Current information about this program can be found under the Education Research program.
Principal Investigator: Donald Leu
RFA Goal: Development Project
Title: Developing Internet Comprehension Strategies Among Adolescent Students At Risk to Become Dropouts
Purpose: Improving reading comprehension among poor, minority, and often low-achieving adolescents is a critical national issue, particularly because academic achievement is dependent on the ability to read and comprehend at high levels. As the Internet becomes an increasingly important source of information, it presents new challenges for reading comprehension, as well as new opportunities for reaching students who have struggled because of their limited ability to comprehend printed materials. Although reading on the Internet can pose new challenges--as it demands new, higher-level comprehension skills--it also has the potential to increase students’ engagement with learning, creating a context that permits renewed attention to reading and to instruction in reading comprehension strategies. The purpose of this project is to develop a research-based adaptation of reciprocal teaching to support poor, minority, adolescent youth in acquiring reading comprehension skills. At the conclusion of this project, the researchers will have developed instructional materials that can be used to teach comprehension while students read on the Internet.
Setting: This project takes place in largely minority, poor school districts in urban Connecticut and in rural South Carolina.
Population: More than 1,000 7 th-grade students are participating in this research project over three years.
Intervention: The intervention being developed in this project is titled Internet Reciprocal Teaching (IRT). Adaptations made to traditional reciprocal teaching include specific instruction about unique strategies used to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate information on the Internet. In addition, students bring their own comprehension problems when reading on the Internet into the classroom.
Research Design and Methods: During Year 1, the research team gathers foundational information about Internet use among the target population. Both survey data and in-depth verbal protocols are being collected from participating 7 th graders. A pilot test of the preliminary model of IRT is being conducted as well. In Year 2, the researchers build on the information gathered during Year 1 to refine Internet Reciprocal Teaching and then field test an implementation of IRT by conducting a design experiment aimed at identifying key factors associated with successful implementation and outcomes across diverse contexts. Eight purposively sampled English/Language Arts classes are participating in the design experiment, four as experimental classes and four as comparison classrooms. Building on the findings from the design experiment, a true experiment is being carried out in Year 3 to test the potential effectiveness of IRT. In the true experiment, 12 7 th-grade English/Language Arts classes are being randomly assigned to one of three conditions in order to test the potential effects of their adapted reciprocal teaching approach. In one condition, students participate in telecollaborative projects. In a second condition, students participate in the same telecollaborative projects but with the addition of instruction using Internet Reciprocal Teaching. The control condition is described below.
Control Condition: During the design experiment in Year 2, data are being gathered from four comparable classrooms that are using the Internet to some extent. During the true experiment carried out in Year 3, control children receive normal instructional practices used to meet district and state standards in English/Language Arts.
Key Measures: Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected in both the formative and experimental phases of the project. Quantitative data will include experimenter-developed online reading comprehension assessment measures; reading, vocabulary, and word analysis subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills; and assessments of engagement with reading and in school learning. Qualitative data include detailed “thick descriptions” of intervention use in classrooms and schools.
Data Analytic Strategy: Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses are being conducted. Descriptive results from the survey of Internet use are tabulated. Data collected during the formative experiment are analyzed using t-tests and ANOVA to test for pre/post differences between means of the experimental and control classrooms. Data gathered during the true experiment in Year 3 are being analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). This development project is intended only to obtain evidence of the potential effectiveness of the intervention; the study is under-powered for analysis at the unit of random assignment (classroom) and will be analyzed at the level of the student.


MARK 1:21, 22
I read this and realized that I have a tendency to think of the synagogue as just the local version of a church with the Temple being the big “headquarters” in Jerusalem. Not so at all as William Barclay points out.
There are certain basic differences between the synagogue and the church as we know it today.
(a) The synagogue was primarily a teaching institution. The synagogue service consisted of only three things — prayer, the reading of God’s word, and the exposition of it. There was no music, no singing and no sacrifice. It may be said that the Temple was the place of worship and sacrifice; the synagogue was the place of teaching and instruction. The synagogue was by far the more influential, for there was only one Temple. But the law laid it down that wherever there were ten Jewish families there must be a synagogue, and, therefore, wherever there was a colony of Jews, there was a synagogue. If a man had a new message to preach, the synagogue was the obvious place in which to preach it.
(b) The synagogue provided an opportunity to deliver such a message. The synagogue had certain officials.
- There was the Ruler of the synagogue. He was responsible for the administration of the affairs of the synagogue and for the arrangements for its services.
- There were the distributors of alms. Daily a collection was taken in cash and in kind from those who could afford to give. It was then distributed to the poor; the very poorest were given food for fourteen meals per week.
- There was the Chazzan… He was responsible for the taking out and storing away of the sacred rolls on which scripture was written; for the cleaning of the synagogue; for the blowing of the blasts on the silver trumpet which told people that the Sabbath had come; for the elementary education of the children of the community.
One thing the synagogue had not and that was a permanent preacher or teacher. When the people met at the synagogue service it was open to the Ruler to call on any competent person to give the address and the exposition. There was no professional ministry whatsoever. That is why Jesus was able to open his campaign in the synagogues. The opposition had not yet stiffened into hostility. He was known to be a man with a message; and for that very reason the synagogue of every community provided him with a pulpit from which to instruct and to appeal to men.
All excerpts in this post are from: The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Bible Series*, rev. ed.) by William Barclay
* Not a Catholic source and one which can have a wonky theology at times, but Barclay was renowned for his authority on life in ancient times and that information is sound.


