# Foundations and Assessment of Education/Edition 1/Foundations Table of Contents/Chapter 10/In the News/Peer Review Two

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Part 1 - Article Components
Learning Target(s)
Answer the following questions regarding the learning targets:
Is/are the stated learning targets actual learning targets i.e. they state what the reader should know or be able to do after reading the article? _No_____
Is/are the learning target(s) specific? __Yes_____
Is/are they appropriate and reasonable? (Are they too easy or too difficult for ECI 301 students?) __Yes
Is/are they observable? (You wouldn't have to look inside the readers head to know if they met this target.) __No____
Does the article provide adequate information for readers to achieve these targets? _No____
Please make a comment about the learning target(s). If you answered "No" to any of the questions above, please explain how the author can improve them.
Comment:
The author can not observe whether or not the reader retained enough knowledge to be briefed. Formatting of characters in the list should be addressed.
Grammar and Mechanics Review
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Effective Teaching: In the News
Author: Deborah Nielson
Learning Targets
The reader will...
â¢be able to identify characteristics of an effective teacher
â¢be able to identify accountability measures put in place upon educators
â¢briefed on helping teachers become effective
â¢be able to identify some methods used to evaluate effective teachers
â¢briefed on the use of testing in schools
Table of Contents
Introduction
Characteristics of an Effective Teacher
Accountability Measures
Helping Teachers Become More Effective
Test scores show a result of effective teaching
Concluding thoughts
Quiz
Answer Key
References
Table of Contents could be internally linked to article
Introduction
The news regarding education these days is scary. Budget cutting, loss of teaching jobs, lack of programs,and increased classroom sizes are some of the forefront topics. Where does this leave our children?
Unfortunately, too much emphasis seems to be placed on performance standards of teachers and student passing a standardized test standardized test scores. This, along with a generation of students who have the internet at their beckon call and have come to expect a rapid barrage of information, that from video games and the internet, give teachers a new hurdle to overcome.Run-on sentence, consider making multiple sentences Teachers are all too often forced to teach to a test, and not able to ensure that students understand the material, and canor able to ensure that they apply the information to everyday situations. Teachers must find new and more effective methods to present the material, to allow the new generation of students the ability to learn and apply then information to different scenarios. The education system must ensure that teachers have all the tools necessary to be effective in this the new generation classroom.
Characteristics of an effective teacher
The overall expectations of teachers may seem daunting at first. However, the challenge is on with the implementation of the "No Child Left Behind Act" to promote a quality of standards in our schools. We are in a race as a nation, to provide the best form of education to our children. Every week in the news, education seems to be at the forefront of topics. We are bombarded with politicians and lawmakers are thinking up new ways to improve our current education system, starting with how effective our teachers are. Keeping up to date with new technology has made a major impact on the art of becoming an effective teacher and rising to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The challenge of becoming an effective teacher is to teach students using a variety of methods. One professor at Kent State suggests, "using classroom parties to teach students about measurement." (McLean, J., 2009). There is a new course at Kent State this year, according to Jackie McLean, that "is designed to help future English teachers learn how to use new technology in their classrooms...students will learn how to use blogs, wikis, podcasts and Nings"( McLean, J., 2009). In this age of technology, in order to effectively teach and reach students on their levels, teachers must keep up with the times and keep learning about new things themselves so that they can provide a quality education to their students.
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
HENRY B. ADAMS
Accountability Measures
In 2002, former President Bush signed into law, an accountability Aact to promote equal education for all called the "No Child Left Behind Act". (Wikipedia, 2009). Under this act, teachers and schools in general are being held to a higher standard when it comes to test scores. In order for schools to receive federal funding, their students must show an improvement in their test scores. The ball is placed back in the court of the educators and their effectiveness at teaching the required subjects to promote understanding and greater retention of knowledge to succeed on required tests mandated at the federal, state, and local level.
In the news, President Obama is taking on the challenge of fixing the American education system by expanding on the "No Child Left Behind Act", called the "Federal School Turn-Around Program" (MMIX. The Associated Press, 2009). According to Associated Press education writer, Libby Quaid, "President Barack Obama intends to use $5 billion to prod local officials to close failing schools and reopen them with new teachers and principals". (Quaid, L. 2009). This sends a clear message to all teachers and schools, that they must improve or face the consequences of losing their jobs.
America's future walks through the doors of our schools every day.
