Category: School

Introduction

Education is integral to the advancement of human civilization and for this reason, policy makers are keen to ensure that students receive the best education. High quality education is characterized by increasing the self-confidence and self-concept of students, and producing optimal academic ability. Current debates surround the schooling experience of students surrounds the perceived benefits of co-ed and single-sex education.

Proponents of co-educational schooling argue that the students accrue more benefits from learning in a mixed environment. On the other hand, advocates of single-sex schooling declare that this model has significant merits and it helps students to overcome some of the challenges inherent in the co-ed environment. Single-sex education is beginning to gain prominence in many States all over the US. The single-sex model appeals to educators and policy makers for a variety of perceived merits derived from this system. This paper will highlight the educational benefits of single-sex schooling in order to show that this model is superior to co-ed schooling.

Support for Single-Sex Schooling

Single-sex schooling increases the educational outcomes and participation rates of students. Girls are especially likely to benefit from single-sex schooling since it enhances their educational experience and increases their academic ability. Due to the increase in the number of single-sex schools in Australia, the number of girls entering into higher education is higher (Tsolidis & Dobson, 2006). On overall, students from single-sex schools exhibit superior academic performance compared to those in co-ed schools. Malacova (2007) reveals that in the UK, single-sex schools perform better than co-ed schools, suggesting that the single sex model improves the academic ability of the students. Quantitative studies have suggested that boys might avoid academic achievements since it will compromise their masculine image in front of the girls (Younger & Warrington, 2006).

The single-sex model creates a climate where male students feel comfortable enough to pursue academic excellence through hard work. Fergusson (2008) documents that in single-sex schooling, boys are able to work hard without the fear of appearing feminine to the girls.

Single-sex schooling makes it possible for educators to implement the most effective learning style for the different genders. Spielhagen (2011) observes that there is an inherent brain-based learning difference between boys and girls. This means that boys and girls learn in different ways. Tsolidis and Dobson (2006) assert that while boys are more comfortable with individualized and competitive styles of learning, girls thrive from teaching and learning strategies that emphasize communication and cooperation. In co-ed classes, the teacher is forced to adapt teaching styles that might disadvantage one gender. This limitation is absent in the single-gender class since the teacher can utilize the learning style best suited for the particular gender. Stotsky (2012) states that teachers are able to better capitalize on the different reading interests between the genders to provide the best outcomes.

Through single-sex schooling, educators are able to cater to the needs of boys without disadvantaging girls and vice versa (Fergusson, 2008). However, opponents argue that single-sex schooling might lead to the implementation of biased learning models. Spielhagen (2011) warns that when the single-schooling model is implemented, teachers are tempted to modify both content and pedagogy according to their own, often stereotypical, constructs of the differences in the ways boys and girls learn (p.4). Adjustments based on stereotypical views of the differences in learning styles will be detrimental to the learning outcomes of the students. While this is true, the risk of biased learning models being used can be reduced through effective teacher training.

Preparation of teachers to handle the single-sex classes can help mitigate or eliminate the likelihood of teachers modifying content and pedagogy based on their misconceptions. Teachers can be trained in order to increase their understanding of the learning styles preferred by both genders. With this increased awareness, teachers will be able to execute effective single-gender classes.

Another merit of single-sex schooling is that it leads to the increase in self-confidence for boys and girls. Malacova (2007) documents that in the co-ed setting, students are likely to conform to stereotype expectations in order to avoid rejection. Boys will therefore act more competitively and boisterous while girls are likely to be inhibited and modest. Such behavior prevents both genders from reaching their true potential. In the single-sex environment, the students are freed of the anxiety that would occur in classes with students of the opposite sex. Stotsky (2012) reveals that single-sex classes provide the best learning environment for shy or quiet children who would otherwise be intimidated in a mixed gender class environment.

The class is tailored to foster the development of self-confidence and leadership skills for each sex. Boys and girls are given the freedom to be themselves in the environment that is free from the opposite gender. Sullivan (2009) asserts that the self esteem of girls is better reinforced in the single-sex environment since boys typically tend to dominate in a mixed environment often to the disadvantage of girls.

Single-sex schooling encourages each sex to venture into subjects that might traditionally be dominated by the opposite gender. Since boys and girls do not have to conform to any stereotype views, they can pursue their true interests without fear. Tsolidis and Dobson (2006) report that due to the increase in the number of single-sex schools in Australia, the number of girls entering into higher education and participating in many traditionally male-dominated areas of study has risen. In spite of this, proponents of co-ed schooling argue that single-sex schooling might lead to the provision of unequal education. Spielhagen (2011) argues that single-sex classes might be damaging, especially for girls since the separate arrangement of the genders can result in the adoption of separate and unequal curricula. The types of subjects offered might be influenced by a sexual stereotype about what subjects are better suited or desirable for boys or girls (Younger & Warrington, 2006).

While this might be true, is should be noted that sex-stereotyped subject choices occur frequently in mixed schools. Tsolidis and Dobson (2006) document that in Australia, the link between female disadvantage and university entry was linked to sex-segregated subject selection in the co-ed schools. The authors argue that single-sex schools are likely to reduce these stereotyped subject choices for the girls do not have to conform to any biased view on their abilities in certain subjects.

The level of enjoyment in school is increased for both sexes when they school separately. When boys and girls are in the same schooling environment, issues such as sex-based harassment are likely to occur. There is also the issue of unequal use of resources due to the competitive nature of boys and the more-cooperative nature of girls. Tsolidis and Dobson (2006) declare, Boys behavior in the classroom and in schools more generally, has been understood to have a deleterious effect on girls (p.216). Single-sex schooling overcomes these challenges by placing both sexes in different environments.

Opponents of single sex education argue that it has a negative impact on the way in which males and females interact with one another in future study and work environments. This argument is based on the understanding that in a co-ed environment, boys and girls learn about and from each other. Research indicates that girls have a civilizing effect on boys (Malacova, 2007). In the absence of girls in the school setting, boys are likely to act in uncultured ways. Tsolidis and Dobson (2006) argue that single-sex classes may not provide students with the experience of each other, which promotes successful social immersion. While it is true that single-sex classes separate boys from girls, this does not prevent the sexes from learning from each other. Both genders are able to learn from each other outside the school environment. In addition to this, teachers of the opposite sex in the single-sex class can have a civilizing effect on the students.

Conclusion

The main stakeholders in the education of students have varying attitudes towards single-sex and co-ed schooling. This paper set out to demonstrate that the single-sex model is the most appropriate due to its significant benefits to the students. It has shown that the single-sex model has relative merit on the education of boys and girls. Historically, policymakers in the country executed single-sex models in education institutes based on anecdotal reasoning instead of relying on research to support the model.

However, this has changed as intensive research into the different models of schooling has been engaged in. This paper has shown that single-sex schooling enhances the educational experience of boys and girls and does not have a negative effect on social cohesion. For this reason, more schools should adopt the single-sex model in order to improve the educational outcomes of more students in the country.

References

Fergusson, D. (2008). Effects of single-sex and coeducational schooling on the gender gap in educational achievement. Australian Journal of Education, 52(3), 301317. Web.

Malacova, E. (2007). Effect of single-sex education on progress in GCSE. Oxford Review of Education, 33(2), 233259. Web.

Spielhagen, F. (2011). It all depends: Middle School Teachers Evaluate Single-Sex Classes. Research in Middle Level Education Online, 34(7), 1-12. Web.

Stotsky, S. (2012). The Promise of Single-Sex Classes. School Administrator, 69(5), 32-35. Web.