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- Professional Development | Grades 8 – 12 | Professional Library | Journal
Analyzing Grammar Rants: An Alternative to Traditional Grammar Instruction
Kenneth Lindblom and Patricia A. Dunn teach language awareness and use through published complaints about the teaching of grammar. Students are able to recognize issues of race and class that determine acceptable usage and learn the importance of audience in their own language use.
- Professional Development | Grades K – 2 | Professional Library | Journal
Five Internet Sites Too Good to Miss
The author shares five developmentally appropriate websites for primary-grade readers to support their literacy development.
- Professional Development | Grades 3 – 5 | Professional Library | Journal
Matching Books and Readers: Selecting Literature for English Learners
This article offers suggestions on how to choose books to aid English learners with language acquisition and comprehension.
- Professional Development | Grades 6 – 8 | Professional Library | Journal
Recentering the Middle School Classroom as a Vibrant Learning Community: Students, Literacy, and Technology Intersect
Examine the ways in which community can be constructed in the middle school classroom using online electronic discussions of literature.
- Professional Development | Grades K – 8 | Professional Library | Book
Setting the Stage for Creative Writing: Plot Scaffolds for Beginning and Intermediate Writers
Want to foster creativity and originality in student writing? This practical guide shows how plot scaffolds can be used to help beginning and intermediate writers.
- Professional Development | Grades K – 12 | Professional Library | Book
The Literacy Coach’s Desk Reference: Processes and Perspectives for Effective Coaching
Cathy Toll offers practical information for pre-K–12 literacy coaches on conferencing with individual teachers and groups, as well as on providing demonstration lessons, services to entire schools, and services to students.


For Parents and Caregivers
Your child's journey towards becoming a reader and writer starts with the words, stories, and songs she hears from you each day. When you name the things you see around you, read a book aloud, or give your child a crayon to scribble with, you are helping to lay the foundation for her to become a reader and writer.
Below, find resources to help you turn your daily activities into rich opportunities for talking, reading, and writing together.
Discover fun ways to bring this Sesame Street program to children and families into your community!
Find tools and information below to help you plan an Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day event, or to integrate rich literacy experiences for children into an existing volunteer project.
About This Project
Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day is a multimedia program that offers a comprehensive set of resources to support children's early literacy development. Each component of this initiative is developed to help young children and families make the most of everyday opportunities to talk, read, and write together.


One of Georgia's finest, Selena Sloan Butler
Selena S. Butler
Selena Sloan Butler was born on this date in 1872. She was an African American educator and community leader.
She spent her childhood years with her mother and older sister in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father offered support but did not reside with the family. After receiving an elementary education from missionaries, she enrolled in Spelman Seminary (now Spelman College). After receiving her diploma in 1888, she taught English and elocution in Georgia and Florida. In 1893, she married Henry Rutherford Butler. They moved to Massachusetts the following year, and she studied at the Emerson School of Oratory while he pursued medical studies at Harvard.
He later set up practice in Atlanta and became a partner in Georgia's first African American-owned drugstore. Butler's interest in education intensified following the birth of her son (Henry Jr.) in 1899. Her community lacked a kindergarten for African American children, so she created one in her living room. During her son’s enrollment at a local public school, she formed the nation's first African American parent-teacher association. Its success led her to create the statewide Georgia Colored Parent-Teacher Association in 1920 and the National Colored Congress of Parents and Teachers (NCCPT) in 1926.
The national group worked closely with its white counterpart, the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (commonly called the National PTA). When the two groups merged in 1970, Butler along with Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst were recognized as one of the founders of the National PTA. In 1929 then President Herbert Hoover appointed Butler to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection. She also was involved with the National Association of Colored Women, the Georgia Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, the Georgia Commission on Interracial Cooperation, and several other social organizations. Following her husband's death in 1931, Butler moved to England with her son and worked with the Nursery School Association.
They later lived in Arizona, where she organized a Grey Lady Corps at the hospital in which Henry Jr. practiced until he married and moved to California. After a few years living in Atlanta, she joined her son and his wife in Los Angeles. She died of congestive heart failure in October 1964. The Atlanta school where she developed the first African American parent-teacher association was renamed in honor of her husband, and the adjacent park was renamed in her honor. Selena Sloan Butler’s portrait hangs in Georgia's State Capitol.
Black Women in America An Historical Encyclopedia
Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Darlene Clark Hine
Copyright 1993, Carlson Publishing Inc., Brooklyn, New York
Butler, Selena Sloan
Dr. Josie Johnson, educator and administrator shares wisdom about why our past affects our present and future.
Today in American History


Elementary Education Service Learning Projects
Project History of Hannahville Learn and Serve:
The idea for creating the UP Trails website came about through the planning of outdoor activities by Hannahville's Youth Services Department. As we were searching the Internet for mountain bike trails to visit, a student said, "There should be a website that has all the trails on it". We continued discussing the matter and decided it would make a great Service Learning project because the youth would learn about website design and creation while providing a service to the many people seeking information about the many trails in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The student driven project has grew through the years from our initial focus of mountain biking trails to now include a county-by-county table of 11 different types of trails.
The Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan is very rural. Tourism is extremely important to our economy. People come to enjoy the UP's wilderness and natural beauty. With this in mind we have recently added Lighthouses and Waterfalls. Although we have had many requests to place advertisements on our website, we have reframed from doing so because we believe we can be of better service by remaining free of distractions and solely focused on providing information about our pride and joy, the UP!
Funding for this project was provided by Learn and Serve America which is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service. In addition to making grants, Learn and Serve America serves as a national resource on service-learning to nonprofit groups, educational institutions, teachers, faculty members, schools, and community groups. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility. For further information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.
July 29, 2005 Service-Learning Film on Building a Wigwam To Be Shown at National Museum of the American Indian


Youth & Education
Art education is vital to our community and its children. It helps build academic skills, increases academic performance, improves self-esteem, and builds creative skills that are increasingly important in a competitive workplace environment. We should actively work with the school system and institutions of higher education to create innovative programs for young people to engage in arts and cultural internship opportunities that can also satisfy academic credits. This would allow for connections with our existing arts community and help foster the next generation of local artists.
Community arts groups should work to encourage the use of the statewide arts curriculum learning standards as a guide to create arts and cultural activities within each of our schools so that every child has the opportunity for creative expression every school day.


