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Eric.ed.gov – Causal Factors Attributed to Student Success on the California High School Exit Examination

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: American students are failing to demonstrate expected competency on basic skills taught in schools. The educational system needs a major overhaul to address declines in scholarly engagement. The State Board of Education (SBE) designed the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) to give some merit to the high school diploma. Minorities and economically disadvantaged students fail to attain minimal proficiency levels on standardized tests and to achieve gains comparable to those attained by students from affluent school districts, even when the most rudimentary skills are being tested. The purpose of this study is to compare existing differences in student achievement by viewing existing data and to gauge faculty perspectives on why some students fare better than others on the CAHSEE. Appended are: (1) Letter of Informed Consent;… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Teacher Preparation and Student Achievement. Working Paper 20

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: There are fierce debates over the best way to prepare teachers. Some argue that easing entry into teaching is necessary to attract strong candidates, while others argue that investing in high quality teacher preparation is the most promising approach. Most agree, however, that we lack a strong research basis for understanding how to prepare teachers. This paper is one of the first to estimate the effects of features of teachers’ preparation on teachers’ value-added to student test score performance in Math and English Language Arts. Our results indicate variation across preparation programs in the average effectiveness of the teachers they are supplying to New York City schools. In particular, preparation directly linked to practice appears to benefit teachers in their first year. Sample Results for Math with… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Educator Enhancement Academies Evaluation Study: Phase 2. Teacher and Trainer Reports of NxGen Professional Development and Their Sense of Preparedness

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: As the final stage of West Virginia’s rollout of the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives (NxGen CSOs), the regional education service agencies (RESAs) conducted six train-the-trainer events in the spring of 2013 to prepare educators–mostly teachers–to provide professional development back in their home schools and districts. These events, called Educator Enhancement Academies (EEAs), lasted two or three days depending on which RESA conducted them, and targeted teachers in grade levels that had not yet received professional development in the NxGen CSOs, that is, Grades 2-3, 6-8, and 10-12. The first phase of this study looked at how well prepared those trainers were at the end of their EEA experience by asking them about their experiences during the training and after they, themselves, conducted training sessions during… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Professional Learning Activities in Context: A Statewide Survey of Middle School Mathematics Teachers

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Based on a statewide survey of professional learning activities among 577 middle school mathematics teachers in Missouri, this study examined two questions: 1) What professional learning activities do middle school math teachers participate in and how much time do they spend in these activities?, and 2) How are teacher qualifications and contextual characteristics associated with the amount of their professional learning activities? The study examined seven types of formal and informal professional learning activities: 1) professional development programs, 2) teacher collaboration, 3) university courses, 4) professional conferences, 5) mentoring/coaching, 6) informal communications, and 7) individual learning activities. The study found that middle school mathematics teachers spend the greatest amount of time involved in teacher collaboration, professional development programs, and individual learning activities. In addition, mathematics teachers in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Foreign Language Anxiety in a New English Program in Thailand

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Thailand boasts a robust ESL system in both public and private schools, where students learn various subjects from native speakers in the English language. Foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) is a subject that is relevant to ESL instruction and learning. This study assesses associations between FLCA and academic performance in English and math subjects at a Thai government school which is in its second year of employing native English speaking teachers. 424 students were administered FLCA surveys, which were compared to English and math exams. Moderate-high FLCA levels were found in the sample, with no difference between an immersion group and non-immersion groups. A weak, negative correlation was found between FLCA and English performance (r = -0.163). Thai language math exam scores were significantly better than English… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Charlotte, N.C.’s Project L.I.F.T.: One Teacher’s View of Becoming a Paid Teacher-Leader. An Opportunity Culture Case Study

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Romain Bertrand is a middle school math teacher and Opportunity Culture enthusiast. As the 2012-13 school year wound down, he was already thoroughly looking forward to the next–when he will become a multi-classroom leader at Ranson IB Middle School, taking accountability for the learning results of 700 students. At Ranson, a Project L.I.F.T. school in Charlotte, N.C., Bertrand sees the opportunities of its new Opportunity Culture–to extend the reach of excellent teachers to more students, for more pay, and develop other teachers–giving him and others exactly the sort of recognition and respect he says teachers now sorely lack. Bertrand grew up in Avignon, in the south of France, the son of teachers who both went on to become principals. After teaching middle school math in France for… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The New Australian Curriculum, Teachers and Change Fatigue

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A new national curriculum has recently been implemented across Australia. This paper reports on a case study of a regional Western Australia government school as they re-wrote and taught the phase one learning areas: maths, English, science and HASS. Results showed what it is like to work in an environment where continual change is not only expected, but also seen as best practice. Cynical, realistic and even enthusiastic teachers suffer change fatigue after years of rapid and continual curriculum change. The research traces back the reasons why teacher change fatigue might occur using Intuitive Inquiry (Anderson & Braud, 2011) as a hermeneutical process. It captures the reactions of teachers as they struggle to adapt to another top-down curriculum framework, badged as “continual school improvement.” It documents that… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Impact of Religious Beliefs on Professional Ethics: A Case Study of a New Teacher

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This case study of a math and science teacher in a private religious school looks at the impact of a teacher’s religious beliefs on her experience of engaging with ethical issues in her practice. A Freirean ethical framework is used to analyze her struggles with differences between her own personal religious convictions and those of the school in which she teaches, avoiding undue influence on her students’ developing beliefs, and the inherent violence of schooling. This case provides an example of ways in which discussions with teachers about professional ethics might be broadened beyond codes and regulations to the everyday embodied, social milieu in which they work. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Interpretation Awareness of Creativity Mathematics Teacher High School

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purposes of this study are: a) to investigate high school math teacher creativity equality, b) to investigate what factors can inhibit their creativity consciousness. The subjects of this study consisted of two high school math teacher who had a different experience academically. The results of the qualitative research show the relationship between creativity and high school math teacher is focused on procedures and not on the product, presents the conception refers to the creativity in the perspective of learners. The observation of classes conducted by researchers for two weeks in a row can be used as an indicator that in teaching mathematics, high school teacher who observed indirectly applying creativity in teaching math though their confidence is lacking. They give an opportunity to him to be… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – To Be or Not to Be an Online Math Instructor?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Have you been asked to teach an online course yet? If not, chances are you will–and soon. The demand for online instructors is increasing, and institutions, including community colleges, are expecting their faculty, especially junior and adjunct instructors, to step forward. Your answer is not necessarily an easy yes or no. Although online teaching has much in common with face-to- face instruction, significant differences exist. Your decision may be aided by consideration of seven key factors, ranging from your own online learning experience, through the compatibility of your preferred teaching style with effective online instruction, to what adjustments you may need to make in designing mathematical activities for teaching online. A considered answer based on these factors will more likely lead to your success. The article offers… Continue Reading