Sullivan, A. (2009). Academic self-concept, gender and single-sex schooling. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 259288. Web.

Tsolidis. G., & Dobson, I.R. (2006). Single-sex schooling: is it simply a class act? Gender and Education, 18(2), 213228. Web.

Younger, M., & Warrington, M. (2006). Would Harry and Hermione have done better in single-sex classes: a review of single-sex teaching in co-educational schools in the United Kingdom. American Educational Research Journal, 43(4), 579620. Web.

In mid last year, as a member of researching group studying the effective management of schools, I visited a U.S. public school. I wanted to learn more about the techniques of school management in the day to day operations of the school. Most students were non immigrants and Spanish speakers. On arrival, I was ushered to the principals office where I met the administrators and received an overview of the school. I would then proceed on a campus tour interviewing teachers, staff and few students. I had questionnaires about the techniques of school management, challenges faced by all parties involved in the effective running of the school. The principal of the school explained to me that the day to day operations of a school requires a range of policies and procedures to be followed. In addition he pointed out that, the school vision stipulated in the statement of the school philosophy is the driving force in managing the school that shape day to day activities. Moreover, a model should be set for effective management and must go hand in hand with what is known about successful approaches to the management of change. The administration committee explained that the model integrates the process of goal setting for the school and needs to be identified, policy making, planning, budgeting, implemented and evaluated in a continuous cycle. Since the administration is decision makers, leadership was elicited as the key technique to manage a school. It is very important for leaders to give attention to two key factors; accomplishment of the task at hand and establishing good relationships with and among members of staff (Beare et al., 1989). In this docket, emphasis were given to transforming change attitudes that brought about commitment to better state embodied in the vision of excellence for the school. School leaders should be outstanding and succeed in communicating the vision in such a way that they secure the commitment of others in the school and its community. The leadership encompasses technical, human, educational, symbolic and cultural and all should be present and be widely dispersed in school for excellence to be attained. I then interviewed a veteran teacher who has been in the school for 7 years. His comments zero grazed on the vision of the school. He suggested that the vision of the school must be institutionalized so that it shapes the everyday activities in the school. The vision should also embody a view of excellence and a view of preferred future for education and society in general, reflect different assumption and attitudes which are basic to life and education. In addition, he suggested that the administration should include in the decision making since they interact more with the students during class hours and understand their needs more. The new teacher who was at the school for her first semester was very impressed with how the school operated. She urged the leaders of the school to give teachers considerable amount of responsibility and authority in determining and addressing the problem of academics performance. This includes giving teachers authority over curriculum, institutional decision making and in distribution of resources. The leaders should also work with the new teachers to promote and ensure academic success of all students and promote their relationship with the veteran teachers for a favorable learning environment (Beare et al., 1989).

In summary, the school leader should use a wide range of symbolic leadership acts, broadly classified as words, actions and rewards since they are the pillars of the school. The educational needs of children and instructional programs for the school is determined by effective management processes wherein policies are formulated, priorities set, resources allocated and teaching and learning proceeds with regular systematic appraisal of the program (Beare et al., 1989).

References

Beare, H., Millikan, R., & Caldwell, B. J. (1989). Creating an Excellent School: Some New Management Techniques. Routledge, London

The study dwells on the elaboration of the school consultancy guidance, which targets the improvement of the study correlations and the relations between the subjects of academic processes. The work relies on the outcomes of the experiment, which involved one school personnel  a teacher, a parent of one student, and one specialist in educational service. The experimentation followed the interview design and included three sets of questions. The first section related to the childrens support, the second one embraced the experiences of consultation effects, and the final section managed the issues of cooperation interrelations. According to the subjects responses, the improved consultation guidance was shaped, which focused on the optimal model of providing study feedback on both levels of the academic support that concerns parent-child and school-student cooperation.

According to the results of the interview, three weak points of school consultancies were outlined. Primarily, the complaint, which was differentiated, concerned the problem of standard study treatment. Thus, the parent, who took part in the study, suggested that school administration sustains consultancies, according to the stable model, and the discussed issues are equal for all parents. Indeed, the prevalent academic experiences reveal that school consultancies are held in large groups and relate to the previously-prepared points for discussion such as academic performance, behavior characteristics, and social skills of a learner (Brigman, Mullis, & Webb, 2005). Consequently, the first skill, which has to be embraced by school consultancy specialists, refers to switching to an individualized approach that allows improving the quality of discussion outcomes for every student.

Secondly, it was decided that study progress is hindered through the lack of cooperation between parents and school personnel. The regular experiences of learners at school are rarely matched with their home development and outer-school experience (School improvement partners, 2013). This tendency creates additional school performance problems. For instance, one of the subjects of the experimentation related that his child kept complaining about the teacher, who criticized his pronunciation. The learner had some health problems, which prevented him from pronouncing specific sounds correctly. However, the educator did not take an interest in this fact and stimulated the creation of stressful conditions for the students educational improvement. Consequently, the second skill, which has to be adopted by school consultancy professionals, relates to the encouragement of extensive cross-academic cooperation throughout school departments. It may be suggested to embrace weekly reporting, which would extend from holding detailed records of all possible difficulties that hinder academic development at school (School consultation, 2014). Conclusively, the school personnel might transfer the data to the parents of the learners at the end of every week. If necessary, the additional parent discussions may be sustained to clarify the contradictory issues, which concern child development (Parent-teacher conferences, 2012).

Finally, the research study revealed that school consultancies, regularly, target the discussions of the negative sides of academic progress as well as the difficulties in school education (Why is assessment important, 2011). Instead, it should be offered to encourage school personnel to relate to the positive experiences of the students during parent meetings to show the beneficial models of academic developments and motivate the students for the further development of their careers (Brown, 2009). Conclusively, the improvement of the quality of school consultancies embraces overtaking three critical skills, which improve academic experiences: individualized treatment, expectancy delivering, and positive attitude.

References

Brigman, G., Mullis, F., & Webb, L. (2005). School counselor consultation: Skills for working effectively with parents, teachers, and other school personnel. Washington: CQ Press.

Brown, K. (2009). Monitoring learner progress. Web.

Parent-teacher conferences. (2012). Web.

School consultation. (2014). Web.

School improvement partners. (2013). Web.

Why is assessment important. (2011). Web.

Introduction

Deciding on the best option after completing a high school education is always a tricky phenomenon. It should be noted that life gives everyone just one chance to live and make it right and therefore one can never follow what others do just because it is right. It is therefore important to make the right decision early enough, otherwise, the repercussions that will follow may be dire and unbearable. When students are in school, most of them perceive life to be smooth and full of fun, but the idea changes once they start getting responsibilities. The outer world as is described by many seems different from the protective environment of schools.

Many students are very eager to sit for their final paper in high school and get through with their high school education but they are not aware of the big question that awaits them after high school, which is What next? (Duralia 15). While some would prefer to start working due to a feeling of burdensome in education or lack of finances to continue with education, others would prefer to go on with their college education and start a career they have been dreaming about, yet others would prefer taking some time from all that and concentrate with traveling and relaxation for a year or so before joining a college. Whichever route one chooses, there is always a price to pay for each it.

Going to college vs. taking a break

Time waits for no man and hence spending time enjoying and celebrating will have a serious repercussion later on since one will have wasted precious time. Although both routes may be merited to some degree, it is always important to ensure there is the benefit derived wherefrom taking in mind that the main aim of life is to make positive changes and improve oneself (Clydesdale 15).

