructional plans and teaching when a teacher candidate crosses "subject boundaries, translating models from one field into another, importing ideas from other subjects, designing cross-curricular investigations, and developing rich thematic units that involve students in long-term, deep, sophisticated inquiry" (pp. 20-21) .
  2. Small group activities exist in "classrooms with effective sub-groups [that] are usually well structured places where students follow carefully developed norms and routines, and where working together is not a disruptive departure but rather business as usual" (p. 63) . This best practice is generally referred to as cooperative learning. Within such activities student collaboration with one another "is the mainstay of these classrooms" (p. 59) .
  3. Representing-to-learn refers to learning activities that provide students an opportunity to both construct meaning of content being learned and share this learning with others. A teacher candidate can help students understand new material by selecting "examples and metaphors that illuminate new ideas and skills, connecting new content to students' knowledge, interests, and a school's culture" (Danielson, 1996) .
  4. Students in a classroom workshop "choose individual or small group topics for investigation, inquiry, and research" (Daniels & Bizar, 1998, p. 131) . This best practice approach differs from a teacher presentation and places value on teacher modeling where students work "with real materials.[and] become active, responsible, self-motivating, and self-evaluating learners, while the teacher [serves] as model, coach, and collaborator" (pp. 131, 135) .
  5. Authentic experience makes meaningful connections to "real world" activities. The National Academy of Science states, "Inquiry into authentic questions [are] generated from student experiences. Teachers focus inquiry predominately on real phenomena where students are given investigations or guided toward fashioning investigations that are demanding but within their capabilities" (cited in Daniels & Bizar, 1998, p. 171) . Authentic experience, therefore, is developmentally appropriate and linked to "real issues that people face in the world" in a manner that helps students make connections "to the importance of what they are learning" (p. 173) .
  6. Reflective assessment nurtures student reflection, goal-setting, and self-assessment of learning. The concepts contained in the following section on "Learning Targets and Assessment" address this best practice for effective teaching.

These six structures are not intended as an exhaustive list and are only meant to provide a teacher candidate with examples of what is entailed in effective teaching practices that can promote student achievement.

Learning targets and assessment ^

Lessons designed and implemented around developmentally and grade-appropriate EALRs demonstrate that a teacher candidate is fulfilling the state's expectation on what the focus of the school curriculum should be. EALRs and their respective frameworks form the basis of learning targets. Stiggins (2001) explains that " a target defines academic success, what we want students to know and be able to do" (p. 57) . Types of targets vary according to the academic goals of a particular content-area that is being learned. Stiggins describes five types or categories of targets:

  1. Knowledge- mastery of substantive subject matter content, where mastery includes both knowing and understanding it;
  2. Reasoning- the ability to use that knowledge and understanding to figure out things and to solve problems;
  3. Performance Skills- the development of proficiency in doing something where it is the process that is important, such as playing a musical instrument, reading aloud, speaking in a second language, or using psychomotor skills;
  4. Products- the ability to create tangible products, such as term papers, science fair models, and art products, that meet certain standards of quality and that present concrete evidence of academic proficiency; and
  5. Dispositions- the development of certain kinds of feelings, such as attitudes, interests, and motivational intentions (p. 66) .

For effective student learning, an instructional plan must provide learning targets that are capable of assessment. To be valid and meaningful, assessments must be aligned with learning targets. To measure student learning and determine if a unit of instruction has had a positive impact on student learning, pre-assessment data must be gathered. At the conclusion of instruction, a comparison of pre-assessment and post-assessment data can provide an indication of the degree to which student learning has occurred.

Stiggins (2001) describes four assessment methods that can be matched with the above described learning target categories. The assessment methods are:

A critical task for a teacher candidate "is to identify and choose the most efficient" assessment method that appropriately relates to the identified learning target for a specific learning context (p. 91) .

Student motivation in learning is increased when students are aware of learning targets and assessment expectations throughout an instructional unit. A teacher candidate needs to be explicit about both learning targets and assessment methods so that students learn how they can engage in assessments that measure their own learning relative to learning targets. For classroom assessment to accelerate student learning and be successful, it must be student centered so that both students and parents can observe improvements in learning (Stiggins, 2001) .