The Mars Rover, Curiosity, is scheduled to land on August 5 and Microsoft Research is pretty excited about it. Not only you can watch the event live on the Xbox channel, there's a new Kodu world in which kids can control a rover to explore an authentic version of the Red Planet.
The Kodu Game Lab, developed by Microsoft Research FUSE Labs, is a visual programming language that enables kids to create games. It is a tool that can unleash imagination, foster literacy and numeracy skills and encourage kids to consider programming as a future career.
To coincide with the Curiosity landing, FUSE Labs, in conjunction with NASA’s Mars Public Engagement Program, led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has launched Kodu: Mars Edition.
This version of Kodu is designed to enable school kids in the fifth through eighth grades to program a Mars rover, explore the planet, or play one of three professionally developed game levels.
The Martian adventure introduces new objects and new programming elements into the Kodu environment via the game levels and enables students to develop skills similar to those of real NASA rover drivers:
Search and Explore Mars: Stents will determine the most efficient set of commands to navigate a rover across terrain using scientific data.
Under the Rover’s Hood: Students will program how the rover will move and act autonomously, as well as run trials to evaluate and refine their programming.
Mars Mission Simulation: Students will design a simulated Martian environment and program a rover to explore Mars autonomously.
Find out more about this new Kodu world in this video:
And remember to tune in to the Xbox Live at 10:31 p.m. PDT on August 5 to discover if the real Curiosity lands on Mars according to plan. (Requires an Xbox and registration, which is free.)
How do student developers feel about their career options? Devpost has just published its second annual Student Hacker Report based on a survey of students from US university students participating in [ ... ]


The government-backed survey, published yesterday, found Britons struggled to perform tasks such as multiplying 6 by 21 and subtracting 1.78 from 5. Only one in five British adults managed to answer all 12 questions correctly, compared with almost half those tested in Japan, which topped the table. The UK also lagged behind France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Australia.
The study, commissioned by the Basic Skills Agency, revealed Britons were more likely than adults in other countries to flee at the very thought of a maths test. Out of a representative sample asked to complete the pen and paper tasks in each country, one in eight in the UK refused even to look at the tests. Elsewhere, virtually all those asked to take part did so.
Evidence that the British are poor at maths comes a week after another international study showed the nation is also falling behind badly on literacy standards. Research in 14 countries by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed almost half of adults in the UK lack the literacy skills needed to cope with life, such as understanding a bus timetable.
Both main political parties are vying to put higher basic skills standards at the centre of their election campaigns. Gillian Shephard, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, will announce initiatives to boost literacy and numeracy levels among recent school leavers later this month, while Labour will unveil details of plans to improve primary pupils' reading skills.
The Basic Skills Agency numeracy study was accompanied by research showing how poor maths skills can damage employment prospects.
Academics at London's City University who have been monitoring the lives of 1,700 people born in 1958, found just under a quarter had "very low numeracy skills", making everyday tasks difficult. Men with poor numeracy were more prone to unemployment, while women were more likely to be in part-time jobs.
As Mrs Shephard pledged to continue the Government's "battle to improve the basics", Labour's Education spokesman David Blunkett said: "This shows once again that we are lagging behind our economic competitors on standards vital to the success of our economy."
t Work out the number of apples each person gets if a box of 72 is shared by six people
t Multiply 6 by 21
t Take away 2.43 from 5
t Work out the number of children in a crowd of 7,900 if the proportion of children in the crowd is 10 per cent
t Calculate the total of 4.25, 6 and 7.74
t Work out 15 per cent of 700


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“One, two, three, four. Mallets down on the floor. Five, six, seven, eight. Hurry, don’t be late,” the kindergarten class at Dear Elementary chants as they move one instrument to their right and prepare to play again.
This is not your average elementary music class. When one enters Sarah Manning’s classroom, most of the children are sitting or kneeling on the floor, holding a set of mallets. In front of them are various Orff instruments that Manning has sorted into one of three categories: wood, metal or skins.
Wood refers to a xylophone-type instrument that has wooden bars that are struck with mallets. Metal refers to the metallophones, somewhat similar to a small set of bells or glockenspiel. Xylophone and metallophones are available in soprano, alto and bass. Glockenspiels are available in soprano and alto. Skins refer to the bongo-type small drums or djembe, African drum.
Manning has incorporated these instruments and the Mallet Madness method of teaching music to elementary children.
Artie Almeida is the creator of Mallet Madness. The program, published by Heritage Music Press, uses songs, poems, music-to-literature connections and reproducible flashcards to promote learning the concepts of beat, rhythm, melody, harmony, form and expressiveness. The unique rotation chants allow the students to play all of the mallet percussion instruments, as well as many of the non-pitched instruments.
The lingo/musical terminology is a mixture of easy, young child-friendly words and actual music terms. Manning had the following words on the wipe board for the children to become familiar with: rotate, hands together, alternate, glissando and tremolo.
As the class progressed, the children practiced what playing “hands together” (both hands strike the instrument at the same time) and “alternating” meant. They responded to Manning’s instruction to “mallets down,” by laying them on the floor for instruction. Sometimes the woods played, practicing both hands together and alternating mallets, then the metals, then the skins.
The children obviously enjoy the unique sounds of the individual instruments. When the bell rang, several requested, “just five more minutes, please.”
Carl and Dorothy Orff founded the Gunterschule (Gunther School) for gymnastics, music and dance in Munich, Germancy in 1924. Having received a handmade wooden xylophone as a gift from Africa as a child, Orff became interested in this instrument that had 12 bars of different pitches tied together with a string attached to the open side of a wooden box.
Using a variety of instruments, including recorders and the glockenspiel, he expanded his teaching methods to include the melodic barred instruments like the Indonesian gamelon, and soon added xylophones and metallophones, along with various skin percussion instruments.
The Gunterschule closed in 1944 when the Nazis confiscated it. The building was destroyed in an Allied bombing attack in 1945.
By the time Manning’s students advance to piano lessons or band when they are older, they will be familiar with basic music education and ready for the next step.
Photo: “So, how did you do that?” inquires Aiden McWilliams, left, as Lane Curtis concentrates on making his mallets strike the bars correctly. Quentin Calvert is pictured in the far left of the photo. (Photo by Brenda Jensen/The Daily News)