One who decides to go to college will have an added advantage over the rest because he starts building a career without wasting time. Time is the only asset that is equal to everyone  everyone has 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, no one has more or less. Those who utilize this resource perfectly will always enjoy the benefits in life. Everyone, especially students who have the chance and enough financial resources should race against time at all times to improve their life (Clydesdale 18). They should not spend time idling and celebrating over small achievements; rather, they should aim at striking a difference in whatever they do. Going to college immediately is no burden in terms of books as many students describe it, it is a race against the little precious time one has to lay a good foundation of his/her life (Duralia 20).

For example, lets take one who starts celebrating and relaxing for a year, and one who goes to college immediately after high school. The first individual waste a year just relaxing while the latter starts his/her career path immediately after he/she joins college. These two individuals have now given each other a range which means that, for the one who wastes a year, he will start his career at the same time as those who were behind him/her in high school. This time is not recovered ever in life and therefore the students should avoid such circumstances at all costs (Clydesdale 21).

Another example is the one who relaxes and the one who starts working. The one who decides to work becomes financially independent early enough and thus will be independent, unlike the one who proceeds to college immediately. Life is all about dependency and people aim to stop depending on others and be self-dependent whenever an opportunity arises. Although the one who prefers to work will have benefited financially and also on work experience, the gap between him and the one who proceeds to college immediately or one who prefers to relax will have a greater bearing in the long run.

When comparing the one who starts working and the one who goes to college, one might tend to think that because the one working has an income then he is better of. However, once the one in college gets through with his college work, he will have built a stable career that will enable him to get employed in high profile jobs and get better terms of employment and income than the former. He will be better placed in society and be in a position to choose from a wide range of jobs. The one who was working will be overtaken within a short period (Broatch para.5).

Conclusion

The best thing in life is to utilize time efficiently and be successful. This will ensure that one never does things late and never regrets the decisions. Although many factors may hinder one from going to college like finances, there are always options to finance ones education and get to excel. No barriers should stand between ones vision and the present life. Life is about overcoming hardships and in the end, one enjoys the fruits of his/her labor especially he/she establishes an empire of great wealth, fame and raises a successful family. Whichever way the student chooses, then there is a need for serious reconsideration since life is not a rehearsal; the big question is, are you ready for it? It is never early to start planning; the future depends on the plans made today.

Works Cited

Broatch, Linda. Is there a life after high school? A premier for teens with learning disorders. Great Schools. 2009. Web.

Clydesdale, Timothy Thomas. The first year out: understanding American teens after high school. London, University of Chicago Press. 2007. Web.

Dalia, Mike. The Real Life 101 Handbook: A Beginners Guide to the World after High School. Bloomington, Author House. 2009. Web.

Education all over the world can be called a debatable question as almost every day there appears new tendencies and trends in methodology of teaching and pedagogy, brining new ideas and ways out of the modern problematic situation concerning imperfection of the whole system and, as a result, imperfection of educational level of graduates. This very problem concerning presence or absence of need to reform modern system of education is discussed in the article Big-city schools struggle with graduation rates by Greg Toppo, printed in USA TODAY.

To be more precise, it is entirely dedicated to two opposite opinions on current educational system and graduation rates of modern students. The author of the article, Greg Toppo, tries to understand why there appeared some substantial distinction between Christopher Swansons and Lawrence Mishels statistical data. These both researchers have analyzed graduation rates of American schools and there figures are distinguished more than on 10%.

The Swansons findings open a rather bleak picture of overall nations graduation rate in the USA that is less than 70% according to his study, while lawmakers and the others go on keeping USA students globally competitive. Among 50 largest big-city school districts, there three graduating less than 40%, these are New York City  38.9%, Baltimore  38.5% and Detroit  21.7% (Toppo 2006). Such situation is given in the Swansons study. And from the researchers point of view, the problem here is not in 30% of dropouts the problem is that, in fact, this figure is much higher and is be equal to about 50%.

But taking into account that this research was sponsored by the company Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promoting its own high school reform, the question arises, whether the results of the study are correct. As such low indexes of modern methodical and pedagogical systems shown by the researchers work make it clear that the level of education the students leaves much to be desired. And the only thing can be done to improve graduation rate is to reform the whole educational system.

Especially controversial this question becomes, when most recent Mishels study puts the overall nations graduation rate of the USA at 82%. It is unknown, whose figures are truthful, but the fact is that there is no any reasons for Mishel to contest Swansons research, in case it would be correct. While Swanson could have some benefit making his work useful for his sponsors.

To conclude, it must me mentioned, that educational system used at modern school is not perfect, but it would thing over and change thousands of times, if graduation rates just in a few cities were equal to 50% or less.

The article by Greg Toppo arises before the readers two main questions:

1. Is the situation at school, really, as bad as Swanson has described?
2. If so, what must be done to correct it?

As our society has no answers on both these questions, let us ask the most outstanding educational specialist of all ages. There are three of them who could know the answers: Paulo Freire, Horace Mann and John Dewey.

At the fist question they three, surely could answer equally that, no matter whose study is taken into account, results in them both are rather poor. And these both results are to be improved by some changes.

Paulo Freire would surely say, that the problem is in banking education that annuls the creative power of a student. It means, that the problem is connected with lack of reciprocity between a teacher and a student. The only way to improve current graduation rates in the USA, in accordance with Freires pedagogy, is not to achieve enactment between teacher and student, but a deep reciprocity that must be inserted into that notion of student and teacher. Ever existing problems of the educational level will not disappear till there would not be understanding of teacher-student as well as student-teacher terms. That is, the problem of rates is not a problem of lack of knowledge or lack of attention it is a problem of relationship between teacher and student. To get rid of imperfection in educational system means to recognize that the basic parts of classroom participation are the fallowing: a teacher learns as well as a learner teaches.

He sais: Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers. The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow. In this process, arguments based on authority are no longer valid; in order to function, authority must be on the side of freedom, not against it (Freire).

Freire would say, that modern interacting provided at school as the best way of teaching and learning was not enough for good results, that is why, more democratic relationship were to be established for better graduation rates.

Manns point of view could be the fallowing, to improve the level of education, it must be free with self-interest and morality as its main principles. Perhaps, in the article by Greg Toppo he could pay special attention to the fallowing points, to improve the rates of the present. The public should not be ignorant. Such education must be controlled as well as sustained by not only teachers but an interested public. To his point of view education must be best provided for children from any background and it should be non-sectarian. And what is the most important this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers (Mann, 1849). He would surely agree with Swanson that modern school needs some changes and, may be, even reforms to male the overall nations graduate rates better. He would say, that American educators are to work schools to be better equipped houses, and a curriculum to be wider.

Deweys opinion concerning the perfection of graduate rates would be based on unity democracy and communication in education. He would say about an importance of high level communication between teacher and students. Because for him the most important factor of a high-leveled education is consisted in the fallowing: What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life. This education consists primarily in transmission through communication. Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession (Dewey 17).

He, surely, would say that the teacher should not be a dictatorial ruler. For students development and, thanking to it, their better graduate rates the teacher should be recognized as a negligible factor, but a necessary one. A teachers role is a role of the intellectual leader. Being an educational reformer, Dewey would be able to emphasize that concern of teaching claiming about transferring teachers knowledge to student were to be changed into a much better concern based on the students active learning as well as their actual experience.

