Education Commons^™

Οικοδομώντας Πολιτισμικές Συμπεριφορές Στο Σχολείο: «Παιχνίδια Ρόλων» Με Την Αρχαιολογία, Kosmas Touloumis

Kosmas Touloumis

Teaching with archaeology in Greek secondary education is the topic of this presentation.

Teacher Quality And Teacher Preparedness In Public Secondary Schools: Evidence From Sass 1999-2000, Xuejin Lu

Dissertations

Resource equalization represents the historical and theoretical basis for American school finance and its ideals continue to dominate discussion and practice. During the last decade and a half, the national aspiration for equitable distribution of school finance resources has started a transformation into a derivative notion of adequacy. This equity policy derivative embraces the idea of sufficiency, which in turn implies a standard. The concept of educational adequacy has grown to mean the achievement of high absolute standards. Equity (equalization) theorists measure resource level on a relative basis; each student relative to all others. Adequacy adherents measure student achievement against …

Citizenship Education In Pakistani Schools: Problems And Possibilities, Bernadette L. Dean

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

A critical aspect of education that is often overlooked or inadequately addressed is the preparation of school students for citizenship. This paper assesses the current state of citizenship education in Pakistani schools. It draws on the findings of two research studies: an analysis of the social studies curriculum and textbooks and a review of teaching and learning practices in schools. The findings indicate that the curriculum and textbooks do not distinguish between Islamic education and citizenship education and promotes exclusionary and passive citizenship. They also shows that while Pakistani students acquire knowledge and learn some important values in schools, they …

Educational Development Projects At Ied: Towards School Improvement, Khalid Mahmood, Nilofar Vazir

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The M.Ed. program at The Aga Khan University-Institute for Educational Development helps to develop Course Participants (CPs) as teacher educators / educational leaders. The institute always welcomes innovations in its various programmes. The Educational Development Project (EDP) was conceived as an alternative to research to develop CPS’ knowledge and skills required for developmental work. The EDP is concerned with capacity building at classroom and school level depending on the needs of the relevant stakeholders. A contextually relevant model was adapted for EDP at the institute. The research reported in this paper discussed the question: To what extent does the course …

Autonomy And School Success: A Case Study From Pakistan, Muhammad Babur, Qamar Safdar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper reports on a case investigated as a part of several case studies conducted under ANTRIEP (Asian Network of Research and Training Institute for Educational Planning) in seven different countries. (India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Nepal and Bangladesh) to look into the management of successful schools. Three cases studies were conducted in three different school systems in Pakistan: public school, private school and AKES (Aga Khan Education Services) managed schools. In this paper the case study of public and cross case analysis based on the findings of the three schools is reported. The findings reveal that school autonomy, …

Multi-Party Mobilization For Adolescent Literacy In A Rural Area: A Case Study Of Policy Development And Collaboration, Edmund T. Hamann, Julie Meltzer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Between 2001 and 2005, the state of Maine shifted the focus of its statewide high school improvement efforts to include an explicit focus on adolescent literacy. One trigger for that change in focus was a 5-school adolescent literacy initiative previously launched in a rural county under the federal Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory contract. This monograph describes the multi-party mobilization that led to the creation and implementation of the adolescent literacy project and explains the link between the modest rural effort and the change in state-level reform efforts.

A Best-Evidence Synthesis Of The Relationship Of Multiple Intelligence Instructional Approaches And Student Achievement Indicators In Secondary School Classrooms, Ethan E. Hodge

Master of Education Research Theses

The purpose of this study was to synthesize the literature in order to assess and quantify (if possible) the relationship between MI instructional approaches and student achievement indicators in secondary school classrooms (grades 6-12). This study employed the best-evidence synthesis methodology devised by Robert Slavin. Criteria for study inclusio n included germaneness, minimization of bias, and validity. This study allows for several conclusions: (1) a very limited amount of research focusing on the relationship of MI instructional approaches and student achievement indicators in secondary school classrooms exists, (2) instances of MI instructional approaches vary widely in methodology and implementation but …

