Group items tagged

Welcome to TweenTribune.com, a daily news site for tweens. Each day we post links to the day's most compelling news from a tweens perspective. Stories chosen for TweenTribune are selected by tweens working closely with professional journalists. Tweens can submit links to stories they'd like to share, submit their own stories and photos, and comment on the stories they read.

This book is the result of research by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Their position is that the use of technology can be used to transform the nature of the curriculum itself. The e-book version has links to resources that make it a wealth of information regarding universal design for learning (UDL). UDL is a framework that can help you turn the challenges posed by high standards and increasing learner diversity into opportunities to maximize learning for every student. Drawing upon new knowledge of how the brain works and new technologies and media now available for teaching and learning, UDL frames a systematic approach to setting goals, choosing or creating flexible materials and media, and assessing students accurately.

Data-driven decision making often uncovers new and important information that can be persuasive enough to move us to action. The values of data-driven decision making is suggested. The 3-stage data-driven decision model is proposed. Streifer, P. A. (2003). Data-driven decision making: What it takes to make decisions. Middle Ground, 6(4), 10-13.

Effective middle level educators seek to design homework that is motivating, enriching, and relevant. Homework is part of a comprehensive effort to help students learn skills and relate new information to their prior knowledge and experiences. Examples of Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy of higher-order thinking skills and RAFTS assignments are provided. Wormeli, R. (2002). Help with homework. Middle Ground, 5(4), 19-21.

This special report uses video interviews and other Web-based media to tell the story of America's decades-long struggle with improving our students' proficiency in math. It looks at international comparisons of student performance in math, and (here in the U.S.) at teacher preparation, the value of technology to math learning, and the importance of quantitative literacy as a foundation not only for work in science and technology, but also for a future as a problem-solver and an engaged citizen in today's world.