All, mentioned above, let us conclude that for the greatest educators of the past graduate rates as they are, cannot be considered like the most important factors for education. In the centre of any educational process is relation between teacher and student but not the grades the last get while studying. But, at the same time, in case of the right created communication and regular interaction between these two participants of the process of education graduate rates will, surely, become better, because of the high level of mutual understanding. Thanking to such outstanding pedagogues as Paulo Freire, Horace Mann and John Dewey, education is democratic and teachers aim is not to give knowledge but to help a student to get it in a process of cooperation. But the modern educational system is not perfect and the participants of educational process are to improve it together.

The article by Greg Toppo shows that even in big-city schools graduate rates are to be much better we could say that American students are competitive globally and these rates were not a problematic question. To achieve this aim a lot of things must be made among which reconsideration of relationship between teachers and students, and renewal of some methods of teaching.

References

Dewey, John. Democracy and Education: an introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: The Macmillan company, 1916.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum Publishing Company, 1970

Mann, Horace. The Massachusetts system of common schools: being an enlarged and revised edition of the tenth annual report of the first secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, 1849.

Toppo, Greg. Big-city schools struggle with graduation rates. USA TODA. 2006. USA TODA Online. Web.

Introduction

Indigenous education involves teachings about indigenous methods, models, and knowledge. In the recent past, the outcomes of indigenous education in Australia have greatly improved. The improvement is as a result of enhanced enrolment and participation of indigenous students in education. The enrolment of indigenous students in vocational education and training and tertiary sectors has increased considerably (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

Indigenous Education and Bush School Practice

The culture of most aboriginal communities is closely aligned to their environment. The aboriginals perspective on land, language, and culture varies from the perspectives of other communities. It is important to identify the needs of students from these communities to provide them with an effective education (Guevremont & Kohen, 2012). Identifying a supportive education system for the aboriginal students becomes easy as a result. According to the video, Bush School is one of the educational systems used in indigenous education. It is a school environment that integrates aboriginal content and culture, such as teaching students how to ride horses, into regular curriculum (Bryan, 2009).

Indigenous students use learning styles similar to those used in their community. Examples of such styles include observation, imitation, collaboration, cooperation, and use of narratives and storytelling (Guevremont & Kohen, 2012). Such methods of learning require direct experience and learning through inclusion. The student is regarded as an important part of the community. The Bush School video highlights how aboriginal students use these styles to learn useful skills within an informal setting (Bryan, 2009).

Assessment and reporting are very essential in providing effective education. The video highlights the various aspects of assessing and reporting the achievements of aboriginal students. Other education systems, such as those adopted in western nations, emphasise on explicit instructions and testing. Such techniques may prove ineffective to indigenous students since they retain knowledge more easily when learning through methods that have succeeded in the past as opposed to other methods. The western education format is not consistent with the upbringing of the aboriginal students (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

Indigenous students reflect the cultural, social, and economic diversity of the communities they come from (Higney, 2012). They are spread across schools in the rural, regional, and urban Australia. Majority of these students speak aboriginal English, Creole, other indigenous languages or a combination of these as their first language. As highlighted by the Bush School video, Bush Schools can integrate all these disparities, making it best practice for indigenous students to enrol (Bryan, 2009).

Bush Schools provide specific intervention programs to meet the specific learning needs of students. The programs include strategies and trials designed to increase the enrolment of indigenous students in schools. In addition, the programs are aimed at ensuring that indigenous students meet national benchmarks in literacy and numeracy tests (Harrison, 2011). The programs encourage indigenous students to remain in school and to attend regularly. Such interventions have increased the number of indigenous students completing year 12. Consequently, the number of indigenous students proceeding to tertiary education has also increased (Guevremont & Kohen, 2012).

Engaging indigenous students in the teaching process is very essential to academic success. It provides the students with the knowledge, understanding, skills, and confidence needed to succeed in employment and higher education. Bush Schools engage indigenous students by using the community in their learning. The Bush School video shows how students are engaged in learning through horse riding and other applications. Engagement is critical for it encourages a sense of belonging and self-worth among the students (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

For indigenous education to be successful, teaching professionals must be accountable when including aboriginal perspectives in their practice. In the Bush School video, the principal agrees to offer horse riding classes. By doing this, more aboriginal students are encouraged to continue with their education (Bryan, 2009). School leadership must ensure that aboriginal culture is made part of the school environment. Professionals must adjust their attitudes and perceptions about aboriginal communities. The school leadership must enhance the relationship between staff and the aboriginal community. Most employees working in Bush Schools have acquired knowledge on aboriginal communities. The acquisition of such knowledge has significant impacts on the way the employees interact with their colleagues, their students, and the community (Harrison, 2011).

For indigenous education to succeed, a carefully planned curriculum should be developed. The curriculum should contain a syllabus outlining what is to be taught and the teaching approaches and strategies to be adopted (Harrison, 2011). By understanding aboriginal cultures, perspectives, and disparities, Bush Schools produce a curriculum that values aboriginal history, language, and culture (Battiste, 2000).

Applications of Bush School Experience

Engaging Parents and the Larger Community

Improving the relationship between the school and the community is the launch pad to a successful and highly effective education system. The partnership should be built on the principle of cross-cultural respect between the school and the community. There are various national and state policies and programs that emphasise on this relationship (Harrison, 2011).

In addition to the process of developing partnerships between the school and the community, I have a duty of encouraging this relationship as a teacher and making it part of my professional and personal accountability. I will involve the community in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of the curriculum. I will also lobby the school administrators to enhance the inclusion of the communitys perspectives in the curriculum. The inclusion is an opportunity for cultural exchange between the teachers and the community. Such an exchange exposes the school employees to a wide range of perspectives on education (R.A. Malatest & Associates, 2002).

As a teacher, I will make efforts to attend community events and functions. My attendance will help strengthen the partnership and relationship between schools and communities, which is based on mutual trust. The experience derived from such interactions will eventually have an impact on my life as a teacher and on the curriculum. In turn, this will have an impact on the students and their overall performance (Friesen & Krauth, 2010).

There are various strategies used to strengthen the community-school partnership. One of the strategies involves keeping up with important events hosted by the local community and advertising such events using notices and newsletters. I will lobby the administration to include important community events on the school calendar (Harrison, 2011). In addition, I will create units of school work and programs that conform to the needs of the community (Ktunaxa, 2011).

Teaching Strategies

Overview

Indigenous education embeds the communitys perspectives, experiences, language, and culture in the schools curriculum. The inclusion of these aspects enhances the effectiveness and success of education by providing a learning environment that adheres to the students way of life. Such adherence makes it easy for the student to transition into adulthood. As a non-indigenous teacher, my exposure to Bush School will create awareness and increase my knowledge on the culture and traditions of indigenous communities (Harrison, 2011).

Indigenous knowledge is of great importance in the management of environment in contemporary world. The methods traditionally used in environment and land management are still very important to the society today (Ktunaxa, 2011). Indigenous communities have learnt to live sustainably in their regions and have passed the knowledge to their future generations (Downey & Pribesh, 2004). The sustainability is very important to the community. It helps them understand their surroundings better. However, I cannot say the same about indigenous communities that have been eroded through displacement (Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003).

There is value in incorporating indigenous knowledge into mainstream education. Learners from diverse backgrounds benefit when they interact with such knowledge. As a teacher, I can improve the exposure by working with elders from indigenous communities in developing a curriculum that includes authentic indigenous experiences (Nechyba, McEwan, Patric & Older-Aguilar, 1999). I will make efforts to introduce controversial topics in classrooms. I will introduce the topics through various methods tailored for particular age groups (Ktunaxa, 2011).