Action Research For Female Science Teacher Development: Case Pakistan, Harcharan Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Have Your Π And Eat It Too! Using A Course Website To Facilitate Student-Centered Learning And Improve The Effectiveness Of The High School Mathematics Experience, Jeffrey Bretsch

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommends that teachers provide their students with opportunities for student-centered learning. This often occurs in the form of discovery learning, hands-on learning, and interdisciplinary learning. These types of learning experiences fall under the umbrella of the educational theory of constructivism. Constructivism, in short, asserts that meaningful learning occurs when students actively construct their own understanding, making connections and drawing their own conclusions in response to genuine experiences. Many educators would agree that this type of learning is the ideal, but is not generally feasible due to the broad nature of the mathematics curriculum …

Whatever Happened To Lisa Simpson? An Exploration Of Female Adolescent Development Through Problem Based Learning, Amy Perrault

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

As a teacher for the past six years in a girls’ school, I have met and had the chance to interact with hundreds of adolescent girls. Over time I have come to realize how much adolescence seems to have changed since I was in their shoes. The media inundates them with messages about what is cool, hip, and acceptable—music videos, fashion, and the internet provide the frame of reference against which today’s young woman compares her own self worth. While girls have always looked to society’s standards to help them develop as individuals, at no time in history have the …

High-Stakes Testing And Special Populations, Gary H. Sherwin, Todd Jennings

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This opinion paper critically examines the use of high-stakes testing on special populations. Without appropriate accommodations, standardized exams are not valid for some students with special needs. Unfortunately, many classroom teachers who must initiate testing accommodations lack knowledge of appropriate accommodations and regularly fail to provide the necessary testing accommodations. The deficit understanding of testing accommodations makes comparisons between classrooms, schools, and districts invalid since some scores loose validity. Solutions specific to standardized testing and students with special needs are offered and a more encompassing solution to the problems incurred from these tests when used for high-stakes is suggested.

High-Stakes Testing And Assessment: One Is Not The Other, Enrique Murillo, Alayne Sullivan

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Since the institution of the common school and the advent of universal education, Americans have placed tremendous faith in public schools. Public education cultivates an informed citizenry, one of the pillars of a liberal democracy. But more importantly, schools are a repository for our common dreams of human potential and individual self-actualization. Because they so thoroughly shape the lives and life-chances of our youth, school issues are freighted with an emotional charge. Education remains the last fully public American institution, one in which millions of students cast their common lot daily and strive to become better readers, better citizens, better …

To Wonder, Wander, And Linger In The World Of Standardized Testing, Randall Wright, Alayne Sullivan

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

The standards movement began as a nobly-intended effort to establish a core curriculum—a template of knowledge and skills that would guide teaching and learning across the K-12 curriculum. Our attempts to standardize curriculum may have unintended and deleterious side-effect: The atrophying of the mind’s natural tendencies for exploratory play and inherently imaginative dimensions. This paper engages us in a critical remembering of our pedagogical relationships with children. It reminds us of children’s ways of being and asks how we might engage them in a rigorous appreciation of curricular literacies without thwarting their wonderful wanderings. Ultimately, we worry about the place …

Phases Of Web Based Curriculum Development, William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

The Phases of Curriculum Development may be useful in helping educators facilitate this process of integrating computer technology and the Internet into classroom instruction and curriculum design. The method described is a synthesis of a personal process of discovery, teaching, and learning that has come from practical experience with teachers and students. To effectively utilize this five-phased approach, the instructor must first identify the final goal, whether it is a curriculum product, Web site, oral presentation, or some other form of demonstration of learning. Also, the basic concepts that are to be covered must be identified first and matched to …

Design Of Web-Based Courses For Secondary Students, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This article reports the initial findings of a study that investigated design characteristics of a Web-based distance education programme for rural secondary school students who were unable to access a full range of courses at their school. Discovering the characteristics perceived to be important by course developers and teachers of Web-based courses along with the perceptions of the secondary students themselves was central in this study, which was guided by the research question: What characteristics do developers, teachers, and students perceive as important for an effectively designed Web-based course for secondary school students?