written by Diane Janis
|Image: lowjumpingfrog on Flickr|
Here are just a few examples to think about:
Value: Do you want your children to value the importance of being respectful of others by learning to use “indoor” voices when it is appropriate to do so?
Behavior: However, do you find yourself yelling out requests and/or the names of family members in your own home?
Solution: It takes patience to stop what you are doing and walk over to someone to speak to him or her instead of yelling from where you are. It also gives you an opportunity to give a hug, kiss, high-five, or pat on the back… benefits of communicating face-to-face. (Add patience to the list!)
Value: Do you want your children to value the importance of being respectful to others by learning to be punctual?
Behavior: However, do you too often find yourself running late?
Solution: Be realistic about how long it takes you to do things and plan to leave enough time to calmly get to meetings, appointments, friend’s homes, etc. on time. Becoming more punctual involves both the self-discipline of not getting sidetracked with unnecessary endeavors when you are expected somewhere at a certain time and the willingness to overlook unfinished chores to get where you need to be. (Add self-discipline and adaptable to the list!)
Value: Do you want your children to be confident and have self-respect?
Behavior: However, do you find yourself speaking negatively about yourself in front of them? … Whatever criteria you use to criticize yourself, children will most likely use those criteria to criticize themselves as well.
Solution: Put conscious effort into focusing on your positive attributes and avoid complaining about your failures. (Add positive attitude to the list!)
Diane Janis is the author of the “Earth’s Secret” children's series. Her books and learning activities teach science, astronomy, and environmental awareness through fantasy literature while encouraging problem, creativity, and a positive attitude. Diane Janis holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Education. She was an elementary classroom teacher for fifteen years, an elementary theater arts director, a “Peer Leadership” presenter, and forever and foremost remains... a parent. She is currently visiting schools for author assemblies and personalized classroom visits while writing the next novel of the “Earth’s Secret” series and excitedly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild.


A Challenge for Art Education: Including Lesbians and Gays.Lampela, Laurel
Abstract: Maintains that teachers should acknowledge sexual orientation as an individual difference and address it in the classroom and the curriculum. Includes several examples of artists' sexuality being expressed through their work. Details four basic concepts important to this effort and includes several reference works on gay artists. (MJP)
Title: A Challenge for Art Education: Including Lesbians and Gays.
Author: Lampela, Laurel
Journal Citation: Studies in Art Education, v36 n4 p242-48 Sum 1995
Publication Year: 1995
Document Type: Position Paper (120); Journal Article (080)
Target Audience: Teachers and Practitioners
ERIC Identifier: EJ520817
Clearinghouse Identifier: SO527303
Available from: UMI
This document is NOT available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS).
Descriptors: * Art Education; Artists; Classroom Environment; Classroom Techniques; Curriculum; * High Risk Students; * Homosexuality; * Humanistic Education; Role Models; Secondary Education; Sex Discrimination; * Sexual Identity; Social Change; * Student Needs; Student Subcultures
Identifiers: Gays and Lesbians Alliance Against Defamation; Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays


This simple fine motor and alphabet activity for kids is the 9th post in our Alphabet For Starters series, it’s our series of simple activities to play and introduce the alphabet to little learners. My son loved this when we did a even simpler version many years ago and still loved it this time. As you will see my daughter liked pushing in the tees a lot more than hammering them and that’s fine. She played with the letters, got lots of fine motor skill development and most importantly she had fun. Things rarely turn out as you imagined with kids. Roll with it.
- Gather your materials. You will need some Styrofoam, golf tees , a toy hammer , some markers and some painters tape if you are doing it outside to keep it from blowing away.
- Start by writing out the letters. Choose a few or a lot.
- Add the tees
- Time to hammer! She started off interested in the hammer but …
- Soon she was all about pushing them in with her fingers.
- And exploring the styrofoam . I think this is what she liked best!
- After her brother came home we dug the pushed in tees out , re set them and let him pound away.


The New Zealand tertiary education system makes a unique and invaluable contribution to the country’s national development in all dimensions - social, economic, cultural and environmental. It provides access to a broad range of education opportunities with an increasing focus on excellence in research.
Tertiary education in New Zealand covers all post-school education from adult and community education, literacy and numeracy skills, and industry training (including New Zealand apprenticeships) to certificates and diplomas, bachelor degrees and postgraduate qualifications. These various tertiary education opportunities are delivered by many types of tertiary education organisations (TEOs).
The role of Government agencies
There are a range of government agencies concerned with tertiary education:
- The TEC's functions include advising on tertiary education policies and priorities. We provide Plan Guidance to TEOs that wish to receive funding, we gather and publish performance information, and we undertake reviews and consult with the sector on aspects of tertiary education.
- The Ministry of Education advises on the Government’s Budget, leads the development of the government’s Tertiary Education Strategy and collects and publishes tertiary education statistics.
- The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) administers the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, including registration of TEOs (other than universities) and is the body primarily responsible for quality assurance matters in the sector.
- Careers New Zealand provide support and assistance to learners.
- StudyLink administers the student allowances and Student Loan Scheme.
- The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment provides labour market information to help TEOs
- Immigration New Zealand collects and administers English language tuition funding for migrants new to New Zealand.
Types of tertiary education
There are several types of tertiary education in New Zealand, meeting the needs of a diverse range of people of different ages, backgrounds and learning stages.
Tertiary education in New Zealand covers:
Funding is available for various types of tertiary education.
22 June 2015
22 June 2015


