Achievement Gap Essays (Examples)

Achievement Gap

Achievement Gap

Provide 3 reasons why Ladson-Billings defines the "achievement gap" as the "educational debt."

Ladson and Billings are defining achievement gaps as educational debt based upon three primary factors. The most notable include: historical, economic and social - political factors. These different areas transform how someone looks at achievement and their role in reaching different objectives. (Ladson -- Billings, 2006)

Historical components are focusing on how inequalities existed in many areas of society. This made it difficult for them to be able to make these adjustments based upon certain advantages being provided to specific segments of society. Throughout the course of American history, these practices made it harder for minorities to receive the support they needed. Instead, they were forced to receive access to second class educational services. These differences in the quality of materials and services, resulted in the majority (i.e. whites) receiving the best education possible. While…… [Read More]

Achievement Gap Go Into Any

The achievement gap also may ultimately negatively affect the U.S. As it may cause the nation to become less competitive in the increasingly global communities (What is the…, 2009). In addition, research indicates that the achievement gap contributes to students who more likely grow up to be unemployed, incarcerated, and poor. Consequently, a quality education proves critical for Black children (Elder, ¶ 3).

Causes Contributing to Achievement Gap

Causes contributing to the achievement gap between Blacks and Whites include educational targets increasingly annually, shifting demographics in the U.S., and the forthcoming addition of science targets. These and other factors such as teacher expectations, stereotyping, allocation of resources, high-quality teachers, and environment contribute to potential risks for increases in the achievement gap (What is the…, 2009, ¶ 2).

Gloria Ladson-Billings (2007), PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, reports that some perceive the achievement gap as merely one of student achievement; that the student…… [Read More]

Achievement Gap Among Wealthy and Lower Socio Economic Communities

Achievement Gap Among Wealthy and Lower Socioeconomic Communities

There exists an achievement gap among wealthy and lower socio economic communities. Students who come from schools within lower socioeconomic communities do not often receive the same education or services from wealthier districts. New Jersey has responded to this inequitable situation with the Abbot funding process. Recently two local communities, Long Branch and Neptune, have been threatened with the loss of their Abbott status; as a result of additional mandates from the federal No Child Left Behind Act, many such schools are being threatened with the loss of their funding if they fail to meet minimum academic achievement standards. To determine the impact of this potential loss, this paper will provide insights into local concerns in Long Branch to identify how this loss would affect the academic achievement gap. This discussion will be followed by a report on two areas where it…… [Read More]

Achievement Gaps and Educational Legislation

Educational Legislation

EDUCATION

Education plays a key role in molding and to guide pupils, from the tender age to old age, and offers them with rightful skills to face the challenges of the modern society. However, educational gaps render learning difficult for some people to achieve their dreams of getting education to a higher level. American government, in turn, has set up Legislations to govern such people and to ensure proper, accessible and equal opportunity to all without discrimination whatsoever. Achievement gap shows the differences that exist between the academic performances of two or more groups, due to factors such as different socioeconomic class, race, sex.

Poverty is a socioeconomic gap that clearly brings out the disparities between the rich and the poor. From research, people believed that the poor children did not take education seriously unless pushed. On the other hand, the rich attended classes and seminars, if need…… [Read More]

Differentiated Instruction and Closing the Achievement Gap

Differentiated Instruction and Closing the Achievement Gap

It is not always easy to see how differentiated instruction is able to initiate an advantage in schools that are performing extremely low or how it could help in closing the achievement gap. On the other hand, research done by experts show something different. Research has been taking a look at schools that have been on the AYP list and achieving results that are outstanding under conditions that are extremely hard. Furthermore, students in today's schools are more scholastically different. There are more students put in special education classes, more students where their first language is not English, and more students having a hard time learning to read. There is a prerequisite to guarantee challenge for learners considered advanced when pressures of accountability put the emphasis on basic competences, and a growing financial gap that exists among segments of the student population. In…… [Read More]

How Early Childhood Programs Can Help Close the Achievement Gaps in Public Schools

societal concern for the welfare of disadvantaged young children and the negative effects poverty has on their academic performance. The outcome of this preoccupation largely takes the form of early childhood programs. Actually, 'early childhood programs have been a part of the nation's social policy landscape for decades' (Shonkoff, 1). The main objective of such programs is to close the achievement gap between low-income students and their more privileged counterparts. Said differently, 'childhood intervention programs' seek 'to diminish the social economic status disparities in the preschool years so that poor children enter school on a more equal footing to their more affluent peers' (Brooks-Gunn, Currie, & Besharov, 3).

Early childhood programs enroll students who are between three and four years of age. These programs are sponsored by diverse organizations and institutions; oftentimes their services overlap. The most well-known is Head Start, conceived in 1965 and funded by the federal government.…… [Read More]

Black White Achievement Gap

Black-White Achievement Gap

As recently as 1998, the press was reporting that African-Americans score lower than European-Americans on vocabulary, reading, and math skills tests in general, as well as on standardized tests claiming to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. Although the gap had narrowed somewhat after 1970, the American black child still scored lower than whites, as much as 15% lower. Despite abundant speculation and a wealth of research, no one had yet come up with a 'magic bullet' to put a stop to the disparity; in fact, research had shown that the problem was extremely difficult to overcome, despite integration (a fact for more than 40 years) and improvement in other socioeconomic factors. "It is true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white children attend the same schools. It is also true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white families have…… [Read More]

Gaps Between HRM Plans the

Rothwell stresses both internal and external information with regard to supply and demand of labor skill sets, making clear that the development of internal skills is more available to the HR and line manager than external supply information. (p. 168) it is for this reason that internal information of labor supply, including all demographic and skill set information on each employee be an important and centralized system that is streamlined to some degree. This may be done by direct review of employee performance, i.e. By the line manager as well as by employee communication of skill set through reviews and written statements upon hire and later to ensure that such information is up-to-date and planning for future improvement is developed, including desire by employee to improve skill set and achieve educational goals, as well as streamlining of such information through planning and communication on the part of HR and line…… [Read More]

Gap Analysis Riordan Manufacturing the

End-State Vision

The primary goal for the management team at Riordan Manufacturing is to solve the existent problem, and through the strategies developed and implemented, ensure that it does not occur again in the future. In other words, they desire to increase employees' on the job satisfaction and reduce as such the turnover rates, which materialize in increased costs. The future goals of the plastics manufacturing company could be best described with the aid of a realistic vision statement. This could be formulated as follows:

Riordan Manufacturing is committed to maintaining its leading position onto the plastics industry by presenting their customers with high quality products, delivered by highly specialized and trained employees. The organization is also determined to make a difference in the environment by using the latest technological appliances which preserve the health of the surrounding environment. We are also proud of the healthy and pleasant environment we…… [Read More]

Racial Gap in City Schools

Possible Explanations in Structural Issues within the Educational Experience

The similarity in aptitude early on and the increasing academic achievement gap between black and white students thereafter would seem to suggest that the causes are most likely to be social and institutional. Among the possible factors, black children are less likely to have the benefit of a two-parent home; they are more likely to live in poorer communities with lower quality educational institutions; and they are 30% less likely to change school by their parents' choice. Unfortunately, the types of educational initiatives designed to reduce the education gap have not proven successful and to the extent their data suggest otherwise, it may be by virtue of over-reliance on the issue of "passing" instead of high achievement.

