The conference featured two work-alike group sessions that allowed those from each of the project teams with similar job functions to get together. Structured activities during the two sessions were designed to help establish relationships across the NSF projects. Work-Alike Evaluators The activities also enabled participants to draw upon their pre-conference reflections and engaged them with others who may have had differing points of view. Discussion in each of the three strands drew upon outcomes from the first work-alike session. The six work-alike groups and facilitators for the session were Policymakers – Stephen Marble, SEDL Evaluators – Bernice Anderson, NSF Instructional leaders – Jackie Burniske, SEDL Project directors – Julio E. López Ferrao, NSF Instructional Implementers – Ed Tobia, SEDL Higher education partners – Kathleen Bergin, NSF Work-Alike Group for Higher Ed Work-Alike Session One – Thursday, December 13, 2001 9:45 – 11:30 a.m. The goal of the first work-alike session was to produce a set of ideas about each of the three conference strand areas (Systemic Alignment, Professional Learning Communities, and Tracking Student Performance) that were used as a starting point for work done within each of the strands. Each work-alike group broke down into six sub-groups to brainstorm and discuss how to complete the statements given below. There were two statements for each strand:   Systemic Alignment A K-16 system that has aligned pedagogy, curricula, and assessment is characterized by . . . A K-16 system that has aligned pedagogy, curricula, and assessment is successful when . . . Professional Learning Communities A school community that supports continuous learning for professional staff is characterized by . . . A school community that supports continuous learning for professional staff is making a difference when . . . Tracking Student Performance A comprehensive assessment system that informs and improves the teaching/learning process is characterized by . . . It is clear that a comprehensive assessment system is achieving its goals when . . . After synthesizing responses and discussion as a whole group, the work-alike group compiled one completion for each of the statements. View Report>> Work-Alike Group for Project Directors in session Work-Alike Session Two – Friday, December 14, 2001 2:45 – 3:30 p.m. The second work-alike session was designed to help participants gain a deeper understanding of the three strand sessions and consider the implications of their own role based upon the ideas and learnings from each strand. After the work-alike groups convened, three topics for discussion were presented: Review the two strand summaries from the first work-alike session that were carried into each strand session. Discuss the most pertinent information gained from each strand session. Discuss the most significant implication the ideas/learnings from your strand meeting has for your role with your NSF project. Participants are given 10 minutes to also record these thoughts on paper.

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