What's at stake in the K-12 standards wars: a primer for educational policy makers

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (06) ◽  
pp. 38-3455-38-3455
Keyword(s):  
Educational Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Standards Wars ◽  
K 12

Lessons learned from a search for common ground

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (5) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Rick Hess ◽  
Pedro Noguera
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Social And Emotional Learning ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Teachers College ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Education Leaders ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Common Understanding

In 2020, Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera engaged in a long-running correspondence that tackled many of the biggest questions in education — including topics like school choice, equity and diversity, testing, privatization, the achievement gap, social and emotional learning, and civics. They sought to unpack their disagreements, better understand one another’s perspectives, and seek places of agreement or points of common understanding. Their correspondence appears in their book, A Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Toughest Questions in K-12 Education (Teachers College Press, 2021). In this article, they reflect on the exercise, what they learned from it, and what lessons it might offer to educators, education leaders, researchers, and policy makers.

scholarly journals An investigation of professional development among educational policy-makers, institutional leaders and teachers

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huu Cuong Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Meso Level ◽  
Key Aspects

This study investigates professional development among educational policy-makers, institutional leaders and teachers. Through a synthesis of associated literature, this study identified a large number of articles focusing on professional development among teachers and lecturers. However, only a few studies on professional development among leaders and managers of educational institutions were ascertained, and research on professional development for educational policy-makers is also limited. This article first presents key aspects of professional development. It then reviews professional development theories and practices for policy-makers, institutional leaders and teachers. Finally, a discussion and recommendations are provided. This article contributes to the limited literature on professional development at the meso-level for institutional leaders, and at the macro-level for policy-makers.

The Benefits of Long-Term Environmental Research, Friendships, and Boiled Peanuts

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn E. Gaiser
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Student ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
University Of Georgia ◽  
Integrative Research ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The University

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has enabled me to conduct more broadly relevant science by addressing questions within an interdisciplinary framework and to unravel the causes for surprising ecological phenomena through persistent studies and collaborations. Educational opportunities within the LTER program have connected me to students from grades K–12 to graduate levels in new ways from the field to the classroom, across places from Florida to Alaska, and among disciplines in a collaborative setting. The audience for my research expanded as a consequence of my experiences in the LTER program, and I have learned how to more effectively communicate integrative research to large audiences of scientists, policy-makers, and the public, often through nontraditional media. The LTER program is foremost a network of people, and I have found that science evolves most successfully when ideas and information are shared voluntarily across backgrounds, disciplines, and cultures in a network of cultivated, trusting relationships. The Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) is the LTER site where I am currently the principal investigator, but the LTER program has been a part of my life for most of my career. My experiences in the LTER program began in the early 1990s when I was a graduate student at the University of Georgia, where the Coweeta (CWT) LTER site is based. Although I was not formally a part of CWT, many of my friends and professors were, so the program influenced my development as a scientist. I remember my first field trip to CWT, led by Gene Helfman and Judy Meyer, and the fun of snorkeling in mountain streams where we camped and conducted a few experiments, including examining the effects of rapid consumption of s’mores and boiled peanuts on preschool children (Judy and Gene’s kids). LTER-related activities wove in and out of my graduate student experience, and the rewards of sharing of ideas, data, friendships, and boiled peanuts created in me a lifelong commitment to persistent, collaborative science. This sense of fulfillment, of being part of something larger, was reinforced at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL), where I conducted my research.

Digital Propensity

2011 ◽  
pp. 1148-1173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boaventura DaCosta ◽  
Angelique Nasah ◽  
Carolyn Kinsell ◽  
Soonhwa Seok
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Entertainment Industry ◽  
Postsecondary Students ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Instructional Technologists

There is a growing interest among educators to use video games in the classroom as part of the curriculum to meet the educational needs of today’s students. This may be justified, in part, by claims in recent years about today’s technology-savvy students and their adept use of information and communication technology (ICT). However, such claims have not been accepted without scrutiny; indeed, the relationship between games and learning has been tempestuous over the years. This chapter sought to identify the gaming propensity of postsecondary students (N = 580) through the use of a questionnaire. Age, gender, and socioeconomic status were examined as factors that might explain why students play games. Results suggest that age, gender, and socioeconomic status are composite factors that contribute to gaming, but not the most important consideration in terms of general ICT usage. The findings raise a number of implications for educators, educational policy-makers, practitioners, researchers, instructional technologists, and game developers across both the education spectrum and the entertainment industry in terms of the use and development of video games.

The Parental Perspective over the Use of iPads in Primary and Middle Years of Schooling

2020 ◽  
pp. 773-786
Author(s):  
Abdullah Ismail ◽  
Anthony Cashin
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Educational Paradigm ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Published Research

Apple's iPad and other forms of tablet are reportedly gaining increasing popularity within the academic premises. Most of the published research on this topic has highly admired the positive role and impact of iPads on teaching and learning practices, as if an exogenous technological induction in any local context would essentially revolutionize and transform the whole educational paradigm; however, some recent publications also highlight the parental and policy-makers' concerns over the undesired consequences of technological obsession in educational development. The current study aims at bringing a balanced view on this crucially important topic. The study employs mixed methods research and it uses Ajman Academy, a renowned K-12 institution in the United Arab Emirates, as a case study. This research concludes that due to the relative immaturity of these young children, they cannot be left alone to make their own technological choices. Hence, adopting an over-ambitious approach in terms of technological adoption, without properly understanding the nuances and complexities of a local context; may possibly put these children in a vulnerable situation, and thus likely exposed to many unintended and undesired consequences.

Computational Thinking in K–12

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuchi Grover ◽  
Roy Pea
Keyword(s):  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Current State ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
K 12

Jeannette Wing’s influential article on computational thinking 6 years ago argued for adding this new competency to every child’s analytical ability as a vital ingredient of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. What is computational thinking? Why did this article resonate with so many and serve as a rallying cry for educators, education researchers, and policy makers? How have they interpreted Wing’s definition, and what advances have been made since Wing’s article was published? This article frames the current state of discourse on computational thinking in K–12 education by examining mostly recently published academic literature that uses Wing’s article as a springboard, identifies gaps in research, and articulates priorities for future inquiries.

scholarly journals Varieties of Knowledge and Skill-Based Pay Design

2003 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Anthony Milanowski
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Expectancy Theory ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Pay Systems ◽  
Graduate Degrees ◽  
School Based ◽  
Teacher Skills ◽  
K 12

This article describes the design of knowledge and skill-based pay systems for K-12 teachers in six U.S. school districts and one charter school. Based on a theory of action that relates knowledge and skill- based pay systems to improvements in instruction, and the expectancy theory of motivation, seven dimensions for comparison are identified and the systems are compared based on these dimensions. While there were a variety of reasons for designing new pay systems, similarities included that teachers were involved in the design processes, and that the knowledge and skills rewarded are more closely related to instruction than in the traditional salary schedule (though none of the systems placed heavy emphasis on content-specific pedagogy). Most systems made use of existing standards or definitions of good teaching, such as the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996). While most of the systems involved performance-based assessments of teacher skills, in no case were seniority and graduate degrees eliminated as a basis for pay progression. Few of the programs had developed a coordinated professional development program specifically linked to the knowledge and skills rewarded by the new pay system. Implications for policy makers and system designers are drawn.

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