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Eric.ed.gov – Partnerships, Policy, and Educational Change: The Role of Mathematics and Science in K-16 Reform

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Concerns about American competitiveness and innovation have led to increasing scrutiny of science, technical, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Leaders in the higher education, business, and legislative communities have all issued calls for expanded opportunities and training in STEM fields to improve the skills of the U.S. workforce. Older arguments for change, including stronger alignment of K-12 and higher education curriculum and the overall reform of teacher preparation, are incorporated within these recent calls, and share similar policy and implementation challenges. This analysis identifies the National Science Foundation Math Science Partnerships program as an emblem of the challenges of engaging K-12 and higher education in major reform efforts within a dynamic policy environment. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Standards Deviation: How Schools Misunderstand Education Policy. CPRE Policy Briefs. RB-43

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief summarizes the findings of a recent book, “Standards Deviation: How Schools Misunderstand Education Policy” (Spillane, 2004), that examines state and local government relations as the standards move from the statehouse to the district policymakers and teachers who attempt to make sense of them. It takes a case study approach, focusing on a single state, Michigan, and strategically sampled school districts. The study is based on empirical data from a four-year examination of approaches to the use of standards in nine Michigan districts between 1992 and 1996. This overview of the study’s findings first frames the subject of standards-based reform, and then moves to a discussion of the Michigan math and science standards. Variation in the progress of standards among districts is explored next, followed by… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Establishing a Strong Foundation: District and School Supports for Classroom Implementation of the MDC Framework

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of high-quality formative assessment tools to support teachers’ incorporation of the Core Common State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Lessons from the first generation of standards-based reforms suggest that intense attention to high quality instructional tasks, use of formative assessments embedded in those tasks, and professional development (PD) that attends to both content knowledge and instruction are essential considerations if teachers are to meet the demands of the CCSS. Experts from the Shell Centre have developed a set of formative assessment lessons (FALs) for high school mathematics teachers to facilitate CCSS-based student mathematics learning and provide teachers with feedback about student understanding and mastery. The tools are designed to target the “instructional core”… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Who Should Control Teacher Education? Lessons From England.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper discusses changes in England’s teacher education, using data from interviews, literature, and observation. The research examined how teachers and teacher educators responded to sweeping changes imposed on schools and education following the Education Reform Act of 1988. Both the United States and England experience significant criticism of teachers and teacher education from elected officials and the press. The British government has increased its control of teacher education over the past 2 decades. There are efforts to move teacher education responsibility from universities to schools. The National Curriculum dictates about 80 percent of the content in primary and secondary schools. Its increased emphasis on math, science, and design technology has schools of education struggling to catch up. The recent Labour government brought little change in education… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Commentary & Feedback on Draft II of the Next Generation Science Standards

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: No one is satisfied with science education in the U.S. today. One need only look at Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data to see what a mediocre job is being done of imparting a solid science education to the average American student. There are multiple reasons for this failure, not least the poor preparation of too many teachers whose job it is to teach this critical subject. One key explanation is the poor quality of academic expectations and standards themselves. In science–perhaps even more than other subjects–states must honor their responsibility to set forth, explicitly and rigorously, the skills and content that schools are expected to impart and students are expected… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – K-12th Grade Math and Science Education: The View from the Blackboard. Hearing Before the Committee on Science, House of Representatives, 107th Congress, First Session (March 7, 2001).

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The hearing reported in this document focuses on mathematics and science education at the K-12 grade levels. The hearing includes the opening statements of Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives and Representative Ralph Hall, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives. Witnesses include Ms. Julia Anne Lewis, Elementary Mathematics Teacher, Academy School, Brattleboro, Vermont; Mr. Jonathan Brenner, Former Middle School Science Teacher, Eleanor Roosevelt Intermediate School 143, Washington Heights, New York; Ms. Felicity Messner Ross, Secondary Mathematics Teacher, Robert Poole Middle School, Baltimore, Maryland; Mr. Michael Stephen Lampert, Secondary Science Teacher, South Salem High School, Salem, Oregon and Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Member, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives. The appendix includes the opening statements by Congressman Ken… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – ESEA Briefing Book

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: President Obama and congressional leaders have vowed to take action this year on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently reauthorized and rebranded as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. While most observers remain skeptical that everyone will actually see a signing ceremony in 2011, it does appear likely that at least one house of Congress will produce a bill. In this “briefing book,” the authors identify the ten key issues that policymakers must resolve in order to get reauthorization across the finish line, and explore the major options under consideration for each one. The ten issues–which fall under the areas of standards and assessments, accountability, teacher quality, and flexibility and innovation–are these: (1) College and career readiness–Should states be required to adopt… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Retaining Quality Teachers for Alaska.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report examines the demand for teachers, teacher turnover, and teacher education in Alaska. Surveys were conducted with school district personnel directors, directors of Alaska teacher education programs, teachers who exited Alaska schools in 2001, and rural and urban instructional aides. Alaska is facing teacher shortages, but these are confined to certain specializations–particularly special education and secondary math and science–and a few rural districts. Since most of Alaska’s teachers come from outside the state, the state is particularly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the national teacher labor market. In addition, cost-of-living adjusted salaries for Alaska teachers have declined in the past decade. Surveys of exiting teachers found that rural teachers were dissatisfied with student motivation and effort and lack of support from parents. Alaska’s institutions of higher… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Narrowing Gap in New York City Teacher Qualifications and Its Implications for Student Achievement in High-Poverty Schools. Working Paper 10

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Studies have found substantial sorting of teachers across schools, with the schools with the highest proportions of poor, non-white, and low-scoring students having the least qualified teachers as measured by certification, exam performance, and inexperience (Lankford, Loeb and Wyckoff, 2002). Yet, there have been substantial changes in the educational policy landscape over the past five years. New laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), have changed requirements for teachers. Assessment-based accountability policies at the state-level have created standards and increased oversight of schools, especially those with low-achieving students. New routes into teaching, many with fewer requirements before teaching, have changed the cost for individuals to enter the teaching profession. These changes have affected teacher labor markets profoundly. In this paper the authors examine… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – High Schools and High Stakes Testing in California: Size and Income Do Matter

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the size of high schools, their percentage of SED (socio-economic disadvantaged) students, and API (academic performance index) scores in California, and determine if teacher preparation is a contributing factor. The 2010 API scores and median income of all 52 counties, and the 2010 API scores and % SED of 1,089 high schools were tabulated and graphed to determine the strength of the correlation between the two different sets of data. Also, the percent proficient levels (in English) for all high school students by grade (9-11) and by socio-economic status from 2003 to 2010 were compared. Lastly, the number and percent of English and math teachers with the proper credentials are presented for analysis. Results indicate there… Continue Reading