Classroom Instruction that Works

Amanda Sinko
Position Paper #2

Classroom Instruction that Works
Robert Marzano, Debra Pickering & Jane Pollock (2001)

Research based strategies
o The “art” of teaching is becoming the “science” of teaching
o Researchers at Midcontinent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) conducted a meta-analysis on instructional strategies that could be used by teachers in K-12
o The goal of the McREL was to identify instructional strategies that have a high probability of enhancing student achievement for all students in all subject areas at all grade levels
o 9 categories were identified

Identifying similarities & differences
o Student’s understanding of and ability to use knowledge can be enhanced by...
§ presenting students with explicit guidance in identifying similarities and differences
§ asking students to independently identify similarities and differences
§ representing similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form


Summarizing & Note Taking
o To effectively summarize students must delete some information, substitute some information, and keep some information
§ To effectively do this students must analyze the information in a fairly deep level
o Being aware of the explicit structure of information is an aid to summarizing information
o Verbatim note taking is the least effective way to take notes
o Notes should be considered a work in progress
o Notes should be used as a study guide for tests
o The more notes that are taken, the better


Reinforcing Effort & Providing Recognition
o Not all students realize the importance of believing in effort
o Students can learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort
o Rewards do not necessarily have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation
o Reward is most effective when it is contingent on the attainment of some standard or performance
§ vs. simply performing a task (which may decrease intrinsic motivation)
o Abstract symbolic recognition is more effective than tangible rewards
§ Verbal reward vs. tangible reward such as candy


Homework & Practice
o The amount of homework assigned to students should be different from elementary to middle school to high school (increasing with age)
o Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum
§ Help facilitate homework vs. help do homework
o The purpose of homework should be identified and articulated
o If homework is assigned it should be commented on
o Mastering a skill requires a fair amount of focused practice
§ Practice spread out over time
o While practicing students should adapt and shape what they have learned
§ Do not expect students to perform skill with significant speed during the shaping phase


Nonlinguistic Representations
o A variety of activities produce nonlinguistic representation
§ Graphic representations
§ Physical models
§ Generating mental pictures
§ Drawing pictures
§ Engaging in kinesthetic activity
o Nonlinguistic representations should elaborate on knowledge
§ The process of nonlinguistic representations engages in students in elaborative thinking
§ This can be magnified by asking students to explain and justify their elaborations


Cooperative Learning
o Organizing groups based on ability levels should be done sparingly
§ Negative effect for low ability students
§ Small effect for high ability student
§ Benefits medium ability students
o Cooperative groups should be kept rather small in size
o Cooperative learning should be applied consistently and systematically, but not overused
§ Misused when the tasks are not structured
§ Overused when students have had insufficient time to practice independently


Setting objectives & Providing Feedback
o Instructional goals narrow what students focus on
§ Negative effect on outcomes other than those specified in goals
o Instructional goals should not be too specific
o Students should be encouraged to personalize the teacher’s goals
o Feedback should be corrective in nature
o Feedback should be timely
o Feedback should be specific to a criterion
o Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback


Generating and Testing Hypotheses
o Hypothesis generation and testing can be approached in a more inductive or deductive manner
§ Inductive- the process of drawing new conclusions based on known information
§ Deductive- using a general rule to make a prediction for the future
o Teachers should ask students to clearly explain their hypotheses and their conclusions
o Ask students to explain what principles they are working from, what hypotheses they draw from the principles, and why these hypotheses make sense


Cues, Questions & Advance Organizers
o Cues and questions should focus on what is important as opposed to what is unusual/interesting
o “Higher level” questions produce deeper learning than “lower level” questions
§ analyze vs. recall
o Waiting briefly before accepting responses from students has the effect of increasing the depth of students’ answers
o Questions are effective learning tools even when asked before a learning experience
§ Questions before the learning experience provide a “mental set” for learning

