Early Summer 2011 Issue 
Best Practice: Improving Teaching and Learning Through Inquiry

As another school year winds to a close, we at LCI wish you a restful and renewing summer.  We will be in touch through the summer months, quietly so as not to intrude on your time "off."  Look for two summer issues of our Teaching and Learning With the Common Core newsletter and a late August edition of Best Practices to ease you back into the school year. In the meantime, we hope that you find this issue on inquiry helpful and encourage you to use the summer as an opportunity to slow down, consider all that you have accomplished, and begin to think about your goals for the 2011-2012 school year. 

 Featured Article
Teachers as Investigators of Practices 
by Diane Cunningham
Diane CunninghamAt Byram Hills School District, teachers have many opportunities for professional growth. In 2009, Tim Kaltenecker, Curriculum Director, initiated a new professional growth option for teachers with the support of LCI. He wanted to offer job-embedded professional development and believed that action research could foster a shared commitment to student learning.  Together, we designed a year-long staff development experience that has successfully guided teachers in deepening their ability to study their practice and student learning. read more 
Learn more about Diane's work at Byram Hills. View the Prezi from a co-facilitated ASCD session.  View a list of teachers' inquiry work along with their write-ups of their projects.
Use a checklist to support the design of a Quality Collaborative Action Research Plan

Upcoming Institutes   

LCI will be sponsoring a 2-day institute to support superintendents and others involved in supervising and evaluating principals. Be sure to check the "What's New" section of our website to find out more. 

Upcoming Events

NYS Middle School Association Summer Institute

Jennifer Borgioli will be presenting at the NYS Middle School Association (NYSMSA) Summer Institute at the Corning Museum of Glass - June 26 to 28. Her sessions is titled "Negotiating the Assessment Maze: From Theory to Practice" and will address assessment from a variety of angles.  
What We're Thinking About
Using Inquiry to Make the Familiar Strange
by Giselle Martin-Kniep

Many of us associate the word "inquiry" with asking questions and analyzing data, but there is much more that makes inquiry a powerful and often transformative process. School inquiry can take many forms, depending on the purposes it will serve. It can be individualized or collaborative, narrow or broad. At its best, inquiry accesses various perspectives and data sources and promotes reflection for all involved. Let's consider several inquiry scenarios. Read more.
Publication News  
Congratulations to Diane Cunningham on the publication of her action tool Improving Teaching with Collaborative Action Research. This tool kit, available from ASCD, combines Diane's experiences and tools in a powerful, detailed, and authentic resource designed for schools at any stage in the collegial inquiry process.

Common Core Newsletter

LCI continues to support and promote discourse around the Common Core State Standards.  Look for the 6th issue of Teaching and Learning with the Common Core in your inbox in the next week or two.  Review previous issues by visiting our publications archive.  

Editors: Diane Cunningham and Joanne Picone-Zocchia           
Production: Jennifer Borgioli
LCI: cultivating best practice, inspiring excellence
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