Classroom structure

The Bush Schools classroom structure creates a link between the community and the classroom, making it easier for students to relate to material. The figure below illustrates the classroom structure adopted by the bush school:

I will adopt a similar structure in my classroom. In such a structure, the school emphasises on group or cooperative learning characterised by an inclusive environment. The students are encouraged to learn by watching each other and observing the environment. I will avoid assuming an authoritative role and encourage regulating the learning with my students.

Conclusion

In this paper, I discussed Bush School as an example of best-practice in indigenous education. I discussed the application of Bush School experience into future teaching practice. In addition, I analyzed the involvement of community members in developing school curriculum. Finally, I discussed teaching practices that can be embedded in mainstream education.

References

Battiste, M. (2000). Maintaining aboriginal identity, language, and culture in modern society. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Bryan, D. (Director). (2009). Bush school [DVD]. Australia: SBS Independent.

Desforges, C., & Abouchaar, A. (2003). The impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievements and adjustment: A literature review. London: Department for Education and Skills, Queens Printer.

Downey, D. B., & Pribesh, S. (2004). When race matters: Teachers evaluations of students classroom behaviour. Sociology of Education, 77(4), 267282.

Friesen, J., & Krauth, B. (2010). Sorting, peers and achievement of Aboriginal students in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Economics, 43(4), 12731301.

Guevremont, A., & Kohen, D. E. (2012). Knowledge of an aboriginal language and school outcomes for children and adults. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(1), 127.

Harrison, N. (2011). Teaching and learning in aboriginal education (2nd ed.). Victoria: Oxford University Press.

Higney, J. (2012). Indigenous education. New York: Free Press.

Ktunaxa, S. A. (2011). An indigenous knowledges perspective on valid meaning making: A commentary on research with the EDI and Aboriginal communities. Social Indicators Research, 103, 315325.

Nechyba, T., McEwan, I., Patric, J., & Older-Aguilar, D. (1999). The impact of family and community resources on student outcomes: An assessment of the international literature with implications for New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Ministry of Education.

R.A. Malatest & Associates. (2002). Parent and education agreement partnership project: A discussion paper. Victoria, B.C.: R.A. Malatest & Associates.

The Role of States in Enhancing Performance of Charter Schools

In the United States of America, states play an integral role in enhancing the performance of charter schools as well as promoting their financial integrity via an array of actions such as assisting authorizers in addition to overseeing their operations. Besides, 28 of the 39 states surveyed reported gathering data regarding the degree to which charter schools had attained their academic objectives (Bender, 2002).

With respect to monitoring the authorizers, majority of the states surveyed reported having taken some steps to establish these authorizers were executing their mandate of oversight (Baker, Gersten and Lee, 2002). About half of the states surveyed also reported offering financial assistance to assist authorizers play their responsibility of overseeing charter schools or permit them charge charter schools they authorize a small fee (United Sates Government Accountability Office, 2005).

Various studies have concentrated on whether charter schools improve the academic performance of students who are enrolled in them or not. According to the U.S. GAO (2005), longitudinal students-level information has been utilized to explore the achievement growth after and before students are enrolled to charter school.

The findings of this studies have demonstrated that students enrolled in charter schools were performing better academically just as their colleagues who are enrolled in public schools (United States Department of Education, 2003).

However, these studies revealed that charter schools were in overall not having a direct impact with respect to enhancing the performance of students enrolled in them. Some studies demonstrated that some students even performed worse in charters schools than if they had remained in public schools (United States Government Accountability Office, 2005).

A study was carried out to examine whether competition provided by charter schools has the potential to improve the academic performance of public schools (U.S. GAO, 2005).

The study hypothesized that if charter schools are successful in drawing students from private schools as well as traditional public schools, this development may promoted improvements in addition to reforms in the existing schools within the U.S.

The study employed school-level information to investigate how charter schools in Michigan influence the academic performance of traditional public schools within the same state. The findings of this study revealed that competition provided by charter schools played an integral role in enhancing the academic performance of traditional public schools (Tomlinson, 1999).

The funding of charter and Public schools

Numerous studies have been carried to examine the funding of charter and public as well as its effect to academic improvement of these schools. Buddin (2012) affirms that the findings of these studies have revealed that tradition public schools are more funded as compared to charter schools.

A study carried out by Batdoff et al. found out that the gap of funding that existed between charter schools and public schools stood at 19%. A similar study carried out by Miron and Urschel revealed that there existed a big gap with respect to funding between traditional public schools and charter schools (about 30%) (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

This difference was attributed to the fact that traditional public schools spent more in food services, transportation, students support as well as special education compared to charter schools. Hunuschek, on the other hand, is of the opinion that the differences that exist between traditional public schools and charter schools with respect to funding do not influence the academic performance of these schools (Skilton-Sylvester, 2011).

Enrollment Effects

Some studies have investigated how the option provided by charter schools influence the enrollment pattern with the U.S. A study conducted by Glomm et al. discovered that charter schools were more popular in areas where there is more expenditure related to special education, had more private schools as well as in areas that were having people from diverse ethnic backgrounds (Buddin, 2012).

Curriculum Development

Majority of charter schools, which are newly created move via distinct stages in order for them to develop into functioning learning institutions. According to Premack (1998), these phases encompass preoperational phase (between 1 and 2 years), operational phase (between 2 and 3 years) and lastly institutional operational phase (between 3 and 5 years).

As stipulated by Peebles (2004), the activities related to operational as well as preoperational have the capacity to delay the opening of chart schools and as such, there is a need to give them more attention in the course of the initial phases of development.

When developing a curriculum for a charter school, the role of the experience of teachers as well as their support is integral. Hassel (2003) contends that various studies have indicated that the teaching staff full of experienced teachers has the capacity to contribute positively to the development of school curriculum.

In addition, surveys play a critical role in the development of a school curriculum. A survey that was carried out by Marblehead charter school revealed that majority of the parents wanted as stronger emphasis in mathematics as well as allocation of more time when teaching the subject. When developing a school curriculum, teachers must be given more time to plan, create, adopt as well as assessing the proposed curriculum (U.S. Department of Education, 2003).

Challenges Schools Face When Developing Curriculum

Several studies have highlighted some of the challenges directors, parents as well as teachers face when developing a curriculum. Peebles (2004) opines that a lack of sound policies, tradition as well as structure can unconstructively affect the outcome of a curriculum. To effectively deal with these issues, a detailed school reform design can play a critical role in enhancing the academic achievement of students in both traditional public as well as charter schools (Peebles, 2000).

Besides, in order to successfully adopt the school curriculum, teachers in both public and charter schools must receive professional development as well as necessary training. Moreover, teachers must mirror and create beliefs, habits, as well as knowledge that offer support to the development of school curriculum (Allsopp, Kyger and Lovin, 2007).

Conclusion

This literature review has revealed that states play an important role in enhancing the performance of charter schools as well as promoting their financial integrity via an array of actions such as assisting authorizers in addition to overseeing their operations. Moreover, studies have indicated that tradition public schools are more funded as compared to charter schools (Allsopp, et al. 2008).

With respect to enrollment effects, several studies have demonstrated that charter schools were more popular in areas where there is more expenditure related to special education, had more private schools as well as in areas that were having people from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

There are three phases involved when developing a school curriculum. These phases include preoperational phase (between 1 and 2 years), operational phase (between 2 and 3 years) and lastly institutional operational phase (between 3 and 5 years) (Bailey, 2009). Some of the challenges schools face when developing a curriculum includes lack of sound policies, tradition as well as structure can unconstructively affect the outcome of a curriculum.

