Chapter Six

1. Contemporary Trends and Issues in Education Chapter Six

2. Metacognition Journal Entry #4 June 23,2013 Compare your actual exam #1 score to how you felt you did. To what do you attribute your actual score? How did you prepare for the exam and how can you prepare for next time to assure mastery (i.e. create flash card, study group, write responses to LO questions, etc.?). Be specific.

3. Teaching Students with Special Needs: Inclusion • Students who require special services for academic, physical, or behavioral needs may be mainstreamed into regular classrooms with two teachers working together. • Inclusion classrooms offer all students significant possibilities. The inclusion teacher works closely with the regular classroom teacher.

4. The Inclusion Classroom • Inclusion: Students with disabilities are in a “regular” class whole day • Pros and cons: helps or hurts “regular” students? • Mainstreaming: Students are in regular class for part of day • Special education: Segregated class • Stigmatizes and inhibits growth? • Why is there a disproportionate number of minority boys? • How is the special education assessment made?

5. Individualized Educational Program • Plan describing academic goals, services school will provide, and assessment strategy for each student with disabilities • Created through collaboration of teachers (general ed. & inclusion specialist for that class), school psychologist, administrators, student’s guardians

6. Gifted & Talented Students • Learn differently from peers: • Usually they learn faster and understand at more complex level • Often demonstrate special creativity • Inclusion students can also be gifted and talented! • Fewer poor & minority students identified • Parents less likely to demand G&T classes • Students had fewer experiences that convey a sense of “giftedness”

7. Gifted & Talented Programs • Enrichment: Broadens curriculum • Classroom-based activities to expand on unit • Acceleration: Speed through curriculum, students may skip grades, graduate early • Segregated grade-level classes • Advanced placement classes (college credit) • International Baccalaureate Program

8. Differentiated Instruction • Uses a variety of strategies to meet different learning needs—represents good teaching! • Differences affect: • What students need to learn • Pace of their learning • Level of support needed • Students learn best when: • Supportive adults encourage them • The curriculum connects to their interests, lived experiences • They feel respected & part of community • Learning opportunities are natural outgrowths of the classroom community

9. Cooperative Learning • Project-based: Students tackle a complex realistic task (often constructing something) • Problem-based: Students solve real problems • In both approaches: • Students collaborate in small teams, direct learning • All answers are respected and analyzed • Focus is on an engaging, complex, real-life issue • Students gain new academic, thinking, & social skills • Adds creativity & depth to study of subject

10. No Child Left Behind Act • The major goal was to close the achievement gap between poor, minority students & white middle-class students: • Instituted annual state and school report cards based on standardized test scores • If schools don’t make “annual yearly progress”: • Schools provide additional services (free tutoring) • Schools must take corrective actions • Students can transfer to better-performing school in district • States & school districts given unprecedented flexibility in spending federal $ • Federal $ targeted to support programs and methods scientifically proven to improve student achievement

11. NCLB Results • Fostered culture of test preparation • Annual standardized tests in math & reading for grades 3-8, but tests aren’t “standard” • Narrowed curriculum, teaching practices • Widened gap between low- and high-achieving students • Went back to being called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2010 • Exemptions were made for certain states under the Barack Obama administration

12. Race to the Top Competition for Additional State Funds for Education- Some Attributes • Improving teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance • Demonstrating significant progress in raising achievement and closing gaps • Developing and adopting common standards (CCSS) • Ensuring successful conditions for high-performing charters and other innovative schools • Encourages states to award bonuses to teachers whose students attain higher test scores

13. Rise of Charter Schools • Charter exempts school from certain rules, school produces set results by deadline • Goal: Innovative education, often for targeted populations • State or local ed. agency grants charter • Publicly funded schools • Teacher certification standards vary • 40 states have charter school laws • No clear evidence of success; supported by 2010 Race to the Top Federal Grant Competition.

14. Homeschooling • Most homeschooling families are white, middle or upper-middle class, religious, well-educated • 1/3 chose because of school environment (safety, peer pressure, drugs); 1/3 to give religious ed. • Can parents adequately teach in all subjects? • Range of curricula from companies via the Internet • Do kids gain social skills? • Study reported 71% of homeschooled grads were active in the community vs. 37% of traditionally educated students

15. Middle Schools in Transition • 1980s: Many junior highs converted to middle schools to better serve young teens with interdisciplinary team-teaching • Research showed K-8 yields better academic & social success • Many middle school teachers aren’t certified in subject area

16. Creating a Climate of Safety • Emotional climate • Establish a culture of respect • Deal quickly with everyday teasing, bullying • Create connections between adults & students • Break the code of silence • Involve everyone in school in creation of “emergency response” policies & practices

17. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) • Refers to students’ abilities to manage their emotions, develop caring and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively. • SEL skills are explicitly taught through planned, systematic, and evidence-based classroom instruction.

18. Students’ Rights • Safety • Privacy • Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA): School must protect confidentiality of students’ educational records • A.k.a. “the Buckley Amendment” • Students & parents can review records • Can challenge content, insert explanation into file • Exercise some control over disclosure • For more information about FERPA

19. Students’ First Amendment Rights • Free expression: • Balance between individual’s rights & school’s need to maintain productive learning environment • Speech cannot disrupt learning • School newspapers can be censored • District can impose dress code • Freedom of religion: • In general, schools must be neutral

20. Teachers’ Rights • Safety • Academic freedom • Freedom of expression • Privacy: Limited; if private actions affect integrity of school or hamper teacher’s effectiveness, teacher may be disciplined • These rights are limited by context: The teacher’s responsibility to students

21. Teachers’ Responsibilities • Take reasonable precautions to keep students safe • Report suspected child abuse/neglect • Watch the TeachSource Video Case, “Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Teaching: Reflections from Today’s Educators” • In what ways are the “rules of the classroom” meant to support students’ First Amendment rights?”

22. Conclusion • Trends often have long lasting impacts on teaching and learning! You will likely encounter: • Exceptional learners • An inclusion classroom • Project- and problem-based learning • Standards-based accountability • Issues related to students’ rights and safety • Families choosing alternative schooling (charter schools, homeschooling) • Issues surrounding social and emotional learning