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December 2006 |
Students with special learning needs require alternative forms of assessment that allow them to express all they know and can do. Without these accommodations, teachers can’t accurately measure student learning.
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November 2006 |
Between 50 and 75 percent of a district’s education budget is spent on teacher compensation. It makes sense for states and districts to ask how teacher pay can be leveraged to increase the excellence of instructional practice and deliver on our commitments to improved student achievement. Well, how much is a teacher worth? It depends on what you mean by “a teacher.”
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October 2006 |
Some fortunate students have experiences in their science classes that fundamentally change their views of science and technology. They move from passive consumers of information to active participants in important scientific processes. In other words, they become apprentices on the way to becoming scientists or engineers. But far too often, the best science instruction is restricted to the best and brightest students attending the best schools.
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September 2006 |
Students in mathematics classrooms should not be considered passive recipients of ready-made math. Instead, students should be guided toward using opportunities to reinvent mathematics by doing it themselves.
That’s one of the principles underlying Hans Freudenthal’s concept of mathematics as a human activity.
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August 2006 |
Hypertext learning environments hold great promise, but they also present challenges for learners and designers. As part of her research into designing optimal learning environments, UW-Madison education professor Sadhana Puntambekar developed the project she calls CoMPASS (Concept Mapped Project-based Activity Scaffolding System).
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July 2006 |
In many cases, students with disabilities participate in alternate assessments. Special education leaders and policymakers have a tool for gathering evidence of the validity of their states’ assessments. A nationally recognized alignment procedure developed by WCER Senior Scientist Norman Webb, this tool has been applied to Wisconsin’s alternate assessment.
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June 2006 |
For the past 7 years, WCER staff have worked with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) district staff to develop MPS capacity to analyze and use data on students and schools. That partnership has developed a sophisticated system for measuring and tracking the productivity of MPS schools.
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May 2006 |
Education reform practices encourage student-led discourse and student-to-student discourse about curricular content. Such 'socially mediated' construction of knowledge is considered to promote deep and sustained learning.
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April 2006 |
School-based initiatives that shield disadvantaged children from the risks and adversities within their homes, schools, and communities are more likely to foster successful academic outcomes than several other school-based efforts.
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March 2006 |
Almost half of all school-age children receiving special education services are served in general education settings for most of the school day. But students with behavioral disabilities (BD) have difficulty with interpersonal relationships and social adjustment. That makes the movement toward inclusive settings more difficult.
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February 2006 |
Teachers-to-be enter their professional programs with strongly held ideas about home-school relations. Students' early family experiences shape their notions of good parenting, roles and responsibilities, and their future involvement with families once they enter the teaching profession.
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January 2006 |
When teachers have a strong sense of professional community their morale is better and teacher commitment is higher. Professional community helps support teaching practices, and helps teachers address the uncertainty that accompanies nonroutine teaching of the sort encouraged by many school reform initiatives.
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