For example, the NCLB approach emphasized reducing the educational achievement gap among races by focusing on achieving proficiency in academic skills considered to be…… [Read More]

Math Achievement African-American vs White

In grade four white males performing "At or Above Basic" math skills is stated at 90% while black males were performing at only 59% "At or Above Basic" skill levels. White males in the "At or Above Proficient" skills level is stated at 49% with black males in this category stated at a mere 13%.

The following labeled Figure 2 shows the statistical report of NAEP (2005) in relation to achievement differences among African-American and White American males.

NAEP STATISTICAL REPORT: Minority Male Achievement Gaps Relative to White Males, Grade 4, 2005

Source: NAEP STATISTICAL REPORT (2005)

By the time these students reach 8th grade white males "At or Above Basic Achievement Levels" totals 76% while only 43% of the African-American males are "At or Above Basic Achievement Levels" the negative value in the Achievement Gap of African-American Males as relative to White Males indicates that a lower percentage of…… [Read More]

Racial Gap in Teachers' Perceptions of the

Racial Gap in Teachers' Perceptions of the Achievement Gap," Jeffrey Uhlenberg and Kathleen M. Brown examine possible reasons for the disparity between Black and White student academic performance. In addition to examining prior research, the authors surveyed teachers to assess their perceptions and opinions about the achievement gap. The four main categories under investigation are the child; the parent(s) and home environment; the teachers; and the school system. The authors surveyed both Black and White teachers to determine whether there was any significant difference in their perceptions. While most of the results confirmed the authors' hypothesis that Black teachers would focus more on the teachers and school system than on the student or the home environment and that the reverse would be true for White teachers. However, the results of the survey show that all teachers, regardless of race, point to several factors that impact the disparity between minority and…… [Read More]

Causes of Low Student Achievement

Causes of Low Student Achievement

Does the grading system accurately measure how well a student is learning?

This question itself implies that the grading system used by many teachers cannot be fully accurate in assessing what a given student has learned. Psychology Professor James D. Allen (the School of Psychology at the College of Saint Rose in New York State) explains that while the grading system is supposed to "accurately" reflect a student's academic achievement, it is very likely that in most cases grades do not truly reflect progress in academics, i.e., learning (Allen, 2005, p. 218).

Moreover, Allen says that teachers are required to give grades that supposedly summarize the knowledge a student has obtained, and this is called a "summative evaluation" (219). The teacher should also provide "formative" assessments by directly giving the student feedback and training them to become "self-regulated learners" (219). The grade is supposed to…… [Read More]

Educational Gap Between Whites and

They will in turn pass on that legacy to their own children. Since that is the general rule and principle, why does it affect persons of color more fiercely?

Persons of color are disproportionately represented in the low strata of the SE ladder. Amongst the poor persons of color have higher percentages and are more likely to exist in extreme poverty. Since SES determines where you live to a large extent, and where you live will determine the schools to which your children can attend. Then SES becomes a limiting factor because person whose household income is low will live in government housing and may be on some government support program. These persons will also have their children attend schools within these communities' schools where there is high teacher absenteeism, poor results on standardized testing and generally poor conditions (Lee, 2002). Again, in this regard persons of color are over…… [Read More]

Economic Issues of Student Achievement in a Non-Profit School Environment

Economic Issues of Student Achievement in a Non-Profit School Environment

The objective of this work in writing is to examine the economic issues of student achievement in a non-profit school environment. Toward this end, this work will examine literature across many areas of study to produce a synthesis of the information and knowledge available on the economic impacts of achievement among students who attend a non-profit school. Examined will be issues relating to accountability of non-profits, the accountability levels required for producing higher achievement among students and the availability of resources for student learning that results in achievement. Many non-profit schools are reported as failing. For example, it was reported that a non-profit school district in New Orleans intends to focus on failing New Orleans public schools and specifically that "A Recovery School District official plans to launch a nonprofit charter-management organization aimed at taking over and turning around failing…… [Read More]

Low SES and Achievement- Revised

Congruence of Mother and Teacher Educational Expectations and Low-Income Youth's Academic Competence

By: Aprile D. Benner and Rashmita S. Mistry

The authors of this article want to examine the independent effects of teacher and mother expectations on the youth achievement outcomes, the relationship between adult expectation and child performance, and whether identical or different adult expectations impacts on youth performance. Specifically, the study, which examined over 745 families, showed that mother and teacher expectations had a direct effect on a student's educational expectations, competency beliefs and academic outcomes. Particularly noticeable was the impact that mother expectations had on a youth's educational expectations. The study also concluded that a congruence between adult expectations, with the mother and teacher, had an even more pronounced effect on student expectations and achievement. Finally, the study found that teacher expectations were consistently lowered when mother/parent expectations were also low.

This study used a comparatively higher…… [Read More]

Gap Inc In 2010

2010

Description of Industry

Gap, Inc. is one of the most leading American forte apparel retailers who foundation is centered in San Francisco, California. It trades things like the casual apparels, decorations, and other products that are personal for men, women and children. The merchandises of Gap, Inc. comprise of khakis, T-shirts, boxers, denim, casual wear, and others. The trade is done in the New York Stock Exchange which goes up under the symbol GPS. The brands that signified reasonable stylishness and just about everyone-from well-known celebrities to usual American families had a pair of Gap clothing somewhere in their closet. Many people had to have the latest pair of khakis or a cardigan from Gap. Gap, Inc. maintains an unusually large number of various brands, specifically Gap, Forth & Towne, Piperlime, Old Navy, banana republic, and others. All of these various businesses are purchased by a business in different…… [Read More]

Gap Early Childhood Intervention and the Development

Gap: Early Childhood Intervention and the Development of the Disabled Child

Children with special needs include those who have disabilities, developmental delays, are gifted/talented, and are at risk of future developmental problems. Early intervention consists of the provision of services for such children and their families for the purpose of lessening the effects of their condition. Early intervention may focus on the child alone or on the child and the family together. Early intervention programs may be center-based, home-based, hospital-based, or a combination. Early intervention may begin at any time between birth and school age; however, there are many reasons for it to begin as early as possible. Early Intervention is the key to achieving the most positive outcome in aiding the disabled child to develop as normally as possible.

There are three primary reasons for intervening early with an exceptional child: to enhance the child's development, to provide support…… [Read More]

Gap Problem Purpose Rq's Method Design and

gap, problem, purpose, RQ's, method, design, and analysis?