Psychometrics in Educational Planning

Shawn Gilroy
Curriculum Development
Dr. Dugan
4/19/09

Psychometrics in Education

In the field of psychology, the technology for measuring and understanding personal characteristics has evolved significantly over the past century. With the rise of statistical and normative assessments, psychometrics has been developing from a current and reactive focus to a proactive and future oriented focus.
In the study of psychometrics, the educational and psychological science of measurement, human skills, abilities and personality traits are assessed to serve a variety of purposes. Aside from cognitive and intellectual assessment commonly found in schools, psychometrics can also be applied to determining future areas of study or careers.
Two of the commonly available assessments are the Myers-Brigg’s Type Indicator and the Motivation Appraisal of Personal Potential. This aim of this discussion is not the discuss the statistical method by which personality traits and abilities are derived, but both of these assessments operate on the assumption that if personality traits and abilities can be correlated with specific occupations and areas of study, the assessment can lead the client towards careers and studies that are most suited for their individual abilities.
The possibility of identifying areas of future study and career possibilities is a practice that is suited to guiding students and graduates who have to make big decisions about their future. For example, students who are on their way to college may not have any idea which area of study appeals to them. Most students at this age have not yet had the life experiences to feel confident in making that choice. These assessments are likely to help guide students by identifying areas of interest and characteristics of their personality and correlating those with areas of study.
Similarly, these assessments can help recent or nearing graduates who are undecided about which field or career area to begin. With bachelor degrees that can apply to various types of careers and applications, students may not be able to discern which areas are right for them. These assessments are useful because personality traits and abilities are correlated with areas of occupation. If a student can report their characteristics and abilities, the occupations indicated may be a better fit with the student than an arbitrarily chosen occupation.
As with all assessments in psychology, the way we measure and compare factors is by correlation. Correlations do not offer a direct a cause and effect relationships, and thus, these assessments provide information that may or may not be valid. For example, a very successful businessman may have personality traits that would make him a good counselor but he did not choose that career path. His personality characteristics may have made him a better businessman even though his personality traits are correlated higher with a counseling occupation. In addition, the statistics behind these tests is often a debate. These tests have different ways of determining suggested occupations. There is no single method to derive those answers and do not follow the typical bell-curve methodology.
Overall, these assessments provide suggestions and correlations, but they should be treated as such. These assessments can offer some direction to clients who are unsure of how to proceed with their career, but I would not use these assessments as the sole determinant of someone’s career.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
free Myers-Briggs

http://myassessment.com/TakeMAPP/default.asp?dest=TakeMAPP
free Motivational Assessment of Personal Potential

http://www.wowi.com
World of Work Inventory

NAEP Results - Kate Conner

NAEP: The Current Results and Implications for Educators

The National Assessment of Educational Progress provides both a main assessment every two years and a long term trend assessment every four years of students across the nation in Mathematics and Reading. Interestingly, the results for the long term trend assessment of 2008 will be posted April 28th. To explain further, NAEP is an organization that tracks student progress at the federal level. Samples of students in each state, as well as the District of Columbia and several urban areas are painstakingly taken for each assessment (NCES). One question that many educators and laypeople have is, with all of the states having their own separate assessment, what is the need for NAEP assessments?
Dr. Dugan shared a document with our class about the wide discrepancies between various state assessments and the NAEP. It is obvious why states would want to inflate their scores to make themselves look better with the strong push for accountability at the federal level. Looking at the Time article from June 4th 2007, the question that remains is - why have state assessments at all?
To answer this question, we must determine the key differences between state assessments and the NAEP assessments. First, all students are required to take state assessments. Schools must show Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act in order to receive Title I funding. As such, all students in a given state answer the same questions, under the same standardization. Students are expected to achieve based on a specific criteria, which allows teachers to “teach to the test”. On the other hand, NAEP assessment samples are gathered based on demographics of a specific region. A large sample, but not the entire population, takes the test and not all students answer the same questions. The NAEP assessment does contribute to our information about each state’s progress, but not with the same ties to funding as the state assessments. With that said, it would seem that the NAEP is less of a “high stakes” test than state assessments and may be a more reliable, big picture type vision of our nation’s academic achievement (Pallas, 2009).
So what do the results show? NAEP compiles a vast amount of data with their two separate types of tests. The long term trend assessment, for example, has been completed since 1971 for Reading, and 1973 for Mathematics. These assessments, which are conducted with nine, 13, and 17 year old students from around the country, generally show improvement over time. The most clear cut improvement is with nine year olds, specifically in the past assessment period. Unfortunately, the trends for 13 and 19 year old students are not up to snuff with the younger students. These subgroups have shown minimal progress since the 1970’s; for 2004, neither group had a statistically significant increase in Math or Reading (NAEP).
According to the main assessment, conducted every two years, the progress is consistent with the long term trends. Furthermore, the latest assessment yielded results consistent with stereotypes of students: Asian American students outperformed all other groups, with Whites closely behind. Black, Latino, and Native American groups consistently rank under Asian and Caucasian students. There is also a large discrepancy between the average and students with disabilities as well as English Language Learners. These trends have not changed much over time, but it appears that the gap is beginning to narrow for some groups. For example, there is a smaller discrepancy between Caucasian and African American students in Mathematics at the nine year old level (NAEP).
What does all of the data tell us? Along with the actual test to students, demographic questions regarding classroom structure and instructional content are asked of participating teachers. Some of the indicators found on the 2007 main assessment for Reading are as follows:
· Asking students to make generalizations about what they read
· Give students time to read independently
· Vocabulary instruction
· Asking students to give multiple interpretations of what they have read
· Reading for Fun
· Group discussions and journaling
Hypotheses can also be made regarding Mathematics instruction. Teachers on the 2007 NAEP study described the following of their classrooms:
Hours of instruction (5.5-7/week)
Heavy emphasis on numbers and operations
No overreliance on calculators (rarely used, and if so, basic 4 function)
Access to computers

