Education Commons^™

Professional Development In Reading First Ohio: Comparison Of Four Methods Of Professional Development Delivery, Catherine Rosemary, Kathleen Roskos, Russell Brown, Leann Krosnick, Lisa Lenhart, Tania Jarosewich, John Savery, James Salzman, Linda Collins

John R Savery

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting The Impact Of Teacher Education Programmes On Teacher Preparedness : Implications For Accreditation Policy, Lawrence Ingvarson, Adrian Beavis, Elizabeth Kleinhenz

Dr Elizabeth Kleinhenz

This study provides guidance to policy-makers about the standards that might be appropriate for accrediting teacher education programs. The study was commissioned by the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), a statutory body established in 2001 by the Victorian state government with responsibility for the registration (licensing) of teachers and the accreditation of teacher education programs. The study investigated the characteristics of effective initial teacher education programs, as reported by teachers who have just finished their first year of teaching. A survey instrument was distributed in 2004 to all registered teachers who had graduated from their teacher education program in 2002, …

Different Steps : Post-School Pathways For Australian Students, Jennifer Bryce, Michelle Anderson

Dr Jennifer Bryce

New research investigates students' often non-linear post-school transitions. A new report, 'Australian Stories: Young People, Their Families and Post-School Plans', builds on research undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research for the Smith Family. It examines the stories of nine young people who have participated in the Smith Family Learning for Life scholarship program and who are considered to have made a positive start towards achieving their post-school goals. By asking these young people questions about their decision-making, the barriers they faced, and strategies for overcoming these, the study suggests ways that young people in similar situations may be …

Preface, Irving Epstein

Irving Epstein

No abstract provided.

Making Instructional Decisions Based On Data: What, How, And Why, Catherine Rosemary, Kouider Mokhtari, Patricia Edwards

Catherine A. Rosemary

The article offers information on the Data Analysis Framework for Instructional Decision Making. It is a student assessment tool that consists of guiding questions to assist school literacy team members in analyzing data, discussing the patterns and relationships within those data, and constructing interpretations that they can then translate into goals and action steps to improve reading and writing achievement. The three major categories of data that are considered for improving reading and writing instruction are reading performance data, professional development data, and classroom data.

Perceived Advantages And Disadvantages Of An Online Charter School, Lisa Shoaf

Lisa M. Shoaf

A study examined customer satisfaction with an online charter school and compared the performance of this online charter school with a similar school as well as the overall state average. Findings revealed that overall, the constituents involved in the online charter school were satisfied with the school's educational service and, although students at the charter school performed lower than the state average of all schools, they performed better when compared to a similar school as defined by the state board of education.

Recapturing The Personal Through The Visual: Images Of Children And Schooling In Chinese Film, Irving Epstein

Irving Epstein

No abstract provided.

Transforming English With Graphic Novels: Moving Toward Our "Optimus Prime", James Carter

James B Carter

I argue for the transformative potential of graphic novels in the English classroom.

Dbrief : A Research Paradigm For Ict Adoption, Katherine Dix

Dr Katherine Dix

Immigration Dialogue: The Immigrant In Our Midst, Theron Ford, Jen Merritt

Theron N Ford

No abstract provided.

Half Of Australian Youth Aged 18-20 Are Not In Training, Bob Birrell, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

The authors undertake a detailed analysis of data from the 2006 Census. The data reveal that a substantial proportion of Australia's 18 to 20 year olds are not participating in any form of education. In addition, of those non-attendees, labour force participation is also remarkably low. A supplementary table to the report, which shows education participation rates by Australian federal electorates is also available.

Under-Prepared Students: Essentials Beyond Academics, Theron Ford, Blanche Glimps, Angie Giallourakis

Theron N Ford

No abstract provided.

