John Merrow of Learning Matters filed an important ten-minute piece for the PBS Newshour last night, looking at elementary reading programs. Merrow and his producer Cat McGrath visited three different schools in and around New York City: one that teaches with basal readers, another with balanced literacy, and one of the New York City schools that is piloting the Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum.
The piece is well worth the ten-minutes it takes to watch it (a transcript is available here) and it nicely underscores a the differences between the Core Knowledge approach and the others, particularly in the over-reliance on reading strategies in balanced literacy and basals. That could pose a problem as reading instruction shifts to comply with Common Core State Standards:
AMANDA BLATTER, principal, Public School 109: We now have level libraries that are nonfiction in all of our classrooms. So the curriculum in reading and writing is now aligning to the Common Core standards.
JOHN MERROW: Just like the students using basal textbooks, these first-graders are learning reading strategies.
AMANDA BLATTER: Were teaching comprehension strategies such as main idea, authors purpose, inferencing, cause and effect.
JOHN MERROW: In balanced literacy, comprehension is a skill, something to be practiced, like a jump-shot or dance steps.
Its unfair to harp on a single soundbite in a TV interview, but the idea that you can be aligned to Common Core standards simply by adding nonfiction to a strategies-driven, read-what-you-like approach to literacy is a broad misinterpretation of what CCSS is all about. The Standards are largely silent on the works of literature and knowledge domains children are expected to learn, but quite clear that there must be a well-developed, content-rich curriculum consistent with the expectations laid out in this document.
Building knowledge systematically in English language arts is like giving children various pieces of a puzzle in each grade that, over time, will form one big picture. At a curricular or instructional level, texts—within and across grade levels—need to be selected around topics or themes that systematically develop the knowledge base of students. Within a grade level, there should be an adequate number of titles on a single topic that would allow children to study that topic for a sustained period. The knowledge children have learned about particular topics in early grade levels should then be expanded and developed in subsequent grade levels to ensure an increasingly deeper understanding of these topics. Children in the upper elementary grades will generally be expected to read these texts independently and reflect on them in writing. However, children in the early grades (particularly K–2) should participate in rich, structured conversations with an adult in response to the written texts that are read aloud, orally comparing and contrasting as well as analyzing and synthesizing, in the manner called for by the Standards. (p. 23 CCSS ELA Standards)
When I look at what the expectations are coming in with the Common Core learning standards, says Joyce Barrett-Walker, the principal of PS 96, the Core Knowledge school featured in the piece. It seems that were where we need to be right now.
Basals and balanced literacy? Not so much What is clear is that basal readers used in three-quarters of our elementary schools will have to make significant adjustments to comply with the emerging Core standards, Merrow concludes.
I was in Madrid for a weekend last year, and Im excited to go back! Here I am at the royal gardens.
Today is my last day in Sevilla. Next week Ill make a post about what studying abroad in Spain has taught me about balance and stress and being perfectly imperfect, but for today I want to make the post out of my last look at Andalucía. However, there is one thing I can talk about: although this is my last day in Sevilla, my flight back to the United States isnt until Friday. Tomorrow morning Im taking the train to Madrid and staying there for a few days. This isnt the first time Ive traveled by myself, but traveling alone is always way different and more stressful than traveling with friends or family (especially for females). However, now that Ive had some experience with it, Ive learned some tips that make being by yourself easier, whether its just in another city or in a whole different country.
1. Have a plan: I love to do things on the spur of the moment. Im not going to Madrid this week with every minute of my trip planned out, although I have an idea of a few of the sights I want to see. However, its a good idea to make a plan of some of the basics: how to get to where youre staying, how the public transportation works, and so on. When youre traveling with friends it might be fun to wander around for an hour at night looking for your hostel, but by yourself it can be super stressful (and dangerous).
2. Make friends: Obviously, you have to be careful who you talk to, but at the same time traveling alone gives you opportunities to talk to new people that you probably wouldnt take if you were with a group. When I went to San Sebastián for a weekend a few months ago, the other two people in my room at the hostel were also Americans traveling alone. We ended up going out one night together, and we had a lot more fun than I think any of us would have had alone. Plus I got to learn more about the different parts of Spain where theyre studying and working, rather than just hearing stories about whats going on with my classmates in Sevilla.
