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Numerous innovations in the education technology space are beginning to show potential in improving education and helping address skills gaps. Some of these advancements include Khan academy and Read 180 (self paced instruction for students). Professional development of digital resources is imperative to help close instructional gaps. EDTC 615 - instructional gap solutions

I love that this resource provides multiple examples of tools that we can use within our instruction. The categorization of each example also provides a clear explanation of how it can be incorporated. I think that one important point that was discussed within this page was how students can develop 21st Century Skills through implementing these tools. As 21st Century Skills are becoming a major focus in instruction, this shows how it can be addressed.

This was a great tool that shared tons of tools that teachers can use in our instruction. Some really great resources I have found to use were Khan Academy, Google Apps for Education, and One Note. This article has a lot of great visuals to help understand more about how we, as educators, can use technology to help close the skills gaps.

This study investigated the effects of input- and output-based instruction on the development of L2 knowledge of 129 third-semester college students learning English in Iran. I found this to be an interesting study because it addressed both kinds of instruction and acknowledged the ongoing debate about the importance of each method and its role in student learning of a second language. The study recognizes that input-based instruction needs to be more than exposure alone and include instructional intervention in order to be effective, and that output-based instruction involve meaningful output practice activities supported with feedback. Although the study does not claim that output in and of itself leads to L2 development due to the need for teacher feedback, it does suggest that output-based instruction is as effective as or can be even more effective than input-based instruction.

In this report, technology is one major factor in helping end the achievement gap. Students who use technology and the Internet see greater learning gains and outcomes. Students are more exposed to a variety of resources when using technology. Through the use of technology, learning gaps will decrease due to engagement, differentiation, and motivation.

I found this video interesting because I believe that the use of carousels can be integrated with Venebles notice and wonder strategies when looking at data.

This article gives a list of data ideas and how to use the data to inform instruction. The article is aimed to new teachers but offers several ideas and insights into using data.

From a series of publications by the National Association of Elementary School Principals: "This white paper outlines five recommendations to help principals put student achievement data to the best possible use: 1) Make data part of the ongoing cycle of instructional improvement; 2) Teach students to examine their own data and set learning goals; 3) Establish a clear vision for school-wide data use; 4) Provide supports that foster a data-driven culture within the school; and 5) Develop and maintain a district-wide data system." Suggestions for how to implement these recommendations, along with links to video interviews and supporting documents, are given.

This is a great resource for teachers! It is a program where you work with other teachers to learn how to "gather and respond to evidence of student learning through a personalized blended learning approach."

This blog post really focuses on ways interactive learning can reduce the achievement gap with technology. When learning is steered away from memorization from the "drill and kill" method, students are able to become more interactive in what they are learning, rather than just memorizing. That is what our county has been stressing with the new Curriculum 2.0 in learning really why behind each concept or equation, rather than memorizing.

Problem-based learning allows us to bring our students, course material, and the real world closer together. A few ideas for getting started with PBL. I enjoyed reading this article because it began with a quote and excellent question. "How do we get our students to understand what 'the field' is really like? How can we help them realize that they not only need to understand the information we are teaching, but that they need to be able to apply the information that we are teaching." This article touched more on the idea of students being able to able to apply the information that we are teaching them in the real world. Problem-based Learning Helps Bridge the Gap between the Classroom and the Real World, Jason R. Weber, (2014) Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/problem-based-learning-helps-bridge-gap-classroom-real-world/ Retrieved on 10/19/15

This brief article offers a quick introduction to the importance of preparing students for the real world through in-class activities, and provides 5 simple recommendations to help an instructor get the most out of PBL (problem-based learning, here) activities.

This site provides courses for parents to prepare their children for school. There are lessons on content areas as well as to prepare for independent activities with independence time.

This article offers suggested ways for educational systems to mitigate the achievement gap among minority students. Th author suggest that schools should encourage teachers to engage in instructional practices that specifically accommodate their minority students. The author offers a methodological framework for this approach called Hierarchical Linear Modeling.His study investigated the instructional practices that reduce the achievement gap among the minority population. Findings revealed that even when taking student background into account, various instructional practices can made a significant difference in closing the achievement gap.

This would definitely be an interesting way of teaching argument writing to my 9th grade classes. With this lesson, students analyze how an author creates an argument in several short documentaries.

My county uses LearnZillion to help give additional instruction to students. My group was focusing on Counting to 20. This specific lesson provides activities for counting to 20. This helps close the gap by giving support to students that need extra help with counting to 20.

Free DreamBox K-8 math virtual manipulatives to use with any whiteboard bring math to life for students in large-or-small group instructional settings. This is a subscription based product the provides individualized activities for students. If your school doesn't have a subscription this site provides free teacher tools. It allows students to work on skills based on their level not the level of the class.

This is a very length article; however, it also has some interesting sections. It is focused on younger students learning to read. There are sections about different reading instructional strategies and their implications and effectiveness.

This article describes how attendance effects students, their grades, and schools. Students who miss 10% of classes throughout the school year are considered chronically absent. The article looks at reasons why students do not attend school and offers suggestions on how to address that problem. It also outlines how a middle school cut its absenteeism in half in a short period of time.

One of the most interesting aspects of this article is that attendance issues faced by elementary schools directly correlate with reading levels and the subsequent chronic absenteeism in secondary schools. Three categoriesare identified to describe absences -barriers, discretion and aversion- or rather lack of access to public supports, parents and students do not understand importance of attendance, and a child struggling with academics, anxiety or bullying. Principals are utilizing attendance data to identify chronic absentee students and subsequently implementing strategies in their schools to incorporate interventions that will break down the barriers affecting school attendance rates. The article further discusses the positive effects that principals can have by reaching out to the community as well as the elementary feeder schools to collaboratively effect change that will increase attendance.

I found this article to be very intriguing, because although it makes the common claim that increased school attendance will result in higher GPA, it also describes how another variable, a student's distance living away from school, affects their attendance rate. According to this study, there is a statistically significant effect of the farther away one lives from school, the greater their absences will be. This is something I want to investigate further once I return to school and can see where some of my historically truant students are traveling from each day.

This article addresses how use of technology in schools is ineffective at raising achievement. In particular, the authors remark that student production via technology is inadequate and it's use in schools pales in comparison to how it is used outside of school

I had to download this journal article, Earl, as it makes very strong points about how the investment in technology and its payoffs in student education are often not parallel. The argument that the authors make regarding the financial input and the student output not being equivalent is important. Worthy of further investigation, I'd argue, is the benefit of so much technology in school's today and just how much the students are benefiting remarkably from its availability; whether non-technological methodologies were more efficient; and lastly, if the upkept of technological investments are actually helping the students' retention, learning, and lesson applications, overall.

A brief break down of the common core is addressed for the counting unit in kindergarten. Multiple ideas are provided along with pictures and ways to approach are listed. understanding that each group of children are different, it's up to the educator to be creative and tweak the ideas to best fit their class.