According to Hickman (et al.) in the 2008 article "The differential developmental pathways of high school dropouts and graduates" from the Journal of Educational Research, the concern about the gap in achievement between high school graduates and non-graduates has long been a concern of educators and educational policy-makers alike. The peer-reviewed study posed two essential research questions to address the problem of low high school retention rates: first, do differences in the educational development of high school graduates and dropouts exist early on in their elementary school careers and secondly, if differences do exist, "where in time and across which variables do these differences occur" (Hickman et al. 2008: 2). The study attempts to address a 'research gap' in the existing literature regarding the focus on the secondary school careers of high school graduates. Focusing on the problems students encounter in high…… [Read More]

Gap CEO

Leadership

Glenn Murphy is the current CEO of GAP and has been leading the company for almost seven years. Coming to the company in a time when it was starting to experience significant trouble, Murphy focused on concepts like expansion and reform. Considering that the company had traditionally directed its attention toward employing creative designs and making customers feel that it promotes originality in general, it appears that Murphy wanted to change its strategy in order to help it recover from the critical position it was in at the time when he became CEO. By taking on a directive leader behavior, he intended to turn around the company's position on the market.

While it might seem that Murphy's actions were especially risky given the situation, it would be safe to say that he was well-acquainted with the risks and with the fact that something urgent needed to be done in…… [Read More]

Metacognition and Academic Achievement

Metacognition and Academic Achievement in College Students

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN METACOGNITION AND ACADEMI

Constituent Elements of Metacognition

Metacognitive Awareness Inventory

Gender differences in metacognitive skills

Relationship to Other Concepts

Growth of Metacognition Over Time

The Relationship between Metacognition and Academic Achievement in College Students

It is obvious today those college professors are being faced with classrooms that are full of students who are coming to them with different levels of knowledge in regards to the way they are learning. Some students are active, self-directed learners who know how they learn and are able to apply what they recognize to numerous learning circumstances. Also, others could possibly be average students that are actually working hard and who are able to know what their learning weaknesses and strengths, but who may not sufficiently control their learning. Still others possibly will be inert learners who have little consciousness of how they learn and…… [Read More]

Disproportionate Levels of Educational Achievement Among White

disproportionate levels of educational achievement among White and African-American students, titled "Powerful Pedagogy for African-American Students: A Case of Four Teachers," researcher Tyrone C. Howard examines the role of teacher effectiveness in terms of reaching this distinct student population. As Howard observes in the opening of his article, "effectively teaching African-American students continues to be one of the most pressing issues facing educators ... (and) despite the plethora of school restructuring and educational reforms, the disproportionate underachievement of African-American students is a consistent occurrence in U.S. schools" (179), and this alarming phenomenon provides the central premise of his subsequent investigation. Howard elects to focus his qualitative study on the diverse range of socioeconomic, cultural, and regional factors which are likely to exert an impact on the continued underachievement trend within African-American student groups. He is also concerned with assessing the role that teacher effectiveness plays in influencing the eventual achievement…… [Read More]

Raising Student Achievement in a High Need

Raising Student Achievement in a High Need School

To me, the major issue that people consistently fail to adequately address when discussing raising achievement in a high need school is the generational impact of educational disparity. For many people, providing equal educational facilities and equal quality of education is the only remedy to solving educational disparity. However, that ignores the critical role that parents play in a child's education. This role goes far beyond parents and the PTA; in fact, while those parents may help to contribute to the overall quality of a school, they do not necessarily impact individual student education in the necessary manner. Instead, I am talking about the critical role that parents play in education and learning-readiness, if only in an ancillary manner in their children's lives.

For example, I grew up with a father who had a graduate-school level professional education and a mother who…… [Read More]

Academic Achievement and Racial Background Is There a Relationship

Race, Ethnicity, and Academic Achievement - Proposal of Research Design

This research will study the relationship between race and ethnicity and academic achievement.

This study will look at whether students from five racial classifications - White, Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American - show statistically significant differences in their scores in reading and math. Using disaggregated data, this study will also examine whether significant differences occur within these racial classifications. In addition, this paper will study whether socio-economic status and language proficiency have a significant effect on a child's reading and math skills.

Because of many socio-economic factors linked to the construction of race, this paper predicts that white and Asian students will show higher test scores in reading and math. However, because racial classifications can obscure the differences between ethnicities, this paper also predicts that there will be significant differences in test scores within the racial categories themselves. In…… [Read More]

Learning Styles and Student Achievement

Students level of skills

How students are relating to vocabulary usage

Time segments in minutes

Notes need help (more than 20% are unable to process)

Students are spending more time working independently. Fewer students need assistance from teacher.

A somewhat skilled (10-20% need some assistance from teacher) working independently (fewer than 10% need assistance from teacher

Learning Styles used

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Verbal/Linguistic

Visual/Spatial

Body/Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalistic

Student Engagement Indicators - Make notes of overall impression of the lesson:

Students Given Choices

Give 1 to Get 1 activity gave students choices when deciding on which vocabulary terms to write out first.

Learning Put in Context

Students were able to relate new vocabulary terms to chapter problems.

Students working independently

As can be seen from the observation checklists examined above, the students used many different learning styles as the times of the activities increased, thereby indicating that…… [Read More]

Academic Achievement of African-American Students

Board of Education for African-American: "gains in educational attainment." (Guiffrida, 2006) it is pointed out in this work that the school counselor is in a particularly special or 'unique' position to offer assistance to both students and the families of students during the transition into college as well as in the provision of referrals to programs and counseling needs. African-American programs also exist that provide support for students. Guiffrida points out work conducted prior to the present research report in which it was concluded by Guiffrida (2005) "...that it was important for African-American students whose families provided emotional, academic, and financial supports, and who allowed and encouraged their children to make healthy separations" when the student made the transition to college to strengthen the capacity for the student to achieve academically.… [Read More]

Technology to Support Academic Achievement

197). There have also been a number of software applications developed specifically for use in the classroom that can provide at-risk students with the opportunity to catch up with their peers, but here again it is important to recognize that at-risk students may lack the same level of computer expertise as their peers and steps must be taken to ensure that they have been provided with the initial training necessary to use these tools effectively.

One approach that has shown significant promise in teaching at-risk students how to use computer technology effectively and in improving their academic performance is the Constructionist Alternative Learning Laboratory in the Maine Youth Center, a state facility for at-risk students who have been court-ordered to attend the program. Some educators might shake their heads and suggest that there was little that could be done with young people who had reached the point in their academic…… [Read More]

Socioeconomic Gap in the American

A particular set of achievements or test results needs to be arrived at in order to objectively compare two different bodies of information. Data relative to graduation and dropout rates among students as well as their parents would be relevant in showing the potential correlation between traditional education and the poverty cycle. Once a set of standards is established and norms set for both the standard education system as well as an alternative education system, data sets can be accurately compared and analyzed according to socioeconomic class, economic advantage or disadvantage, and as ethnicity.

First of all, this approach will take the form of statistical research intended to show that the specified minority groups currently do not perform as well on standardized testing as other groups. It is quite easy to find data to support this premise, and this data comes from sources within the current American educational system. Secondly,…… [Read More]

Staff Faculty Development for Raising Achievement

Peers and staff at major universities will review information collected in order to test for reliability and validity. Follow up studies will be necessary in order to determine the future efficacy of the theory proposed.