References

Allsopp, D., Kyger, M., Lovin, L., Garretson, H., Carson, K., & Ray, S. (2008). Mathematics dynamic assessment: Informal assessment that responds to the needs of struggling learners in mathematics. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(3), 6-16.

Allsopp, D. H., Kyger, M. M., & Lovin, L. H. (2007). Teaching mathematics meaningfully: Solutions to reaching struggling learners. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Bailey, M. J. H. (2009). The Introduction of Religious Chapter Schools: A Cultural Movement in the Private School Sector. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 18, 272-289.

Baker, S., Gersten, R., & Lee, D. (2002). A synthesis of empirical research on teaching mathematics to low-achieving students. The Elementary School Journal, 103, 51-73.

Bender, W. (2002). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Buddin, R. (2012). The Impact of Charter Schools on Public and Private School Enrollment. Policy Analysis, 2012(701), 1-64.

Hassel, B. C. (2003). Friendly competition. Education Next, 1(l), 8-15.

Peebles, L. (2000). The challenge of leadership in charter schools. Journal of the Intermountain Center for Effectiveness, 1(2), 41-55.

Peebles, L. D. (2004). Curriculum Issues and Charter Schools. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 6(1), 1-11.

Premack, E. (1998).Charter School Development Guide: California Edition. California: Charter School Project.

Scholastic Instructor. (2010). 10 ways to help ells succeed in Math. Web.

Skilton-Sylvester, P. (2011). Eyes on the Curriculum: How One Charter School ResistedTest-Driven Pressures. Dissent (00123846), 58(4), 52-58.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria , VA: ASCD.

United States Department of Education. (2003). Charter schools. Web.

United States Government Accountability Office. (2005). Charter Schools. Web.

Introduction

Charter and public schools in the United States of America are facing a myriad of challenges stemming from external and internal pressure. Externally, both public and charter schools are required to perform well during examinations. Anderson and Holder (2012) carried out a longitudinal study to investigate the ten years annual reports of the two local charter schools in the United States of America.

The study utilized information from various sources, such as document analyses, site visits along with various and numerous interviews. The findings of this study revealed that the two schools under study received a lot of feedback regarding its administration, curriculum and evaluation.

CER (Center for education reform) describes a charter school as an innovative public school that is accountable to pupils/students outcomes as well as developed into offer programs that are modified to meet the desires or needs of the community they serve. In the year 1992, a first charter school was opened in the city of Saint Paul within the state of Minnesota.

Presently, there are at least 4,100 charter schools in the United States of America, which accommodate more than 1.2 million students (Bailey, 2009).

The District of Columbia and 42 states in the U.S. have laws, which are associated with the charter school. In every charter school, there is a board of governors that are responsible for making critical decision in regards to the school. Besides, there are also sponsors in charter schools who play an integral role in monitoring as well as approving application to ensure that there is success in this school.

Statement of the Problem

The core reason why charter schools were initiated was to increase the academic option in the public school system. Peebles (2004) defines curriculum as the entire issues that take place within the school. They include interpersonal link, guidance, extracurricular activities as well as academic work.

Peebles further points out that curriculum entails cultural dissonance, academic expectation of the parents, teachers support as well as experience in addition to instructional leadership. Peebles carried out a case study to examine four issues associated with curriculum in the Marblehead charter school.

The issues explored included cultural dissonance, academic expectation, teacher training and experience as well as instructional leadership. Peebles also asserts that, in order for the charter schools to develop, they must move via various critical stages. These stages encompass pre-operational phase, operational phase as well as institutional operational stage.

As pointed out by Anderson and Holder (2012), operational and pre-operational activities have the capacity to impede the opening of charter schools and as such, great focus should be directed to them in the course of the beginning phases of the charter schools development. The director of Marblehead charter school placed more focus on the survival of the school, such as curriculum development, development as well as staff and instruction supervision.

Background of the Problem

The desire to perform well is putting a lot of pressure on both, charter and public schools to constantly review their curriculum in an effort to compete effectively.

Skilton-Sylvester(2011) opine that present day principles and managers of public and charter schools are required to constantly monitor and evaluate efficacy of their curriculum, review and implement new strategies and tactics in order to improve the performance of students in schools.

Autonomy as well as teachers leadership are critical tenets in the development of a schools curriculum. Several studies have demonstrated that inexperienced teachers do not contribute enough to the development of a school curriculum.

Purpose of the Study

Charter and public schools in the United States of America have to combat a number of challenges because of external and internal pressure.

Externally, both public and charter schools need to show good results during examinations. Internally, some schools have inexperienced teachers and poor curriculum that does not enhance performance of students. Developing a comprehensive and effective curriculum in both charter and public schools will provide a platform for these schools to perform well in examinations.

As noted by Peebles (2004), an inexperienced and poor teacher has the potential to unconstructively affect the outcome of students even after the students have left the class. In the process of defining a curriculum, it is critical that teachers possess a detailed apprehension of approaches for assessing the outcome of students, techniques for assessing curricula as well as instructional delivery and the content of the curriculum.

Besides, when developing a curriculum, teachers should be given sufficient time to plan, to create, to adopt and to assess the curriculum. Numerous studies have revealed that one of the reasons why students migrate from one school to another is attributed mainly to students poor academic performance. Most parents who are not contented with grades of their children received during the process of studying at school are more than wiling to transfer their children to another school.

The significance of the Problem

Students have different abilities in a given or particular classroom. We can hardly have a one-size lesson package which can fit all students in the class. Learning procedures and abilities differ across the classroom. As a result, there is a need for a lesson tailored to fit a specific group of students with a common liability or problem.

The lesson must address these needs for effectiveness and benefits of the students. At the same time, the needs of students are divers. This means that teachers should tailor their teaching profession in a specific way in order to meet specific needs of the students. The teacher in this case faces a challenging task of ensuring that he or she has the needed and required skills for some particular needs. Differentiated instruction is an area in the teaching profession which is harnessed for providing specific needs to students.

Given that students have specific needs that must be catered for by differentiated instructions, there is the need for developing an area for students professional development for the differentiated instruction. In this paper, differentiated instruction for students with difficulties in learning the English language in a mathematics class will be addressed and looked at.

Mathematics Learning in English Language

Mathematics is a core subject in all disciplines. The subject is a must-learn for students in various disciplines. Mathematics is majorly taught in English. This is because of the ease with which the language is used in relation to mathematical expressions. The United States of America, the United Kingdom, and some countries in Africa use English in mathematics classes.

At the same time, the United Kingdom and the United States of America have non-English speaking population who are schooling in the same. As a result, mathematical textbooks used in this setting are written in the English language. The same text books are used in African countries in the mathematical curriculum.

Teachers in training colleges are taught in English and as a result, they infer the same to students in English. At the same time, there is no discrimination in education settings. Consequently, students are huddled together in the same learning environment irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds (Bender, 2002).

Students who have English as their second language find it hard to cope with in a mathematics class as they are faced with two tasks that ought to be accomplished simultaneously. The first task entails learning the English language, whereas the second task involves learning mathematics itself.

Due to this, the students who have the English language as their second language struggle to grasp concepts in mathematics class. This happens due to the fact that when the lessons are delivered, teachers do not discriminate students but deliver the lesson with an assumption that they are grasping the concept irrespective of the language deficiency.

Given that teachers cannot speak and learn the first language for every student in class, there is a need for them to offer differentiated instruction to students in this area. Differentiated instruction is vital to students with learning disabilities as teachers are trained to give instructions with a generalized idea on the same (American Institutes for Research, 2010).

