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Eric.ed.gov – Boosting the Quality and Efficiency of Special Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: It’s a woeful fact: Few students with special needs achieve a high (or even modest) level of academic proficiency. The latest (2011) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results show, for example, that 62 percent of eighth graders with disabilities fell below the “basic” level in reading, as did 64 percent in math. This study is intended to open some windows and encourage some fresh breezes by examining three key questions: (1) How much variation in special education spending exists among districts?; (2) What can we learn from school districts that spend less on special education, yet achieve the same or better outcomes than demographically similar but higher-spending counterparts?; and (3) What savings might be realized if the special education field focused on outcomes rather than inputs?… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program. Report to the Legislature

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP) is a maturing and stable program. In 2016-17 it included: (1) Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) in English Language Arts (ELA) and math for students in grades 3-8 and high school; (2) Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) in science for grades 5 and 8; (3) End-of-Course exams in math and biology; and (4) Specialized testing for English proficiency, alternate achievement standards, and graduation alternatives. Spring 2017 represented the third year of Smarter Balanced testing. In spring 2017, a total of 580,276 students took the ELA tests and 558,631 students took the math tests. Students with significant cognitive challenges can take an alternate assessment, the Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM). In spring 2017, about 6,000 students took the WA-AIM. Washington is… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Lesson Study: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Lesson Study is a popular approach to teacher professional development used widely in Japan. It involves a small group of teachers co-planning a series of lessons based on a shared learning goal for the pupils, with one teacher leading the co-constructed lesson and their colleagues invited to observe pupil learning in the lesson. The team then develop their practice further, based on feedback. Some of the features of Lesson Study have been adopted, in a variety of formats, in the U.K. A team at Edge Hill University developed a Lesson Study programme combined with a Talk for Learning content focus, which involved a team of three teachers collaborating to plan, teach, (informally) observe and analyse the impact of teaching on pupil response and progress. Each teacher identified… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Siyavula Case: Digital, Collaborative Text-Book Authoring to Address Educational Disadvantage and Resource Shortage in South African Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Siyavula is known as a pioneer developer of high-quality free digital maths and science textbooks to address resource gaps and disadvantage in South African schools. This case study identifies the success factors which could be replicated in other contexts. Siyavula has developed expertise in digital developing, editing and improving maths and science workbooks and teachers’ guides and distributing them in multiple digital and mobile formats for free. In 2013 the government took the free texts and sponsored the printing and distribution of c500K copies of Grade 4-6 titles, saving the government approximately USD$83.5 Million for each of the 12 books (student workbook and teacher guide in both English and Afrikaans). The collaborative authoring system is identified as instrumental to the success of the project to address under-resourced… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Impacts of the Retired Mentors for New Teachers Program. REL 2017-225

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study evaluates the impact of the Retired Mentors for New Teachers program, a two-year mentoring program at the elementary school level developed by Aurora Public Schools in Colorado. Many of the district’s schools serve a large percentage of economically disadvantaged children, experience high teacher turnover, and hire newer, less experienced teachers. The program addresses these challenges using master educators who recently retired from the district to provide tailored one-on-one mentoring to new teachers. The program requires mentees to meet weekly one-on-one with their mentor and monthly in school-level groups over the course of two years. This study was undertaken by Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Central in collaboration with Aurora Public Schools. It used a randomized controlled trial to assess the impacts of the Retired Mentors for… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teacher Observation: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Teacher Observation intervention aimed to improve teacher effectiveness through structured peer observation. Teachers observe and are observed by their peers a number of times over the course of two years. It was delivered by the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) at the University of Bristol. CMPO researchers trained lead teachers from both maths and English departments in participating secondary schools to use RANDA TOWER software (RANDA, 2012), and lead teachers then trained colleagues in their schools. Teachers used the software on a tablet computer to keep a record of classroom observations and to review and collate the data afterwards. Intervention schools were requested to involve all maths and English teachers in a series of 20 minute, structured peer observations over a two-year period. This… Continue Reading