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2018-12-14
WestEd;
One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found in college and careers. The first part of this section makes a research-based case for why the complexity of what students read matters. In brief, while reading demands in college, workforce training programs, and life in general have held steady or increased over the last half century, K–12 texts have actually declined in sophistication, and relatively little attention has been paid to students' ability to read complex texts independently. These conditions have left a serious gap between many high school seniors' reading ability and the reading requirements they will face after graduation. The second part of this section addresses how text complexity can be measured and made a regular part of instruction. It introduces a three-part model that blends qualitative and quantitative measures of text complexity with reader and task considerations. The section concludes with three annotated examples showing how the model can be used to assess the complexity of various kinds of texts appropriate for different grade levels.
2018-12-12
WestEd;
What instructional practices are most likely to lead African American male students to excel academically?
The quality of instruction influences the quality and quantity of learning for all students, but especially for African American males.
For the past six years, the National Center for Urban School Transformation has been identifying and studying urban schools that achieve outstanding academic results for all students, including African American males. These studies have pinpointed practices that lead African American male students to excel.
This webinar provides information about the instructional practices that make a difference, and also discusses strategies for changing instructional practices in schools.
Specific topics addressed are:
Key instructional practices that influence the extent to which African American males are likely to learn rigorous academic content
Key instructional practices that influence the commitment and engagement of African American males
Schoolwide practices that influence changes in classroom instruction
2018-11-30
Action Change Transform (ACT);
Experiences of working with grassroots peace structures to address electoral conflicts and violence in Kenya.
2018-11-15
Swiss Water & Sanitation Consortium;
Una Escuela Azul ofrece un entorno de aprendizaje saludable y expone a los alumnos a tecnologías y prácticas respetuosas con el medioambiente, que ellos pueden replicar en sus comunidades.
El Catálogo de Ejercicios Prácticos tiene como objetivo inspirar a los profesores con ejercicios prácticos y de bajo costo para complementar las lecciones del plan de estudios nacional. Los ejemplos proporcionados facilitan el aprendizaje de los alumnos mediante la práctica y pueden ser reproducidos en sus hogares y comunidades. Proporciona ejemplos de ejercicios prácticos para cada tema de la Guía de las Escuelas Azules:
1. El Medioambiente que Me Rodea2. El Ciclo del Agua3. La Cuenca alrededor de Mi Escuela4. Mi Agua Potable5. Saneamiento e Higiene6. Crecimiento y Cambio7. De la Tierra al Plato8. Transformando los Residuos en Recursos.
Para cada tema, se proporcionan secciones de información técnica para facilitar la comprensión de los conceptos básicos claves. Cada tema incluye una selección de actividades de aprendizaje, participativas o creativas, discusiones,demostraciones, juegos y experimentos, todos los cuales requieren material sencillo, a bajo costo o sin costo alguno. Los ejercicios prácticos tienen como finalidad ayudar a alcanzar los objetivos claves de aprendizaje definidos en laprimera página de cada tema. Se indica el nivel de dificultad de cada ejercicio; dependiendo de la clase y del grupo de edad, los profesores pueden seleccionar las actividades más apropiadas y los estudiantes pueden profundizar susconocimientos sobre estos temas de año en año.
Este catálogo es una compilación de referencias de la comunidad de práctica de WASH en Escuelas (WINS), así como de otros sectores relacionados con los temas de las Escuelas Azules. Puede evolucionar: Las futuras ediciones de esteCatálogo beneficiarán de los aportes y comentarios de usuarios y expertos de todo el mundo. El formulario de retroalimentación está disponible en el sitio web del Consorcio Suizo de Agua y Saneamiento:
http://waterconsortium.ch/blueschool/.
Se invita a los usuarios de este documento a que consulten también los otros materiales del Kit Escuelas Azules, es decir, la Reseña Conceptual, la Guía del Facilitador y el Catálogo de Tecnologías. Estos documentos pueden serdescargados en el sitio web del Consorcio Suizo de Agua y Saneamiento.
2018-11-14
Swiss Water & Sanitation Consortium;
A Blue School offers a healthy learning environment and exposes students to environmentally-friendly technologies and practices that can be replicated in their communities. It inspires students to be change agents in their communities and builds the next generation of WASH and environment sector champions.The Catalogue of Practical Exercises aims to inspire teachers with hand-on and low cost exercises to complement the lessons from the national curriculum. The examples provided facilitate students' learning by doing and can be replicated in the students' home and in their communities.It provides examples of practical exercises for each topic of the Blue Schools Kit:1. My Surrounding Environment2. The Water Cycle3. The Watershed around My School4. My Drinking Water5. Sanitation and Hygiene6. Growth and Change7. From Soil to Food8. From Waste to Resources.For each topic, technical background sections are provided to facilitate understanding of basic key concepts. Each topic includes a selection of teaching, participatory or creative activities, discussions, demonstrations, games, and experiments, all requiring simple material at little to no cost. The practical exercises aim to help reaching the key learning objectives defined in each topic's first page. The level of difficulty for each exercise is indicated; depending on the class and age group, teachers can select the most appropriate activities and students can deepen their knowledge on these topics from year to year.This catalogue is a compilation of references from the WASH in School (WINS) community of practice as well as other sectors related to the Blue Schools' topics. It can evolve: Future editions of this Catalogue will benefit from inputs and feedback from users and experts from around the world. Feedback form available on the Swiss Water and Sanitation Consortium website: http://waterconsortium.ch/blueschool/Users of this document are also encouraged to refer to the other materials of the Blue Schools Kit i.e. the Concept Brief, the Facilitator's Guide and the Catalogue of Technologies. These can be downloaded on the Swiss Water and Sanitation website.