Alls Survey Update : Initial Messages Regarding Numeracy, Dave Tout

David (Dave) Tout

In the initial analysis and results coming out from the first wave of the 2003 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALLS) countries, the data seem to be indicating that numeracy plays a more important role in economic returns for individuals than do prose or document literacy, and seem to confirm that men outperform women in the area of numeracy and mathematics. Some of the outcomes stemming from the results that will be of interest when the Australian results are released late in 2007 include: the overlap between respondents' abilities in literacy and numeracy was lower than expected; early school leavers …

Educational Resources And Impediments In Rural Gansu, China, Emily Hannum, Peggy Kong

Emily C. Hannum

This report seeks to provide a portrait of schools serving rural communities in northwest China, and to shed light on factors that encourage and discourage school persistence among children in this region. To achieve these goals, we analyze a survey of rural children and their families, schools, and teachers in Gansu province. The project interviewed children in the year 2000, when children were 9 to 12 years old, and again four years later.

In part one of the paper, we provide a descriptive overview of the material, human, and cultural resources available in sampled primary and middle schools. Where possible, …

Standardization And Its Discontents: The Standards Movement And Teacher Education, Irving Epstein

Irving Epstein

No abstract provided.

Merging Literacies: Faculty-Librarian Collaboration To Foster Information, Visual, And Technology Literacies For Pre-Service Teachers, Cheryl Goldenstein, Landra Rezabek, Steven Aagard

Cheryl Goldenstein

This paper addresses successes and challenges associated with two undergraduate courses in the College of Education in which librarians and faculty collaborate to teach information, visual, and technology literacies. The primary audience for the courses includes pre-service teachers, who benefit not only from developing these skills, concepts, and attitudes in themselves, but also have the potential to encourage their own students to become critical and competent users of information, visuals, and technology. Collaboration, student-centered pedagogy, and integration of information literacy into academic curricula have been identified by the Association of College and Research Libraries as "best practices" of information literacy …

School Boards, Abe Feuerstein

Abe Feuerstein

No abstract provided.

When Two Universities Meet : Fostering Research Capacity Among Early Career Researchers, Kathy Mann, Kathryn Moyle, Andrea Reupert, Jane Wilkinson, Gary Woolley

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Between one-third and one-half of all presently employed academics will reach retirement age in the next decade. A challenge facing universities in this current environment is to continue to sustain their research capacities. Policy-makers and universities have developed various strategies to support ongoing development of different cohorts within the broader research community. One strategic approach has been to foster the research capabilities of Early Career Researchers (ECRs). This paper describes and analyses the features of one promising program collaboratively developed to support ECRs from education faculties within the University of Canberra and Charles Sturt University. The program was initiated by …

Selecting Open Source Software For Use In Schools, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Schools are places where the choices made about computing technologies not only reflect their technical requirements but also reflect the philosophical priorities directing those choices. Schools can deploy a startling range of software (i.e., operating systems, databases, office productivity software, and applications software) for specifc teaching and learning purposes. Applications software deployed in schools must be suitable for use by students who are young and often have limited reading and fine motor skills. Back-end software must be robust enough to handle hundreds and sometimes thousands of users concurrently. One issue that faces schools interested in deploying open source software is …

The Impact Of Eportfolios On Learning, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Colin Harrison, Charles Crook, Gordon Joyes, Lindsay Davies, Tony Fisher, Richard Pemberton, Angela Smallwood

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This report presents the potential impact of e-portfolios on learning and teaching. It is based on case studies of eight projects that are in the early stages of e-portfolio use within the primary, secondary, further education (FE), higher education (HE) and adult and community learning (ACL) sectors. The report is primarily aimed at policy-makers. Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children’s Services, the e-strategy published by the DfES in 2005, sets a target of providing a ‘personalised online learning space for every learner that can encompass a personal portfolio’; this should be available to every school by 2008 (DfES, 2005). In …

New Growth: Recent Kentucky Writings, Jackie Rogers, Melissa Pitts, Wanda Fries, Aimee Zaring, Michael Croley, Lauren Titus, Matt Jaeger, Mike Hampton, Jess Stanfill, Bev Olert, Todd Hunt