Differentiating Mathematical Instruction for English Language Learners

Mathematics classes have normally diverse students. The common diversity is seen in terms of ethnic backgrounds. In a mathematics class, about 30% of the students are normally the English language learners. As a result, they differ in the learning abilities, facilities, and styles.

The English language learners find it hard to cope with the material in this class. The purpose of differentiation in a mathematics class is to teach the victimized students with the aid of myriads of techniques and strategies that address their deficiencies. This implies that the main focus is on the teacher.

The teacher is supposed to come up with strategies in order to implement the differentiation instruction. In this case, the teacher is supposed to be equipped with professional techniques needed to address this issues (Tomlinson, 1999). In this project, the professionalism involved in differentiation mathematical instructions for the English language learners are going to be discussed and highlighted.

The Objectives

The purpose of differentiating the mathematical instructions for the English language learners is to make the lesson of mathematics comprehensible for all students in the class. Through this concept, the students are supposed to achieve the needed mathematical concept despite their language barriers.

As a result, the teacher is supposed to ensure that the students express the numbers or concept used to solve a certain mathematical expression in writing or orally. This involves ensuring that the lesson is not given as it is written in the books but rather is made for the students (Glencoe, 2005).

Assessment Methods

Before implementing as well as also during and after implementing the strategies involved in the learning process, the teacher is supposed to make an assessment of the class and students in order to identify the needs of the students. There are several methods that can be used.

The first method is examination of the records. In this case, the teacher is supposed to carefully examine or review the test score of the students in previous mathematical tests. He or she is also supposed to check the daily assignments and the wording used in the students books.

Assessment should be done at the beginning of the term or the period the teacher has taken over. Assessments can also be done through a one-on-one talk with the student in case the class is small. In addition, assessment can also be done through testing a learning style inventory that can work best to the students. This is possible through ascertaining the topic that best suits the students (American Institutes for Research, 2010). For this case, the students should be given topics, such as algebra and statistics.

Assessment should also be assessed for their progress. This should be done through the skills levels, learning style and thinking skills among many other issues. At the end of every period, the teacher should give the students some projects and evaluate the same to see the extent to which they have grasped the concept (Baker, Gersten, & Lee, 2002).

The Strategies

Making Expressions Banks

The strategy consists in making the use of diagrams that show expressions and phrases that are helpful in the English language learners (ELLs) study of mathematics. This occurs because when the words used by a teacher are accompanied by diagrams and illustrations, they help the ELLs understand various mathematical concepts and have the memory stick accordingly.

The Use of Manipulative Tools

These are gadgets that a teacher should employ in the course of teaching in order to ease understanding. These manipulative tools are made to help the students come up with physical illustrations which comprise the mathematical expressions. Having a student come up with a physical mathematical model by himself or herself will boost his or her confidence and motivate them to understanding the mathematical concept easily and qucikly (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

Modify a Teacher Talk and Practice Wait Time

The teacher should not engage in a lot of talking without giving time to ask questions. Also, when asking a question, some time in order to generate answers should be given to the students in the class. Writing the question on the board helps a lot as well as it helps to stress the most major concepts in the mathematical language (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

Eliciting Nonverbal Responses

The English language learners are in most cases used to nonverbal communication. As such, the teacher should be keen to notice their understanding of concepts by simply observing their behavior and reactions while teaching (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

The Use of Sentence Frames

The English language learners understand sentence frames quite well in their English language. Therefore, the use of such statements while expressing mathematical concept will foster the students understanding.

Design Different Questions and Prompts at Each Proficiency Level

Asking question gives students a chance to express and confirm their understanding of the subject. Also, it helps the teacher know if the concepts taught in the class having been grasped or not.

The Use of Prompts to Support Students Responses

The use of prompts to support students responses entails giving a certain way of answering a question to the English language learners. Such prompts help them to be confident while expressing their answers during the lesson

Consider Language and Math Skills When Grouping Students

Interacting in a group level gives students an opportunity to learn new ideas as well as overcome difficulties which they might have had in understanding some mathematical concepts. Therefore, grouping students with different abilities together helps their learning to a great extent.

Those people who support the education for the ELL suggest that common core academic standards should be implemented with an aim of raising achievement for the English learners. Education sector should pay more attention to the non-performers to improve their performance in all the subjects and area of study. Screening of the students performance to identify their weaknesses could contribute positively to their performance in the end.

The Arizona system of assessment should also be evaluated to improve its effectiveness on the assessment of the students performance. Since the study identified that the non-ELL performed better in math than non-ELL, more emphasis should be put on their system of education and the curriculum to equalize the performance of both groups.

Utilize Partner Talk

In the course of teaching, the teacher should allow discussions between the neighboring students, which breaks the monotony of the teacher talking alone and also contributes to building trust between the students, being very vital in the process of studying in class.

Encourage Choral Responses from Students

To encourage choral responses from students helps a sector of learners who hardly speak out to answer a question or ask one. In a choral response, therefore, they are able to gain confidence as well as get the right pronunciation of the mathematical concepts (Scholastic Instructor, 2010).

Implementation of the Plan

When setting out the plan, the teacher is supposed to ensure that the room is well arranged in a way that it can quickly be rearranged for the next lesson. The teacher should then issue materials in a properly arranged manner to be used for the study. Materials such as drawings tools, computers, textbooks, and audio materials among many others should be provided (Allsopp, 2008). When everything is ready and arranged, the lesson should start.

Leadership Principles

The teacher is supposed to display some qualities or principles vital for the implementation of the plan. The first principle is patience. The teacher should be patient with the students and give everyone time to express their own ideas. The next principle should be willingness.

The teacher should develop a parent heart and be willing to always help his or her students any time. At the same time, the teacher should maintain professional methods and never deviate from the topic or give up on it because of the difficulties involved. When teaching, the teacher should be honest with his or her students and avoid showing divided favors.

Key players in the Plan

Since this is a school setting, various players should be involved for the success of the plan. First of all, the parents should be involved by all means. They are supposed to provide the needed funds and materials for the success of the plan. Teachers should also be involved. They should mark the needs of the English language learners and be ready to be called for extra lessons.

The teacher leaders should ensure that materials are availed on time. The staff should also be willing to help in any way possible. The students should be willing to be helped and always help each other (Allsopp, Kyger & Lovin, 2007).

Mathematics is often regarded as a foreign and quite hard subject to grasp to most students unlike the other subjects taught at school or college. Particularly, in the case of English Language Learners (ELLs), mathematics to them is a major challenge. For a teacher, as a result, it is hard make the students fully understand the math language, as such, a lot of efforts are required to acquire math concepts in the oral and written form.

References

Allsopp, D. H., Kyger, M. M. & Lovin, L. H. (2007). Teaching mathematics meaningfully: Solutions to reaching struggling learners. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Allsopp, D., Kyger, M., Lovin, L., Garretson, H., Carson, K. & Ray, S. (2008). Mathematics dynamic assessment: Informal assessment that responds to the needs of struggling learners in mathematics. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(3), 6-16.

American Institutes for Research. (2010). Differentiated Instruction for Math. Web.

Anderson, D. L., & Holder, K. C. (2012). Accolades and Recommendations: A Longitudinal Analysis of Monitoring Reports for Two Charter Schools Serving Native American Students. Journal of School Choice, 6(2), 184-208. doi:10.1080/15582159.2012.673967

Bailey, M.J.H. (2009). The Introduction of Religious Chapter Schools: A Cultural Movement in the Private School Sector. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 18, 272-289.

