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Eric.ed.gov – State Policymakers’ Views on the Arts in Education. Issue Brief

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This Issue Brief is based on telephone interviews of 21 state policymakers to discuss the salient education issues in their states and their views on arts education. Six state senators, eight state representatives, one state board of education member, two deputy commissioners of education, three current state superintendents and one former state superintendent were interviewed between November 21, 2005 and February 27, 2006. All of the legislators serve on their respective education committees, and most chair these committees. Political affiliation among these policymakers was approximately equal, with nine Republicans, 10 Democrats and two unidentified. When asked to describe the most salient education issues in their states, quite a few policymakers mention issues that arts can help address, such as dropout prevention and the achievement gap between poor… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Alabama Education News. Volume 28, Number 9

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “Alabama Education News” is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the “Code of Alabama”, as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about programs and goals of public education in Alabama. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Effective School Bus Maintenance Combats High Fuel Costs; (2) Torchbearer Schools Light Up Student Performance; (3) Alabama among First States to Administer New ELL Test; (4) School Systems Consistently Receive National Award; (5) School of Fine Arts Director Pens Drama Highlighting Birmingham’s Racial History; (6) $10,000 Recycling Rewards for 10 Alabama Public Schools; (7) Math Tournament Readies Students for State Tests; (8)… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Beyond the Basics: Achieving a Liberal Education for All Children

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Citing Aristotle, Franklin and Einstein as proponents of a broad, liberal-arts education, Finn and Ravitch promote the need for liberal learning as preparatory to the civic life needed for a well-functioning democracy. Drawing together the work of a number of educators, the editors have organized this volume in two sections. Part I, Liberal Learning: Its Value and Future, includes three papers that advocate both for liberal learning, and for a common curriculum. Part II, Restoring Liberal Art to the K-12 Curriculum, features eleven explorations of how to expand liberal learning by improving accountability systems, teacher training and education delivery. Maintaining that their support of liberal learning is well-documented, the editors conclude the volume by noting four opposing trends: (1) Gradual extinction of liberal learning in higher education;… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Writing Is Learning: Strategies for Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Writing activities can be used to cultivate students’ enthusiasm for learning. This book shows teachers how to introduce their students to the benefits of writing in a variety of subjects including math, language arts, science, social studies, and art. Each chapter in the book includes an observation that allows readers to enter a classroom and see how the teacher uses specific writing assignments to sustain and deepen students’ interaction with subject matter. Each chapter also includes examples of student writing that resulted from each activity; detailed discussion showing how the writing exercises benefited students and teachers; writing prompts; and strategies to evaluate and comment on student writing. Chapters in the book are: (1) Getting Started: Journals and Learning Logs; (2) Putting Ideas in Order: Narratives and Problem… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Open Distribution of Virtual Containers as a Key Framework for Open Educational Resources and STEAM Subjects

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper presents how virtual containers enhance the implementation of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) subjects as Open Educational Resources (OER). The publication initially summarizes the limitations of delivering open rich learning contents and corresponding assignments to students in college level STEAM areas. The role that virtual containers can play in current distant education is then discussed, starting by reviewing related teaching efforts around the use of legacy virtual machines. We then focus on the superseding container technology and how it can bridge the gap between online students, humble computing resources, teachers and IT specificities. As a practical example, we present an experience carried out at the online School of Engineering & Technology at Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR). Within the context of a… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Implementing STEAM in the Early Childhood Classroom

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education has received growing attention over the past decade, primarily within the middle and high school levels. This article focuses on the need for STEAM education at the early childhood level. Preschool children have a natural disposition toward science with their sense of curiosity and creativity. This ethnographic research involved professional development for 50 in-service preschool teachers in an urban high-needs area of the northeastern United States. The researcher explored how providing hands-on professional development, consistent support, and rich resources for STEAM lesson implementation into the early childhood curriculum would impact the dispositions, self-efficacy, and rate of implementation for teachers. The study also involved observation of the reception of STEAM instruction by preschool children. Data was collected through pre and… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Rethinking Curriculum and Instruction: Lessons from an Integrated Learning Program and Its Impact on Students and Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: CoTA (Collaborations: Teachers and Artists) is a professional development program that empowers teachers to access the arts in everyday instruction to support student achievement. CoTA schools commit to intense, 3-year collaborations for ten weeks each year where teachers learn to capitalize on arts content and strategies to promote knowledge and skills in other curricular areas, such as language arts and math. Teachers and artists work together to identify the learning needs of students, customize a project to meet those needs (while aligning to the standards), refine the project on a weekly basis through collaborative meetings, and formally reflect on the experience in a cycle of continuous improvement. As the program progresses, responsibility for designing arts-infused units increasingly falls to the classroom teachers as the artists shift into… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math in Art or Art in Math.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The concept of integrating mathematics and art course work broadens an appreciation of the connection between the two. Although calculations and getting the right answer have traditionally been the focus of mathematics at the secondary level, other topics have recently begun to be addressed, such as mathographics, or the relationship between art and mathematics, and creative constructions and shapes. Art instruction also includes considerable instruction in mathematics, as artists need to understand such concepts as parallel lines, visual distance, and perspective distortion. Moreover, many examples of mathematics in art works exist, such Albrecht Durer’s use of grids in woodcuts and Salvador Dali’s use of the hypercube, while there are also many examples of literature that support the mathematics/art connection. In interrelating mathematics and art at the college… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Supporting Novice Teachers of the Arts

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper examines and reports on beginning generalist teacher self-efficacy, which Bandura (1997) suggests plays an important part in student outcomes. In 2008, 201 beginning generalist teachers throughout the state of Queensland, Australia, participated in a study that aimed to provide a snapshot of current perceptions towards support in schools for the arts. Beginning teachers were asked to rank their school support for a number of different subjects in the school curriculum and provide written justification for these rankings. Results suggest that beginning teachers perceived a general lack of support for the teaching of the arts in their classroom, compared to English and maths. They reported that schools provided greater financial support, assistance and professional development for the teaching of literacy and numeracy with a view to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – “Minecraft,” Teachers, Parents, and Learning: What They Need to Know and Understand

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This article explores six effective principles for teachers to use to understand and apply “Minecraft” in today’s classrooms. Video games have become one of the fastest growing forms of media for youth and adult consumers. “Minecraft,” a multiplayer online game (MOG), is one of the most popular video games to date. By allowing its players to build simulated, virtual worlds, “Minecraft” aims to foster creativity, control, and imagination. Yet while the affordances of playing “Minecraft” spark collaborative learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among youth, one constraint still remains: there appears to be a disconnect between some teachers’ and parents’ understandings about the “Minecraft” world’s mechanisms, uses, and benefits. Due to the success of “Minecraft” in the digital era and in some schools, studying this game is… Continue Reading