Google Seeking K-12 Science, Engineering Grant Applicants
Google is now accepting applications for its 2014 RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards, which are a series of $15,000 to $50,000 grants to nonprofit groups that work with K-12 students to increase their involvement with science and engineering studies.
The awards are to be used by organizations to help create future scientists and engineers, especially among young girls and other groups that have been traditionally under-represented in those fields, Marielena Ivory of Google's K12/Pre-University Education Outreach program wrote in an Aug. 1 post on the Google Official Blog.
"Inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers is crucially important—breakthroughs don't happen without people to make them," wrote Ivory. "We want students to not just be consumers of technology, but also creators of it; to enrich not only their own lives, but those of their communities. That's the motivation behind the Google RISE Awards."
The annual awards are designed to promote and support education initiatives to increase engagement in science and technology, especially computer science, according to Ivory's post.
Applications for the 2014 awards must be submitted by 9 p.m. EDT on September 30, 2013. They can be submitted in English, French, Japanese, Russian or Spanish.
For 2013, 30 organizations received RISE grants, with projects ranging from robotics contests in Germany to programming challenge days for girls in New Zealand, wrote Ivory. In North America, grant recipients included Girlstart in Austin, Texas, which runs teacher development programs, summer camps; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career conferences; science events for families and community STEM education outreach programs for girls; Level Playing Field Institute in Oakland, Calif., which runs a Summer Math and Science Honors Academy (SMASH) for high-potential students of color in under-performing high schools; and CodeNow in Washington, D.C., which focuses on teaching under-represented high school students in grades 9-12 foundational skills in computer programming through free extra-curricular off-campus training.
Other 2013 grant recipients included Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE) in Harlem in New York City, which runs STEM enrichment and creative problem-solving programs for students from resource-limited communities in Ghana, Tanzania, Jamaica, Mexico, and Harlem; Girls Who Code in New York City, which works to educate, inspire, and equip high school girls with the skills and resources to pursue opportunities in engineering and technology; and Thinkersmith in Eugene, Ore., which runs a Traveling Circuits program to take hands-on computer science classes on the road to local K-12 schools and to home-schooled students.
Google is active in a variety of educational awards programs each year.
In June, Google announced the 39 recipients of its 2013 Ph.D. Fellowship program, which the search giant promotes as a way to gain new insights and innovations from some of the best minds in colleges and universities around the world. Google launched its Ph.D. Fellowship Program in 2009 to recognize and support outstanding graduate students who were pursuing work in computer science, related disciplines or promising research areas. In the first year of the program, 13 United States Ph.D. students were awarded fellowships. The program has since been extended to Europe, China, India and Australia.
In February, Google sought applicants for its sixth annual Google Policy Fellowship Program, which brings interested college and university students together to spend their summers immersed in the world of Internet policy as Google Policy Fellows.
Also in February, Google awarded its first-ever Google App Engine Research Awards to seven projects that will use the App Engine platform's abilities to work with large data sets for academic and scientific research. The new program, which was announced in the spring of 2012, brought in many proposals for a wide variety of scientific research, including in subject areas such as mathematics, computer vision, bioinformatics, climate and computer science.
In addition, Google's Summer of Code contest, which invites college students to submit applications to learn about the world of open-source code development, is in its ninth year this summer. The program has involved some 6,000 college and university students from more than 100 countries since its start in 2005.


HISTORY + HERITAGE
13th Annual Math & Science Day
July 26, 2014
The Annual Math & Science Day conducted by Kwanzaa Year Round, Science for Kids Ministry, and hosted by the Five Points West Library, 4812 Avenue W, Birmingham, AL, will be held Saturday, July 26, 2014, 1:00 - 4:00 pm., in the Main Auditorium. The emphasis this year will be on “Slave Science – African Contributions to Science Before Enslavement.”
The topic is based on studies compiled by historian Dr. Joseph E. Holloway in an article titled “African Contributions to American Culture.” His research documents Africans who helped establish rice growing, cattle raising, variolation (early vaccination), musical and architectural styles that were incorporated into American culture. Other specialties include metal working, midwifery, ship building, and navigation.
“Before the enslavement, Africans were closely observed for their various skills,” said Elinor Burks, one of the event’s planners. “Many skills Africans brought were not appreciated until several generations after their arrival in America.”
In addition to the historical emphasis, the math table will challenge students to solve Einstein’s puzzle using movable objects. The creativity table will let kids use their hands to make recycled objects from toilet tissue rolls as an example of protecting nature’s resources. The nutrition table will show young people how to create fun foods included in Japanese packed lunches called Bento, while learning about that ancient culture.
This event is free and designed for students ages 5 to 105. Parents must accompany all participants.


Wilderness Living Skills and Nature Awareness
Our classes and workshops are experiential and teach true sustainability… how to live with nature in a way that benefits us and our environment. This creates a natural balance in our lives. Some of the foundational skills include: fire making, natural cordage, animal tracking, wilderness living skills, wildcrafting, wild edibles and more! We will have time to explore, learn, play and gain new perspective for seeing the world in a changing time.
Programs vary depending upon season, age and interest:
- Children Programs include Summer Experiences, Homeschool, After School and Workshops.
- Workshops consist of Wilderness Living Skills, Emergency Survival and Self-Sufficiency, the Art of Mentoring, just to name a few.
- Living History Programs can be customized for all types of groups, at your location or ours!
Contact Us for details and scheduling, 413-340-1161.
We offer internships/apprenticeships for people interested in working in the wilderness field. Our Programs are usually held in the Hilltowns and Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts, but we will travel for some Custom Programs.
For the most up-to-date schedule of our Programs, you can check our Calendar.
Although students of Earthwork Programs can become (or already are) naturalists, trackers, and primitive skills experts, we also create …powerful, centered, self-motivated young adults, able to think critically for themselves, with the confidence and inspiration to dream a vivid dream of their own future, and the skills and enthusiasm to pursue that vision. – excerpt from Wilderness Awareness School, with which Earthwork Programs is affiliated.
“My son is noticing things, developing an awareness outdoors. It gives him a knowledge base to work from, whether looking at tracks, birds, or plants and their uses. He’s acquiring a foundation to build on.”
J. O’Connor, mother