Baker, S., Gersten, R., & Lee, D. (2002). A synthesis of empirical research on teaching mathematics to low-achieving students. The Elementary School Journal, 103, 51-73.

Bender, W. (2002). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Glencoe. (2005). Differentiating instruction in the Mathematics classroom. Web.

Scholastic Instructor. (2010). 10 ways to help ells succeed in Math. Scholastic Instructor. Web.

Skilton-Sylvester, P. (2011). Eyes on the Curriculum: How One Charter School Resisted Test-Driven Pressures. Dissent (00123846), 58(4), 52-58.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria , VA: ASCD.

The character education program in preliminary school greatly contributes to the improvement of the learning process and enhancing the student learning skills. It is also aimed at enhancing the relationships within the educational communities, between the teaching staff and student for further cooperation and improvement of the learning environment (Ryan and Lickona, 1992 p. 335). Due to the fact that character education programs should be reported to various stakeholders, there is a strong necessity to work out effective strategies depending on various aspects. Hence, the target stakeholders of the report presentation will be the teaching staff, students, and program advisors.

Character education program delivery for the teaching staff is predetermined by the following requirement. Usually, teachers demand a full presentation of the report and examples. Each issue of the report should be explained and supported by evidence-based theories and reliable researchers. Additionally, they are more focused on the depiction of such aspects as the connection of student skill and their engagement into the learning process.

Based on the above, the following strategies have been developed:

• The program should be presented in the form of an algorithm, which means that each step should be followed by a supportive one.
• The report should comprise a minimum of theory and a maximum of practice, as teachers and instructors should be know how to apply for character education programs in practice.
• The enclosure of report presentation copies is important to provide teachers with visual examples.
• The speech should be oriented on evidence-based researches that provide similar program results.

Needless to say that students should be more concerned with such aspects as communication and leadership within the student communities, the evaluation of skills in correlation with students capabilities. Additionally, they are not interested in introducing parts of the report but in the conclusions made. Therefore, this stakeholder group will be more convinced if the narrator chooses the following strategies:

• To begin with, the introduction part of the report should be interesting and attention-grabbing. Therefore, it is necessary to start with the evaluation of the results of the program in order to persuade the audience of the importance and usefulness of the program
• The main task of the narrator is to establish cross-communication and make students ask and answer the questions.
• It is better for the report delivery to make a powerpoint presentation, where the main issues will be highlighted.
• Finally, as students are more focused on the conclusions, the evaluation report should have a strong final thesis.

The program report for advisors and investors presupposes a thorough preparation so that the stakeholder can understand why they should care for this program development. Therefore, the core issue of report presentation is a successful identification of the aim of the program and its importance for the education process (Manchester Open Learning, 1993, p. 9). Then, it is necessary to outline the beneficial points of the program and its contribution to students skills development. Finally, the program advisors are more inclined to listen to a progress report where all issues are revealed in detail. As a whole, they will be more interested in the complete report on evaluation, as they are active participants of program fulfillment. A successful and detailed presentation will help them to understand what issues were omitted and what issues should include in the future.

References

Manchester Open Learning. (1993). Making effective presentations. Great Britain: Kogan Page Publishers.

Ryan, K., and Lickona T. (1992). Character development in school and beyond. US: CRVP.

Educators define at-risk behaviors of a student as those actions or characteristics which are not usually displayed by his/her coevals, and which may produce a negative effect on his/her health or academic performance (Bender & Neutens, 1997, p 11). Speaking about this thirteen-year-old adolescent, we can single out the following at-risk behaviors

1. daydreaming that results in poor concentration;
2. unsociability that leads to alienation from classmates;
3. restlessness or lack of perseverance. All of these issues must be addressed by his/her teacher. For this purpose it, it is necessary to develop a plan of intervention.

Daydreaming or attention deficit presents significant difficulties for both teachers and learners because it decreases the capacity of a persons memory, critical thinking ability, and participation in the discussions etc. There are several methods to cope with this issue; one of them is to remove this student from a reinforcing setting into setting with lower reinforcing value (Bowen et al, 2004, 288). In other words, this pupil should be placed in an environment where he/she will have to be constantly alert and attentive, for example, at the front desk. The presence of the instructor will act as a powerful stimulus for him.

Another strategy is to engage him in group work. A person, who has to communicate with other people, unavoidably becomes more concentrated. It is important that his teammates are on friendly terms with him. This adolescent must not feel like an outsider in this team. One of the most important tasks for a teacher is to ensure that this teenager is not excluded from the group (Bender & Neutens, 1997).

Thirdly, propensity to daydreaming can be alleviated by alternating the assignments this student and his/her activities. It should be borne in mind that attention weakens if a learner has to do monotonous tasks. For instance, an individual is rather unlikely to remain focused if he reads or writes for more than thirty or forty minutes. Therefore, it is necessary to make a pause or switch to a different assignment.

It should be noted that daydreaming may be due to the fact that this pupil does not get enough sleep. This is why a teacher should talk to him and explain the importance of biorhythm. A person of his/her age should sleep at least seven or eight hours. The thing is that sleep deprivation can be the underlying cause of many disorders, including lack of concentration, slow reaction or even depression (Bender & Neutens, 1997). So, we can argue that explanatory work can be extremely beneficial as an intervention measure.

Unsociability or reticence is another disturbing form of at-risk behavior. This student has very few friends in the class. One of the possible interventions has already been described in the previous section; it lies in encouraging this student to participate in teamwork and class discussions. He/she may be asked to assess the responses of others and uphold ones opinion. It is also possible to assign group-projects to a class. These projects may last for one or two weeks.

This will offer students a good opportunity to know each other better. Thus, in this way this teenager may become more communicative. It should be taken into consideration that these interventions must not be conspicuous; they must not hurt the feelings of the teenager, otherwise this student may view oneself as abnormal. We should mention that in some cases, unsociability can be ascribed to low self-esteem, and it is vital to raise it (Bowen et al, 2004). So, it is advisable to praise this student, if he shows good results. A teacher may also assign him a task, demanding responsibility and accuracy. This will be a token of trust, which will enhance his/her motivation. The educator must make sure that this adolescent does not regard oneself inferior to others.

Restlessness or lack of perseverance is much more difficult to manage. The thing is that such conduct is more typical of children of seven or ten, who are not used to working on the same task for a long period of time; sometimes, they find it very hard to sit in a chair during the course of a lesson. As it has been previously pointed out, teacher should alternate tasks, assigned to this teenager. The activities of the students must not be monotonous because monotony is one the reasons why learners may abandon academic tasks.

Careful monitoring may also be an effective strategy, to be employed by a teacher. The educator should ask this student whether he/she needs help on a particular assignment or whether there is something unclear. Proffer of help must be unobtrusive otherwise this adolescent may view oneself as the one, who constantly lags behind. We should say that lack of parental control is one of the reasons why students can assume an irresponsible attitude to their studies.

We should remember that this teenager lives a divorced parent. Thus, an educator may ask this parent to pay more attention to the academic performance of his/her off-spring. It has to be admitted that this analysis lacks more specific data, particularly: the performance of this student in various subjects, his/her IQ rate, interactions with the opposite sex and so forth. Yet, interventions, described in this essay, may help to resolve many of his/her problems.

Reference List

Bender S. J. & Neutens J (1997). Teaching health science: elementary and middle school. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Bowen. J.M. Jenson W.R. & Clark L.(2004). School-based interventions for students with behavior problems. New York: Springer.