Engaging low status/historically marginalized students ^

A teacher candidate must create learning experiences that enable all students to have valid academic accomplishments, especially for those students who historically score below their peers on measures of academic achievement. Whereas more than 90% of Washington teachers and teacher candidates are white and middle-class, student demographics indicate growing racial, economic, and cultural diversity in our public school classrooms as well as the larger society. Research indicates that teachers need to recognize this difference in order to begin closing the achievement gap for those students habitually assigned "low status" and inferior academic competence (Cohen, 1994; also see Dilworth & Brown, 2001) .

In a review of related research, the Learning First Alliance (2001) , an organization of which OSPI and WACTE are members, explains that "failure to support the academic achievement of students is related to students' disengagement from school" (p. 6) . A review of recent court decisions finds that "the constitutional criterion for an adequate education tends to emphasize opportunity" (Rebell, 2002, p. 242) . Low-status students are among those who lack opportunities to receive the equitable benefits of pedagogical approaches designed to help students acquire meaningful and engaging academic content that can help them meet state learning standards.

"Low status" students include individuals whose academic rights have been historically marginalized by institutions and people in privileged positions. This discrimination continues to be experienced by many students of color, immigrant children, and students from low-income families (Banks, 2001) . Based on her extensive research, Cohen (1994) found:

Examples of status characteristics are race, social class, sex, reading ability, and attractiveness. Attached to these status characteristics are general expectations for competence. Highs status individuals are expected to be more competent than low status individuals across a wide range of tasks that are viewed as important. Since in our culture people of color are generally expected to be less competent on intellectual tasks than whites, these racist expectations came into play in the innocent [learning activities] (pp. 33-34) .

Cohen further observed that low status students working, for example, in small learning groups "often don't have access to the task.and don't talk as much as other students. Often when they do talk, their ideas are ignored by the rest of the group" (pp. 35-36) . When the low status/ historically marginalized student become disengaged in learning, teachers often see this as a discipline problem rather than a status problem that needs teacher intervention and support in order that such students can demonstrate academic competence (also see Adams & Hamm, 1998; McEwan, 2000) . As one possible solution, research finds that effectively mediated "cooperative learning promotes students' enjoyment of school and interpersonal relations, development of social skills, sense of the classroom as community, and academic achievement" (Learning First Alliance, 2001, p. 11) .

Teacher candidates are expected to plan instruction that includes strategies to engage low status/historically marginalized students. Plans must be explicit as to how instruction will develop critical thinking and problem solving skills of all students, including those considered low status/historically marginalized. If, when a teacher candidate is observed, these particular students are rarely engaged in learning opportunities or do not receive teacher support to demonstrate academic competence, the teacher candidate will be rated "below standard." One way in which a teacher candidate can be "at standard" for this category of students is by creating learning opportunities for students to work both individually and in different groups, including heterogeneous groups that build and recognize academic competence in subject matter content. Thus, a teacher candidate is expected to have students engaged in learning community activities that foster their active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interactions.

Multicultural perspective* ^

A multicultural perspective is an inclusive orientation that is manifested in instructional planning and the classroom environment through evidence of culturally responsive teaching, a learning community, democratic classroom management, caring, multiculturalism, multicultural education, and transformative academic knowledge (see sections below ). A multicultural perspective requires an education that is multicultural. In its broadest sense, multicultural education is " a total school reform effort designed to increase educational equity for a range of cultural, ethnic, and economic groups " (emphasis in original) (Banks, 1993b, p. 6) . This is particularly critical in an era when "intolerance for difference seems to have risen as the diversity of the U.S. population has increased" (Lloyd, Tienda, & Zajacova, 2002, p. 175) . Multicultural education goals are multidimensional. Dimensions include (a) content integration for an inclusive elementary and secondary school curriculum, (b) multicultural knowledge construction processes, (c) prejudicial discrimination reduction, (d) an equity pedagogy, and (e) an empowering school culture and social structure for all children and youth (Banks, 1993c, 2001) .

Whereas a teacher candidate's focus is on classroom instruction and not necessarily on school reform, the planning and teaching practices of a candidate from a multicultural perspective can contribute positively to a school's climate for multicultural inclusiveness and support. For example, when a teacher candidate integrates multicultural subject matter content into the curriculum, a candidate is involved in a multicultural knowledge construction process with and for students. When practicing an equity pedagogy, a teacher candidate is also reflecting a multicultural perspective when trying to reduce classroom prejudicial social discriminatory behavior among students.