While these data do not demonstrate causality, it seems that there may be a correlation between these classroom characteristics and improved scores on the NAEP. With the many differences between state testing and the NAEP assessments, I believe that more data will yield better data in the future.

Resources
NAEP - http://nationsreportcard.gov/
The National Center for Educational Statistics - http://nces.ed.gov/
Pallas, A. (2009) Why NAEP matters. Retrieved on April 15, 2009 from http://gothamschools.org/author/aaron-pallas/.

Class Size

Lee Phillips Class size

Position paper 2#

04-28-09

Students, teachers and administrators are debating about the topic of class size, and whether to reduce or increase the size of the class. The benefits VS the cost’s, they measure not only in monetary factors but in qualitative factors too. Research (as well as popular opinion) has indicated that people agree with the idea that small educational settings will definitely provide success for schools, students, as well as teachers. The problems that go along with reducing class sizes are also of a major concern to the communities that surround the schools. There are a plethora of factors which have been debated to why the idea that class sizes should be reduced, some include: deplorable test scores, the increasing drop-out rates, the trend toward career and or vocational education, along with teachers and schools favoring learner-oriented teaching strategies.

The big question is, what measures can be implemented in order to reduce class sizes with out increasing cost’s to the tax payers? What sacrifices will the students, community, teachers and schools have to make in order to solve the problem?

Possible solutions:

Smaller classes from grades K to 6^th and then a gradual increase in class sizes from 7^th grade and up , this gradual class size increase to be limited to non-inclusive settings. Could AP classes take the increase with the help of online resources like blackboard and or other E-learning software?

California raised the notion to its teachers; instead of a raise in pay would you rather have fewer students per class? The CA “Deal aims to reduce class size; In lieu of potentially larger raises, the L.A. teachers union want[ed] funds earmarked to make classes smaller across the board”.

Some states are looking into the possibilities that the reduction of class sizes will have on their young learners.

Some states, such as Ohio, are using funds from the Class Size Reduction Program to turn low-performing schools around by reducing class size from 25 to 15. (Possibly comparable to NJ’s Abbott district funding)

There is no irrefutable proof that reducing class size leads to a definitive answer to this problem. So, the class size debate will continue on in school districts everywhere, and there doesn't seem to be a clear answer or solution on the horizon.

How to Implement Small Classes

A. What is the most effective timeline?

Since research has shown that the small-class treatment is most beneficial when it begins when the youngster starts school, and then lasts at least three years (). The following timeline for class size reductions is recommended.

· Year 1: Reduce Kindergarten classes to 1:15 with a maximum size of 20

· Year 2: Reduce grades K and 1

· Year 3: Reduce grades K,1,2

· Year 4: Reduce grades K,1,2,3

A big supporter for the movement to reducing class size, Professor Michael Klonsky, at the University of Illinois, said, "A compelling body of research shows that when students are[a] part of smaller and more intimate learning communities, they are more successful".Other notable supporters of this faction include Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of Education Richard Riley to name a few.

http://www.nj.gov/education/abbotts/about/

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/promisinginitiatives/classize.html

http://www.reduceclasssizenow.org/state_of_the_states.htm

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/or/index.html

.

