Documentation as a Dignifying Practice

What if documentation wasn't about compliance, but instead, an act of dignity? In this episode, Angela reflects on the conversation with Melinda Karshner and follows Leah's thread on dignity into new territory. She considers what we make visible as teachers and learners, what we allow to disappear, and what it would mean to tell more complete stories about learners and teachers.Here, she shares real stories that unfolded in professional learning spaces over the last few weeks, sharing new reflections on pedagogical documentation, multimodal assessment, and the weight of a testing culture that was never designed to hold the complexity of what students actually know and can do. Whether you're an educator buried in data you can't use, trying to build assessment systems that honor who students are, or asking hard questions about whose stories get told — and whose don't — this episode will challenge you to redefine what it means to assess learners and learning.Contact: [email protected] to get in touch with Angela:WebsiteFacebookLinkedInInstagramSubstackWays to get in touch with Leah:FacebookLinkedInInstagramSubstackShow Notes and References:Hanif AbdurraqibJody Shipka, Toward a Composition Made Whole (University of Pittsburgh Press)RAND Corporation — Teacher Well-Being and Intentions to Leave: Findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher SurveyCouncil of the Great City Schools — Student Testing in America's Great City Schools: An Inventory and Preliminary Analysis (2015)