For the "Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates" student learning must be relevant and include the use of appropriate multicultural metaphors and representations. At some point during a teacher candidate's internship students are expected to be engaged in multicultural inquiry that can involve conflicting meanings and interpretations of concepts and issues. Incorporating a multicultural perspective into the curriculum is a dimension of the knowledge construction process. Construction of knowledge is central to authentic assessment (Wehlage, Newmann, & Secada, 1996) . A multicultural perspective exists when multiple viewpoints, especially from populations of color, are positively incorporated into a teacher candidate's entire approach to teaching and learning. Multicultural content integration in an instructional plan considers the degree "to which teachers use examples, data, and information from a variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key concepts, principles, generalizations, and theories in their subject area or discipline" (Banks, 1993c, p. 5) . Treating multicultural information as a stand alone or add-on to the curriculum is insufficient. A multicultural perspective needs to be incorporated into the curriculum in a relevant and meaningful manner that can interconnect the experiences of various cultures and groups (Banks, 1993a, 1994; Cochran-Smith, 2000; Lynch, 1986) .

A teacher candidate's planning, materials, and instruction must clearly demonstrate approaches differentiated from those that represent dominant cultural exclusions of multiple perspectives and different ways of knowing and learning. This involves plans that incorporate a multicultural perspective into effective instructional strategies for students at all levels of academic abilities and talents. A multicultural perspective in teaching and learning uses transformative academic knowledge that includes viewpoints representative of people of color, immigrants, the poor, and those who work for gender equity.

Transformative Academic Knowledge . To counter an additive content integration curriculum strategy, Banks (1993a) calls for the incorporation of transformative academic knowledge that:

consists of concepts, paradigms, themes, and explanations that challenge mainstream academic knowledge and that expand the historical and literary canon...[under the recognition] that knowledge is not neutral but is influenced by human interests, that all knowledge reflects the power and social relationships within society, and that an important purpose of knowledge construction is to help people improve society (p. 9) .

Incorporation of a multicultural perspective requires the application of transformative academic knowledge. This is the case regardless of the demographic composition of a teacher candidate's classroom or school because all students in this diverse democracy need to develop cultural competence based on the inclusiveness that a multicultural perspective can provide.

A teacher candidate represents an outdated dominant cultural model when students are primarily engaged in traditional Eurocentric learning materials and instructional activities (Cochran-Smith, 2000) . Eurocentrism often avoids considerations of cultural differences and, therefore, attempts to regulate what counts as legitimate culture, academic knowledge, and expressions of academic competence. Transformative academic knowledge, however, resists an underlying assumption in Eurocentric teaching and learning that considers individuals with a non-European heritage as lacking a history or a coherent culture worthy of recognition (Dussel, 1995, 1998; Goldberg, 1993; McLaren, 1995; Mignolo, 1998; Wallerstein, 1999) .

Conceptual variables such as race, class, and gender are rarely validated within a dominant cultural framework for teaching and learning. A dominant approach can encourage teachers to act as though race is non-recognizable when it is nearly impossible in the United States to do so (Crenshaw, 1998; Kousser, 1999; McLaren & Torres, 1999; Nieto, 1995; Powell, 1996; Winant, 1998) . For example, in classrooms with students of color, Valli (1995) found that, for white teacher candidates, they "had to first see the color of the child in order to design a multicultural curriculum, but then they had to move beyond color sightedness to value a multicultural curriculum for everyone" that can lead to an equity pedagogy for all students (p. 125) .

A teacher candidate, therefore, must provide evidence in the instructional plan that in the construction of learning targets and assessments a multicultural perspective with transformative academic knowledge has been incorporated into subject matter content and instructional practices. A teacher candidate is "at standard," for example, when students use learning materials and activities that incorporate a multicultural perspective. Students would also be seen exhibiting mutual respect through expressing and listening to divergent, multicultural perspectives.

Culturally Responsive Teaching . Culturally responsive teaching differs from historical practices of schools that exclusively attend to and privilege middle class and Eurocentric values. In contrast to assimilationist teaching that denies the cultural heritage of significant numbers of children, culturally responsive pedagogy values and appropriately incorporates a student's culture into instruction (Gay, 2000; Irvine, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1995) . Gay's (2000) criteria for culturally responsive teaching is based on the degree to which a teacher candidate is able to use "cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant and effective" for P-12 students (p. 29) . Such measures can help to assess if a teacher candidate focuses on student strengths that are "culturally validating and affirming " (p. 29) . In summary, current research on culturally responsive teaching finds that what is needed are classroom learning communities that support "empowering forms of acculturation and teacher-student relations based on collaboration rather than coercion" (Gallego et al., 2001, p. 982) .