Results

The researcher suggests that the results of the study will reveal the critical factors that are likely to impact student's success in the classroom with regard to multicultural education. From the results of the fieldwork the researcher proposes that several factors will need to be adopted by faculty and staff in order to improve student outcome in the classroom.… [Read More]

Correlation of Parental Involvement and Academic Achievement

Correlation of Parental Involvement and Academic Achievement

History of the Parents' Involvement

Growing Public Awareness

Research Findings on Procedural Progress

The Ongoing Effect

Development of Academics under the Perspective of Parental Involvement

The Montessori System

The Philosophy behind the Educational System

Linking Educational Materials to Practical Life Tools

The Environment and Students' Achievements in Subjects

Factors Affecting Parental Involvement

Importance of Parental Involvement

Effects of Parental Involvement

Benefits of the Effects

As educationalists search for ways to improve the modern educational system and to eradicate the problems in it, it is indispensable for them to investigate the causality of these problems and system's shortcomings. It is apparent that the drawbacks do not come into being completely from academics. As a result, it is obvious that a dynamic involvement of parents in the education of their children is a requisite.

In order for student to achieve success academically, a relationship based…… [Read More]

Organization of the Elementary Classroom Delivery Model and Its Effect on Student Achievement

Elementary Classroom Delivery Model and its

Effect on Student Achievement

Departmentalized Classrooms

Organization

Typically, a school is organized with either a departmentalized or a self-contained structure. (Self-contained classrooms will be discussed in the next section). A departmentalized class structure allows the student to learn from subject area experts who have specific knowledge in one subject area. The student is able study a subject in a more in depth manner, and learn new facets of that single subject. This specific design type is generally used in middle and high schools rather than middle schools. Students in these higher grades are generally given more leeway as to the specificity of subject matter as they prepare for a more imminent adulthood (Greenfield & Klemm, 2001).

"Departmentalized instruction is characterized by teachers with subject-matter rather than whole child orientation" (Parker, 2009). This may sound like a negative comment, and it can be construed as…… [Read More]

Correlation Between Staff Development and Student Achievement

Staff Development and Student Performance

Staff Development: An Overview

State Standards for Staff Development

Progressive Trends in Staff Development

Recommended Guidelines for Successful Implementation

Georgia's Example

It stands to reason that proficient teachers are poised to make a positive contribution to the learning environment. The more educated, prepared and confident a teacher can be when entering the classroom, the more the students too can benefit. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future issued a report in 1996 entitled: "What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future." The crux of the report was based on three simple ideas:

What teachers know and do is the most important influence on what students learn."

Recruiting, preparing and retaining good teachers is the central strategy for improving our schools.

School reform cannot succeed unless it focuses on creating the conditions in which teachers can teach, and teach well.

These simplistic statements cannot be understated.…… [Read More]

Medical Robotics in Spite of Research Gaps

Medical Robotics

In spite of research gaps, medical robotics is a growing trend in the United States.

Advances in Medical Robotics (Diana, 2011)

Hybrid Assistive Limb 5 (HAL5) is an artificially powered ecoskeleton that helps double the amount of weight someone can carry unaided.

DaVinci Si HD Surgical System performs minimally invasive surgery through superior visualization and greater precision, with incisions of one to two centimeters causing less pain and speedier recovery. It reduces the hospital stay to one half and costs one third less.

Sofie incorporates force feedback allowing a surgeon to feel the pressure they apply making sutures and pushing tissue aside. Sofie is expected to develop in five years.

Cyberknife Robotic Radiosurgery System is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for treatment of cancerous and non-cancerous tumors.

Nursebot is designed to specifically help elderly deal with daily activities allowing them to live at home.

RIBA is designed to…… [Read More]

Equity Diversity and Accountability

Racial and Ethnic Achievement Gap Trends: Reversing the Progress toward Equity? By Jaekyung Lee. This article discusses setbacks in the achievement of racial and ethnic minorities, and identifies some of the key factors affecting these setbacks. The author believes variations in the data are not fully discussed, and there are strong implications toward future setbacks.

Reflective Review

The United States has always been a melting pot, and this blending of cultures and ethnicities continues throughout the new millennium. The fight for Civil Rights in the 1950s and 60s brought new opportunities to minorities in our country, but many studies and data indicate these opportunities may in fact be decreasing. Minorities tend to achieve less in mathematics and reading testing, and while these gaps narrowed in the 70s and 80s, they appear to be widening again (Lee 3). The author notes there are a wide variety of social and economic trends…… [Read More]

Class Size Cooperative Learning and Its Effects on Participation

Size/Cooperative Learning & it's effects on participation

Action Research Question

Will cooperative learning have a significantly positive impact on smaller or larger classes?

The purpose of this study was to investigate if cooperative learning will have a significantly positive impact on smaller or larger classes. In order to have valid results, I used both my largest and smallest classes as my sampling. I also incorporated a variety of teaching styles with cooperative learning to promote student participation and achievement. Results will be based on quiz and test scores, as well as cooperative assignments.

As educators in middle school and high school classrooms, content specialty teachers often work with a variety of class sizes. Yet, with such an assortment of class sizes, there are also extraneous variables that each teacher must consider in order to foster individual achievement. Participation and achievement are variables of the individual students that weigh heavily on…… [Read More]

Prediction African-American Parents' and Guardians'

Dissatisfaction with elementary school teachers and the educational environment usually meant that the same parents remained dissatisfied with the high school teachers and high school environment. The researcher suggests that the research gathered in the current study be used to improve community relations and more importantly, to improve the one-on-one relationships between all public school professionals and all parents. The author also notes that elementary school education provides a strong foundation for student math and literacy competency. Those competencies will carry over into middle and high school. Therefore, African-American students who did not receive an adequate early childhood education are less likely to thrive in later grades.

African-American parents varied with regard to the factors that influence their perceptions about public schools and their staff. Course materials and caliber of homework was one factor that impacted African-American parent perspectives. Some parents, however, attributed their children's success or failure to personal…… [Read More]

School Improvement One of the

More so, they will be able to apply the skills they learned in the classroom into the real-world environment of the community, which will only increase their understanding of the classroom objectives and lessons. Finally, by having students become involved in the community, the community will see first-hand the results of their taxes that go to support the school and the students learning experience.

Likewise, the staff must also become involved in the community, particularly the professional teaching community, in order to ensure that their teaching methods do not become stagnate, or out of date. The teacher has a lifelong obligation to continue to learn. As learning needs and methods rapidly evolve, the teacher's college education quickly becomes outdated. Therefore, a quality professional development program and other professional organizations must be made available to all the school's teachers. However, these professional organizations and seminars must be made relevant to the…… [Read More]

Education and Equality of Opportunity

Education and Equality of Opportunity

The issue of equality in access to education has been a long running argument and each time legislations are passed and initiatives invented towards trying to make education actually equal and accessible, there are gaping gaps that still make these efforts run short of their target goal. There are several terms that are used in the education department that need to be well understood since most have been misused and hence leading to either a stereotype view of education, or a skewed perspective that only helps to make the situation worse than it already is.

