INQUIRY

For the last three years, most of the staff at ASCEND has been engaged with doing inquiry around our practice.  Liz Simons and Tom Malarky from the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) have coached us in this work.  It comprises the bulk of our professional development and informs many of the school-wide and classroom decisions we make about curriculum and instruction.  In addition to participating in and leading inquiry at ASCEND, I have also been a part of two BayCES inquiry projects.  These have connected me with a larger network of teachers doing inquiry and have furthered my research and writing skills. 

There is a great deal of literature published about how to do inquiry.  Summarizing this process or attempting to describe it is far beyond the scope of this website.  A critical and central component to the inquiry process involves gathering data and analyzing it.  The documents that are provided here are examples of what data can look like (and how easy it is for teachers to start collecting data in their classrooms) and are meant to illustrate references made in my article. 

I have also included examples of blank surveys and reflections that teachers could modify and use with their students.  These were created specific to my students and sometimes, specific to an assignment or situation.  They are intended to provide a glimpse into the process of inquiry and are not a set of reproducibles. 

EXAMPLES OF DATA

• Student reflections
• Interview with Eddie
• Survey Results—Quantitative data
• Notes on Literature Circle Meetings
• Teacher Journal Entries

BLANK SURVEYS AND REFLECTIONS

[PDF Files]

• Beginning of the Year Reading Survey
• End of Year Reading Survey
• Literature Circle Reflection
• Reflection on Matilda Bone
• History as a Reader