Culturally responsive teaching requires a supportive learning community environment in classrooms. A teacher candidate is expected in the instructional plan to describe how instructional methods, the curriculum, and assessment of learning are culturally responsive to students of color, immigrant children, second language learners, and students from lower socioeconomic classes. Culturally responsive teaching also requires a teacher candidate to describe in the instructional plan how knowledge of students and their community are used as frameworks and supports for activities, resources, and learning strategies.

Classroom management for inclusive, supportive learning communities ^

Classroom management is intricately connected to effective teaching. A teacher candidate must involve students in learning the participatory skills necessary to engage successfully in learning subject matter content (Evertson & Randolph, 1999) . Effective teaching is predicated on a classroom environment where activities and assignments "invite students to participate in the development of classroom expectations and norms, to develop widely dispersed friendship patterns, to shoulder some leadership and responsibility, to communicate with others through a broad array of communication channels, and to negotiate and resolve conflict" (p. 11) .

In order to engage all students, especially those traditionally assigned low status, a teacher education program and its P-12 partner schools need to help a teacher candidate create a democratic learning community that includes and welcomes all

students and places a positive value on the academic competence and intellectual ability of every student. The Learning First Alliance (2001) notes that research:

substantiates the importance of belonging and support for students.[and that] students who feel 'connected' to school-measured by the strength and quality of their relationships with teachers and other students-are more likely to have improved attitudes toward school, learning, and teachers; heightened academic aspirations, motivation, and achievement; and more positive social attitudes, values, and behavior (pp. 4, 9) .

Inclusive classrooms where there is this sense of belonging are student-centered and include characteristics that reflect culturally responsive teaching and are caring and democratic.

Caring and Democratic Classrooms . John Dewey (1916) conceived of a democratic learning community founded upon "good will" which he equated with "intelligent sympathy" (p. 141) . Good will or intelligent sympathy in social groupings results when individuals can empathetically see across their self-interests and biases-be they socio-economic or racial-to work toward common learnings and understandings. In this context Dewey warned against one group acting under the guise of benevolence by dictating to others what was in their best interest. In contemporary terms we can characterize the application of intelligent sympathy as Noddings' (1992) notion of caring communities in schools and classrooms. Critical for Noddings is open-ended dialogue as a process in "a common search for understanding, empathy, or appreciation" (p. 23 ) where affect interacts with cognitive knowledge acquisition. Caring implies "a continuous drive for competence" where students feel safe and secure to have "the courage to wander forth both physically and intellectually into new territory" so that each child can grow individually (Noddings, 2001, pp. 101, 104) .

Recent court decisions point to the expectation that an adequate education should "prepare students to be citizens and economic participants in a democratic society" (Rebell, 2002, p. 239). Hence, in a democratic learning community, means are not disassociated from ends. An effective learning community that serves the aims of deepening student learning is an intentional undertaking. "Community life does not organize itself in an enduring way purely spontaneously," Dewey (1938/1974) explained. "It requires thought and planning ahead" (p. 56) .

When a teacher candidate plans instruction, there must be evidence of strategies that will be used to create an inclusive, supportive learning community. A teacher candidate must have a clear outline of management tasks and methods of monitoring students that are democratic and caring and involve students in becoming intrinsically motivated and engaged in their own learning. In such a learning community a teacher candidate's students would be observed giving input to their own learning experience and to other students and interacting in a respectful manner.

Conclusion ^

As research and the sad experience of children being academically left behind indicates, a new, inclusive way of approaching teaching and learning is necessary. The collaboration between WACTE and OSPI provides a performance-based approach to addressing this problem. Higher education and OSPI, however, cannot do this task alone. As higher education, OSPI, and the State Board work together in providing qualified beginning teachers, public school teachers, administrators, school boards, legislators, families, communities, and tribal councils must also join in a paradigm shift that is beneficial and effective for all children.

 

* Significant content from this section to the "Conclusion" on page 11 is adapted by permission from Vavrus (2002).

 

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