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6 Features of Effective Teaching for Middle Schools & High Schools

An article highlighting the findings of a cohort of 14 teachers from high-needs, urban areas schools who have addressed the education dilemma in a report. The report highlights 5 things that needs to be addressed in order to change the effectiveness of how our schools current operate.

"Woodhead, M. (1988). "When psychology informs public policy." American Psychologist 43(6): 443-454."

Jenal Austin December 2010 "When Psychology Informs Public Policy" According to this article, there has been significant evidence that early childhood programs in the United States increase cognitive competence, school readiness, school achievement, social development, and health status in young children. Regardless, the government has not fully acknowledged the importance of such programs on the political agenda. Leaders should know that providing preschool education is a solid financial investment for the country. Children who attend these programs have shown promising long-term impact including higher high school completion rates, greater occupational aspirations, and improved employments rates and reductions in referrals to special education, juvenile delinquency, and teenage pregnancy. However, the author reminds us that there are limits to how much we can generalize these findings. He explains that this will not be a one-all, fix-all solution to our society's complex social and economic problems. It is also important to understand that the effects of early childhood intervention cannot be taken in isolation from the context in which it occurs and it may not be possible to replicate all aspects of an experiment of such programs on a national level. "..Effects are the result of a complex interaction of variables in home and school, throughout the school years and beyond, but also… the children themselves play an active part in the process through the images they project and the self-concept they acquire of themselves, either as competent and motivated, or apathetic, problematic, and unwilling." Governments should use the research on the positive impacts of preschool education when designing public policy; however they should not expect a simple solution. "..Where human development is concerned even an experimental approach can rarely yield definitive universally applicable statements about the extent to which a program is effec

This article outlined several issues. 1. High powered politicians coming together to make decisions on federal policy that directly effect their financial profits. 2. The use of insufficient evidence from studies, the lack of scientific correlation and the improper transcription of results from studies being used to make "the best" decisions in standardized tests and phonics instruction on reading skills. 3. The emphasis and funding for schools being put toward standardized tests and phonics instruction along with materials/products needed for them instead of other places that may be in more need.

This article brings to light what Metcalf describes as the "Bush Revolution" in education. After providing a brief history of education, referencing Horace Mann and John Dewey, Metcalf stresses education as a business, connecting McGraw (Publisher McGraw-Hill) and Bush. Bush changes the system and creates new standards in education, as a result new materials are then needed to implement his new education 'revolution.' Metcalf implies the situation is more about business between friends than actually worrying about educating children.

This action research project's purpose was to decrease off-task behavior in elementary and high school students using Cooperative Learning Strategies. This method of keeping students focused was interesting to me because I typically think of students' off-task behavior as being distracted or chatting with peers, but this method actually promotes working with peers in groups. It teaches collaboration along with social skills in the process.

This article is the start to ongoing research in Lexington Public Schools. It was brought to the superintendents attention that there is an over representation of METCO students in the special-ed program, meaning there is a high number of METCO students requiring special help in one or more subjects. The study uses data from standardized testing, surveys, and past research. The article proposes quite a few different recommendations of where the research should go from here.

Great Post, Nicole: I recently petitioned to be able to take a different course for my multi-cultural component, that actually addresses legal and procedural considerations for such misrepresentations. This article was very timely for me personally, as I would like to be able to foster positive changes so that minority students are not misplaced in special educational programs, which both does not serve their individual needs appropriately and it also detracts from the resources available to true "special needs" learning disabled students. More programs need to be implemented such as those recommended in this article that provide extensive tutoring, mentoring, summer academic support opportunities that are separate from "special education" programs. Mary Ann Fogarty Pessa