Assessment in Perspective: Focusing on the Readers Behind the Numbers

Clare Landrigan has been working with her coauthor Tammy Mulligan (right) for the past twenty-three years. They began their work together coteaching an integrated first- and second-grade classroom at the Eliot Pearson Children's School in Medford, Massachusetts.

Clare says that at first she chose the position because she needed to finance her graduate degree, but then she "ended up loving it and choosing to become a teacher." Clare says that teaching combined her love of research with an engaging, practical experience in the classroom. "I love that teaching allows me to use both my creative and analytical mind," Clare explains. "Teaching allows me to constantly question, reflect, observe, teach, and revise. I love observing students in the process of learning and thinking about how to engage them... I love that moment when learning clicks for a student and they believe that they have the power to control their learning. It also doesn't hurt that they keep me laughing all the time!"

Clare and Tammy now run a private staff development business, Teachers to Teachers. They work with varied school systems to implement best practices in the field of literacy and to engage in institutional change. They blog regularly at Perspectives, and are also a regular contributors to Choice Literacy and Lead Literacy. They would love to connect and hear your perspective!

After finding a career on Wall Street unfulfilling, Tammy Mulligan volunteered as a reading tutor for elementary students. "After just a few sessions I knew I had found my passion," she says. "I began taking graduate courses at Teachers College at night while I worked at the bank during the day. After finishing most of my class work, I was hired as an assistant teacher in a second-grade classroom at the Brooklyn Friends School. I loved teaching and never returned to the bank."

Tammy and her coauthor Clare Landrigan (pictured, left) have been working together for the past twenty-three years and currently run a private staff development business, Teachers to Teachers.They work with varied school systems to implement best practices in the field of literacy and to engage in institutional change. They blog regularly at Perspectives, and are also a regular contributors to Choice Literacy and Lead Literacy. They would love to connect and hear your perspective!

"There are so many things I love about teaching," Tammy says. "I love the moment in the classroom when all of the students are engaged in learning and you can hear that excited and productive hum. I love when you listen closely to a child and you understand how he or she is thinking about a particular idea. For me this is the moment I know I can begin teaching. I love the planning process, I love collaborating with teaching, and I also love laughing with colleagues about the funny yet poignant things that can only happen in elementary classrooms."

Tammy enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, camping, kayaking, and reading.