We are an increasingly globally-minded community and need to make sure that our students are competent to participate in the world’s higher education options.
Work Plan
My goal is to spend four months visiting schools in European countries where the PISA ratings are highest, traveling from northern Europe to southern Europe. From October through February, I plan to visit innovative and traditional schools in as many of the following countries as possible: Finland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Austria, and Switzerland. For comparison, I also plan to visit middle and lower scoring schools in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Israel.
Plan: Evaluate what top-rated European schools are doing by:
• Visiting various schools in European and Mid-East countries to compare educational practices to those of the United States
• Videotaping lessons, taking photographs of classrooms
• Keeping a detailed evaluative list of text books in use in those classrooms
• Interviewing teachers and students as possible
• Determining what the educational priorities are at these schools through “Blink” assessments, interviews with administrators, and school websites
• Interviewing community members and parents to hear their perspectives of schools and their level of support
• Evaluating PISA scores to determine inclusiveness of students tested
Impact of Activities
The purpose of this study is to find practical examples of pedagogical practices in high performing schools and bring those methods and ideas to Washington State. Through sharing these observations with teachers at OSPI (Washington State’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) WALA (Washington Association for Learning Alternatives) conferences, and my local school district, there can be an immediate effect on students through the educational practices transferred to these teachers’ classrooms.
