Education Commons^™

Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

Focusing on reading literacy as the major domain for the PISA 2009 assessment, this national report examines Australian students' achievement in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. Results are reported for the states, by gender, for Indigenous students, by location, language background and by socioeconomic background.

Pisa In Brief : Highlights From The Full Australian Report : Challenges For Australian Education : Results From Pisa 2009 : The Pisa 2009 Assessment Of Students' Reading, Mathematical And Scientific Literacy, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Marina Nicholas, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

PISA in Brief summarises the results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 assessment of students’ reading, mathematical and scientific literacy skills. It tells us about how students performed in the assessment and describes some wider findings about what lies behind their results. PISA 2009 assessed students’ capacities to apply knowledge and skills in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. More assessment time was given to reading literacy, as this was the main focus for this cycle.

Outstanding Educational Performance Awards: Highlighting High Achieving Arkansas Schools, 2010, James L. Woodworth, Jeffery R. Dean, James V. Shuls, Caleb P. Rose, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

So, in this Arkansas Education Report (AER) we aim to highlight excellent performance and give our congratulations. To that end, we are happy to highlight many high performing schools around the state in our now-annual AER entitled the Outstanding Educational Performance Awards.

Nebraska Reading First Final Report, Guy Trainin, Kathryn Ac Wilson

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

Reading First has been implemented in Nebraska since the 2004-5 academic year. In two rounds of funding and participation, schools have transformed the way they trained their teachers, measured student progress, and taught. This transformation is one of the hardest tasks in education and it has taken the considerable dedication of school personnel as well as dedicated leaders from the Nebraska Department of education. The program has seen great success in increasing the proportion of students acquiring basic literacy skills of phonemic awareness, decoding, and oral reading fluency. That initial success has led to an increase in outcomes even for …

“Grounded” Technology Integration: Instructional Planning Using Curriculum-Based Activity Type Taxonomies, Judith B. Harris, Mark J. Hofer, Denise A. Schmidt, Margaret R. Blanchard, Neal Grandgenett, Marcela Van Olphen

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK or TPACK) – the highly practical professional educational knowledge that enables and supports technology integration – is comprised of teachers’ concurrent and interdependent knowledge of curriculum content, general pedagogy, and technological understanding. Teachers’ planning – which expresses teachers’ professional knowledge (including TPACK) in pragmatic ways -- is situated, contextually sensitive, routinized, and activity-based. To assist with technology integration, therefore, we suggest using what is understood from research about teachers’ knowledge and instructional planning to form an approach to curriculum-based technology integration that is predicated upon teachers combining technologically supported learning activity types selected from content-keyed …

Qepr Review Of Progress: Review Of Progress Towards Implementing The Government Response To The Queensland Education Performance Review And Related State School Initiatives In Literacy, Numeracy And Science, Geoff N. Masters

Assessment and Reporting

This review was undertaken at the request of the Director-General of the Queensland Department of Education and Training. It reviews progress and makes recommendations ‘about initiatives aimed at improving the performance of Queensland students in literacy, numeracy and science’. More specifically, the Terms of Reference for the review requested an analysis and recommendations relating to:

• the effectiveness of the initiatives implemented in the Government response to the five recommendations of the Queensland Education Performance Review (QEPR); and
• the effectiveness of identified key initiatives in Queensland state primary schools to improve performance in literacy, numeracy and science.

The review was asked …

The Effects Of Classroom Environmental Quality On The Early Literacy Outcomes Of A Regionally Heterogeneous Population Of Latino Children, Maria M. Marin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between classroom environmental quality and early literacy outcomes amongst a sample of Latino children from various Latin-American countries. Participants included 116 preschoolers that attended various childcare centers in Southeast Florida. Participant’s literacy knowledge was assessed using the Test of Preschool Early Literacy. Classrooms were assessed on environmental quality using the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised. A regression analysis revealed that classroom environmental quality did not account for Latino children’s early literacy outcomes. However, a multiple regression analysis was significant (R2= .15, F(5, 115) = 3.86, p< .05) indicating that quality has a varying impact on children’s early literacy skills based on children’s region of origin. Findings suggest that high classroom environmental quality does not necessarily mean better literacy development for Latino children. Additionally, Latino children should not be viewed as a homogeneous group, particularly in relation to their development of literacy skills in English.