Mary Jean LeTendre
Helping teachers become effective Be consistent with the capitalization of your headings
Keeping this in mind, are teachers solely to blame or our school districts failing teachers by not providing adequate resources and environments to teach? The George Mason University in Virginia along with other school districts, developed a network called "The New Science Teachers' Support Network, whose main goal is to "help uncertified science teachers succeed at teaching and remain in the profession." (Sterling, D. & Frazier, W. (2008). After researching different aspects that teachers face, they found that part of the problem of retaining effective teachers is because the teachers do not get the support they need from the administration whether it is in resources, the classroom environment, or leeway for curriculum to be taught.
Evaluating an effective Teacher
How can we tell if a teacher is effective? Are there set standards that measure teacher effectiveness? Should we have a federally mandated set of standards that measure teacher effectiveness? Since the NCLB was introduced, many states have been scrambling to provide their interpretation of higher standards for education, proven records of teacher effectiveness as shown in test scores, and prove worthiness of federally funded monies to provide much-needed sources for their schools. Run-on sentence, consider revising However, how can we be sure that they are not inflating their competency in order to receive the compensation for improvement? Kevin Carey suggests that "requiring every state, district or school to approach professional development [for teachers] in the same way, makes little sense." (Carey, K. 2006) He basies his theory on the fact that our students are not a "one-size-fits-all" type of learnersdemographic??.
Test scores show a result of effective teaching
The New York Times released the statistics for that showed big improvement in math for New York City's public schools. the year in New York City's public schools and showed a big improvement in math. Mayor Michael Bloomberg "trumpeted the results as evidence that mayoral control had produced revolutionary improvements and brought city students within spitting distance of state averages after years of mediocrity." (Hernandez, J. 2009)
Concluding thoughts
We all have our own preconceived notions about what makes effective teaching and what the federal government says that we should be doing to promote learning with high standards. However, do we have a right to throw out creativity in favor of higher test scores? Everyone learns differently and at different rates. Do we want to have a future society of robotic humans, who have been pushed throughout their school years to accelerate at the same speed and course or do we want to have a future of individualities individuals that are in constant motion to learn new things and ways to accomplish them? That is the question of today and tomorrow.
Quiz
1. What is the Federal School Turn-Around Program?
a. A merry-go-round at the White House
b. A federally funded school for un-wed mothers
c. A program created by the No Child Left Behind Act, to turn around failing school
d. A program created by the NCLB that helps children who walk to school
2. What is technology in schools?
a. a form of music
b. computers, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and Nings
c. the name of a Biology chapter
d. school mascot
3. What is the New Science Teachers' Support Network?
a. a dating network for scientist
b. a support group for those who have lost teacher's to science
c. an organization in Virginia that helps science teachers succeed and remain teachers
d. an organization in Virginia that helps math teachers succeed and remain teachers
4. How much money does President Obama want to use to make local officials close failing schools and reopen them?
a. $2 billion
b. $750, 000
c. "whatever it takes"
d. $5 billion
Answer Key
1.c
2.b
3.c
4.d
References
Ashefeldt, F. (2009). Ambitions. Public Domain Pictures. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=2578
Associated Press, (2009). Obama Wants 5,000 Failing Schools Closed: Troubled Schools Would Reopen With New Principals And Teachers In Next 5 Years. CBS Evening News, Washington. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/11/national/main5006128.shtml?source=search_story Carey, K. (2006). Evidence Suggests Otherwise. Hot Air: How States Inflate Their Educational Progress Under NCLB. Education Sector, Washington, D. C. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://www.educationsector.org/research/research_show.htm?doc_id=373044
Hernandez, J. (2009). New York City Shows Gains In Math. The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/nyregion/02math.html?ref=education&pagewanted=all
Khurana, S. (2009). Mary Jean LeTendre: Education Quotes. Education Quotes: A Select Collection of Education Quotes. About.Com, New York Times, Company. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Teacher3.htm
Lewis, J. (2009). Henry B. Adams: Education Quotes. From Wisdom Quotes: Quotations to inspire and challenge. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_education.html
McLean, J. (2009). Professors incorporate new teaching methods. Kent News Net. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://media.www.kentnewsnet.com/media/storage/paper867/news/2009/03/03/News/Professors.Incorporate.New.Teaching.Methods-3656559.shtml
No Child Left Behind Act. (2009, June 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, June 1, 2009, from en:Special:PermanentLink/293807012
Quaid, L. (2009). Obama wants to turn around 5,000 failing schools. The Associated Press. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=110&sid=1673410
Sterling, D. & Frazier, W., (2008). Supporting New Science Teachers: What School Leaders Can Do. Center for Restructuring Education in Science and Technology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Retrieved June 6, 2009 from http://www.vamsc.org/vms/science_news/SupportingNewScienceTeachers9_17_08.pdf
Sources
For each source listed in the "References" section of the article, name the type of source (scholarly or popular) and the perspective it provides (research, expert opinion from educator, popular news source, parent organization, personal contact, etc.)
