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Eric.ed.gov – Effectiveness of Applying Conceptual Change Approaches in Challenging Mathematics Tasks for Low-Performing Students

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This article reports on the effectiveness of an intervention using conceptual change approaches within challenging tasks, on the mathematics gains for low-performing year 3-6 students in in six primary schools. Quantitative data from PAT-Maths testing for each year showed a consistently large effect size of 0.7 compared to expected gain data from DECD [South Australia’s Department for Education and Child Development]. All six experimental groups caught up with DECD expectations within one year. Over the two years, students from years 3-5 gained an additional 27 months of mathematics learning over the expectations and students from years 4-6 gained 29 months, indicating the potential of the approach for closing educational gaps for low-performing students. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Boosting the Quality and Efficiency of Special Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: It’s a woeful fact: Few students with special needs achieve a high (or even modest) level of academic proficiency. The latest (2011) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results show, for example, that 62 percent of eighth graders with disabilities fell below the “basic” level in reading, as did 64 percent in math. This study is intended to open some windows and encourage some fresh breezes by examining three key questions: (1) How much variation in special education spending exists among districts?; (2) What can we learn from school districts that spend less on special education, yet achieve the same or better outcomes than demographically similar but higher-spending counterparts?; and (3) What savings might be realized if the special education field focused on outcomes rather than inputs?… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Using Competency-Based Evaluation to Drive Teacher Excellence: Lessons from Singapore. Building an Opportunity Culture for America’s Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The United States’ education system needs to take its critical next step: fairly and accurately measuring teacher performance. Successful reforms to teacher pay, career advancement, professional development, retention, and other human capital systems that lead to better student outcomes depend on it. Where can the U.S. find the best-practice know-how for this? To start, it should look to nations that have revamped teacher performance measurement to sustain teaching excellence, and Singapore offers a remarkable example. In the early 2000s, the small but racially and economically diverse nation of Singapore designed and implemented a new, performance-linked method of measuring teacher effectiveness that enables measurement of teachers in all subjects and grades. Singapore had already developed a high-performing education system. But as global economic opportunities for its citizens increased,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Impact of National Board for the Professional Teaching Standards Certification on Student Achievement

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A growing number of teachers have undertaken National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification training since its inception over twenty-five years ago. Previous empirical research on the impact of NBCTs on student performance has focused on state or district-level exams in individual states and found mixed results. This study examines the relationship between National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) and student achievement on the reading and math assessments of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). We argue that achievement can be affected both directly by the certified teacher and indirectly as NBCTs provide mentoring to colleagues and assume school leadership positions. This study focuses on a nationally representative assessment to measure student achievement rather than state- or district-level assessment exams. We find that the percentage of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teacher and Teaching Effects on Students’ Attitudes and Behaviors

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research has focused predominantly on how teachers affect students’ achievement on standardized tests despite evidence that a broad range of attitudes and behaviors are equally important to their long-term success. We find that upper-elementary teachers have large effects on self-reported measures of students’ self-efficacy in math, and happiness and behavior in class. Students’ attitudes and behaviors are predicted by teaching practices most proximal to these measures, including teachers’ emotional support and classroom organization. However, teachers who are effective at improving test scores often are not equally effective at improving students’ attitudes and behaviors. These findings lend empirical evidence to well-established theory on the multidimensional nature of teaching and the need to identify strategies for improving the full range of teachers’ skills. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – A Well-Rounded Education: Rethinking What Is Expected of High Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Since the 1990s, the United States has fallen behind on college completion, slipping from first in the world in 1995 to 10th in 2016. A major factor in the country’s low rates of college completion is a lack of true college preparation in the K-12 education system. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the math achievement of 12th graders has remained stagnant since 2005, and reading achievement is actually 5 scale score points lower than it was in 1992, more than 25 years ago. States across the country have taken important steps to reverse this trend, and some are successfully raising standards for students in reading and math by adopting the Common Core State Standards, an effort initiated by governors in 2010. These standards describe what… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math Snacks: Using Animations and Games to Fill the Gaps in Mathematics

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Math Snacks animations and support materials were developed for use on the web and mobile technologies to teach ratio, proportion, scale factor, and number line concepts using a multi-modal approach. Included in Math Snacks are: Animations which promote the visualization of a concept image; written lessons which provide cognitive complexity for understanding; and active, situated learning activities to facilitate memorable experiences to deepen comprehension. This pilot study compared pre-post test gains for 460 sixth and seventh grade students enrolled in nine different classrooms. In five of the nine classrooms, teachers utilized the “Teacher Guide: that corresponded with the five Math Snacks animations and one game and in four classrooms teachers used the same Math Snacks animations and one game, but were free to develop their own lessons… Continue Reading