At a Glance
- Providing Art and Science classes
- Virtual field trips to the Smithsonian
- Up to 1600 students per year
- Polycom Video Collaboration solutions
Polycom RealPresence Video Solutions Bring the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art to Schools and Students Anywhere in the World
With arts education under threat—budget cuts and accountability programs have nearly cut in half the hours spent in art classes since 2001—the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) is putting art back in classrooms. NMAfA is home to more than 10,000 works and treasures. Most students, however, even in the nation’s capitol, have never seen it. But that’s changing, thanks to a program that lets students and organizations visit the museum’s collection via collaborative meetings powered by Polycom RealPresence video collaboration solutions.
“We knew we had to get creative to find a way for schools to enhance their art education without spending resources or traveling,” notes Deborah Stokes, NMfAA’s Curator for Education.
Available free of charge, the real-time video classes do more than expose students to African art, they give the audience a unique opportunity to appreciate the vast diversity of cultures in Africa. “We’re teaching students how to look at art, how to ask themselves what it meant to the artists and to instill respect for the cultures that created it,” says Stokes.
The programs are so popular that the number of participating students has doubled in the past year, from 800 to 1,600. Budget-constrained schools and interested organizations are using NMAfA’s virtual field trips to keep the audience engaged with access to exceptional content. And because many classes merge art content with other topics, teachers around the world can meet curriculum requirements in history, geography and even science.
Putting art in perspective
NMAfA uses its video classes to present art in unexpected contexts. Its popular African Cosmos: Stellar Arts exhibition, with educational programming created in collaboration with astrophysicists, scientists and educators from the Smithsonian-Harvard Astrophysical Observatory and the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, combines both art and science to explore how humankind has tried to understand the heavens for millennia. The unique approach offers another benefit: these art classes support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives in schools striving to meet objectives in both the arts and sciences.
In her video classes and tours, Stokes uses a Polycom HDX series room video solution and Polycom People+Content™ (green screen) to appear integrated with the high-definition images and artworks that are an essential part of the programs, all powered by the Polycom RealPresence Platform. Engaging face-to-face with the audience via the lifelike medium of HD video, she encourages questions, investigation, dialog and interactive discussions. Schools register for the museum’s collaborative sessions using the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) clearinghouse or through Polycom’s CAPspace distance learning portal.
In addition to classes, NMAfA has used its Polycom video solutions to help build relationships and cultural understanding globally. A program following the catastrophic 2010 Haiti earthquake used art to connect children in Haiti suffering the devastation they had witnessed with students in a D.C. public school for a cross-cultural exchange of understanding and compassion.
Stokes is planning classes on African masks and explorations of art in Nigeria, Mali and other countries. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised how easy the Polycom technology has been to use,” says Stokes, who acquired the Polycom equipment in 2012 using a grant applied for with help from the Polycom Grant Assistance Program. “I’m just so thrilled with it.”


Winona State University
Jennifer Anderson is an Associate Professor of Geoscience at Winona State University in southeastern Minnesota. She is a planetary geologist who specializes in experimental impact cratering and came from a broad scientific background including geophysics, astrophysics, and physics. She teaches Astronomy, Earth & Space Systems, Planetary Geology, Geophysics, and other courses. She is also very passionate about science education, advises the Earth Science teaching majors at WSU, and teaches in the two-semester, interdisciplinary, "Investigative Science" content course sequence for elementary education majors.
Website Content Contributions
Comparative Planetary Geomorphology part of Cutting Edge:Topics:Discoveries from Mars:Activities
This is a laboratory exercise to introduce comparative planetary geomorphology by investigating common geologic features on the Earth, Moon, and Mars. -
Why do some things float while other things sink? part of Teacher Preparation:Resource Collections:Activities
Students investigate the concept of density through inquiry-based experiments and exploration.
Water Quality Testing in your Local Water Cycle part of Teacher Preparation:Resource Collections:Activities
Students analyze local water chemistry by identifying and collecting local water samples, deciding upon questions they want to answer about their local water sources, and then performing simple water quality tests on their samples.
The "What is Science?" Box part of Integrate:Workshops:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Activities
A group of 3-4 students are presented with a box that has writing on the five visible sides and asked to determine what is on the bottom of the box. In solving this problem, students are using the same techniques that scientists use to learn about nature.
Investigative Science I and III part of Integrate:Workshops:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Course
This is a two-semester sequence that covers science content for elementary education majors(preK-8). Investigative Science I: "Physical Science in your Environment" covers Nature of Science, Physics, and ...
Winona State University: Earth - The Water Planet part of Teacher Preparation:Resource Collections:Courses
This interdisciplinary course is the first of two science content courses specifically designed for elementary education majors (K-5). It is team-taught by two science faculty from Geoscience, Physics, Chemistry, ...
My personal journey into the methods of geoscience part of Integrate:Workshops:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Essays
My personal journey into the methods of geoscience Jennifer L. B. Anderson, Geoscience, Winona State University It has been so interesting to plan for this workshop because over the last year I've really ...


Building Blocks for Learning
Building blocks are simple, yet exceptional, educational toys. They inspire creativity, engage the mind, and are practical tools to help kids learn a number of important skills from creativity to literacy.
Wooden blocks are great for learning the alphabet, numbers, animals, and more. Blocks grow with your child and can be used to teach about physical dimensions like width, length, and height. Enterprising educators use the wooden blocks to demonstrate mathematical problems such as additions, subtractions, and even fractions as children mature. During cooperative play, blocks are great for developing social skills like sharing, taking turns, and developing strategies together.
What Research Says
It is well known that toy blocks serve as building blocks for children's creativity. Research also shows a strong link to literacy development. A recent study reported in the October 2007 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine finds a strong association between playing with building blocks and a significant increase in language scores in young children. On average, kids who played with blocks scored 15 percent higher on their language assessment than those who did not.
Non-Toxic and Safe
The learning wooden blocks you'll find at ChildTrek are child-safe and non-toxic.