. Popular – image
. Popular – news source
. Scholarly – expert opinion from educator
. Popular – news source
. Popular – quotation
. Popular – quotation
. Popular – news source
. Popular – news source
. Popular – News source
. Scholarly – research
List the range of publication years for all sources, e.g. 1998–2006: _2008____ – __2009______
Answer the following questions about the sources used in the article:
Did the author CITE at least 5 sources? __Yes________ and use at least 2 scholarly sources? _Yes____
Are the citations in APA format? _No_____
Here are two examples of citations in APA format, one for a paraphrase and one for a quotation:
Constructing a title is both a science and an art, but on one fact all of the experts agree: the title must contain a colon (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, & Starr, 2007).
Unfortunately impoverished children are often attending “low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers” (Murnane, 2007, p. 34).
Are all the sources listed in APA format in a Reference list labeled "References"? __No____
Here is an example of a reference written in APA format:
Bailey, J., & Barnum, P. (2001). The colon and its rise to prominence in the American circus. Journal of American Punctuation, 34(5), 2-3.
Taken together do the 5 sources represent a good balance of potential references for this topic? _No_____
Does the author consider potential bias in the sources? __Yes____
Are most of the sources current (less than 5 years old)? _Yes_____
Please make a comment about the sources. If you answered "No" to any of the questions above, please explain how the author can improve.
Comment:
References need to be listed in APA format. There are no page numbers or additional information listed in the references.
Multiple Choice Questions
What does each question assess: knowledge or reasoning (application of knowledge)?
Question 1 Knowledge_______________________
Question 2 Knowledge_______________________
Question 3 Knowledge_______________________
Question 4 Knowledge_______________________
Answer the following questions about the multiple-choice questions.
Are there 4 multiple-choice questions? __Yes____
Do they each have four answer choices (A-D)? __Yes____
Is there a single correct (not opinion-based) answer for each question? _Yes____
Do the questions assess the learning target? _No_____
Are the questions appropriate and reasonable (not too easy and not too difficult)? __Yes____
Are the foils (the response options that are NOT the answer) reasonable i.e. they are not very obviously incorrect answers? __Yes
Are the response options listed in alphabetical order? __No
Are correct answers provided and listed BELOW all the questions? _Yes
Please make a comment about the multiple-choice questions. If you answered "No" to any of the questions above, please explain how the author can improve the question/s.
Comment:
Need at least two application questions, and questions should address the learning targets.
Part 2 - Ratings
LIST and EXPLAIN your rating for each of the four criteria.
Importance:
I rated this article _3__ for importance because... adequate information was not provided to achieve each learning target.
Interest:
I rated this article _3_ on interest because... Visuals are included but have minimal effect.
Credibility:
I rated this article _3__ for credibility because... APA format has many errors.
Writing skill:
I rated this article _2__ on writing because... No application questions and too many run on sentences.
HIGHLIGHT SPECIFIC POINTS IN THE RUBRIC that apply to the article.
To do this: Highlight sections with the cursor and use the BOLD icon above OR type ''' (3 apostrophes) before and after the text you want to make bold
Wiki Article Rubric
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How important was the information presented on this topic to you as a teacher education student?
Covers key ideas crucial for future teachers to know
Based on researched information.
Highly relevant to current educational practice (*this description may be less applicable for some topics such as history of education)
Provides an excellent overview of the topic including relevant research, educational practice, laws and litigation. Includes in-depth discussion of at least a few selected key issues.
Includes ideas relevant to future teachers
Mostly based on researched information.
Applicable to today’s schools
Provides a good general overview with relevant information and discussion of a few key ideas
A couple useful points; some irrelevant information
About half of the information is the author’s opinion.
Some out-dated information; may not reflect current practice
Good information is included but the paper yields a partial /incomplete understanding of the topic or key issues
One useful point
A few facts but mostly the author’s opinion.
Most of the information is irrelevant in today’s schools.
Focused on unimportant subtopics OR overly general with few specifics. Important information is missing.
Information is not relevant to future teachers.
Information is entirely the author’s opinion.
The information is obsolete.
Only irrelevant details or common knowledge. Lacks any substantive information.
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How interesting was the article to read?
Sidebar includes new information that was motivating to read/view
Visuals (headings, colors, fonts, pictures, etc.) enhance the article by making it easier or more inviting to read
Multiple perspectives are considered and discussed
Mostly new information/ideas
Insightful interpretation & analysis are evident throughout the article; a clearly stated conclusion synthesizes all of the material presented.
