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Eric.ed.gov – Engaging Parents in Education: Lessons from Five Parental Information and Resource Centers. Innovations in Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Children benefit academically when parents and educators work together. For this reason, parents’ involvement in their children’s education is a priority of the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” But a strong connection between parents and educators does not come about automatically. Both parties may need to learn new roles and skills and develop the confidence to use them, especially as parents move beyond traditional activities, like helping children with homework, and toward shared responsibility for school improvement. Intermediary organizations, like federally funded Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs), can help. Drawing on lessons learned from five PIRCs across the country that have been meeting this challenge, this guide shares promising strategies for increasing effective parent involvement. It explains “how to” strategies that the Parent Information… 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 – Blueprint for Change in Georgia: State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2010

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 2009 “State Teacher Policy Yearbook” provided a comprehensive review of states’ policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year’s comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized “Blueprint for Change,” building off last year’s “Yearbook” goals and recommendations. State teacher policy addresses a great many areas, including teacher preparation, certification, evaluation and compensation. With so many moving parts, it may be difficult for states to find a starting point on the road to reform. To this end, this paper provides a state-specific roadmap, organized in three main sections. Section 1 identifies policy concerns that need critical attention, the areas of highest priority for state policymakers. Section 2 outlines “low-hanging fruit,” policy changes that can be implemented in relatively… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Building Capacity for Continuous Improvement of Math and Science Education in Rural Schools

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Schools in 47 high-poverty school districts located mostly along the Atlantic Coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia may have a head start on new requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, thanks to a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Begun in April 2000, the five-year Coastal Rural Systemic Initiative (CRSI) is striving to stimulate sustainable systemic improvements in science and mathematics education in school districts with a long history of low student expectations, persistent poverty, low teacher pay, and high administrator turnover. The CRSI capacity-building model is designed to address issues in rural school districts that traditionally limit the capacity for creating sustainable improvements in math and science programs. A critical action step is that each school district… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Feasibility Study of Assessing the Supply and Demand for Educators in Maine

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Like most states, Maine is facing staffing shortages. Recent Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) studies have documented–both quantitatively and qualitatively–some of the challenges that schools face in filling teacher positions. In this report the authors focus on the supply of educators and assess the feasibility of using administrative data from the certification system to identify shortage areas. Specifically, they combine certification and staff data to quantify the number of certificate holders who are working in their endorsement area, working in education outside of their endorsement area, or not working in Maine’s education sector (i.e. potentially available for hire) to get a rough sense of demand and supply. They give special attention to teacher shortage areas including math, science, special education, world languages and English language acquisition.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Examining the Common Core State Standards in Agricultural Education

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent a shift in the American education system. Included in the CCSS are opportunities for agriculture teachers to integrate math and English language arts content into their curriculum. Using the theory of planned behavior, we sought to identify Oregon agriculture teachers’ attitudes, familiarity with, current level of integration, and professional development needs related to the Common Core State Standards. Our research identified the majority of responding teachers were somewhat familiar with the CCSS. Additionally, teachers had varying levels of agreement that the CCSS would help their teaching, yet the majority of agriculture teachers in our study reported they had somewhat implemented the CCSS. In an effort to identify the professional development needs of teachers concerning these standards, we used the CCSS… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Mathematics in Early Childhood: Teacher Educators’ Accounts of Their Work

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: While early childhood practitioners have long been asked to have complex understandings of child development and provide rich, meaningful educational experiences for children, focusing on mathematics marks new terrain. Consequently, teacher educators are now tasked with figuring out how to communicate new ideas about early mathematics education to early childhood practitioners, yet we know little about their work. This paper examines what early childhood teacher educators have to say about their work. We found that there were only small differences in how they described: (1) what they teach; (2) how to teach it; (3) resources they draw from; and (4) what informs their work. When there were differences in their approaches, these often were reflective of whether the teacher educators had more of an early childhood or… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Building Blocks, Learning Goals, and Success Criteria: Planning Instruction and Formative Assessment for K-8 Math Standards. From the College and Career Ready Standards to Teaching and Learning in the Classroom: A Series of Resources for Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This resource is part of a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning from College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, academically at-risk students, students living in extreme poverty, and gifted/talented students. The series of resources addresses key shifts in learning and teaching represented in the CCRS. This resource uses the Common Core State Standards (CCSS; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) as an example of CCRS. The processes described in this resource are applicable to all States’ CCRS, including the CCSS. The content of this resource is drawn from leading theory and research… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Blueprint for Change in Hawaii: State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2010

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 2009 “State Teacher Policy Yearbook” provided a comprehensive review of states’ policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year’s comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized “Blueprint for Change,” building off last year’s “Yearbook” goals and recommendations. State teacher policy addresses a great many areas, including teacher preparation, certification, evaluation and compensation. With so many moving parts, it may be difficult for states to find a starting point on the road to reform. To this end, this paper provides a state-specific roadmap, organized in three main sections. Section 1 identifies policy concerns that need critical attention, the areas of highest priority for state policymakers. Section 2 outlines “low-hanging fruit,” policy changes that can be implemented in relatively… Continue Reading