Joanellen Fenimore
Position Paper 2
April 28, 2009

Closing the Achievement Gap

What is the Achievement Gap? It is the significant difference in academic performance between students from different economic background and racial/ethnic backgrounds. As the statistics in class have shown, there is a disparity between the Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian achievement.

Why does the achievement gap matter? The achievement gap is proof that our public education system is consistently failing our children and drastically reducing their chances to compete and succeed as adults. Dropouts are more likely to become and stay jobless, will earn less during their lifetime, and will be more likely to become unemployed and incarcerated. (www.educationequalityproject.org)

For example:
-High school graduates on average live up to 7 years longer than high school dropouts.
-College graduates out earn high school graduates by 73% in their lifetime.
-One in nine black men between 20-34 are incarcerated; a black male is more likely to be in prison than to have a post-graduate degree.

There are two ways to measure achievement. They are comparing standardized test scores between race and class, or to compare the highest level of performance. When comparing standardized test scores for minorities who reach the 12th grade, they score the same on English, math, and science as 13-year-old white students. When comparing highest level or performance, African American and Hispanic students are more likely to drop out of high school in every state. Of those students who do go on to college, black and Hispanic young adults are only half as likely to earn a college degree as white students. www.subnet.nga.org/educlear/achievement/


Some Historical Perspective of the Achievement Gap.
Schools started segregated. Brown v. Board of Education 40 years ago.

1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Title 1:Improving The Academic Achievement of The Disadvantaged. This was created to ensue that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and State academic assessments. Same time as Civil Rights Act, Issued under US Department of Education.

Now NCLB. Schools held accountable for African American students and closing the achievement gap is a national priority. It encourages parents to get involved and if a school is deemed in need of improvement, school officials are required to work with parents to figure out how to make the school better. Due to the Nation’s Report Card reading and math scores for African American for 9-year-olds, and math scores for African American 13-year-olds are at an all-time high. The achievement gaps in reading and math between white and African American 9-year-olds are at an all-time low.

NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) has shown that there has been much progress for 9 and 13 year olds, but not for 17. As time goes on the gap stays the same or widens. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_108.asp Another gap table http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2008/section2/table.asp?tableID=884 that gives you the actual number that the gap is.

Most recently-EEP (Education Equality Project) National Advocacy group founded by Rev. Sharpton and NYC schools chancellor Joel Klein. That is focused on closing the achievement gap. It exists in order to transform the power and resources from the coalition of supporters into an education reform movement. Their goals are to ensure an effective teacher in every classroom, empower parents, create accountability for educational success at every level, call on students and parents to demand more from their schools, and stand up to those political forces and interests who seek to preserve a failed system. So is the Gap really about race or class?


What is New Jersey doing about the Achievement Gap?
-NJ also reports that there are increases in the middle school years.
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/profile.asp

-Abbott District Funding

-High school Redesign

-From the Blog:
New Book on New Jersey's Efforts to Close the Achievement Gap Shows That Money Matters - But So Do Well-Supported Teachers and a Coherent Plan
The book is called, “In Plain Sight: Simple, Difficult Lessons from New Jersey's Expensive Effort to Close the Achievement Gap” by Gordon MacInnes.
Excerpt from the blog written by Dr. Dugan-
“MacInnes concludes that the most important lesson from New Jersey is that the restoration of teaching as the primary activity of schools, and the return of respect for the professionalism of those who oversee and teach in those schools are the essential ingredients for improving educational prospects for all children. He suggests that in difficult economic times, these simple, straight-forward prescriptions must command scarce resources in states and school districts. However, he believes that the results in New Jersey show that it's an investment worth making.”

My Position: While the Coleman and Jencks studies were scary, we need to act as if they could possibly be true. We have been throwing money at the system for years and there hasn’t been any change. Insanity? So if what we have been doing is not working, let’s change our approach, the lives of many children depend on it.

Free Colleges?!