The achievement gap; this is often referred to as the disparity or difference in the performance of students in various groups. From the surface of it, it looks justifiable definition, however, these groupings that are use to measure the academic performance are quite stereotyped and the academic achievements have nothing…… [Read More]

Response to Intervention Effectiveness

Intervention Effectiveness

Response to instruction and intervention RTI2 is reported as a general approach in education to closing the gap in achievement. RTI2 methods are constructed upon the Response to Intervention (RTI) model that was an option for schools under the 'Building the Legacy, Idea 2004 reauthorization of the individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA. (California Department of Education, 2011) RTI and the expanded RTI2 are reported as being based upon "17 years of practice that has refined continuous progress monitoring as a strategy for keeping students on a path toward success." (California Department of Education, 2011) RTI is reported as a strategy that moves all students through the steps set out in the learning standards and is further more stated to be an approach that views both academic and behavioral achievement of students.

Tier 1-3

Tier 1 included the 'Universal Interventions' which include "preventive, proactive, universal intervention in all…… [Read More]

At Risk Students and Disappearing Fathers

Students, Prejudice and Risk

Students learn to be prejudiced through experience with other persons; prejudice by others can lead to prejudice in students, especially if they feel that representatives of a group, such as teachers or persons of authority speak for the whole and express basically biased views. In this way students can become prejudiced against certain groups; or news reports in the media, for example, of the way that police officers are portrayed, can lead to prejudice in students. Peers and family members can also pass on prejudice to students, so it is something that can be handed down by background and culture, too (Koonce, 2016).

Approaches that might help develop appropriate tolerance and acceptance in students could be for schools to adopt a Zero Tolerance policy, in which no form of prejudice or bias is accepted and if it is displayed by students they are immediately disciplined without…… [Read More]

Teachers Expectation

Teachers' Expectations

Prospectus:

This research study will examine the impact of teachers' expectation on students' overall academic achievement. The research will be conducted at Huntington Park High School, located in the city of Huntington Park. It is one of the largest high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District and has an enrollment of over 5000 students with 3-track calendar. The ethnic backgrounds of the students consist of 98.6% Latino, 0.6% black and 0.3% white. The students of Huntington Park High School (HPHS) have not been challenged to perform to their best abilities. One of the reasons may be that the teachers perceive them as incapable and lacking motivation, and so they feel it is unfair or hopeless to expect more from the students. The subtle messages received from their teachers may make the students feel incapable of handling demanding work. This could also be a factor in the students'…… [Read More]

School Climate Student Morale Technology

It is our belief that such integration will provide reciprocal benefits. Learners will more fully understand information technologies in the process of applying them across the curriculum and their understanding of other curriculum areas will be similarly enriched as they work to apply it skills in those contexts. Furthermore, there is a need to ensure that people understand the connections between information technologies and the other skills they attain in school, skills they use in work, and in everyday life.

Findings of the Initial Literature Review Phase of the Research

There exists a lack of technological integration which is noted at all levels of the educational forum as being one that is detrimental to the future of the student if not adequately addressed. The smaller schools appear to be providing better instruction and 'care' of their students as well as better technological instruction and overall better outcomes in terms of…… [Read More]

Public Education and How Will

Diversity is another very serious issue within public schools today, and it can be either racial or economic. Often it is both combined, as many of the lower income individuals and those that are struggling in this country are also usually of minority races. This is, of course, not always true, but it seems to be a generalization that proves to be true in many cases. Regardless of this, however, any students that are struggling with either economic or racial differences from their classmates can have a difficult time in school. Teachers should pay attention to their students and what they need. While it is possible to give too much attention to a student there is nothing wrong with making sure that all students know the teacher is available to talk with them should the need arise. Sometimes just knowing that there is someone they can talk to will be…… [Read More]

Attitude and Behavior Developmental Task

" (Halpin and Burt, 1998) DuBois states: "The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife -- this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of White Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face. (DuBois, 1903)

The work of Pope (1998) conducted a study to make examination of the relationship between psychosocial development and racial…… [Read More]

No Child Left Behind and Black Males

No Child Left Behind and Black Males

No child left behind

No Child Left Behind: Cause and Effect Essay

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed in 2001 in order to improve overall students' performance and to decrease the performance gap between minority and mainstream students. However other effects have emerged since its implementation. Through this cause and effect essay, author sheds light on effects of the NCLB. It has been discussed, how the NCLB has helped to improve education levels as well as how school administrators are facing challenges to meet the standards of this act.

The Influence of No Child Left Behind on Black Male Graduate Rate

The Influence of No Child Left Behind on Black Male Graduate Rate

Essay

NCLB is an educational policy that emphasizes accountability by imposing constraints on school systems. According to Gay (2007),

"The achievement gaps persist among different ethnic group,…… [Read More]

Round School vs A Regular

Students in these kinds of schools do not attend school longer, but they do not have a summer break that is longer than any of the other breaks that they take during the school year.

Research done by McMillen (2001) indicated that there were 106 schools in the state of North Carolina that operated on the year-round school calendar for third through eighth grades during the 1997-1998 school year. McMillen (2001) then conducted an analysis of the academic achievements of these students and compared them to the academic achievements of students in the same grades that attended schools where the traditional calendar was still used.

Data for the study came from a database of statewide testing in which 95% of the public schools in the state participate. In order to determine the academic achievements of the students, McMillen (2001) looked at achievement test scores and demographic information that was collected…… [Read More]

Reforming Education Again

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law by President Bush in 2002 as a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that was enacted in 1965 and re-enacted in 1994. The Elementary and Secondary Act also encompasses Title I, which is significant as it provides additional support for students who are disadvantaged, a factor that is often prominent in discussion of overall student performance in the United States. The nation has given considerable attention to ESEA as it has established more stringent and ambitious standards on public school, professional educators, and the students who attend public schools in the United States. Moreover, the role of the government has been expended through the act to ensure that underprivileged children receive equitable educational opportunities.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was intended to improve student achievement and applied a four-pronged approach to the ensuring educational progress…… [Read More]

Teaching What Are Three Rewards and Three

Teaching

What are three rewards and three challenges that you will face as a teacher?

As a rabid student of popular culture, I have been interested in the so-called "achievement gap" in education, popularized in the media, the political spectrum, and even within contemporary business culture. There is clearly a demonstrable gap in educational relevancy; second, there are basic skills that are absolutely vital in order to participate in the modern global village that are not universal with the U.S. educational environment. Scholarship also points out that the earlier the attention to this "gap," the earlier the attention to potential reading disabilities, and the earlier the intervention towards socialization issues, the higher rate of success and inclusion. This, too, engenders challenges within the profession. For instance, today's classrooms are more diverse than ever, they are multi-dimensional as well. To help fill the gap, teachers need to be able to jump…… [Read More]

Unfunded Mandate of NCLB and Title I

Unfunded Mandate of NCLB and Title I

The federal government contributes only a "relatively small share of school and district revenues" and in fact less than 10%, however, federal regulations that detail how funds are to be spent by the schools "exert a tremendous impact on school district management behavior and operations." (Center for American Progress, 2011)

The Federal government contributes only a very small portion of funding for state schools however, the federal government places a great deal of pressure on schools because of this funding and as such impacts the countries schools methods of management and makes stringent requirements on student achievement.

