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Eric.ed.gov – Literacy at the Core of the Delaware World Language Immersion Programs

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Certain aspects of the implementation of language immersion programs in Delaware are unique given the state’s size, demographics, and role in national education initiatives including Race to the Top, Common Core, and Smarter Balance. The Delaware experience typifies what every state, district, or even school goes through as they try to provide students with more intensive, longer sequences of language learning that lead to high levels of proficiency. The state exports products to more than 160 different countries each year, cities across the state participate in 6 Sister City Partnerships, and Delaware regularly sponsors Trade Missions to locations including China, Germany, Italy, and even Pakistan. Residents in the state speak more than 80 languages combined. The Department of Education has Memoranda of Understanding in place with 9… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Look at Early Language Learning in Utah

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The state of Utah is leading the nation in a surge of new elementary language immersion programs. Their unprecedented growth of programs, over a four-year span, has been both intentional and systemic, taking advantage of a supportive base and promoting language learning as a way to increase economic benefits for the state. While math and science are core content components, literacy, aligned to the Common Core English Language Arts, is also an important feature of their immersion curriculum. Gregg Roberts, Utah’s Department of Education World Language consultant and 2009 winner of the Pearson State Supervisor of the Year, answered questions about how the program began, what it looks like, how it builds literacy, and what is being done to sustain it. He responded to questions such as:… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – From 1 to Z: Integrating Math and Language Learning.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Techniques for integrating English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and mathematics instruction, particularly the language of mathematics, are discussed. Focus here is on mathematics instruction for limited-English-speaking students in the mainstream classroom. First, examples of the academic language of mathematics that students must develop are outlined. Some instructional techniques that incorporate students’ own language and background in the construction of mathematics concepts and formal mathematics register are then offered. These include: techniques to make mathematics lessons more comprehensible and ways to promote interaction and provide a classroom environment conducive to language and literacy acquisition; methods for maintaining high expectations for language minority students and helping them develop higher-order cognitive and metacognitive skills and strategies; and assessment of language development alongside conceptual knowledge. A concluding discussion looks at the roles of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Preparing College Teachers To Integrate Math and Language Instruction.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A project to develop special training materials to introduce college teachers to the math-language approach is reported. The materials link language learning techniques to mathematics concept formation and are intended for teachers of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Specialists in both fields produced a three-part training package consisting of an instructor’s guide and a video program, to be used as an introduction to and rationale for using the approach, and as a general blueprint for a text and workbook produced by the Center for Applied Linguistics and entitled “English Skills for Algebra.” The report describes activities undertaken in developing the materials and assessing their effectiveness as compared to the conventional workshop method of teacher training. Results of interviews and surveys indicate that the materials provide the necessary classroom guidance… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Online Peer Observation: An Exploration of a Cross-Discipline Observation Project

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In this article the authors compare two phases of an ongoing, annual online peer observation project at the Open University. Adopting a non-managerialist approach, the project aims to give teachers a renewed sense of collegiality, allowing them to take responsibility for aspects of their professional development and share practice points. While the first phase focused on a single discipline group in languages, the second brought together teachers in languages with teachers of Math, Computing, and Technology, all employing Elluminate Live as their online teaching platform. The authors comment on congruent and divergent gains emerging from the two phases. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Learning That Lasts: Unpacking Variation in Teachers’ Effects on Students’ Long-Term Knowledge. Working Paper 104

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Measures of teachers’ “value added” to student achievement play an increasingly central role in k-12 teacher policy and practice, in part because they have been shown to predict teachers’ long-term impacts on students’ life outcomes. However, little research has examined variation in the long-term effects of teachers with similar value-added performance. In this study, we investigate variation in the persistence of teachers’ value-added effects on student achievement in New York City. We separate persistent effects into general effects that improve both the subject taught (math or English language arts (ELA)) and the other area of measured achievement and subject-specific effects which improve only the subject taught. Two findings emerge. First, a teacher’s value-added to ELA achievement has substantial crossover effects on long-term math performance. That is, having… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Homework: Voices from EFL Teachers and Learners

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Previous studies have mainly focused on homework in courses such as math and physics with little attention to homework in EFL (English as a foreign language) classes. The main purpose of the study reported in this paper was to give a voice to both EFL teachers and learners with regard to English homework. To this end, 8 EFL teachers and 19 EFL learners took part in a semi-structured interview first. Then, based on their responses to the interview questions and a comprehensive review of the literature, a questionnaire was developed and validated to investigate EFL learners’ and teachers’ perspectives on different aspects of English homework. The questionnaire was finally completed by 283 EFL learners and 46 English teachers from two famous English institutions in Iran. Results revealed… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Addressing California’s Growing Teacher Shortage: 2017 Update

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In a January 2016 report on teacher shortages in California, “Addressing California’s Emerging Teacher Shortage: An Analysis of Sources and Solutions,” the Learning Policy Institute found that there were too few qualified California teachers to meet the growing demand of school districts across the state. A fall 2016 survey of more than 200 California districts revealed that 75% of districts were experiencing teacher shortages, and the vast majority said those shortages were getting worse. Most of those districts reported responding to shortage conditions by hiring teachers with substandard credentials or permits–that is, teachers who have not yet completed the subject matter and teacher preparation requirements for a full credential. In this update, the authors show that, consistent with school district survey data, teacher workforce trends have worsened… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Study on Reflection as a Source of Teacher Development: Pre-Service and Experienced Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study traces evidence of reflection in teacher education and teaching practice by measuring reflection of preservice teachers and experienced teachers and clarifying reflection-oriented reactions to possible confusions or problematic situations considering whether or not they are reflective practitioners. The data were collected from 514 volunteer preservice teachers and 466 experienced teachers teaching science, math, English, Turkish, and primary classes. Teacher Reflection Scale (TRS) (Kayapinar and Erkus, 2009) was used to collect data. In order to analyze the data and obtain descriptive statistics for the item results, SPSS 16.0 was employed. Statistical analyses gave evidence that preservice primary teachers had a high mean of reflection. Under the light of the results gathered from data, experienced teachers did not attain higher reflection scores when compared to preservice teachers.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math Literacy through French Language Learning: Connecting with the Common Core in the Lower Elementary Grades

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Among the reported proven positive results of early world Language (WL) study are improved cognitive abilities and “higher achievement test scores in reading and math” (Stewart: 11), which are expected student performance outcomes for the Common Core Standards. The future viability of Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES) programs, however, is fragile at best, in today’s educational arena. FLES programs that have essentially concentrated their student performance expectations on basic communication skills and cultural content in the target language may therefore need to include a content-enriched STEM focus in order to seek and establish a viable presence in the elementary school curriculum. The authors of this paper suggest that proponents of FLES integration into the nation’s schools need to identify disciplinary literacy as the common denominator connecting… Continue Reading