During our last class, the question was raised whether on-line courses would mean free colleges are coming. My response was that free colleges are already here. For more on this subject, try these links:

http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-university9-2009mar09,0,5853633.story

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=57285

Homework: What Purpose Does It Serve

Michael Kotch
Position Paper # 2
Fundamentals of Curriculum Development
Homework: What Purpose Does It Serve

Over the past five-years, I have taught with a vast number of teachers in an inclusion setting, which has exposed me to a variety of philosophies on issues confronting the field of education. One such issue that is subject to contrasting views is the assigning of homework. Some teachers are strong advocates of assigning lengthy assignments on an almost daily basis, while others rarely require their students to complete assignments out side of school.

Alfie Kohn, author of the book, The Homework Myth, states that there is no data supporting the benefits of assigning homework for children below high school age. Although, Kohn, admits that some studies have found a positive correlation between homework and standardized test scores, he highlights that such benefits are minimal, and we can not suggest that higher achievement is the result of more homework, as other variables could be involved. Probably, the most staggering fact presented by Kohn is that no study has supported the commonly held conviction that homework fosters self-discipline, independence, perseverance, or time-management skills.

Negative consequences can result from the practice of assigning homework to children. One Professor of Education at Columbia University, Gary Natriello, changed his positive view toward homework, when his children began to bring assignments home from their elementary school. Professor Natriella expressed frustration over the wording of directions for homework assignments, which he considered to be puzzling. In addition, some parents articulate concern, regarding the work-load, which homework places on a child, as the school days represents, roughly seven-hours of time devoted to learning, therefore, additional assignments to be completed after-school, creates an overwhelming amount of stress for both fatigued children and parents who require reprieve from work. Moreover, Etta Kralovic, co-author of The End of Homework, considers homework to be discriminatory, as parents have differing abilities and time to help their children with assignments. She also points out that homework removes a parent’s time to teach other critical life skills.

In the Washing Post article entitled, As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It, staff writer, Valerie Strauss, discussed the discrepancy in schools, regarding the practice of assigning homework. She wrote “. . . teachers themselves don't uniformly agree on something as basic as the purpose of homework (reviewing vs. learning new concepts), much less design or amount or even whether it should be graded. And the result can be inconsistency in assignments and confusion for students.” I have witnessed this phenomenon at the high school level, where teachers of the same course adhere to entirely different philosophies on assigning homework, which leads some students to be burdened with over two-hours of superfluous work per week for one class, after the completion of the school-day, while other students are free to use this time to pursue chosen endeavors, which might represent a more productive use of time.

Despite the growing adherents to the school of thought that homework is predominantly negative, some educators argue otherwise. According to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the majority of research over the past 40-years have found that assigning work outside of school, benefits children, in that, they make gains in academic skills, abilities and test scores; acquire a positive attitude toward schoolwork; form cohesion between school and home environments, and develop an improved self-image in relation to being a competent learner. However, the AFT also states that homework is only effective, if assignments are well-designed and vigilantly created.

In the article entitled, Homework Hangover: Are Kids Doing Too Much, Katy Abel, highlights certain changes which have occurred in some school districts, regarding homework. For instance, the Piscataway School Board has placed a limit on the amount of homework that can be given per night. They have determined that children in grades 1 through 3 shall receive no more then 30 minutes per night of homework, and gradually as students get older, they may receive more homework, but never to exceed the maximum of two-hours per night, which is only allowed at the high school level. Additionally, teachers are not permitted to grade homework, but they may note on report cards whether or not the homework assignments were completed.

If one yearns to administer homework assignments to their students, they should consider implementing important principles for creating effective supplemental activities, as advocated by the American Federation of Teachers. Homework assignments should be used to strengthen skills learned in previous weeks or months. Additionally, some characteristics of constructive homework assignments are; clear instructions; short in length; have a flexible time frame for completion; use information and resources that are easily available; and are not simply unfinished class work. Moreover, the assignments should be interesting and lead to further inquiry, along with promoting the application of skills. Furthermore, students should be provided with timely feedback on homework assignments and they must display an understanding for the reason why a particular assignment is administered. Lastly, children should be aware that the homework will be included in calculating the grade for which they earn or be held accountable in some manner for completing the assignments.

Sites:

http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/teachers/TT-Homework.pdf Teacher Tips: Assigning Effective Homework

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7376 Down With Homework by Alfie Kohn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/11/AR2006091100908.html As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It by Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

http://www.spiderleg.com/arguments/ Arguments for an against homework

http://school.familyeducation.com/education-and-state/educational-philosophy/37616.html Homework Hangover: Are Kids Doing Too Much by Katy Abel