Title I Funding

The intentions of Title I funding is to provide "additional educational services to the neediest students in an LEA." (Center for American Progress, 2011) When Title I funding first began the manner in which the LEA spent the Title I funding was left…… [Read More]

Klein and the Educational System in New

Klein and the Educational System in New York

Case Questions: Leaders Who Make a Difference: Joel Klein Brings Accountability to NYC

Klein was a prominent leader in the educational system of New York. He had made impressive developments throughout his term in the Chancellor post. For example, Klein ensured an elevating trend in the number of graduates in New York. During his leadership, the number of graduating students shifted from fifty percent to sixty five percent. Nevertheless, his developments were subject to inadequate funds. The intense recess brought much limitation towards his reforms towards the educational system. Klein was a significant leader in the New York educational system. He had outstanding methodologies of developing the quality of education throughout the locality. Klein left a legacy in his area of leadership.

His strategies remained outstanding towards the development of the educational system. His leadership marked a memorable trend. His most memorable…… [Read More]

Affirmative Action the Impact of

In addition to changes in admission policies at universities, new workshops in education are beginning to address this issue head on, with teaching participants being taught that American history and education are both "written from the perspective of whites and that laws and policies benefit whites while putting minorities at an immediate disadvantage." (Fernandez, 1) This has helped to redirect the perspective on Affirmative Action within the profession, where institutions are beginning to espouse it as a legitimate means to balancing merit and racial fairness in both the admission of students and the courtship and hiring of teachers. A recent Supreme Court decision on student admission to the University of Michigan reflected this stance, offering real and applicable precedent that today reverberates in the collective movement to improve conditions for an ethnically diverse range of Americans.

In 2000, Gratz v Bollinger began the long process of defending the Constitutionality of…… [Read More]

No Child Left Behind NCLB

The belief that the achievement of students in the United States schools was falling behind other countries led politicians in the 1970s to instigate a minimum competency testing movement to reform our schools. States began to rely on tests of basic skills to ensure, in theory, that all students would learn at least the minimum needed to be a productive citizen (Amrein & Berliner).

In 1983, the National Commission of Education released a Nation at Risk, the most influential report on education in the past several decades. A Nation at Risk called for an end to the minimum. The competency testing movement and the beginning of the high-stakes testing movement that would raise the nation's standards of achievement drastically. This was a direct result of the perception that America was falling behind other nations in the education of their youth.

In discussing current high-stakes testing practices, test scores were often…… [Read More]

Equity Problems in Education Learning

Curriculum guides what is taught while differentiation guides how it is taught. Differentiation can be used to teach the same standard to a range of learners by using diverse teaching and learning modes. Curriculum doesn't have to be narrow to increase chances of success on standardized tests. Rather, differentiation means that teachers can make math accessible, equitable, and exciting to all students by "providing materials and tasks on the standard at varied levels of difficulty, with varying degrees of scaffolding, through multiple instructional groups, and with time variations" (Tomlinson, 2000).

Admittedly, standards-driven curriculum is far behind its goals for ensuring that "no child will be left behind."

But, while African-American and Hispanic students lag whites in achievement as measured by standardized tests, every racial/ethnic subgroup has made gains in achievement during the past few decades (it takes more than testing (closing the achievement gap, 2001). The gap has not narrowed…… [Read More]

No Child Left Behind but the Ethnic Minorities

No Child Left Behind

When it was first initiated, the No Child Left Behind Act was intended to make schools accountable for the education of their students. This federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act was supposed to improve the quality of education for all children in the United States. This paper will show, however, that in many school districts, the No Child Left Behind Act has had the opposite effect. As a result, many minority schoolchildren are left behind in school districts with worsening educational problems.

This paper applies a conflict perspective approach to analyzing education in the United States in general, and the No Child Left Behind Act in particular. The first part of the paper gives an overview of the writings of Karl Marx on social inequity. This section then discusses how this theory and the conflict perspective are applicable to the problems in the American educational system.…… [Read More]

Psychosocial Issues Affecting African-American Student in NYC Public Schools

PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING African-American STUDENTS

PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING

African-American STUDENTS

"They never want to hear what I have to say…it doesn't matter who started a fight, or what a teacher said to you that made you mad.

You might have something heavy going on at home but no one asks.

They're not interested. They just want you out of the school."

17-year-old 11th grade African-American female student, NYC

(Sullivan, 2007, p. iii).

In New York City, one of the two largest urban public school districts in the United States (U.S.), as well as throughout the U.S. An educational crisis exists; particularly relating to African-American students, that links to a number of factors. According to Sullivan (2007) in the published study, Deprived of Dignity. Degrading treatment and abusive discipline in New York City & Los Angeles public schools, 58% of African-American fourth grade students attending school in the U.S. during 2005…… [Read More]

NCLB the Impact of No

Impact on Equity

One major point regarding equity as applied to performance-based assessment is made by Yale Professor Emeritus Edmund Gordon (Dietel, Herman and Knuth, 1991). "We begin with the conviction that it is desirable that attention be given to questions of equity early in the development of an assessment process rather than as an add-on near the end of such work....The task then is to find assessment probes (test items) which measure the same criterion from contexts and perspectives which reflect the life space and values of the learner."

According to Robert Linn (Dietel, Herman and Knuth, 1991), "The criterion of equity needs to be applied to any assessment. It is a mistake to assume that shifting from standardized tests to performance-based assessments will eliminate concerns about biases against racial/ethnic minorities or that such a shift will necessarily lead to equality of performance. Although many at-risk students come to…… [Read More]

IQ Testing

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

An effort to improve the quality of education for all students and to ensure that no child is left behind, Massachusetts advocates, parents and educators of the Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (CARE) have proposed, House Bill 3660 for the reform of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAST) test.

The high rate of high school dropouts and gaps in achievement among cultures and economic levels has suggested an evaluation of Massachusetts current testing system. Massachusetts has experienced a drop-out rate of approximately 10,000 students per year over the last decade with the highest numbers among the Hispanic, African-American, low-income families, students with learning disabilities and language barriers.

This paper will illustrate the effect of high-stake test and student achievement. It will look at the current MCAST, the need for reform and the underlining challenges to provide equal and quality education to for children.

Advocates claim…… [Read More]

No Child Left Behind -

For Bush, the "formation and refining of policy proposals" (Kingdon's second process stream in policymaking) came to fruition when he got elected, and began talking to legislators about making educators and schools accountable. Bush gave a little, and pushed a little, and the Congress make its own changes and revisions, and the policy began to take shape. The third part of Kingdon's process stream for Bush (politics) was getting the necessary votes; Bush had his handlers buttonhole certain conservative politicians, and united them with Democrats, to get enough votes to pass the NCLB.

