Portfolio 1

Prior to entering the doctoral program, I undertook research projects based on personal or professional interests, Since 2002, I have been involved with The Arthur Miller Society, a literary society dedicated to the scholarly study of Arthur Miller, his life, and works. I have conducted research and presented papers on teaching and A View from the Bridge, Arthur's Miller's journalism, and using Miller's work to teach social consciousness, humanity, and critical thinking.

In addition to my interest in Miller, I have also through the doctoral program and through my professional life at Thomas Edison High School been drawn to research concerning the International Baccalaureate, particularly in the areas of college readiness, perceptions of the Diploma Programme and access. I have had the opportunity through my connections at Edison to make professional presentations concerning access and underrepresented populations and IB because of a pre-IB summer camp called IB Connections that was started at Edison six years ago through a Fairfax County grant program. I was a member of the original grant committee for the camp and participated in the camp as a teacher and administrator for five of the last six years. Last year, because I was going to be in England on my internship during the camp session, I processed all camp registrations prior to camp opening, recruited and selected the camp counselors and then trained the counselors before camp opened but did not teach or participate during camp week.

In terms of future research, I have begun looking for opportunities to start writing and presenting papers about things I am learning in the doctoral program that interest me (IB seems to be a logical choice) as well as some other topics that I find interesting. At present, a paper proposal I submitted to Phi Beta Delta's annual conference in Philadelphia in April has been accepted. The title of the paper will be "Applying the Ideas of Bologna to Universities in the United States: Prospects and Challenges for Tuning American Degree Programs and Encouraging Collaboration between Institutions and Government Agencies" and came from work I was asked to complete while on internship last summer at IB Vancouver.

Thinking towards my eventual dissertation, I would like to do a North American perception study of IB although I do realize a full scale study is beyond my grasp because of the number of institutions involved. Keeping in line with the English and Australian perception studies already completed, I would like to complete a similar study in North America perhaps working with the idea of competitivenesss of universities as well as the harshness of IB policies. I am thinking I would target a selection of colleges and universities in different categories of competitiveness all with terrible IB policies to compare their perceptions of the IB Diploma Programme and to see if there are any connections between competitiveness of the school and the school's policy. I am thinking the method would be qualitative as the method for the English and Australian studies was also qualitative and I would want to keep my work in line with the work done in this area.

Update for Portfolio 2

Shortly after I completed Portfolio 1, I came upon an opportunity to begin to work towards planning for my eventual dissertation. This opportunity was to develop a proposal for a presentation to submit for the IB Americas annual conference which will be held in Miami in July 2010. Because of the reading I was completing in Dr. Galluzzo's class, Evaluation Methods (EDRS 820), I thought that perhaps it would be a good idea for me to try to present a needs assessment for my dissertation idea to one of the audiences that would be the most interested - the IB community. This community includes IB schools, universities and colleges, administrators, and those who work for IB itself. In addition, by putting my ideas in front of this group, I may be able to get feedback about possible schools to move towards in terms of subjects, possible questions that are specific to North America and need to be included on a North American perception study and interest for the project in general. As a result, I have submitted the attached proposal to the IB Americas conference and hope to hear whether it is accepted or rejected in mid-April.

IB Americas Conference Proposal

Update for Portfolio 3

In May, I found out that my proposal for a needs assessment for the 2010 IB Americas Annual Regional Conference had not been accepted.  Undeterred by this, I focused my energies on starting my pilot study in EDRS 812 in June and applying for HSRB approval.  Because I had thought about doing the pilot study for so long, I felt as if I lived and breathed nothing but that for the six weeks I worked on it and the 812 course.  When the pilot was finally done, I can honestly say I was physically exhausted and needed a few days break. 

After the pilot study was finished, I also worked on three different presentations – two for the IB Academy held at George Mason in August and one for a College Readiness Institute in Washington D.C. also in August.  I presented at the IB Academy on my dissertation interest area but focused it towards IB coordinators writing a presentation called “IB Credit,…or Not: Discussing College with Students and Parents.” Doing this presentation required me to research how universities create policies and how to translate those policies from an IB coordinator to a parent or a student who wants to know about college.  This required me to look at the question of university recognition from a different angle and allowed me to see IB and how it is perceived from another point of view.  This exercise was extremely helpful as I was and am starting to formulate dissertation questions.  The other presentations I completed this summer were directed towards English and writing teachers, valuable as they are preparing students to be college-ready.  All three gave me practice getting up in front of an audience and crafting presentations. The first was more beneficial to my research interests as well.

Lastly, I have also been fortunate to been asked to write a book chapter concerning international-mindedness in teacher education in IB and Advanced Placement.  I am currently doing the research for the chapter now and am excited about this writing opportunity.  The chapter is due on March 1.