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Eric.ed.gov – Project Exc-EL (Excellence for English Learners): Final Evaluation Report for the National Evaluation of Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund. NEi3 Evaluation Submission

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this evaluation was to understand the development, implementation, and impact of Project Exc-EL (Excellence for English Learners), a school-wide intervention focused on providing teacher professional development and training to better support English learners (ELs) in New York. Project Exc-EL focuses on training teachers to use data to identify EL student needs, creating a school climate focused on college and career readiness, and providing school coaches to support teachers as they serve EL students and their families. Project Exc-EL developed and implemented an enhanced, comprehensive design that addressed the unique and urgent needs of low-incidence EL population school districts — districts that are struggling to provide a comprehensive, rigorous education for the newest members of their communities. The project employed a data-driven, tiered approach to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Ministry of Education 2012/13 Annual Service Plan Report

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The education system is complex, but at its core, it is a learning partnership between the student, the family and teachers. This partnership — supported by the Ministry — is ultimately responsible for ensuring every learner receives a high quality education. A high quality education enables learners to realize their full potential and contribute to the well being of society. It supports students as they develop the foundational skills of reading, writing, and math, as well as other essentials necessary in the 21st century, such as self-reliance, communication, critical thinking, inquiry, creativity, problem solving, innovation, teamwork and collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, and digital information literacy. This annual service plan report provides data and discusses the results related to the measures in the Ministry of Education 2012/13-2014/15 Service Plan.… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Strategies to Improve All Students’ Mathematics Learning and Achievement

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This collection of six essays shares insights and strategies from the Education Development Center’s (EDC) work to close opportunity gaps in mathematics education and support teachers in improving instruction. This report includes the following essays: (1) Adam’s World: Reflections on the Achievement Gap; (2) Five Key Characteristics of Effective Diversity Training for Teachers; (3) Ella in Kindergarten: Building on Strengths; (4) Math for All: High-Quality Mathematics Instruction for Students with Disabilities; (5) Supporting English Learners in the Mathematics Classroom; and (6) Helping Children from Low-Income Communities Become Young Mathematicians. Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Educators’ Perceptions of Mathematically Gifted Students and a Socially Supportive Learning Environment–A Case Study of a Finnish Upper Secondary School

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This article explores five educators’ conceptions of the characteristics of mathematically gifted students and a social learning environment that supports their development in a school for mathematically gifted adolescents in Finland. We conducted this qualitative study through semi-structured interviews and participant observations in a Finnish upper secondary school with a special mathematics program. The research shows that gifted students and their educators form a tight community, the social learning environment of which supports shared motivation, healthy perfectionism, and practicing social skills. The results deepen the understanding of gifted education in the Finnish context and the significance of educators’ shared understanding of social activities as a basis for successful gifted education. Link til kilde

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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 – An Exploration of Preservice Teachers’ Reasoning about Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research indicates that many English learners (ELs) have not been effectively supported in meeting their academic learning goals. This explains, in part, the growing interest and corresponding research on the essential teacher knowledge-base for teaching ELs. Despite the attention paid to this issue, research on preservice teachers’ reasoning and instructional decision-making, especially regarding teaching mathematics to ELs remains underexplored. For this reason, we examined–through the use of authentic teaching scenarios–how ten preservice mathematics teachers, at the end of their teacher training, chose to present mathematical concepts to their EL learners. We also studied, in depth, the rationale behind their choices. Qualitative analyses of these data revealed that pre-service mathematics teachers’ instructional decision making was grounded in their perceptions of ELs as either a homogenous or a markedly… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Needs for Successful Chemistry Teaching in Diverse Classes: Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The aim of this case-study was to understand how chemistry teachers experience their work in diverse classes where the needs of differentiated teaching practices are constantly growing. The deeper intention was to perceive new information in order to develop supportive methods that could better correspond to teachers’ reality. Eight voluntary Finnish secondary school chemistry teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Four categorial distinctions for successful chemistry teaching were found according to their beliefs: 1) to have more support and resources, 2) to be able to recognize students’ problems, 3) to use supportive materials and methods, and 4) to connect theory and practice with inspiring and meaningful activities. This study presents new insights about teachers’ beliefs of diversity and what is needed for successful chemistry teaching. Directions for further… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Scrutinizing Two Finnish Teachers’ Instructional Rationales and Perceived Tensions in Enacting Student Participation in Mathematical Discourse

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study employs interviews and observations to investigate instructional rationales of two purposefully sampled teachers with divergent classroom discourse practices in Swedish-speaking Finnish lower secondary mathematics classrooms. Studies on classroom discourse often point to beliefs and contextual factors shaping teachers’ discourse practices. Less is known about how tensions perceived by teachers can influence the instructional rationale in a context such as Finland, known for traditional and teacher-centered mathematics instruction. The findings of this study suggest that these Finnish teachers’ instructional rationales for differently enacted classroom-discourse practices are grounded in similar concerns of student needs, related to student learning, well-being, and equity. One of the teachers perceived tension between these concerns and mathematics education literature’s ideals of classroom discourse and avoided engaging students in discussions other than in… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Secondary Computer Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Needs

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The purpose of this study is to identify secondary computer science (CS) teachers’ pedagogical needs in the United States. Participants were selected from secondary teachers who were teaching CS courses or content in a school setting (public, private, or charter) or an after-school program during the time of data collection. This is a qualitative study using CS teachers’ discussions in the Computer Science Teachers Association’s (CSTA) email listserv, responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire, and discussions in follow-up interviews. Content analysis, thematic analysis and constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis were used to analyze the data. The most common pedagogical need expressed was learning student-centered strategies for teaching CS and guiding students’ understanding with the use of scaffolding and team-management strategies in CS classes. Furthermore,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – In Their Shoes: Teachers Experience the Needs of English Language Learners through a Math Simulation

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Given the increase in the number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in American schools, it is vital for teacher education programs to address the needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) in their courses. Mainstream, general education teachers who did not previously experience this student population in their classes are now seeing high numbers of ELLs among their students. Therefore, all teachers, not just specialist English as Second Language (ESL) or bilingual professionals, need to be prepared to work with ELLs (Lucas & Grinberg, 2008). Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about ELLs can be influenced by their lack of empathy for these students’ experiences and backgrounds. Many pre-service and inservice teachers need not only to learn strategies to work with ELLs but also to feel what it is… Continue Reading