Knowledge Building And Vocabulary Growth Over Two Years, Grades 3 And 4, Yanqing Sun, Jianwei Zhang, Marlene Scardamalia

Educational Theory and Practice Faculty Scholarship

High-level literacy and productive knowledge work are central to educational reforms. In the research reported in this article, students were engaged in sustained, collaborative knowledge building in science and social studies. The vocabulary growth of 22 students over Grades 3 and 4 was traced, based on their entries to Knowledge Forum—a knowledge building environment used as an integral part of classroom work. It is the communal space where ideas, reference material, results of experiments, and other inquiry work are entered and continually improved. Analysis of lexical frequency profiles indicated significant growth in productive written vocabulary, including academic words. In a …

Theatre Of The Oppressed A Manual For Educators, Gopal Midha

Master's Capstone Projects

Promoting social equity and justice, I think, are not just important but essential qualities in a good educator. My experience as a graduate student at University of Massachusetts helped me understand and practice different ways in which this could be done. For instance, I learnt how I could promote social justice through changes in curriculum, co-operative learning, inter-group dialogues or multicultural education. However, my search was for a method that did not require literacy as a pre-requisite and that went beyond mere conversations about social justice. One of the key elements of the power structures which lead to oppression, I …

Name Games: Literacy And Play In The Prekindergarten Classroom, Laura A. May, Gary Bingham, Jennifer Barrett-Mynes

Early Childhood and Elementary Education Faculty Publications

Teachers and researchers have found that having writing materials in all play centers in early childhood classrooms makes it easy for children to experience and work with print as they play with names. Children’s interest in their own names can be used as a tool for increasing their awareness of and experiences with print awareness and writing.

Developing A Culturally Responsive Literacy Pedagogy: Preservice Teachers, Teaching Cases, And Postcard Narratives, Annmarie Alberton Gunn

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Facebook To Teach Rhetorical Analysis, Jane Fife

English Faculty Publications

The attraction of Facebook is a puzzle to many people over the age of thirty five, and that includes most college faculty. Yet students confess to spending significant amounts of time on Facebook, sometimes hours a day. If you teach in a computer classroom, you have probably observed students using Facebook when you walk in the room. Literacy practices that fall outside the realm of traditional academic writing, like Facebook, can easily be seen as a threat to print literacy by teachers, especially when they sneak into the classroom uninvited as students check their Facebook profiles instead of participating in …

First-Time First-Year Full-Tim Students Transitioning From High School To The University Of Kentucky: The Academic Readiness Program, 2009-2010, Randolph Hollingsworth

Undergraduate Education White Papers

This documents the collaborative efforts between the Deans Council, Office of Enrollment Management, Office of Institutional Diversity, Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Undergraduate Education in rolling out the University's response to the state's regulations on college admission and placement for students whose ACT scores are below the regulated cutoff scores. The Academic Readiness Program was developed using the learning outcomes developed by the Directors of Undergraduate Studies in the UK departments of Mathematics and English as well as the expert consultants in the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development. This paper includes the assessment of the 2009-10 Program …

Interdisciplinary Theoretical Foundations For Literacy Teaching And Learning, Ruth Farrar, K. S. Al-Qatawneh

Elementary and Early Childhood Education Faculty Publications

This article presents an interdisciplinary approach to literacy teaching and learning. The approach views literacy as involving numerous functions, including linguistic, psychological, cognitive, social, and critical functions. Research on the teaching and learning of literacy that underlies the model is discussed first. The interdisciplinary approach is defined and discussed next. The article concludes with a discussion of conclusions and implications for literacy education.

Interactive Whiteboards: Interactivity, Activity And Literacy Teaching, Lisa K. Kervin, Irina Verenikina, Kris Wrona, Pauline T. Jones

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores the implementation and the use of the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) in literacy teaching in an Australian primary school. A socio-cultural approach (Vygotsky, 1978) and Activity Theory (Engestrom, 2001) are used to explore the integration of the IWB in the literacy classroom environment where the individual, classroom and the whole school contexts are considered. A socio- cultural conceptualisation of technology allows us to view the IWB as a tool that can be used to enhance teachers’ pedagogical practices. The paper is based on a case study in an independent primary school located in a South - Western suburb …

Incorporating Technology Within Classroom Literacy Experiences, Lisa Kervin, Jessica Mantei

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Educators are challenged to consider ways that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be included within classroom contexts. Such challenges often require the adoption of whole school, team and individual focus as technology is examined in connection with the needs of the learners within the school and the pedagogical understandings and beliefs of the educators. In this paper we describe an elementary school-based project that focuses on ways that computer-based technology and associated peripherals can be incorporated within classroom literacy experiences. As we examine the planning, implementation and our reflections upon this process some key findings emerged. The need for …

Supporting Educators With The Inclusion Of Technology Within Literacy Classrooms: A Framework For "Action", Lisa K. Kervin, Jessica Mantei

