VALIDITY OF BIOLOGY STUDENT WORKSHEETS IN ELECTRONIC FORM BASED ON PROBLEM BASED LEARNING (PBL)

Teachers play an important role in learning planning so that knowledge can be conveyed properly to students. The use of effective and interesting teaching materials, especially for the concept of Ecology which has a broad material coverage, can help students achieve the expected learning goals, one of which is the Electronic Student Worksheet. This study aims to describe the validity of the results of the development of the Electronic Biology Student Worksheet for Grade X High School Ecology Concepts Based on Problem Based Learning. This research is a research and development with a 4D model which is limited only to the Develop stage. The validity of Electronic Student Worksheet is seen based on the suitability test and feasibility test. The results of the suitability test obtained are with an average score of 4.50 which means that Electronic Student Worksheet is very suitable, and the results of the feasibility test which have an average score of 4.58 which means that Electronic Student Worksheet is very technically feasible to be used in learning.

Racial and Language Microaggressions in the School Ecology

The growth trajectory of ethnically and linguistically diverse individuals in the United States, particularly for youth, compels the education system to have urgent awareness of how diverse aspects of culture (e.g., Spanish-speaking, Black Latina student) are implicated in outcomes in American school systems. Students spend a significant amount of time in the school ecology, and this experience plays an important role in their well-being. Diverse ethnic, racial, and linguistic students face significant challenges and are placed at considerable risk by long-observed structural inequities evidenced in society and schools. Teachers must develop the capacity to be culturally sensitive, provide culturally responsive pedagogy, and regularly self-assess for biases implicated in positive academic outcomes for students in kindergarten through Grade 12. Research and practice have suggested that racism and discrimination in the form of racial microaggressions are observed daily in schools and classrooms. This article provides an overview of racial microaggressions in the school context and their damaging effects on students. We provide specific examples of microaggressions that may be observed in the U.S. classroom environment and how schools can serve as a positive intervention point to ameliorate racism, discrimination, and racial and language microaggressions. This comprehensive approach blends theory with practice to support the continued development of cultural humility, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and an equity-responsive climate.

How Do Scientists Know? Answering High School Students’ Questions with an Ecological Sampling Unit

What do animals eat? What animals are present in a habitat? How many animals are present? How was the habitat different years ago? How old is this animal? These are all questions that scientists want to answer. We know the answers to questions like these from data collected by scientists in a variety of ways. Science is evidence based, and conclusions are arrived at after multiple replicable experiments. Presented here are six ecological scenarios that demonstrate how scientists arrive at answers to population ecology questions. These lessons can be implemented as single activities that supplement a high school ecology or environmental science curricular unit or as a multiday rotation of stations in which students practice field sampling techniques used in population and community ecology, designed to answer ecological questions. Student scientists learn how to use indirect sampling methods to estimate abundance, density, age, and population size using mark–recapture, transects, and quadrats to model authentic field methods. They calculate species richness and biodiversity with a simplified Simpson’s diversity index and describe species age structure and distribution using tree rings, sheep horns, and camera trap images. Students also learn to display population data appropriately, graphing survivorship and richness vs. area and studying trophic pyramids.

The Status of Inclusive Education in Baluchistan: A Qualitative Investigation

The central purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the existing condition of the inclusive schools working in the province of Baluchistan, Pakistan. Out of six divisions of Baluchistan, Quetta division was selected purposively. After conducting a survey, eight inclusive schools were taken as sample from the regular schools. An observation sheet containing the components of school ecology, instructional practices of teachers, curriculum adaptations, classroom management, infra structure of schools, and use of teaching aids in the classrooms was prepared. In eight schools, 48 observations (three observations in grade three and four each) were conducted. The results reflected that most of the children were at the mild level of disability and teachers were paying attention to special children but due to lack of training in deaf education and unavailability of assistive devices, the anticipated outcomes were not being obtained. The conclusions were drawn and recommendations to the Department of Education, Government of the Baluchistan were given for the improvement of inclusive set up.

Place-Based Educational Leadership

Understanding, shaping, and mediating the unique contexts and communities in which schools are located offers a unique approach to educational-leadership preparation. The emerging frame of PLACE describes a place-based leading and learning framework for educational-leadership preparation that uses a combination of concept-based curricula that includes practice and problem-solving in context, bridging culture and community, arts and humanities pedagogies, creative evaluation and engagement, and leadership for context rather than for region that includes followership models. Place-based educational leadership focuses on context-based professional practice that has a direct bearing on the well-being of individuals in the school ecology and the larger ecologies in which they live and work.

Emotional and Behavioral Risk Configurations, Students With Disabilities, and Perceptions of the Middle School Ecology

Perceptions of the ecology and middle school transition are examined in relation to interpersonal competence patterns (ICPs) of approximately 3,000 sixth graders (46.2% boys) including 415 students with disabilities from 26 metropolitan schools. Teacher ratings of students’ academic competence, externalizing and internalizing behavior, popularity, physical attractiveness/athletic ability, and friendliness are used to determine students’ ICPs. Using latent profile analyses, distinct ICPs are identified, including Model (high adaptive), Average, Tough (popular-aggressive), Passive (shy, withdrawn), and Troubled (low adaptive) for boys and girls, respectively. Although students with disabilities are overrepresented in Passive and Troubled ICPs and underrepresented in the Model ICP, 804 students without disabilities (367 boys) were identified in risk ICPs (i.e., Passive, Tough, Troubled) compared with 197 students with disabilities (128 boys). Risk ICPs are differentially associated with students’ perceptions of the school ecology and the transition experience of students with disabilities. Implications for Multitiered Systems of Support and the tailoring of interventions are considered.