Dr. Bertani provided a variety of group activities on the first day of the meeting that facilitated reflection on the change process and leadership in managing that process.

Dr. Bertani explains the "parking lot" where participants wrote important ideas that did not fit in the major categories of discussion to be sure these ideas were addressed later.

Myriam Met, chair of the planning meeting, led the activities on the second through fourth days of the conference. Here she explains procedures for the small group discussions. In each discussion participants were encouraged to "think outside of the box" to define "What could we do?" in addressing three topics. A half day of discussion was devoted to each of the topics: 1) Teacher Education, 2) Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, and 3) the Architecture of the Profession/Policy and Agenda Setting.

Participants were divided into small groups, which were reconfigured for discussion on each of the three topics, so that everyone had the opportunity to work with many different participants during the meeting. Small groups are discussing the topic and recording their discussions on chart paper to share with the large group. Every small group discussed the same topic at the same time.

Participants (from left) Mari Haas, Gordon Hale and Richard Donato finalize notes from their groups discussion in preparation for sharing with the large group.

Participants Cherice Montgomery (first photo) and Nancy Hernandez (second photo) share the results of their groups' discussions in an "art gallery" format. In this format small groups circulated around the room to read the chart paper notes posted on the wall and hear a synopsis of the discussion from a participant in that small group.

A small group hears the explanation of the discussion in the "art gallery" format.

Steering committee members (from left) Elizabeth Hoffman, Ed Scebold, and June Phillips and participant Nancy Rhodes relax after an intense day of discussions. In the second photo, steering committee member, Marcia Rosenbusch (from left), and participants Margot Steinhart and Nancy Hernandez take a moment to enjoy the beautiful and secluded setting of Aberdeen Woods, which was an ideal location for this type of meeting.

Steering committee members Ann Tollefson (left) and Emily Spinelli (right) discuss the organization of the next phase of small group discussions with Planning Meeting Chair, Myriam Met (center).

On Saturday afternoon, participants divided into small groups to summarize the discussions on five key topics: teacher development, research, architecture of the profession and policy agenda, teacher recruitment, and curriculum, instruction, assessment, and articulation. Helena Curtain (left) and Eileen Glisan enter discussion notes into a laptop computer from their groups discussion on teacher development. Each small group will prepare a short paper on their topic in response to the question "What could we do?" to be shared widely in the profession this fall.

Participants gather for a group photo on the last day. Seated on the floor (from left) are Heidi Byrnes, Carine Feyten, Sharon Wilkinson, Nancy Rhodes, Diane Tedick, Cynthia Ning, Sheri Spaine Long, Paul Sandrock, Cherice Montgomery; Seated (from left) are: Nancy Gadbois, Marcia Rosenbusch, Mary Lynn Redmond, Eileen Glisan, Helena Curtain, Paul Garcia, Marty Abbott, Martie Semmer, Robert Lafayette, Christine Brown, Kathy Riordan, Deborah Parks; Standing (from left) are: Mari Haas, Richard Donato, Emily Spinelli, Myriam Met, Margot Steinhart, Nancy Hernandez, Elizabeth Welles, Helene Zimmer-Loew, Lynn Sandstedt, Frank Medley, Jr., Gordon Hale, Carmen Chaves Tesser, Mel Nielsen, Rebecca Kline, June Phillips, Ann Tollefson, Liz Hoffman, Ed Scebold. Not pictured: Regan Greene (Project staff who took the photographs).

These discussions resulted in discussion papers on the following five topics:

Architecture of the Profession
Curriculum, Instruction, Articulation, and Assessment
Teacher Development
Teacher Recruitment and Retention
Research