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Angie Lacher

View Content - EDUC642D G01 Integrating Technol in Classrm (2013Spring) - St. Catherine... - 2 views

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    Teacher Expectations Can Influence How Students Perform
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    Article about how teacher expectations can Influence How Students Perform For Week 3 Tech. Class With Siri
Angie Lacher

How ed policy is hurting early childhood education - The Answer Sheet - The Washington ... - 5 views

  • The educational leaders met recently to discuss growing concerns that federal Race to the Top policy mandates on early childhood education are undermining education practice that research tells us is in the best interest of young children’s optimal development and learning. Their concerns fell into three major categories. 1. Current standards are not based on knowledge of child development — both how children learn and what they learn.
  • The standards require that children learn specific facts and skills — such as naming the letters — at specified ages. This has led to more teacher-directed “lessons,” less play-based activity and curriculum, and more rote teaching and learning as children try to learn what is required. Yet decades of research and theory tell us that young children learn best through active learning experiences within a meaningful context. Children develop at individual rates, learn in unique ways, and come from a wide variety of cultural and language backgrounds. It is not possible to teach skills in isolation or to mandate what any young child will understand at any particular time. 2. Current policies support an over-emphasis on testing and assessment at the expense of all other aspects of early childhood education.
  • As teachers strive to raise test scores, they increasingly depend on scripted curricula designed to teach what is on the tests. We know, however, that children learn best when skilled and responsive teachers observe them closely and provide curriculum tailored to meet each child’s needs. Standardized tests of any type do not have a place in early childhood education, and should not be used for making decisions about young children or their programs. Individualized assessments of each child’s abilities, interests and needs provide teachers with the information they require to individualize teaching and learning. 3. Cumulatively, current policies are promoting a de-professionalization of teachers.
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  • The growing focus on standards and testing disregards the strong knowledge base early childhood teachers have. It undermines teachers’ ability to teach using their professional expertise, to provide the optimal, individualized learning opportunities they know how to offer. Instead, teachers are often required to follow prescribed curricula taught in lock step to all children. At the same time, more teachers without strong backgrounds in early childhood education are being hired, increasing the dependence of teachers on standardized tests and scripted curricula.
  • I will work one more year and then retire. Not because I want to , but because I hate the teacher I have had to become.”
  • Very simply — much of the joy has been taken away from education for both children and the adults providing it
  • I feel disrespected as a professional, my students feel the pressure and the parents are confused. I see kids with eyes glazed who are simply overwhelmed by being constantly asked to perform tasks for which they are not yet ready to do. I finally had to leave my classroom and retire early. Now I volunteer in my grandson’s first grade classroom and cringe every time I see what the teacher has to do. She is testing every time I enter the room. I have not seen her sit with a small group of children and actually support them.”
  • The problem is they want ALL children to reach the standards and children do not come ‘standard’. ”
  • It concerns me that policies are being written by people who are not knowledgeable about young children and how they develop. While their intentions may be good, they are setting us up for an epic failure that we have not seen before. Our public education system is at risk and unfortunately, the ‘fixes’ are steering us toward disaster at a rapid rate. It is sad and I am currently exploring my options to leave the profession.”
  • Early respondents to the survey have shared stories highlighting DEY’s concerns: “I just decided yesterday that what I am doing has little to do with my intent when I became a teacher.
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    Developmentally Appropriate Practice Survey Early Childhood Education
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    Wow! This has hit the nail on the head when it comes to testing and teaching and taking the joy out of learning for our youngest learners!
Angie Lacher

Developmentally Appropriate Practice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 1 views

  • Developmentally appropriate practice (or DAP) is a perspective within early childhood education whereby a teacher or child caregiver nurtures a child's social/emotional, physical, and cognitive development by basing all practices and decisions on (1) theories of child development, (2) individually identified strengths and needs of each child uncovered through authentic assessment, and (3) the child's cultural background as defined by his community, family history, and family structure.[1]
  • Some critics have argued that some reforms such as NCTM mathematics and Whole Language which fully support "Developmentally Appropriate Practices" are believed to introduce students to materials and concepts which may be too advanced for young children, or above their reading levels.[2] On the opposite side, some critics claim that DAP approaches use content and concepts considerably below traditional grade levels. Educators in many states implement DAP approaches to meet learning standards that were established by specialized professional associations, including in the content areas of language arts, math, social studies and science. The National Science Education Standards proposes to teach elementary school students how to construct their own experiments, whereas traditionally high school students and even college students were typically taught how to perform pre-designed experiments, but not to construct their own experiments.
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  • Developmentally appropriate practice is based upon the idea that children learn best from doing. Children learn best when they are actively involved in their environment and build knowledge based on their experiences rather than through passively receiving information. Active learning environments promote hands on learning experiences and allow children to interact with objects in their environment, as well as their peers and teachers.
  • Therefore, early childhood teachers strive to achieve an optimal balance between children's self-initiated learning and adult guidance and support.
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    Developmentally Appropriate Practice Wikipedia
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    Good descriptions of Goals and Critics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice
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