This study was the initial portion of …

Curriculum Design To Teach High School Students: How To Pull Evidence From Text, Karen Marie Hughes Bray

All Graduate Projects

Inadequate pe1formance of Washington State's public school students on national exams motivated the state legislature to pass the Basic Education Act in 1993. Graduation requirements were changed and expectations increased to specific skill levels in reading, writing, and several other subjects. The problem is that48% of North Central High School IO'" graders have averaged below standard in reading and 56% have averaged below standard in writing for the last six years. The project is designed to increase reading and writing skills at the high school level in classes outside of the academic arena by direct instruction. Washington State's Commission on …

Spicing Up Motor Skill Performance For All, Scott M. Ronspies

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Article Use And Specific And Known Reference Among Higher Proficiency Malaysian Esl Students., Arshad Abd Samad

Arshad Abd Samad

Huebner (1979) categorises articles into 4 categories according to whether the noun phrase the articles encode is of specific reference and whether it is known to the hearer. Ekiert (2002) adds a fifth category which is made up of the use of the article to encode noun phrases in idioms. In Ekiert’s study, the accuracy rates of ESL and EFL native speakers of Polish in these five categories were examined. This paper will report on a exploratory study that adopts and modifies the instrument used by Ekiert and examines the accuracy rates of Malaysian advanced ESL students. The results indicate …

Corpus Data And The Teaching And Learning Of Science In English In Malaysian Primary And Secondary Schools, Arshad Abd Samad

Arshad Abd Samad

The post independence Malaysian school system has gone through several curricular revisions not only in terms of content and subject matter but also in the medium of instruction used. In 1980, the national language, Malay, was adopted as the medium of instruction in schools in place of the English language. After more than twenty years of instruction in the national language, the medium of instruction for Science based subjects at the first year of primary and secondary schools in Malaysia has recently reverted to the English language. This has largely been due to increasing concern over perceived falling standards of …

The Written Recall Protocol As An Alternative Reading Comprehension Test, Rafiah Abd Rahman, Zaitun Abd Majid, Arshad Abd Samad

Arshad Abd Samad

Reading comprehension is a complex behaviour involving conscious and unconscious use of various strategies. Its assessment, therefore, cannot be taken for granted as it may require specialised test formats that can effectively measure the use of these strategies. According to Alderson (2000), no single test method can fulfil all the varied purposes for which we might test. Certain methods are commonly used merely for reasons of convenience and efficiency, often at the expense of validity. Therefore, it is naïve to assume that a single method commonly applied to all students and situations can be the most valid. Several test formats …

Coaching For Metacognitive Instructional Practice, Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

One way to identify students who are becoming accomplished readers and writers is to observe the degree to which the examples of coaching presented in this chapter are taken from my research as a participant in a statewide literacy professional development initiative: the Literacy Specialist Project (Kinnucan-Welsch, 2003a, 2003b; Rosemary, Grogan, et al., 2002).

The central aim of the Literacy Specialist Project, launched in 2000 by the Ohio Department of Education, is to provide professional development to educators in the state of Ohio that supports enhanced understanding in the teaching of reading and writing. The professional development incorporates foundational knowledge …

An Exploratory Study Of The Impact Of The Organization On The Retention Of High School Teachers, Donna M. Hargens

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Reflective Dialogue: What’S In It For Teachers? A Pakistan Case, Jane Rarieya

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Reflective dialogue is still very much an unexplored area in teacher education in Pakistan. This article presents findings of a study that engaged four teachers in the process of reflective dialogue in a school in Karachi, Pakistan. It explores the teachers’ response to the process and possible reasons. It also examines the role played by those who help teachers to become reflective (reflective coaches). Findings indicate that reflective dialogue is an alternative teacher professional development strategy, and that a teacher’s level of reflection is dependent on the teacher’s commitment to teaching, personal reasons and responsibilities. Teaching experience also influences one’s …