Charlie Sweet

In the 19th century Kentucky was at the crossroads of western migration and expansion. We believe this collection will demonstrate, along with earlier anthologies, that the Commonwealth is once again becoming the epicenter of literary output. Too often the media paint a picture of America as a bi-coastal country with little in between. One message from New Growth is that there are other, important voices that will be heard. Check out this collection and see if you don't agree

The Difficulty Factors Approach To The Design Of Lessons In Intelligent Tutor Curricula, Ryan Baker, Albert Corbett, Kenneth Koedinger

Ryan S.J.d. Baker

We present an approach to designing intelligent tutoring systems, termed the Difficulty Factors Approach. In this approach, the designer investigates, at each iteration of the design cycle, which skills and concepts are difficult for students, and what factors underlie those difficulties. We show that this approach complements existing design principles, producing data that helps designers apply principles in context. We also show that by continuing to investigate student difficulties throughout the design process, it is possible to discover difficulty factors initially obscured by other difficulty factors. We give an example of the application of the Difficulty Factors Approach in the …

Making The Connections: Theory And Practice Of Mobile Learning In Schools, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper reviews several major theories of learning, and considers what additional theories might explain ‘mobile learning’. It then describes three small projects in Year 6 classes in English schools– where teachers and students used mobile devices over a period of several months–in order to make connections between theory and practice, and to seek new insights for theory from practice. The study found that behaviourist, constructivist and socio-cultural theories influenced teachers’ work, often simultaneously, while there was scant evidence of a symbiotic relationship between people and technology. The paper concludes that even in these early days of mobile learning in …

Building Literacy Connections With Graphic Novels: Page By Page, Panel By Panel, James Carter

James B Carter

A book devoted to using graphic novels in the classroom for authentic literacy experiences, focusing upon pairing graphica with young adult or canonical texts. The URL is to the book's page at the publisher's.

Carving A Niche: Graphic Novels In The English Language Arts Classroom, James Carter

James B Carter

An introduction to the roles that graphic novels can play in the secondary English Language Arts classroom.

Researching ‘What Works’ In Boys Education: Teachers Take The Lead, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Greg Neal

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Accountability in education is often effected through mandated standards for curriculum, teacher performance and student outcomes at national or state levels, and this has increasingly occurred in Australia over the past decade. In order to make decisions regarding the achievement of these standards, evidence must be collected from sample sites or segments of the relevant populations. Funding is often linked to accountability, through reward mechanisms ‘after the event’ or through grants made a priori and requiring comprehensive reports. The evidence base is large-scale, but can lack detail. In conjunction with these levers for schools to act on current issues, their …

Imagetext In The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, James Carter

James B Carter

Notions of WJT Mitchell's imagetext are explored as they are revealed in Mark Haddon's young adult novel *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time*. Christopher Boone's particular way of reading the world illuminates imagetext relationships.

Can Video With Professional Conversations Improve Teacher Education?, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Top of the Class, the recent House of Representatives Report of the Inquiry into Teacher Education has reinforced the importance of good practice and the value of the practical dimension of teaching as part of universities' higher education teacher education programs. At the same time, in Australia and in countries in which off-shore teacher education programs are conducted, there are three other concurrent concerns: 1. the shortage of science, maths and literacy teachers and teacher educators; 2. the integration of ICT into teaching and learning in schools and higher education; and 3. the availability of schools and high quality teachers …

Differentiating The Curriculum : A Lot Of Effort For Little Gain, S Atkins, Gayl O'Connor, L Rowe

Gayl O'Connor

The Learning Federation (TLF) project employs emerging technologies to produce online curriculum content to encourage student learning and support teachers in Australian and New Zealand schools. Teachers and students in 20 schools participated in a field trial of a differentiated curriculum model that incorporated online curriculum content and associated assessment components. Teacher and student interviews were conducted to collect information in accordance with the study aims, which were to ascertain the extent to which the Differentiated Curriculum model resulted in increased knowledge by the teacher of individual student achievement; increased knowledge of the next appropriate activity for teaching and learning; …

Building Sustainable Networks For Young Women And Icts Throughout Australia, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

No abstract provided.