Meantime, it was truly "organized anarchy" as the debate in the House and Senate lasted seven weeks, and some members of Congress rejected the idea of having the NAEP double check state statistics that show whether test scores have gone up or not. Civil rights groups attacked the bill, saying it would be unfair to minorities.

There…… [Read More]

Validity of Data America Considers

Instead of pretending that racism and its effects no longer exist, we need to strengthen affirmative action and devise a new set of policies that directly tackle the racial gap in wealth." (Derrity, 1).

That, in a nutshell, is the position of this paper. America has not given affirmative action enough time to act. Moving forward, we should continue our affirmative action policies, but with an end in mind. Economists and sociologists, along with help from America's captains of industry and human resources experts, should devise an ideal time frame whereby affirmative action will end, and set outside and inside goals for this time frame as well.

But for now, affirmative action must continue, and continue with gusto, to reverse the horrors that America's history has caused.

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW of RELATED LITERATURE

History of Affirmative Action review of the history associated with affirmative action is the first step to…… [Read More]

Race Schools Queens New York Is

If students are misbehaving, they are not engaged in their lessons. Behavior management is, unfortunately, a priority focus at Springfield Gardens, to the detriment of instruction. This is the point that the three interviewees continued to stress. None of them blamed the teachers for failing to engage students; the fault, as they see it, lies squarely with the students whose families apparently do not place a high value on education. The students, as Gordon, Benton and Johnson see it, are products of the culture in which their parents live.

The three frequently compared and contrasted the students of today with students of generations past. Students in "the good old days" did not misbehave the way students do "these days." That point was made clear, particularly in interviews with Benton and Gordon. Benton recalled a childhood outside the United States where school, he implied, was much more rigorous. It would appear…… [Read More]

Curriculum the Principals Role in

Human relations are vital. Teachers must trust each other, there must be norms that support productive criticism, and there must be techniques in place for combining and resolving disputes. Arrangements need to be in place that generates discussion for problem identification and decision making. These arrangements could be things such as normal team meetings amid teachers at the same grade level or department meetings within high schools and middle schools. Frequently useful are school connections to inside and outside sources of knowledge and scrutiny coupled to a readiness to learn from such sources. Also, schools must work to secure the power to proceed with actions that might go against existing policies and practices. By doing this they master the micro-politics of their districts and their communities.

In schools where circumstances to maintain collaborative problem solving are not in place, leaders must expertly manage two plans at the same time. They…… [Read More]

US Public Schools Should Go to Year Around School

Round Schooling: Implications for the Current State of Public Education

The media has recently reported an array of problems with the public education system including criticisms of teacher effectiveness, lack of funding, and continued decline in academic achievement in comparison with other nations. Schools are facing a rise in class size with reduced support in regards to materials, finances, and staff. Despite government legislation, including the No Child Left Behind Act which has received billions of dollars in funding, lack of academic achievement and closing the achievement gap are consistent problems facing the education system (Koretz 803). These current issues have been a cornerstone of the year-round school debate which focuses on increasing the instructional days for students and reducing extended vacation times. Implementation of year-round education addresses these problems including helping to improve academics, reduce the achievement gap, and decrease classroom size.

According to research learning loss is a…… [Read More]

Static Learning in the 21st

Millions of dollars are spent on test-prep manuals, books, computer programs and worksheets (Gluckman, 2002). Static/captive learning can help teachers around the nation prepare their students for standardized testing.

Significance of the Study to Leadership

A principal is the leader of the campus. The challenge for the principal is to know his or her district's mandated curriculum and make sure teachers are able to deliver it (Shipman & Murphy, 2001). As the key decision-maker for the use of time and space, principals must be aware of how the use of time and space affects instruction. Principals need to know how best to use assessment data based on relevant content standards with teachers, school communities. Improved student learning is always the focus of assessment.

Because of high stakes testing, teachers are always assessing to monitor student progress and plan the scope and sequence of instruction. Principals can work to structure school…… [Read More]

Sociology of the Family

divorce rate in the United States is rising at an alarming rate. Just after the Civil War, approximately 5% of marriages in the United States ended in divorce. The divorce rate increased to approximately 10% by the 1920s and approximately 35% by the mid-1960's. By 1990, the divorce rate in the United States had risen to 50%. In a span of 125 years, the divorce rate in the United States increased by 900%. These rising divorce rates have undoubtedly had a profound effect on children. In 1988, 15% of all chil-dren lived with a divorced or separated parent. Presently, more than one mil-lion children per year experience a parental divorce. In the 1960's, almost 90% of children lived in homes with two biological parents. By 1995, approximately 18.9 million children under the age of 18 lived with one. With the rising divorce rate it is important to look at how…… [Read More]

Thinking Maps to Increase Comprehension for ESL's

Maps to increase comprehension for ESL's

English as a Second Language Learner

The academic achievement gap between linguistic minority groups and other students is a persistent problem for the American public school system (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 2003). The pattern of underachievement and a high school dropout rate for Hispanic/Latino students among immigrant groups is particularly pronounced (Wong Fillmore & Meyer, 1992) Of the school-aged English Language Learner (ELL) population, 73% come from Spanish language backgrounds (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002), and their test results in reading are of particular concern as literacy skills are the building blocks for academic achievement. The gap between the test scores of Hispanic/Latino students and white students is a well documented phenomenon, existing throughout grades K-12 in both reading and mathematics (National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 2003). According to the NCES (2000), 44% of foreign-born Hispanics fail to complete high school. A much lower percentage…… [Read More]

R-Questions to Build the Literature

Vaughn et al. (2003) report that the identification of LD students has increased upwards of 200% since 1977, with explanations ranging from a likely outcome of the growing knowledge field, to LD as a field serving as a sink for the failures of general education to meet the needs of students of varying abilities. The study investigators find that not only is the heterogeneity of the identified students quite wide, they also find that many students are overrepresented (misidentified) or underrepresented (unidentified). One large problem is the use of IQ tests to identify those students as learning disabled. Using standardized tests fails to accurately identify those students who either have reading difficulties or those students whose first language is not English. More emphasis is needed on response to instruction type models of assessment and intervention to replace ineffective normalized standards for identifying students at risk and properly placing students for…… [Read More]

Education for Hispanic Students in

colostate.edu/guides/research/casestudy/pop2a.cfm.

3. Hispanic, White Communities Forge Ties in Alabama (2003) a UA Center for Public Television and Radi9o Production. Online available at:

4. McDade, Sharon a. (2002) Definition of a Case Study. Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning - North Carolina State. Online available at http://www.ncsu.Edu/fctl/Programs/Instructional- Development/Teaching _Materials / CaseStudies/Materials / Case studyDefintion.pdf# search =%22 CASE%20STUDY % 3A%20DEFINIT ION%20OF %22.

5. UAB Wins $389,000 in Grants to Help Teachers Educate Non-English Speaking Children (2001) UAB Media Relations. 27 Nov 2001. Online available at http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=46333.