3. Take a time out: One of the great things about traveling solo is that you get to see a lot. Theres no wasting time while you and your companions say What do you want to do? Oh, Im fine with whatever; what do you want to do? and you get to move at your own pace, doing the things you want to do. However, all of that time-wasting is also a good chance to rest, to sit down while your roommate looks through her guidebook to try to decide where to eat. Therefore, traveling by yourself can be tiring, just one thing after another. Dont forget to stop at a park to relax, or sleep in late one morning, or eat a long lunch.
4. Eat good food: Speaking of lunch, I dont know about you, but I find dining alone to be one of the most uncomfortable things ever. There have been a lot of times when Ive opted to get something to take away from a café rather than sitting down for a meal. This can be a great choice if the weather is nice (or if the best food in the city is gelato, as it was when I was in Florence by myself last year), but you dont want to miss out on trying some local cuisine just because asking for a table for one is awkward. It doesnt have to be: talk to your server or sit at a bar instead of a table. If the place isnt too fancy (and it never is), I like to bring a book or a journal to keep me occupied while I wait for my food.
What are your tips for traveling alone? Tell me below!
Looking to apply to graduate school and get your masters degree to further your career? An important piece of your application is your score on the GRE test. Practicing for tests should always involve learning strategies to approach that specific test with. The new GRE has some new twists to the multiple choice section that you should be aware of as you study and take the GRE test.
1. Notice which type of multiple choice question you are dealing with.
The GRE has some typical multiple-choice questions with five answer choices and one correct answer. However, there will also be questions with more than one right answer. The quickest way to distinguish between these two question types is to look at the letters of the answer choices. If they are inside a circle, there is one correct answer. If they are inside a square, there could be more than one correct answer choice. However, still pay attention to the directions because sentence equivalence questions have exactly 2 right answers, while other squared answer choice questions could have 1 correct answer choice or up to several correct choices. Familiarity with the different question types and directions through lots of practice is the sure-fire way to avoid missing questions because of marking the wrong number of answer choices.
Test your GRE skills with this practice question.
2. When theres more than one possible correct answer, consider each choice separately.
Disclaimer: This does not apply to sentence equivalence questions, in which the two correct answer choices must both make sense in the sentence, as well as be synonyms.
When you are dealing with a question that could possibly have more than one correct answer, carefully consider each choice separately and either eliminate it or choose it, independent of any of the other choices. Also keep in mind that while a few or all of the choices could be correct, it could also be that just one of the answer choices is correct, like a typical multiple-choice question. If you wouldnt choose one of the answer choices if there was only one correct choice, dont pick it just because there could be more than one correct choice. Only choose answer choices that you definitely agree with.
3. Write down the letters of answer choices and eliminate them on paper.
One disadvantage of taking a computer-adapted test is that you cant physically eliminate answer choices by putting a line through them. This strategy helps a lot with keeping your thoughts organized so you can pick the right answer. Personally, if Ive eliminated A in my head, I might forget that decision by the time I get through the other 4 choices and have to rethink A again, costing myself valuable time. So, for the GRE CAT, quickly jot down A B C D E (or whatever the choices are) on your scratch paper and cross out each letter as you decide to eliminate it.
4. Be aware of scoring.
All answer choices you mark on a question must be correct to get credit for that question. There is no partial credit. So, dont pick all 3 answer choices for a reading passage question if youre only sure about 2 of the choices, thinking that you will get 2/3 of a point for your two right answers. You must put down all of the right answers, be that 1, 2, 3 or more, and none of the incorrect answers to receive full credit. Try to answer all of the questions or as many as you can. Leaving questions blank does not grant you any type of advantage in scoring.