The Right to Play Comes Alive in St. Elizabeth
KINGSTON, 17 April, 2013 – A large, grassy playing field in the hills of St. Elizabeth, a rural parish in southern Jamaica, is alive with palpable energy. A group of students from Epping Forest Primary jump to their feet, clapping wildly and shouting in chorus. They are cheering on a bowler and a batsman in an electrifying game of cricket.
Eleven-year-old O’Brian is riveted, watching closely as he waits for his turn on the sidelines. “You see how exciting this game is?!” he squeals, before running off to take his turn at the bat.
Two years ago, these students never played cricket during school. Like most children in rural Jamaica, they had very limited opportunities for physical education. Schools in the area lack trained instructors and structured opportunities for sports and play.
Armed with coaching licenses and a deep passion to bring sports into students’ lives, St. Elizabeth residents Victor Ebanks and Alan Roper decided to change this. Together they developed EduSport, a comprehensive sports programme to deliver structured physical education and life skills for students at the primary level.
The EduSport methodology is designed to build key life skills, boost school attendance and aid in classroom learning. Younger children participate in activities and games that help with basic numeracy skills, like counting. Older students have more structured programmes that include football, netball, cricket and athletics.
The coaches infuse EduSport sessions with opportunities to teach listening skills, discipline, teamwork, self-esteem building and conflict resolution. They develop close bonds with many of the students, and have become mentors for several children.
“I like how the coaches treat us,” says ten-year-old Epping Forest student Ayla. “They do not bark at us. They let us have fun, and train us to bat and to play well, not to hurt each other.”
Fellow student Kemar, age 11 echoes a popular sentiment. “I feel very good about the programme. They teach us to try new things. The coaches are very nice and calm. They help us to be more physically active.”
EduSport is now delivered by a team of six trained coaches in 7 primary schools and 2 basic schools in St. Elizabeth. The programme operates with support from the BREDS Foundation and other partners, including UNICEF. BREDS, run by Jason Henzell, provides a rangeof recreational and sports opportunities for children in Treasure Beach and surrounding communities – including the area’s first Sports Park and Academy.
“I love what I do,” says Coach Ebanks. “I decided to be a coach for this very reason – for the kids, so they can have what I didn’t have. We are filling a gap in their educational experience, and making sure they learn the technical skills of sports from a young age.”
School principals and parents have welcomed EduSport. “When the children do physical education, they come back more relaxed and receptive,” says Mrs. Elliot, Principal of Mayfield All Age. “We are getting more out of the children. Because of the programme, they are more ready to learn.”
* * *


Why Mathematics for Elementary Education?
- 1 Minoring in Mathematics for Elementary Education will make you a more marketable educator.
- 2 As an elementary school teacher, you will teach children with different capabilities. Therefore, you will need to know how to meet each student’s needs to help him or her excel. Minoring in Elementary Education Mathematics will give you the extra knowledge you need to help make your students successful.
- 3 Although studying Elementary Education Mathematics will be useful in your teaching career, studying mathematics will also further develop your analytical, logic, critical thinking, reasoning, and organizational skills. These skills will make you marketable in other professions and be useful in everyday life.
Why Study Mathematics for Elementary Education at Saint Joseph's College?
As a Mathematics for Elementary Education minor, much of your time will be spent earning your BS in Elementary Education with our accredited Education Division; however, if you choose to minor in Mathematics for Elementary Education, you will also have the privilege of working with the SJC Department of Mathematics. In order to help you possess the knowledge you will need to be a successful teacher, the SJC Department of Mathematics offers courses such as Math as a Human Pursuit, Discrete Math, Calculus, Methods of Teaching Mathematics, and more.
While our Education Division ensures that you will receive the hands-on experience you need to be ready to run your own classroom, the Department of Mathematics also promises to give you practical application. At SJC, we pride ourselves on having facilities comparable to a large university but with a more personal atmosphere. SJC's Department of Mathematics has high quality equipment and is constantly in search of new technology. Thanks to the Vernier Grant, students have access to new technology that shows them how Mathematics can be applicable to the real world.
Dedication to Excellence
The SJC Mathematics faculty members take pride in having many years of experience in the education of future teachers. Our Mathematics faculty are dedicated to their students and getting to know them individually. As a result, our faculty members are able to build on students’ strengths and give students the back ground that they need to become exceptional teachers.
Faculty and Class Size
The Department of Mathematics at SJC consists of faculty members who hold master’s or doctoral degrees in their fields of expertise.The average class size ranges between 10 and 15 students.


There's hardly a story about any American illustrator that sooner or later doesn't mention the name of one man--Howard Pyle. One might even go so far as to call him the father of American illustration. But it's hard to get a grasp of the importance of this man without looking at what came before. One of his best predecessors was A.B. Frost. Before Pyle, there was a staged quality to American book illustration, as if actors were drawn from a point of view "front row centre" with a theatrical set, props, and costumes. Pyle brought to illustration a writer's perspective, because he enjoyed writing and was probably as good at it as he was in illustration. In fact he illustrated several of his own books and stories, among them, The Adventure of Robin Hood and The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. Armed with a writer's imagination he poured the same unique qualities into his drawings. They never seemed staged, but instead evoked a kind of dynamic drama, with unusual angles, dark backgrounds, action, adventure, human emotion--the work of a writer who could draw.
Pyle was born in 1853 on the outskirts of Wilmington, Delaware. His home still stands today, though it's now well within the city. His father was a leather worker, his mother a woman who saw to it her son had an idyllic childhood, nurturing his bookish tendencies; his enjoyment in reading, writing, and drawing. His first successes came in blindly sending samples of his work to leading New York magazines where, to everyone's surprise, they were immediately accepted. Scribners was one of his early outlets. A trip to New York by his father, who dropped in on Scribners ended with his son being invited to move to New York, with the assurance that there was plenty of work for him there. Pyle moved to New York, but quickly discovered the work was slim, menial, and his artistic skills woefully lacking. Studies at The Art Students League and later Drexel Institute in Philadelphia sharpened his knowledge of the human figure, colour, and the technical needs of the engraver.
Howard Pyle came to illustration at a most opportune moment. It was at a time when nationally circulating publications were on the rise, printing techniques allowed for the move from woodcuts to metal plates, and when colour printing was in its infancy. Pyle developed his skills to match the best the printing industry had to offer, catering to their needs while allowing their best efforts to mingle with his own vivid imagination. After a stint in New York with Scribners, Harpers, and the children's magazine, St. Nicholas, Pyle moved to Philadelphia where he taught at Drexel Institute for two years, before moving back home to Wilmington and starting a kind of free graduate school for top illustrators. There, from a list of some 1,300 applicants, he chose twelve, sharpening the skills of the next generation - N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Thornton Oakley, Maxfield Parrish, Jessie Wilcox, Stanley Artherus, Ida Daughtery, Harvey Dunn, and others. The school lasted only from 1900-1903, although Pyle continued helping his former students for several years while his work itself came to influence dozens of others whom he didn't actually teach. Late in his career, he took up the challenge of mural painting, gaining a whole new level of fame, respect, and financial success.
For many years, Pyle resisted the common practice of finishing off one's art education in Europe. He was fifty-seven before he finally succumbed to the temptation to visit Europe. During most of the trip he was ill. He hated Rome, visited Siena and Genoa, before falling in love with Florence where he remained for several months. It was in Florence he changed his mind and decided that maybe the European masters actually did have something to offer American art. Ironically, t’was there that he died of a kidney infection in 1911; and there too, that this greatest of American illustrators was buried on foreign soil.


