As a secondary level English teacher in both Connecticut and Massachusetts since 1994, Lisa earned her certification as a National Writing Project consultant and subsequently led workshops in her ‘5-step plan’ for designing and composing developmental paragraphs and advanced essays. Her classroom innovation proved instrumental through the years in allowing young writers find success in high school and beyond and led even struggling students to pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) or Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT).
Lisa's initial research in the Language, Literacy and Culture doctoral program within the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst closely examines her use of multimedia production in the classroom as an authentic form of assessment, as a teaching tool to improve reading and writing skills and as a path to aligning teenagers’ real world concerns with that of their schools’. Her work on Multimodal Media Literary Analysis (MMLA) has since been presented at, several education, research conferences (see curriculum vitae link below) and acknowledged by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) as forward-thinking pedagogy.
While acting as a Program/University Supervisor for both the Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) and Access to Critical Content and English Language Acquisition (ACCELA) program, Lisa’s research focus shifted to examine why so many bright, capable people are abandoning teaching within five years of initial certification placing a financial burden on already overtaxed communities. Lisa believes her early literacy work holds little promise if the disjunction between student and teacher satisfaction with American public schools is not critically examined and effectively solved.
Whether the result of twenty years of experience with students K-12 and adults in classrooms and workshops, her prior experience running a freelance business or her situated portfolio assessment and Beginning Educator Support Training (BEST) in Connecticut at the onset of her career, Lisa is committed to assisting teachers, schools and companies interested in making a measurable difference in the lives of our youth. Perhaps more importantly, she is an advocate of collaboration, critical problem-solving tactics and cognizant that answers in this field are hard-won.
Copyright Notice – No reproduction of text without express permission of this author, please.
© LISA PURVIN OLINER