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Eric.ed.gov – “How Does My Teacher Know What I Know?” Third Graders’ Perceptions of Math, Reading, and Assessment.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The present study, which was drawn from a larger project in which teachers developed and implemented performance assessments in their classrooms, investigates children’s perceptions of what reading and mathematics are and how they understand their teachers’ knowledge of them as readers and mathematicians. Two students from each of 13 third-grade classrooms were interviewed 3 times during the school year. In all, 75 interviews about reading and 76 about mathematics were conducted. Responses make it clear that students do recognize reading as a meaning-making task but that this recognition becomes distorted when they are assessed on their reading ability. They believe that assessment is often aimed at handwriting, punctuation, or expression when reading aloud. In mathematics, these students demonstrate consistency across definition of math and assessment of math.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Impact of School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports on Student Behavior in the Middle Grades

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research shows that school-wide positive behavior supports (SWPBS) can be an effective alternative to traditional reactive, punitive approaches to problem behavior. However, few studies examine the use of the approach as part of a comprehensive school improvement process involving academic as well as behavioral goals, particularly with regard to use of data-driven decision making and data teams. This article describes the efforts of a low-performing middle school in establishing preventative measures and interventions within such a framework. Results indicate a reduction in teacher discipline referrals and student suspensions, including those involving students with disabilities and statistically significant improvement on 30 of 47 items of a school climate and student resiliency survey. In addition, school scores on state mastery tests in both reading and math improved by 25%… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Developing Effective STEM Professional Development Programs

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: To help the United States stay globally competitive in terms of innovation and invention, the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has become a priority in P-12 education today. As the need for students to become stronger in STEM grows, so does the need for well-qualified STEM teachers who understand what is needed to develop relevant and high-quality STEM programs. Professional development (PD) can offer opportunities for those involved in the teaching of STEM to learn how to effectively integrate various instructional approaches, including “engineering design” into their teaching and learning environments. Professional development is important to STEM education, especially in the areas of technology and engineering. If engineering is to be recognized as an integral part of science, technology, and math education, stakeholders, organizations… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Philosophy for Children: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Philosophy for Children (P4C) is an approach to teaching in which students participate in group dialogues focused on philosophical issues. Dialogues are prompted by a stimulus (for example, a story or a video) and are based around a concept such as ‘truth,’ ‘fairness’ or ‘bullying.’ The aim of P4C is to help children become more willing and able to ask questions, construct arguments, and engage in reasoned discussion. The primary goal of this evaluation was to assess whether a year of P4C instruction for pupils in Years 4 and 5 would lead to higher academic attainment in terms of maths, reading, and writing. The project also assessed whether P4C instruction had an impact on Cognitive Abilities Test results. The evaluation ran from January to December 2013. Teachers… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – To Adapt or Subscribe: Teachers’ Informal Collaboration and View of Mandated Curricula

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: California public schools serve a highly diverse student population, including: 65% minorities, 24.9% English Language Learners, 10.6% disabled, and 19% in poverty. In the face of this diversity, all teachers are expected to use the Curriculum Frameworks of the California State Board of Education as a “blueprint for implementing the content standards adopted by the California State Board of Education and are developed by the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission.” The Curriculum Standards for California Public Schools and “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) appear to have a goal of equal access to education for all students. “Education: The Promise of America” states that the goal of the NCLB legislation is to ensure that “all children are proficient in reading and math by the 2013-2014 school year”… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Helpwithmaths.com: Students’ Use of Online Mathematical Resources

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A recent Google search for “Help with maths” produced 57,600,000 results, indicating that there are literally millions of online resources claiming to provide assistance with mathematics. As mathematics educators, however, we remain largely uninformed about students’ use of such resources, particularly when they are self-initiated and often accessed in an out of classroom environment. This paper reports on a study that investigated the resources Grade 8 and 9 students accessed when requiring support with understanding mathematical concepts. The study found that while friends and teachers were often students’ preferred options, they did access online sites, particularly in the later years of schooling. The study has implications for students and teachers including the potential for online resources to both complement and challenge the traditional role of the teacher… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Sustainability of Professional Development to Enhance Student Achievement: A Shift in the Professional Development Paradigm

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study was to describe the sustainability of professional development, specifically the teacher utilization of the Science-in-CTE pedagogical model and science-enhanced agricultural education lessons in curricula one year following the Science-in-CTE pilot study. This quasiexperimental study included 41 teachers (15 treatment agricultural education, 14 control agricultural education, and 12 science) who participated in seven days of professional development in the pilot study in 2009-2010. This study was a partial replication of the Math-in-CTE follow-up study and data were collected using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were obtained from online questionnaires and qualitative data were collected from personal and telephone interviews. Researchers found that a majority of the treatment agricultural education and science teachers voluntarily incorporated portions of the seven-element pedagogical model and 15… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Texting Parents: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This report presents the findings from an efficacy trial and process evaluation of the Parent Engagement Programme (PEP). The PEP was a school-level intervention designed to improve pupil outcomes by engaging parents in their children’s learning. The programme was developed collaboratively by research teams from the University of Bristol and Harvard University and was delivered between September 2014 and July 2015. The study was conducted by the Centre for Effective Education, Queen’s University Belfast between February 2014 and February 2016. The trial involved 15,697 students in Years 7, 9, and 11 from 36 English secondary schools, with schools sending an average of 30 texts to each parent over the period of the trial. The developers of the intervention managed its delivery to ensure optimal implementation. It was… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – (Dis)empowerment: The Implementation of Corrective Mathematics in Philadelphia Empowerment Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The need to improve math education around the country has been well documented, especially in urban school systems like Philadelphia. In Spring 2010, only 56.6% of students in Philadelphia Public schools scored proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (PSSA). In Philadelphia Empowerment Schools, the 107 lowest performing schools in the Philadelphia School District, only 45.8% of students scored proficient or advanced (PSSA preliminary results). Yet, across these schools, there is wide variation. While over 80% of students in some Empowerment schools scored proficient or advanced in math, in other schools less than 20% of the student population reached math proficiency. In October 2009, former Philadelphia Public School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman implemented the Science Research Associates (SRA) Corrective Mathematics and Corrective Reading curriculum in all… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Creative Futures: Act, Sing, Play. Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Act, Sing, Play (ASP) offered music and drama tuition to Year 2 pupils. The aim of the programme was to evaluate whether music workshops had a bigger impact than drama workshops in terms of pupils’ maths and literacy attainment. The evaluation was based on the hypothesis that participation in high-quality music instruction promotes educational attainment over and above instruction in other artistic pursuits (see Schellenberg, 2004). The ASP programme was developed specifically for this trial and ran from September 2013 to June 2014: 909 pupils participated in 19 schools across London, Essex, Sussex and Coventry. In each participating Year 2 class, pupils were randomly allocated to one of three groups: violin or cello workshops (ASP-strings), singing lessons (ASP-singing), or drama workshops (ASP-drama). The two music groups (strings… Continue Reading