Points are clearly made and elaborated on with compelling examples.
Sidebar includes new information that enhances understanding of the topic
Visuals add to the article
At least two perspectives were presented
About half of the information/ideas are new
Interpretation and analysis is provided for 3-4 points in the article; a reasonable conclusion based on this information is stated
Some good points are made and explained.
Sidebar includes new information related to the topic.
Visuals are included but have minimal effect
One interesting or new perspective is presented
A couple (2-3) new ideas or pieces of information
Interpretation/ analysis is included for a few (1-2) individual sections, but there is not a conclusion that synthesizes the information presented.
Points are made but may not always be adequately supported or explained.
Sidebar repeats what is already in the article
Visuals are somewhat distracting or not included
Only the “typical” view or one biased perspective is presented.
One new idea or bit of information
Information presented with minimal analysis or interpretation; no conclusion or the conclusion is not based on the information presented
At least one clear point is made and supported.
No side bar included.
Visuals are offensive and completely detract from the content
No perspective is acknowledged.
Nothing new.
No analysis or interpretation included
No clear points are made or points appear pasted from other sources without any explanation.
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How credible do you think the information is?
Required sources are properly cited and included in a reference list in APA format.
Information from diverse sources representing multiple perspectives is included. Several reputable and current sources are cited. The author acknowledges potential bias in sources where appropriate.
Author clearly identifies his own ideas, biases and opinions
Required sources are included; a couple of formatting errors
Information from a variety of sources is included. Most sources are reasonably reputable; bias is acknowledged in others.
It is clear when the author is presenting his own opinion; he doesn’t try to pass if off as fact.
Required sources are included; APA format is not used or has many errors.
A variety of sources is listed but the information primarily reflects a single viewpoint. Sources are reasonable.
The author occasionally (1-2 times) states his own opinion as fact.
Only 4 sources are cited/listed in the references or only 1 scholarly source was used
Sources lack diversity OR information from divergent sources is only superficially mentioned. Some sources are untrustworthy or biased and not acknowledged as such.
Author routinely (3-4 times) states her opinion as fact, ignores own biases.
Missing two or more sources OR sources used but not cited or listed.
All sources and information reflect a single viewpoint. Most sources are untrustworthy or biased and not acknowledged as such.
The entire article is biased and opinion-based without acknowledgment of this perspective.
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How well do you think this article was written?
Multiple-choice questions (2 application & 2 knowledge) align with the learning targets, assess key points, and are written according to guidelines (see R4)
Specific, appropriate and observable learning targets are stated; the content is clearly organized to help the reader achieve these goals
Captures and maintains attention throughout
All or almost all of the cited information is introduced, elaborated on and explained
Writing is organized, easy to read, and contains few to no mechanical errors.
Multiple-choice questions (2 application & 2 knowledge) align with the learning targets, and assess key points.
Specific and reasonable learning targets are stated; the content aligns with these goals
Captures attention initially and periodically throughout
Most of the cited information is discussed or explained.
The article flowed pretty well and there were just a few mechanical errors.
Multiple-choice questions (2 application & 2 knowledge) assess key points
Reasonable learning targets are stated; the content relates to these goals
Parts of the article capture attention
About half of the cited information is discussed
A few areas were hard to follow, confusing or oddly organized. There were a few distracting errors.
4 multiple-choice questions are included.
Learning targets generally related to the content are stated
At least one part of the article is interesting
Information is “pasted” together with minimal explanation.
Organization was difficult to follow, sentences were awkward and/or there were several distracting errors.
Questions are missing or not multiple-choice.
Learning target is missing or unrelated to content or is/are not actual learning targets
Nothing in the article grabs the reader’s attention
Article is entirely “pasted” together from other sources.
Poor organization, sentence structure and/or grammatical errors made it very difficult to understand the content.
Part 3 - "2+2"
List TWO compliments and TWO suggestions about the article content
Hints:
Focus on the work, not the person
Describe "There is...", "I see.." rather than judge "You didn't..."
Compliments
. There were good concluding thoughts.
. I saw good information about current and impending federal education reform plans.
Suggestions
. There is a need for the learning targets to be adequately addressed.
. I thought the content of the article was hard to read because of the number of run-on sentences.
You can make compliments and suggestions that relate to specific areas of the paper or to the paper in general. I suggest a mixture of both. Focus on what's most important. Of course, you can also include more than two suggestions and more than two compliments. The goal is to help the author improve his/her article. :