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Eric.ed.gov – Student Collaboration and School Educational Technology: Technology Integration Practices in the Classroom

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: With the onset of Web 2.0 and 3.0–the social and semantic webs–a next wave for integration of educational technology into the classroom is occurring. The aim of this paper is to show how some teachers are increasingly bringing collaboration and shared meaning-making through technology environments into learning environments (Evergreen Education Group, 2014). Purpose is to show a case study of how teachers include student-to-student online collaboration in their Technology Integration Practices (TIP), and how some research projects are examining useful methodologies for incorporating evaluation, assessment and reflection of the approaches (Wilson et al., 2012; Wilson, Scalise, & Gochyyev, 2014). Results from the use of TIP collaborative math/science notebooks in the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) project are presented. Recommendations are to help teachers answer… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Gearing up to Teach the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in the Rural Northeast Region. Stated Briefly. REL 2015-066

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study describes key challenges and necessary supports related to implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) identified by rural math educators in the Northeast. The research team interviewed state and district math coordinators and surveyed teachers in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, to assess their most pressing challenges and associated needs. Key challenges included time and support for teachers to change their instructional practices to meet the CCSSM, availability of high-quality instructional materials, and opportunities for collaboration. The report was produced in response to input from the Northeast Rural Districts Research Alliance (NRDRA), one of eight research alliances working with REL Northeast & Islands. This “Stated Briefly” report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report entitled “Gearing… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Does the Middle School Model Make a Difference? Relating Measures of School Effectiveness to Recommended Best Practices

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Since the emergence of middle schools as distinct educational settings in the 1960s, proponents of the model have advocated for structures and approaches that best meet the particular developmental needs of young adolescents. Middle school researchers have developed frameworks of best practices for schools that have been widely, if not uniformly, adopted. However, there is a paucity of large-scale quantitative research on the efficacy of such best practices. In this study we used state-level administrative data from Texas to estimate the school-level contribution to standardized test scores in math and language arts, along with absenteeism. We then regressed these value-added quantities on indicators of middle school structures, along with research-supported predictors of school efficacy. Results showed that schools with fewer classes in the school day and higher… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The State’s Priority Opportunities to Support Education Reform in Georgia through Resource Reallocation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Nationwide, states face declining or plateauing investments in education. These financial constraints, coupled with increased standards for student achievement through the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), create a heightened need for strategic resource use. However, districts are not currently using resources strategically, as research suggests that 40 cents out of every dollar are spent on practices not aligned with district or state priorities. Therefore, the role of the state today is not only to allocate resources, but also to ensure those resources are used effectively. The state of Georgia leads many others in addressing this issue, having engaged in a series of statewide reforms to grant Local Education Agencies (LEAs) greater flexibility over how they use district resources in exchange for greater accountability… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Implementing Cross-Sector Collaboration through the District-Charter Collaborative: A Case Study of Promising Practices

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: District-Charter Partnerships (DCP) is an initiative that is part of the Equity and Excellence for All agenda established by Mayor De Blasio. Its goal is to support meaningful collaboration between the district and charter sector in order to increase educator capacity and student learning in all New York City public schools. The District-Charter Collaborative (DCC) is one of the principal programs under the DCP umbrella. Spearheaded by the NYC Department of Education’s (DOE) Office of School Design and Charter Partnerships and Office of Leadership, the program brings quads of schools (2 district and 2 charter) together to engage in structured collaboration through the creation of professional learning communities (PLCs). These PLCs aim to improve practice in one of the following Learning Focus Areas (LFAs): math instruction, supporting… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Charter Schools as Nation Builders: Democracy Prep and Civic Education. Policy Brief 4

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This policy brief is the first in a series of in-depth case studies exploring how top-performing charter schools have incorporated civic learning in their school curriculum and school culture. This paper introduces Democracy Prep, a network of seven public charter schools with a civic mission at its core. Democracy Prep’s founder and superintendent is Seth Andrew, an energetic former teacher born and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. Andrew’s passion for civic activism and academic rigor are at the center of Democracy Prep’s model. The network’s motto–“Work hard. Go to college. Change the world!”–couples the “no-excuses” charter school movement’s emphasis on student achievement with a decidedly civic focus. The fact that Democracy Prep is a charter school is crucial to its civic mission.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Educator Enhancement Academies Evaluation Study: Phase 2. Teacher and Trainer Reports of NxGen Professional Development and Their Sense of Preparedness

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: As the final stage of West Virginia’s rollout of the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives (NxGen CSOs), the regional education service agencies (RESAs) conducted six train-the-trainer events in the spring of 2013 to prepare educators–mostly teachers–to provide professional development back in their home schools and districts. These events, called Educator Enhancement Academies (EEAs), lasted two or three days depending on which RESA conducted them, and targeted teachers in grade levels that had not yet received professional development in the NxGen CSOs, that is, Grades 2-3, 6-8, and 10-12. The first phase of this study looked at how well prepared those trainers were at the end of their EEA experience by asking them about their experiences during the training and after they, themselves, conducted training sessions during… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project: A U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) Development Grant Final Evaluation Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Middle-Grades Leadership Development (MLD) Project was designed to develop principal leaders and leadership teams who create high-performing middle-grades schools. Designed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded from 2013 to 2017 by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant. The project was implemented in 12 middle-grades schools in rural and small town areas of Kentucky and Michigan. Schools received an extensive set of school improvement supports, including: creating a vision using the Forum’s Schools to Watch (STW) criteria; engaging in an assessment and planning process for improvement; STW leadership coach; principal mentor; STW mentor schools; leadership team; networking opportunities; and focused professional development. The evaluation of the MLD Project used a quasi-experimental design (QED) with matched… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Survey: Quality Practices. NCEDL Spotlights, No. 10.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report summarizes findings from a national survey of 1,902 teachers of preschoolers regarding the extent to which they are able to engage in the educational practices they endorse. Teachers were given a list of 21 practices and asked to rate the extent to which each practice happened in their classroom and the extent to which they would want the practice to occur in a “perfect world.” Findings indicate few discrepancies between reported practices and beliefs. There were significant differences in the extent to which teachers from various types of programs endorsed group-centered beliefs, that is, those that encourage all children to engage in the same activities at the same time and at the same pace. Teachers in public schools, Head Start centers, and other non-profit centers… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Summary of Professional Development Research, FY 2006-FY 2016

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) supports research that contributes to the identification of effective strategies for improving the performance of current teachers and other instructional personnel, and related services providers in ways that increase student learning and achievement, social and behavioral skills, and high school transition outcomes for students with or at risk for disabilities. This report presents highlights of NCSER-funded research that: (1) targets teacher data-based decision-making; (2) content area professional development in language, reading and math; (3) professional development for early childhood teachers; (4) professional development for teachers of children with autism spectrum disorders; and (5) tools for evaluating special education teachers. [This report was summarized by Robert Ochsendorf and Katherine Taylor.] Link til kilde