6. English Language Development and Multicultural Education (2005) University of Alabama. Berkeley University Online available at http://crede.berkeley.edu/tools/directory2-1/PDF/esl.pdf#search=%22Alabama%3A%20Elementary%20ESL%20SERVICES%22.

7. English as a Second Language (ESL) (2004) Baldwin County Public Schools; Bay Minette, Alabama. Online available at http://www.bcbe.org/Default.asp?DivisionID='824'&DepartmentID='958'.

8. UAB Wins $389,000 in Grants to Help Teachers Educate Non-English Speaking Children (2001) UAB Media Relations. 27 Nov 2001. Online available at http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=46333.

9. Alabama (2006) KYTESOL Newsletter Vol.…… [Read More]

School-Based Mental Health Program on

This is discussed at length by Fusick and Bordeau (2004) "...school-based counselors need to be aware of the disturbing inequities that exist in predominantly Afro-American urban school districts, where nearly 40% of Afro-American students attend school in the United States" (Fusick and Bordeau, 2004) This again places emphasis on the need for mental health programs in these areas of concern. This is also related to findings from a study by McDavis et al. (1995) Counseling African-Americans, which refers to research that stresses the "...widening achievement gap between Afro-American and Euro-American students." (McDavis, et al. 1995)

An important study Laura a. Nabors, Evaluation of Outcomes for Adolescents Receiving School-Based Mental Health Services (2002) refers to the particular issue and problems experience at inner-city schools. The author states that, "School mental health (SMH) programs are an important setting for providing mental health services to adolescents, especially urban youth who typically face in-…… [Read More]

No Child Left Behind NCLB

e. ELL students in public schools. Data provided in the literature demonstrates that by 2030, more than half of all students in American public schools will speak a language other than English (Devoe, 35). In some schools the total number of students whose first language is not English is much higher. Specifically, Devoe reports that in Lawrence, Massachusetts more than 90% of all children enrolled in public schools are ELLs. Devoe argues that in these districts, a catch-22 has developed which makes it difficult for schools to provide educational services to ELLs. Specifically, ELL students that do not pass reading and math competence tests are labeled as "in need of improvement." Although efforts have been made to improve outcomes for these students, basic English competency remains a significant challenge limiting the progress of the students and the school on standardized tests. As ELL students fail to meet standards, schools that…… [Read More]

Education Theories Knowledge of Learning

Dr. Frank Pajares, writing in Reading and Writing Quarterly (Pajares 2003), points out that in his view of Bandura's social learning theory, individuals are believed to possess "self-beliefs that enable them to exercise a measure of control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions."

As has been mentioned earlier in this paper, but put a slightly different way by Pajares ("Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Motivation, and Achievement in Writing: A Review of the Literature") based on Bandura, behaviorists can better predict what individuals are capable of based on "their beliefs about their capabilities" than by what they are actually capable of accomplishing.

This aspect of self-efficacy carries over into a student's writing abilities; and a writer with a "strong sense of confidence" may excel while writing an essay because there will be less apprehension over the quality of what the writer is trying to express. The writer may have some doubts about whether…… [Read More]

Framework of Implementing the Z Mathematical Model to a Sixth Grade Class

Nature of the ProblemPurpose of the ProjectBackground and Significance of the Problem

Brain Development

Specific Activities to engage students

Data-Driven Instruction

Community Component of Education

Research QuestionsDefinition of TermsMethodology and Procedures

Discussion & ImplicationsConclusions & Application

ntroduction

The goal of present-day educational reformers is to produce students with "higher-order skills" who are able to think independently about the unfamiliar problems they will encounter in the information age, who have become "problem solvers" and have "learned how to learn, " and who are on their way to becoming "critical thinkers" and "lifelong learners." The method advocated for achieving these "higher" order skills" is "discovery learning," by which students solve problems and make decisions on their own through "inquiry" and "independent analysis" of "real-world" projects -- what Kilpatrick in the 1920s called the "project method."

The oft-repeated goal of the educational community -- to inculcate general thinking skills --is not, however, soundly…… [Read More]

Decoding Identifying Improved Techniques and Approaches for

Decoding: Identifying Improved Techniques and Approaches for Helping Children Learn to Read

Because reading is essential to overall academic success, one of the most serious and explosive issues in the United States today is how to meet the educational needs of an increasingly diverse population of students with a wide range of developmental needs. The situation is urgent as well, since current trends in educational achievement suggest that millions of students will not acquire the education necessary to fully participate in the economic and political aspects of society. Additionally, the inequality that results from differences in the educational achievement of children is likely to further widen the gap between the rich and poor. Children cannot learn to read without an understanding of phonics.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (1996) points out that all children must know their ABCs and the sounds that letters make in order…… [Read More]

Differentiated Instruction in General Terms

How can the use of differentiated instruction decrease the achievement gap for culturally, linguistically, ethnically, and economically diverse groups?

b. What are the benefits of using differentiated instruction?

c. What researches have been conducted on differentiated instruction?

Overview of Methodology

a. Practitioner inquiry

b. Interviews

Relevance of the Study

Ways structure lessons differentiated by readiness, interest, and learning profile.

a. Differentiating content of lessons, process used in learning, and products of learning

b. Ways to manage choice in the differentiated classroom

Implication of Research

Articulate techniques for differentiating content, process, and product based on student readiness, interest, and learning profile.

a. Implement key instructional strategies and explore effective classroom management.

b. Understand the rationale and essential principles of differentiation and utilize strategies that help insure student access to the curriculum.… [Read More]

Perceptions of Educators in a

The study had two central purposes:

1. To identify reform-related practices in mathematics instruction that have increased, decreased, or not changed since the implementation of high-stakes testing, based on educators' perceptions.

2. To determine educators' perceptions of the effects of reform-related practices on improving student achievement since the implementation of high-stakes testing.

Research Questions

High-stakes testing in mathematics has redefined the way teachers instruct students who underperform or learn at different rates or in different ways. Many educators feel that testing has had positive effects on student achievement and has produced positive curriculum and instructional changes in mathematics (Phelps, 2005). Others believe that reform efforts have not gone far enough or have been detrimental to honest achievement, as they focus on objective tests rather than subjective analyses of conceptual learning (Phelps, 2005). The problems continue to be how to teach all types of students, including those who do not learn…… [Read More]

No Child Left Behind Law

No Child Left Behind Law

On January 8, 2002 President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of2001 (NCLB Act). This historic piece of education legislation reauthorized and considerably expanded the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, first endorse in1965. Its most important title, Title I, has focused federal government attention and money on students in high poverty schools for over 35 years. Congress made noteworthy changes to the law in 1994, and the most recent changes build upon them dramatically. It also provided momentous funding increases. The new Act is the result of bipartisan leadership among five political leaders -- President Bush, Senators Kennedy and Gregg and Representatives Boehner and Miller -- and a large majority of the U.S. Congress who were clearly fed up with insufficient learning among the groups of students that federal programs are most supposed to help.(Dickard, 2001)

While a determined band of…… [Read More]