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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 – 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 – Implementing Employability Skills, Reading Skills, and Math Skills in Vocational Education. Final Report. Vocational Technical Education Research Report. Volume 19, Number 2.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A project was undertaken to implement the employability, reading, and math skills of disadvantaged students in vocational education. Included in the project were the following activities: (1) field tests, evaluation, and dissemination of a mathematics skills curriculum guide for disadvantaged learners; (2) field tests and revision of guidelines for establishing, operating, and evaluating co-op and mainstream programs for the disadvantaged; and (3) implementation of a series of small-group workshops for teachers of disadvantaged students on implementing employability, reading, and mathematics skills in vocational programs. Separate mathematics, employability, and reading skills curriculum guides and an administrator’s manual for planning, developing, and implementing mainstream, self-contained, or co-op programs for the disadvantaged were developed during the course of the project. An independent review by a third-party evaluator indicated that all… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Conditions for Scale and Sustainability. Brief Four

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Math experts developed Formative Assessment Lessons that teachers can incorporate throughout the year’s curriculum. Both tools target the “instructional core.” A study by Research for Action (RFA) examining the first year of piloting the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) tools (2010-11) found evidence of initial success in tool use indicated by teachers’ perceptions that the tools positively influenced teacher practice. In the second year of the Initiative (2011-12), tool use grew within and across sites. The focus of the research has expanded accordingly to include an analysis of how the tools are being introduced to additional classrooms, schools and districts, and what strategies are most effective in sustaining and strengthening tool use. This brief focuses on efforts to scale up and sustain broader… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Alternative Assessments in Math and Science: Moving toward a Moving Target. A Joint Study.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Given the restructuring of curriculum and instruction and the changing state of assessment in Virginia and nationally, a study group of 22 Virginia teachers from elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools throughout the state chose to examine and revise their assessment practices. They wanted to reflect changes in thinking and practice in teaching that include active learning, cooperative learning, and critical thinking strategies. After 6 months of developing and implementing alternative assessments in their classrooms, study group members concluded that implementation strategies should include: (1) planning assessment as instruction is planned; (2) having a partner with whom to share ideas; (3) developing generic rubrics; (4) expecting to learn by trial and error; (5) attempting student peer assessment; and (6) using cooperative grouping for completing assessment tasks.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Technology Education: Three Reasons Stereotypes Persist

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Technology and the job of educating students about technology has been changing and evolving since the dawn of humanity. Many technology education (TE) teachers have readily adapted to recent changes and seek to educate a diverse group of students about the ever changing world of technology. However, there are some within the TE community that have been slow to react to curricular, social, and perceptual changes of the past two decades. In a story entitled, “Kids Build Soybean-Fueled Car,” that was aired on CBS “Evening News” on February 17, 2006, it demonstrated both the positive effects that technology education can have on secondary students and the negative stereotypes that continue to exist about TE. In this article, the authors discuss three reasons why stereotypes persist. These include:… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – State Teacher Policy Yearbook: Progress on Teacher Quality, 2007. National Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Countless reports have analyzed the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 on teacher quality and student achievement. What many of these reports truly leave behind, however, is the reality that state governments–not the federal government–have the strongest impact on the work of America’s 3.1 million teachers. With that in mind, three years ago the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) began the process of analyzing states’ teacher policies. NCTQ analysts sifted through tens of thousands of pages of state codes, regulations and rules, regularly corresponding with state officials who graciously provided their important knowledge and perspectives. The “State Teacher Policy Yearbook” is the first project of its kind to provide a 360-degree detailed analysis of any and every policy that states have that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Selected Standards from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, Grades K-3: My Reasons for Not Supporting Them

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Common Core State Standards, standards in literacy and math for K-12 that have been adopted in more than forty states, are intensifying the academic pressures on young learners. In general, these standards do not reflect how young children learn and are not developmentally appropriate. The author of this essay shows that selected Common Core math standards for Kindergarten-Grade 3 are not grounded in the large body of research on how children learn mathematics. Young children cannot ordinarily grasp mathematical concepts as early as the standards require. To meet the Common Core State Standards, teachers will be forced to teach ideas that sail over children’s heads. Children will learn “verbalisms,” memorizing statements they do not understand. They will learn to accept answers on the basis of what… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A View from the Inside: Teachers’ Perceptions of the MDC Initiative and Their Use of the Formative Assessment Lessons

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers’ incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Math experts have developed formative assessment lessons (FALs) that teachers can incorporate throughout the year’s curriculum. The Foundation has asked RFA to study teachers’ early adoption of the FALs, focusing particularly on their response to and use of the lessons. The lessons were piloted in urban, rural, and suburban school districts in four states and two national networks of schools during the 2010-11 school year, which is referred to as Year 1 in this booklet. This booklet is a synthesis of what the authors learned from practitioners over the course of the pilot year, 2010-11. It… Continue Reading