Rejecting Instructional Level Theory A third bit of evidence in the complex text issue has to do with the strength of evidence on the other side of the ledger. In my two previous posts, I have indicated why the common core is embracing the idea of teaching reading with much more complex texts. But what about the evidence that counters this approach? Many years ago, when I was a primary grade teacher, I was struggling to teach reading. I knew I was supposed to have groups for different levels of kids, but in those days information about how to make those grouping decisions was not imparted to mere undergraduates. So, I enrolled in a master’s degree program and started studying to be a reading specialist. I maintained my interest in this issue when I went off for my doctorate. He had (has) a great clinical sense and he was skeptical of my faith in the value of those instructional level results. For Jack, the combination of two such rough guestimates was very iffy stuff. Except that there is not. How can that be? P.S.
Anne Murphy Paul: Why Floundering Makes Learning Better Call it the “learning paradox”: the more you struggle and even fail while you’re trying to master new information, the better you’re likely to recall and apply that information later. The learning paradox is at the heart of “productive failure,” a phenomenon identified by Manu Kapur, a researcher at the Learning Sciences Lab at the National Institute of Education of Singapore. Kapur points out that while the model adopted by many teachers and employers when introducing others to new knowledge — providing lots of structure and guidance early on, until the students or workers show that they can do it on their own — makes intuitive sense, it may not be the best way to promote learning. Rather, it’s better to let the neophytes wrestle with the material on their own for a while, refraining from giving them any assistance at the start. (MORE: Paul: The Secret to Grace Under Pressure) With one group of students, the teacher provided strong “scaffolding” — instructional support — and feedback.
What is Working Memory and Why Does it Matter? Remember the day when someone rattled off a phone number while you just hoped against hope you'd recall the string of digits as you were dialing? That was working memory toiling away. With the advent of cell phones, you may no longer use it this way very often. But working memory still plays a central role in learning and our daily lives. If working memory is weak, it can trip up just about anyone. But it really works against a child with learning disabilities (LD). What Is Working Memory? Working memory is your brain's Post-it note, says Tracy Packiam Alloway, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. You can think of working memory as the active part of your memory system. Brief by design, working memory involves a short-term use of memory and attention, adds Matthew Cruger, PhD, neuropsychologist with the Learning and Diagnostics Center at the Child Mind Institute in New York City. Types of Working Memory
Waiting for the Real Superman: A Christian School Closes the Achievement Gap | This Is Our City Nearly 15 years ago, Russ Gregg began doubting that he understood what it meant to love his neighbor. Living in the Phillips neighborhood of urban Minneapolis, he commuted every day to the upscale suburb of Edina, where he was an administrator at the private Christian academy where his children attended school. The question—"Does it mean that everything I want for my children, I should want for my neighbor's children as well?"—began to haunt him. After resigning from his position in Edina, Gregg began the process of cofounding Hope Academy, a private K-12 Christian school in one of the most economically challenged, ethnically diverse regions of the Twin Cities. And it's hard to argue with the claim that something remarkable is happening here: Hope's 2010 "Hope by the Numbers" report indicates that its students, most of whom live in the surrounding neighborhoods, are performing at twice the level of the city's public school students.
Education Working Paper 6 | The Teachability Index: Can Disadvantaged Students Learn? Education Working PaperNo. 6 September 2004 The Teachability Index: Can Disadvantaged Students Learn? Jay P. Greene, Ph.D. Executive Summary Student “teachability”—the personal advantages and disadvantages that students bring to school with them—plays an important role in public discussion of education policy. These claims are rarely subjected to serious scrutiny. The Teachability Index shows that students today are actually somewhat easier to teach than they were thirty years ago. The states with the highest scores on the Teachability Index were North Dakota, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and South Dakota. We also compare the teachability levels of students in each state with their academic outcomes. In particular, states with more school choice or stronger accountability testing demonstrate better school performance. The states with the highest scores on the School Performance Index were Montana, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina. Introduction Method The Teachability Index
What to Write Down During a Class Lecture I dunno. I sometimes surprise people with what I can remember, but while I think it's important to remember the concept discussed, certain details may not be remembered unless your professor does upload the slides or offers a study guide. Are these offerings pretty consistently offered? The cues mentioned here are pretty "duh", though. I agree with you and rarely take notes myself but I have noticed it does tend to allow my mind to wander more which means I pay less attention. Also, writing something down does tend to etch it in your mind slightly deeper making it harder to forget. I think it may depend on the subject. In less technical fields, the teachers are sometimes lazy (although they try to blame the students), the material is less susceptible to outlining, or it's just not that hard in comparison with something like computer science. I don't think much of this guide.
The Art of Failing Successfully | Head Case Can D.C. keep middle schoolers from ‘teetering on the ninth-grade cliff’? - D.C. Schools Insider Posted at 08:49 PM ET, 09/07/2011 Sep 08, 2011 12:49 AM EDT TheWashingtonPost “Dropout factories” is the term for high schools where less than 60 percent of freshmen complete their senior year. But some of the data presented at Wednesday’s D.C. “If we want to improve graduation rates, we need to catch students before they are teetering on the ninth-grade cliff,” said HyeSook Chung, executive director of D.C. The seven-hour hearing was the first of two planned by D.C. “You shouldn’t have to win a lottery ticket to make sure that your child gets a quality education in middle school,” said Brown. Brown and other council members are concerned that recent enrollment gains made by DCPS at the elementary level are at risk unless the city can raise the quality of offerings at its 13 traditional middle schools and 20 “campuses” that include grades six through eight. “I know we’re on a collision course, especially in Ward 6,” said D.C Council member Tommy Wells. More to come on Thursday.