Return-Path: <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.9.3/8.9.0.Beta5/980425bjb) with SMTP id HAA06203; Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:39:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:39:12 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <20000602.073403.12350.0.GDEMETRION@juno.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "GEORGE E. DEMETRION" <gdemetrion@juno.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-4eff@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:1044] Research report on EFF X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 Status: O Content-Length: 2332 Lines: 51 Sondra Stein had posted the following on the EFF list in June 99. Would there be any update on the availability of Juliet Merrifield's research report on EFF. The connections to Scribner, Kegan and Mezirow that Sondra mentions in her note (below) sound intriquing. I'm quite intereted in how Merrifield crafts her discussion and whether she builds on the concept of literacy as practices (as opposed to discreet "skills") as articulated that she links with The New Literacy Studies in "Contested Ground", which also seems to shape the core assumptions that ground EFF. Such a notion, it needs be stated , upon which EFF standards might be based cannot be easily squared with the "objective, measurable, and quantitative" standards that shape the National Reporting System. Neither can the philosophical positivism and psychological behaviorism upon which the NRS is premised be easily squared with the constructivist philosophy and the humanistic psychology upon which EFF seems to be based. I think a discussion of these factors, along with the politics of literacy that grounds both current federal policy and the intentions of the EFF developers as well as practitioners should be thoroughly explored. Merrifield's research report may provide some interesting angles to begin looking at these issues. George Demetrion Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford GDemetrion@juno.com ________________________________________________________________ We will be publishing soon (September, probably, and will note here, when it is available) a report on the EFF research process prepared by Juliet Merrifield. The report addresses the theoretical underpinnings of Equipped for the Future -- its links to cognitive psychology (through the work of Sylvia Scribner) to adult development (through the work of Robert Kegan and Jack Mezirow), to what is now talked about as the New Literacies movement. With all the new legislation (WIA, Reading Excellence Act, etc.) focused on research-based approaches to effective teaching and learning, it's important for all of us to do two things: keep up-to-date on the research (taking advantage of such avenues as NCSALL's Focus on Basics) and carefully document what you do in your own teaching and learning so your experiences become part of the research base. Sondra
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