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Educators are challenged to consider ways that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be included within classroom contexts. Such challenges often require the adoption of whole school, team or individual focus as technology is examined in connection with the needs of the learners within the school and the pedagogical understandings and beliefs of the educators. Each researcher has initiated, facilitated and reflected upon school-based projects focused on ways that technology can be incorporated within classroom literacy experiences. In this paper, we describe a “framework for action” that has emerged from our analysis of these. Examples from a range of projects …

Literacy Practitioners' Perspectives On Adult Learning Needs And Technology Approaches In Indigenous Communities, Michelle J. Eady, Anthony Herrington, Caroline Jones

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Current reports of literacy rates in Australia indicate an ongoing gap in literacy skills between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults, at a time when the literacy demands of work and life are increasing. There are many perspectives on what are the literacy needs of Indigenous adults,from the perspectives of community members themselves to the relatively under-researched perspective of literacy practitioners. This paper provides the insights, experiences and recommendations from adult literacy practitioners who work with adult Indigenous learners in communities across Australia. Focus group interviews, using an online synchronous platform, were used to elicit views about the literacy needs of …

Effective Literacy Pedagogy: Amplified By Technology?, Lisa K. Kervin, Pauline T. Jones, Irina M. Verenikina

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

For some time teachers have been identified and even vilified as impediments to technology uptake in classrooms. It has been demonstrated that the purchase and installation of modern (and often costly) technology is no guarantee that teachers will use it to facilitate and improve learning. We argue that it is no longer appropriate to blame teachers for their slow uptake of technology. Instead it is important that we investigate and understand the ways that technology innovations fit (or mismatch!) with the culture of schooling and established pedagogical practices of teachers. ICTs have made their way into classroom literacy sessions with …

Emerging Theoretical Models Of Reading Through Authentic Assessments Among Preservice Teachers: Two Case Studies, Eileen S. Oboler, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This two-part study examines the emerging understanding of the reading process among preservice teachers (PTs), enrolled in a teacher preparation course on diagnostic reading. The study focuses on the use of reading assessment tools to understand the process of reading, while using reading inventories for diagnostic as well as pedagogical purposes' PTs' self-reflections support a developing insight into the reading process. Through the process of inquiry and self-reflections, PTs discovered critical issues related to literacy, namely, metacognition, prior knowledge, cultural factors, instructional implications, and content area reading. These findings have implications for the teaching of reading as inquiry-based instruction, enabling …

The Pipeline Project: Trajectories Of Classroom Behaviour And Academic Progress : A Study Of Student Engagement With Learning, Max Angus, Tim Mcdonald, Chris Ormond, Rudy Rybarcyk, Anthea Taylor, Anne Winterton

Research outputs pre 2011

The Pipeline Project addresses three questions concerning the relationship between the classroom behaviour of students and their academic performance. First, to what extent does classroom behaviour explain why students fall behind and fail to meet acceptable standards in literacy and numeracy; second, if student classroom behaviour does influence academic performance, what forms of classroom behaviour are of most significance; and third, are the students whose behaviour has contributed to their underperformance in literacy and numeracy likely to ever catch up?

Global Report On Adult Learning And Education, Unesco Institute Of Lifelong Learning, 58 Felbrunnenstr., 20148 Hamburg, Germany

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The first-ever Global Report on Adult Learning and Education is based on 154 National Reports submitted by UNESCO Member States on the state of adult learning and education as well as five regional synthesis reports and secondary literature. Its purpose is to provide an overview of trends in adult learning and education as well as to identify key challenges. It is an important reference document and an advocacy tool, and served as input to CONFINTEA VI.

Chapter 1 examines how adult education is considered in the international educational and development policy agenda, Chapter 2 presents developments in policy and governance, …

Increasing Teachers' Metacognition Develops Students' Higher Learning During Content Area Literacy Instruction: Findings From The Read-Write Cycle Project, Margaret Sauceda Curwen, Roxanne Greitz Miller, Kimberly A. White-Smith, Robert C. Calfee

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Success in the 21st century, for individuals and societies, requires competence in comprehending and communicating in the academic disciplines--the natural sciences, history, geography, and more. The Read-Write Cycle (RWC) Project, a three year longitudinal research study conducted from 2005-2008 in ten public elementary schools in southern California, explored the effectiveness of curriculum and instructional strategies that integrate literacy with disciplinary knowledge with the simultaneous goals of: (1) enhancing students' literacy outcomes; and (2) broadening and deepening knowledge of the content area. Funded by the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences, the RWC Project concentrated over years one and two on 1,024 …