2018-11-12
WestEd;
This evaluation report describes the benefits that students are getting from their districts'participation in the California K–8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative. The findings are drawnfrom surveys of administrators, teachers, and students; interviews with select administratorsand teachers; and classroom observations of 22 case study teachers. The report also presents anextended vignette of a grade 4 lesson to illustrate the student experiences and benefits that occur in NGSS instruction.
2018-10-20
WestEd;
In 2012, the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District (GJUESD) in Galt, California was selected as one of 16 districts in the United States that received a federal Race to the Top-District grant to improve student learning through a districtwide initiative focused on personalized learning (PL) for students and educators. Located in California's San Joaquin Valley, Galt has a diverse population of approximately 3,900 students.
To implement the four-year initiative, the district made profound, coordinated changes to district, school, classroom, and out-of-school policies and practices. The efforts coalesced as a unique and integrated strengths-based PL model designed to support every student's strengths, aspirations, and individual learning needs.
PL, broadly defined, is a system of instructional practices that take into account individual students' needs and goals. This report describes:
A PL model developed by GJUESD
The gradual implementation of the model over a 4-year period
The results of an impact study focused on measuring its effectiveness
The study used longitudinal student achievement data from district students, along with data from a matched virtual comparison group — that is, a group created using a national database from a widely used assessment vendor — to measure the effect of the intervention on students in the areas of mathematics, reading, and language usage.
2018-10-15
WestEd;
NGSS Early Implementers is a four-year initiative created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd's K–12 Alliance, implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
The Initiative focuses on NGSS implementation in grades K–8 and incorporates the integrated course model (preferred by the California State Board of Education) for middle school. This evaluation report discusses the integration of science disciplines in grades 6-8, including the benefits and challenges of the California preferred integrated model for science instruction.
Intended for school, state, and district leaders, the report addresses the following:
Where the districts are in their transition to the integrated model of science instruction
What integrated instruction looks like in the classroom
How the Initiative has supported teachers in implementing integrated science
Planning considerations for districts implementing the integrated model
Finally, recommendations are provided for administrator support of teachers who are shifting to science instruction that integrates the science disciplines.
2018-10-09
American Institutes for Research;
American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted this study as part of the Student-Centered Learning Research Collaborative's initial cycle of research. The team at AIR worked alongside fellow scholars, educators, and policymakers to investigate the impact of specific student-centered practices and then translate their findings for cross-sector audiences.
The research questions investigated in this study are:
What practices do teachers employ to provide feedback to students on their performance that assist with the development of student agency?
What contextual factors do teachers view as facilitators of or challenges to implementing these practices?
How well do student survey questions measure student agency?
Were the measurement properties of the agency scales consistent over time and across student subgroups?
Are there significant subgroup differences in measures of student agency?
How does student agency change during the school year?
Do changes in student agency during the school year differ between subgroups of students?
How do teachers use data to inform their practices?
This report represents their work over the past two years as they designed, tested, and revised teacher practices as part of a networked improvement community and examined how student agency impacted academic outcomes.
2018-10-05
American Institutes for Research;
Study Overview
Personalized learning is often equated with individual learning using technology. Yet for many students, learning on their own may not effectively meet their needs. The aim of this study was to explore racial differences in experiences and benefits associated with collaboration. We collected data from a variety of sources for students, teachers, and classrooms within four racially diverse high schools that emphasized both personalization and collaboration. Our sample included 892 students, 138 teachers, and 30 classrooms. Our qualitative analyses identified emergent themes from focus groups and interviews, and our quantitative analyses examined associations among opportunities for collaboration, classroom experiences, and outcomes, testing whether these associations differed forBlack students versus White students. We found that, for all students, reports of high-quality collaboration were strongly associated with positive classroom experiences and mind-set/ dispositional outcomes such as motivation, engagement, and self-efficacy. Moreover, high-quality collaboration was strongly associated with students' perceptions of personalization—and personalization, in turn, was strongly associated with outcomes. At the same time, focus group discussions revealed that Black students perceived less relevance in collaborative activities, more frequent experiences of exclusion and marginalization, and lower support from teachers during collaborative group work than did non-Black peers. Findings from this study suggest that collaborative experiences could be among the factors that contribute to positive changes in the academic trajectories of Black students, particularly when these opportunities reflect high-quality features. Thus, schools and educators aiming to address equity through personalization should consider increasing opportunities for high-quality collaboration.
2018-10-02
GrantCraft;
Funders are increasingly looking to engage the communities they serve in the grantmaking process, but there are few resources about how to do so. In this guide, we explore how funders can engage in participatory grantmaking and cede decision-making power about funding decisions to the very communities they aim to serve. Deciding Together: Shifting Power and Resources Through Participatory Grantmaking illustrates why and how funders around the world are engaging in this practice that is shifting traditional power dynamics in philanthropy. Created with input from a number of participatory grantmakers, the guide shares challenges, lessons learned, and best practices for engaging in inclusive grantmaking.
2018-10-02
William T. Grant Foundation;
While there are numerous barriers to career advancement for scholars of color, the Foundation believes that many of these can be mitigated through strong mentoring relationships that address issues of difference. But the power of effective mentoring will only be realized when the institutions in which these relationships exist begin to change. The guide, which was developed in collaboration with the Forum for Youth Investment is derived from interviews with grantees and consultants who participated in the Foundation's mentoring program for junior researchers of color.
