With the increasing demands of high stakes testing and teacher accountability, elementary school leaders are continuously examining the curriculum, best practices, technology, assessment tools and assessments outcomes to help enhance student achievement. During this course, we have discussed several scholars that investigated and implemented various theories of curriculum instructional practices. There was Franklin Bobbitt, Boyd Bode, William H. Kilpatrick, Jean Piaget, B.F. Skinner and Ralph Tyler. Even though, there are same similar theories there were some unique ideas as well. Franklin Bobbitt’s did not believe in the traditional educational method. Instead, he believed that educational curriculum should focus on vocational skills instead …show more content…
In 1997, Kinzer and Leu studies also offered positive effects of technology. Their research in the areas of multimedia and hypermedia verified the positive effects of technology, by enhancing the curriculum content. They also proved that written expression and the collection of data were improved with the support of technology. Smith and Thorne (2007), believe that differentiated instruction enhances teaching approaches utilizing various methods to obtain, ways and understand learning. Instruction can be support by Technology tools that can be individually designed to meet student’s personal needs and skills. Students can also interact and connect around the world. The 21st century has been enhanced by Differentiated instruction and technology. Differentiated Instructions According to the Northern Virginia Partnership differentiated instruction is an idea that embraces differences and distinguishes pupils as people with the same goals for acquiring knowledge. Smith and Throne termed differentiated instruction (DI) as a technique that emphasizes that students learn in various
The Benefits of Technology in School in a Technological Society The Tennessean published Lisa Fingeroot’s article, “Nashville schools push for more technology,” in November of 2012. She discussed the benefits of technology that include, making learning fun with its inclusive methods, Fingeroot believes technology can improve the quality of education nationwide, and provides a very interactive and personal way for students to learn. She states that Kecia Ray, executive director of Metro schools’ learning technology department and president-elect of International Society for Technology in Education, has the goal of presenting a plan that provides technological access to more students. The first thing a reader notices to an article is the title.
When has everything became about how well you do on a standardized test? (Interoggative sentence/rhetorical sentence) Okay students, today you’ll be taking the PARCC. Okay students, today you’ll be taking the AIRS. Okay students, today you’ll be taking the Explorer SAT.
A child’s ability to learn and critically think has taken a back seat to the amount of standardized testing in today’s schools which become the priority. In my opinion there are too many test and not enough thought and creativity happen in the school systems today. My children have four standardized test throughout one school year. They have taken away all recess in order to have the additional fifteen minutes a day to prepare them for these test. This year they implemented the early arrival secession in order to access an additional fifteen to twenty minutes more achieved by students arriving at school mandated to report immediately to their assigned class.
The students march onto the stage one by one with faces filled with pure pride, joy, and elation. They search the crowd for their parents in order to share this milestone of a moment with the people who helped them achieve this level of education. The students raise their arms towards the sky with their diploma in one hand, and their mind set on the now, rather than their future. This day of true jubilation for both the students, and their families would be impossible without the educational system of the United States. However, as the gap between the rich, and the poor continues to inflate, rather than shrinking, the ability to make this opportunity available to all students has become more difficult.
There are many bills that have been placed in order to help people. In particularly, there has been a bill passed that states that there would be counseling to help those who need help going into college. This bill will ensure that the students are college ready by having check requirements on how well they pass statewide New Jersey standardized testing. I do not agree with the passing of this bill because even though these tests may help determine if a student is college ready, it does not measure their abilities to problem solve. This bill states that you must get a minimum of twenty four on the verbal ACT, a minimum of a five hundred and forty on the critical reading section of the SAT, and an advanced proficient score on the High School Proficiency Assessment, also known as the HSPA.
I know you have challenging decisions to make since you just became the President of the United States. There’s probably more important things to worry about like ISIS, but this is important to the future generations of our country. From the age we have hit 5 years old we have gone to school, spending seven hours in a building using our brains to help us get an education. We are taking midterms, finals, SATS, ACTS, AIR tests, and everyday testing are just a few tests we take on average, but when is enough?
To Test or To Read It would be nice to imagine that everyone begins at the start line together. Unfortunately, a majority of people start at a disadvantage. In most public elementary schools, there are students in every grade level that are reading behind grade level. Consequently, these same students will encounter tests throughout their whole academic career. Starting in elementary school, a literacy gap will begin to emerge among students.
Many school systems have now begun to offer rewards to students who do well on test, writing papers, etc. The sole purpose of this method is to motivate kids to work harder in school on their exams and assignments. Although, this method seems to be a positive idea, it has become a controversial topic. While many think this idea encourages students to take the test more seriously, many others believe that the policy is unfair to students who struggle academically.
Stress caused by testing also impairs the immune system and speeds up aging (Solley 5). Asides from the health risks inflicted by high testing pressure, students are prone to give up on learning due to fear of failure in tests. In 2005, a study conducted by Nichols, Glass and Berliner showed an inverse relationship between testing pressure of 8th or 9th graders and the likelihood of them graduating (Solley 6). Although standardized testing pushes students, it does not bring students methods of true learning. Studies find that in elementary schools, high CTBS and MAT scores correlate with superficial learning including copying down answers, skipping unmastered topics and guessing the right choices without thinking actively or asking questions.
In 2012, standardized tests cost US states over 1.7 billion dollars. Think about that number for a moment. With that money, we could give every single teacher in the nation a raise of 550 dollars. Given that these tests supposedly provide valuable information and identify weak students, you would think the United States would rank first in the world in education. Or at least among the top five countries, right?
Beep. Beep. Beep. You turn over and smack your alarm clock to stop the obnoxious ringing. Rubbing your eyes, the realization that it’s test day hits you.
What’s the best thing to do every couple of weeks at school? Definitely not taking standardized tests. What’s the point of taking tests every few months? It takes away learning time from students. The students also don’t try as hard on the tests because they are tired and bored of the tests.
Differentiating Instruction Differentiation is a buzz word in the education community. It has attracted attention and sparked conversations. Not everyone agrees on exactly how differentiation looks, but the common consensus is that differentiation can occur in four different areas: Content, Process, Product, and Environment. The purpose of differentiation is to reach every student and provide them with access to the curriculum that fits their learning style and their interests. The following are ways I provide differentiation in my own classroom: Content When introducing a topic, I use both auditory and visual.
Differentiation, with respect to instruction, means tailoring it to meet individual needs of the students. Teachers can differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction. Teachers differentiate the four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile. (Tomlinson 2000). Differentiated instruction can be known as an organizing framework in teaching and learning which calls for a major restructuring in the classroom and syllabus, if done in the proper way, its benefits will transgress the costs.
It is a very common teaching strategy, relying on strict lesson plans and lectures with little or no room for variation. Direct instruction does not include activities like discussion, recitation, seminars, workshops, case studies, or internships. DI is probably the most popular teaching strategy that is used by teachers to facilitate learning. It is teacher directed and follows a definite structure with specific steps to guide pupils toward achieving clearly defined learning outcomes. The teacher maintains the locus of control over the instructional process and monitors pupils ' learning throughout the process.