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Www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/Researcharticle_visible_learning.pdf

Www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/Researcharticle_visible_learning.pdf

David Didau: The Learning Spy | Brain food for the thinking teacher Leading mathematician debunks ‘value-added’ - The Answer Sheet This was written by John Ewing, president of Math for America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving mathematics education in U.S. public high schools by recruiting, training and retaining great teachers. This article originally appeared in the May Notices of the American Mathematics Society. It gives a comprehensive look at the history, current use and problems with the value-added model of assessing teachers. By John Ewing Mathematicians occasionally worry about the misuse of their subject. But the most common misuse of mathematics is simpler, more pervasive, and (alas) more insidious: mathematics employed as a rhetorical weapon—an intellectual credential to convince the public that an idea or a process is “objective” and hence better than other competing ideas or processes. The latest instance of the phenomenon is valued-added modeling (VAM), used to interpret test data. Background Today, tests have more consequences. 1. 2. 4. Value-Added Models History How Is VAM Used?

The Science: The Growth Mindset - Mindset Works®: Student Motivation through a Growth Mindset, by Carol Dweck, Ph.D. Why the Growth Mindset? When students and educators have a growth mindset, they understand that intelligence can be developed. Students focus on improvement instead of worrying about how smart they are. They work hard to learn more and get smarter. Based on years of research by Stanford University’s Dr. Dweck, Lisa Blackwell Ph.D., and their colleagues, we know that students who learn this mindset show greater motivation in school, better grades, and higher test scores. What does a Growth Mindset School look like? Administrators support teachers’ learning. Teachers collaborate with their colleagues and instructional leaders, rather than shut their classroom doors and fly solo. Parents support their children’s learning both inside and outside the classroom. Students are enthusiastic, hard-working, persistent learners. What is the impact of Mindset? Mindsets Predict Motivation and Achievement Growth Mindset Training Boosts Motivation and Achievement

Race to the Top Fund Race to the Top Fund Race to the Top Phase Three Announcements, Applications, Application Review, Technical Assistance Race to the Top Phase Two Announcements, Applications, Scores and Comments, Application Review, Technical Assistance Race to the Top Phase One Announcements, Applications, Scores and Comments, Application Review, Technical Assistance FY 2011 Budget Request President Obama announced his plans to continue the Race to the Top challenge, requesting $1.35 billion for the program in his FY 2011 budget. For more information, please see the Executive Summary. Program Office: Implementation and Support Unit (ISU) CFDA Number: 84.395 Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants Through Race to the Top, we are asking States to advance reforms around four specific areas: Awards in Race to the Top will go to States that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform.

Full On Learning | Because learning is too important to be left to chance Read What’s in HB 555, Ohio’s New School Report Card, Etc. Bill Low-performing dropout recovery charter schools could be closed by the state by 2016 under a new education bill currently moving through Ohio’s state legislature. The major thing that bill, HB 555, would do is establish new school report cards for Ohio schools and school districts. But it would also make other changes affecting Ohio schools. Those changes include creating a separate report-card system for dropout recovery charter schools. Other changes include: Making the state Board of Education (rather than the state Department of Education) responsible for deciding who can be a charter-school sponsor. Update, Nov. 15: You can also read the Legislative Service Commission’s analysis of the bill.

Resources Please take a look at learning resources I have produced or “acquired” (like all good teachers do!). Feel free to view, download and share – I hope they help in some way….. Constructivism Glogster posters TMHS Assessment – a poster explaining a Feed “forward” assessment strategy based on the initials of the school TMHS QR – a really simple QR poster to attract and inspire students – I’m sticking it on my door and seeing what happens! Augmented Reality (AR) Learning display posters AR Elements AR Alkali metals New Technology resources 21C Technologies Top Ten 21C Technologies checklist using ict to enhance learning QR Code resources (thanks to @nervassa for the first two resources) How to generate QR codes Find someone who can solve Making Tea QR codes Blooming Marvellous – Bloom’s Taxonomy resources (the first is from the brilliant Norbert De Mello) blooms bookmarks BloomingOrangev1[1] (from bloomsposterv4 (from Accelerated Learning Cycle

Teacher Evaluation Impasse Costs New York City Hundreds Of Millions : The Two-Way In New York City, the failure to agree on a plan for evaluating its teachers is being widely criticized, especially because it means the city will now miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars in state financing. At stake was $250 million in state aid, and another $200 million in grants, according to WNYC's Schoolbook education blog. State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch says that missing the deadline, which was set by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is "devastating," writes Schoolbook's Patricia Willens. "'But just as devastating is the failure to implement an evaluation plan to give educators the feedback they need to improve their practice and help their students learn and succeed," Tisch added. From member station WNYC (and Schoolbook), Yasmeen Khan filed a report for NPR's Newscast that discusses how the discussions broke down: "It's no secret the teachers' union and Mayor Michael Bloomberg don't really get along.

Thinking Skills What do we mean by "Thinking Skills"? Thinking skills are the mental processes that we apply when we seek to make sense of experience. Thinking skills enable us to integrate each new experience into the schema that we are constructing of "how things are". It is apparent that better thinking will help us to learn more from our experience and to make better use of our intelligence. It has always been the central aim of education to improve the quality of thinking because better thinking will not only enable us to become more successful at learning but will also equip us for life, enabling us to realise our own potential and to contribute to the development of society. Why do we need to develop thinking skills? When I was at school (in the 1950's and 1960's) students were largely considered to be "clever" if they demonstrated the ability to commit to memory huge amounts of data and to recall that data on the appropriate occasion. Is it possible to define a set of "Thinking Skills"

Teacher Evaluation Dispute Echoes Beyond Chicago hide captionOne of the primary disputes in the Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike is over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal to link teacher pay to student performance. Robert Ray/AP One of the primary disputes in the Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike is over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal to link teacher pay to student performance. One of the primary issues at the heart of the the Chicago teachers' strike is whether student test scores should be used to evaluate teachers and determine their pay. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing that approach, as are other officials around the nation. But many teachers insist that it's inherently unfair to grade their teaching based on their students' learning. Just the fact that there's a growing discussion around teacher evaluations is a huge leap for the education industry. "Teachers aren't used to being evaluated in an honest way," says Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. 'A Down And Dirty Fight'

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