5. Watch out for except, not, etc. questions.
These types of questions are sometimes referred to as negative questions. I like to say that you have to think backwards, find the wrong answer choice, or find the one that doesnt belong. Dont assume that every question is asking a positive question and wants you to find the choice that fits that description. Sometimes they want you to pick the choice that the author would NOT agree with, or whatever the wording may be.
Message me on Grockit to set up personalized GRE tutoring sessions!
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The first seminar is Creative Brainstorming with a Social Media Lens scheduled for May 12- check out the website to sign up, to see future workshops, to request a specific topic or to suggest a topic you can teach!
Universities, community colleges, and K-12 districts in 30 states announced plans this week to work together on redesigning secondary mathematics teacher preparation to align to the Common Core State Standards.
The project is being coordinated by a science- and math-focused initiative of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, a group that supports states’ major public research universities.
Called the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership, the project has already won a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Overall, there are 38 partnerships involving some 68 universities, nine community colleges, and 87 school systems involved. (You can find the full list of participants here.)
“We’re really trying to move very aggressively with the whole project,” said W. Gary Martin, a professor of mathematics education at Auburn University, and the co-chair of the project’s planning committee. “There’s an immediate need, and if we don’t step up and address it we’ll have lost a moment to really make a difference and help support the preparation of teachers to really be able to meet the challenges of the common core and other national documents.”
To join, each of the partnerships had to apply to the APLU demonstrating institutional commitment, letters of support from administrators, a needs assessment, and evidence that they’ve discussed the project with their state’s education department.
The partnership lists a number of goals, including building consensus on guiding principles of preparing math teachers, promoting better partnerships between K-12 and higher education, and developing a research agenda.
It isn’t entirely clear what the policy implications of all this will be, but Martin told me that it could mean discussions of more flexibility or even changes to states’ licensure and certification regimes.
Right now, he said, the partnerships have met once and are beginning to set up work groups to focus on sub-areas such as recruitment, mathematics content knowledge, and so on.
Advising the project is a high-powered group of individuals, many with close ties to the standards, such as William McCallum, the head of the department of mathematics at the University of Arizona and one of the writers of the math common standards; William Schmidt, a professor at Michigan State University who has written extensively about the common standards in math; and J. Michael Shaughnessy, the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
There has been quite a lot of concern lately about how to ensure teachers are fully prepared to teach to the new standards, as I wrote in this story for Education Week‘s recent special report on the common core. (Make sure to check out the others, too.)
Secondary mathematics carries some particularly interesting challenges where the common standards are concerned. For example, the common standards outline an “integrated” math alternative to the algebra I/geometry/algebra II sequence commonly taught in high schools.
While most states and districts are now wrestling with the challenges of providing professional development for teachers already in the classroom, my read has been that there’s been less attention to the standards at the preservice level. Perhaps that is beginning to change with the MTE-Partnership; I’ll be watching to see what happens as the project comes together.
Unprecedented numbers of American children are being identified with special medical and educational needs, and over the past several decades, the types of predominant childhood disabilities have shifted from physical disorders to mental health disorders, according to the latest edition of the Future of Children, a publication from the Brookings Institution and Princeton University.
The new report says that ADHD is about three times more likely than asthma to contribute to reported childhood disability.
Why does this shift matter? The authors said research shows that on average, mental health disorders in childhood have larger effects than childhood physical health problems on adult health, years of schooling, participation in the labor force, marital status, and family income.
The editors said that the term “disability” is not standardized, complicating researchers’ ability to understand increasing disability rates. Regardless, the prevalence of mental health problems among children and their potential effect on human capital are worrisome, they said. Although mental disabilities make up a growing share of children’s disabilities, services haven’t grown at as quick a pace.
The report also talks about health care for children with disabilities and the complex role health insurance plays in access to and quality of care. Other sections are devoted to disparities among children with disabilities and the role technology can play in reducing disabilities if equitably distributed.
A key goal for modern society, the authors say, should be to devote resources to prevent, diagnose, and manage health conditions in children to improve their ability to function and their future trajectories. The report shows that the costs of not doing so may be greater than the costs of many interventions to prevent and reduce childhood disability.