Managing School Success: A Case Study From Pakistan, John Retallick

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This article reports on case study research into the management of successful schools in a developing country, Pakistan. In Pakistan there are attempts being made to improve school education through decentralisation and involving school communities through School Management Committees. Whilst serious problems remain in the provision of quality school education, there are nevertheless, some successful schools and the research sought to identify three such schools and investigate how and to what extent the management of the schools was contributing to their success. In the article a case study of one of the schools is reported along with the findings from …

The Academic Impact Of Service-Learning On New Jersey Public High Schools, Andrea Lynne Dinan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Examining User Acceptance Of Computer Technology: An Empirical Study Of Student Teachers, Will W.K. Ma, Robert Andersson, Karl-Oslear Streith

Support & Other Units (THEi)

The use of computer technology in schools has made slow progress since the mid-1980s even though governments have been generous in funding. It is therefore important to understand how and when teachers use computer technology in order to devise implementation strategies to encourage them. This study investigates student teachers' perceptions of computer technology in relation to their intention to use computers. The purpose is to shed light on more effective ways to motivate the use of computer technology in schools. Based on an expanded variation of the Technology Acceptance Model, 84 completed surveys of student teachers were collected at …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of Professional Development On High School Physics Teachers' Conceptual Understanding Of Newtonian Mechanics, Instructional Practices, And The Conceptual Growth Of Their Students, Julia K. Moeller

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a physics professional development program on secondary science teachers' conceptual knowledge of Newtonian mechanics, instructional practices and the conceptual growth of their students. The University of Northern Iowa Physics Institute enabled a group of twenty-one Iowa high school and middle school science teachers to complete the physics coursework required to obtain the State of lowa 7-12 Grade Physics Teaching endorsement. The Institute provided experiences to improve physics content knowledge and proficiency of constructivist methodologies for teaching high school physics.

Twelve Institute participants completed a two-year program during the 2002 …

Emotional/Behavioral Disorders: A Retrospective Examination Of Social Skills, Linguistics, And Student Outcomes, John W. Hill, Kathy L. Coufal

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A language-based social skills instruction intervention used to prepare middle and high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders for return to less restrictive public school placements was evaluated. The daily 50-minute intervention focused on repetitive readings, recitations, and role-playing of skill step procedures until students achieved mastery on each required task in five broad dimensions: peer relations, self-management, academic, compliance, and assertion. The students were divided into three groups according to the length of intervention (under 2 years, 2 to 3 years, and more than 3 years). Dependent t tests were used to test the effects of prolonged intervention on past …

Booni Valley Women’S Perception Of Schooling: Hopes And Barriers, Almina Pardhan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Schooling for girls is a relatively recent process in Booni Valley, a remote mountainous village in Chitral District, Pakistan. It is impacting greatly upon the lives of the women. This study has taken an ethnographic perspective and has assumed that an understanding of women’s schooling requires a detailed, in-depth account of women’s actual experiences in a specific cultural setting. The women in the study perceive their local language, Khowar, as having little value and place great importance upon learning Urdu and English, the official languages of Pakistan. The women also perceive schooling to increase their mobility and independence and to …

Researching Practice, Practicing Research: Impact On Teaching And Learning, Bernadette L. Dean, Rahat Joldoshalieva, Muneeza Kizilbash

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper shares the findings of an action research study on the use of whole class discussion (WCD) in the classroom and will concentrate on the benefits and learning that accrue to students and teachers from the use of action research to facilitate discussion. It was observed that teachers appreciated enlarging their instructional repertoire and they also acknowledged that stepping back during discussion, however difficult, had enabled them to learn more from the students and also develop key academic and social skills. During this project, teachers learned how to identify and address specific problems in their classrooms and students displayed …