Baldwin presents a meticulously researched, provocative look at an aspect of Henry Ford's life during a turbulent period rarely addressed in previous biographies. This is a revealing examination of the making of America's most famous anti-Semite. Photos throughout.
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The Anti-Semitic Origins of Henry Ford's Arts Education Patronage By Warnock, Emery C. Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Vol. 30, No. 2, April 2009
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FREE! Ford, Henry The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2016


By Kevin Kelley
When silent films gave way to talking pictures in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Hollywood looked to Broadway to provide not only sound, but music, to the growing motion picture business. Broadway composers such as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart and Hoagy Carmichael were lured to California by the movie studios.
The move of those Broadway composers to California will be the focus of a musical lecture by Laura Varcho Sunday at 2 p.m. at Westlake Porter Public Library, 27333 Center Ridge Road. The talk, entitled “Hollywood Heyday: Tin Pan Alley Goes West,” is part of the library’s Sunday Sounds program.
Varcho, a singer of jazz and popular standards, will intersperse her lecture with 12 songs from Hollywood’s early musicals. “Cheek to Cheek,” written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire film “Top Hat,” will be among those Varcho performs.
While the composers were paid handsomely once they arrived in Hollywood, they were no longer the demigods they were on Broadway, Varcho said. On Broadway, the composer’s name was often above the production’s title on the theater marquee, she told West Life. Once in California, they were treated more like the unsung heroes of Hollywood, she said.
Scores and lyrics were either changed or cut from movies entirely, Varcho said.
“The music wasn’t sacrosanct,” the Lakewood resident said. “They didn’t have any control in Hollywood.”
The urbane composers and lyricists also had to adjust to a metropolitan area just starting to develop, Varcho said. At time the victims of anti-Semitism, Jewish composers formed their own country clubs where they spent their days swimming, golfing and playing tennis.
“They found ways to make the best of it,” Varcho said. Even so, many returned to New York City.
Varcho has performed as a singer for 15 years. She developed her musical lecture series after attempting to obtain a gig at the Rocky River Senior Center. When then-Activities Director Margaret Allen told her they didn’t book singers, she developed a lecture on the career of Harold Arlen, who composed the songs for “The Wizard of Oz.”
“I fell in love with public speaking and immersed myself in the history,” Varcho recalled.
Although she always plans to sing, Varcho said her goal is to be a motivational speaker. In addition to “Hollywood Heyday” and her lecture on Harold Arlen, Varcho gives talks on composers George and Ira Gershwin, as well as the psychology of successful entrepreneurs.
Varcho offers private vocal and performance lessons. However, she had little formal music education, as her family did not consider a career in the entertainment field a respectable profession.
She first developed an interest in the Great American Songbook in the 1970s watching Cher sing standards during “The Sonny & Cher Show.” Many songs from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood musicals were also appropriated by jazz artists over the years, she noted.
“It’s always enchanting and interesting, and I never get tired of it,” Varcho said of the genre.
(For more information about Varcho, visit her website at www.lauravarcho.com.)


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The Art of Teaching Art to Children: In School and at Home
by Nancy Beal
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0374527709, Paperback)
An inspiring and comprehensive guide to art education.
In this accessibly written guide for classroom and art teachers as well as parents, Nancy Beal shows how to release children's marvelous gifts of expression. Beal believes that children must first of all be comfortable with their materials. She focuses on six basic media: collage, drawing, painting, clay, printmaking, and construction. She gives practical consideration to all facets of a teacher's responsibility: how each material should be introduced; what supplies are best; how a classroom may be set up to support children's explorations; and how teachers may ask open-ed questions to stimulate personal and meaningful expression. Beal also discusses how to integrate art into social studies and how to make museum visits productive and fun. Each chapter includes a section specifically for parents on helping their children create art at home.
Beal has taught art to children for twenty-five years and is able to draw on a wealth of examples from her classroom. The Art of Teaching Art to Children is extensively illustrated with her students' art, visual proof of her gifts as an educator and art enthusiast.
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:15:45 -0400)
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Preparing to Become a Teacher
Once you have decided to become a teacher, there are several things you should know to help you better prepare yourself.
Do What You Love
One of the most important things to determine when becoming a teacher is deciding what age group and what subjects you want to teach. If you would like to teach a wide variety of subjects, the elementary school grade level is probably a good choice. If you prefer to specialize in one particular subject, such as biology, algebra, or a foreign language, the middle or high school level would be more suitable. When making this decision, keep in mind the basic demand for particular types of teachers in your area. Some subjects and/or grade levels may have a significant need for new teachers, while other segments may be flooded with current teachers and new applications.
Going the Distance
If you are newly out of school, or just finishing up your degree, you might want to consider getting a bit of experience prior to applying for a teaching position. Choose the age group of students you would like to teach, and get a summer job or a part-time job teaching lessons (such as tennis, swimming, or a musical instrument), coach a youth sports team, or become a camp counselor. Another option to consider is becoming a teaching assistant, teacher's aide, or substitute teacher. These types of jobs give you real world work experience, which will help give you a good deal of preparation for teaching on your own.
Become Part of the Community
There are several other things you should keep in mind to help prepare for life as a teacher. Teachers are not only responsible for educating children inside the classroom; they are also responsible for their actions outside of school. Of course the primary job of a teacher is to design lesson plans, engage students in the learning process, understand different teaching practices, provide a healthy and safe learning environment, and evaluate student progress. That being said, teachers are often quite involved in the community to further learning experiences, as well as interacting directly with parents and members of education boards. Teachers often work on teams to plan curriculum, address education concerns, and come up with solutions to improve student learning.
While teachers are always available during the school day, you must also be prepared to be available both before and after school. Typically teachers arrive before school hours to prepare lessons, grade papers, and offer office hours to provide extra help for students. At the end of the school day, teachers remain at the school to offer even more office hours, plan the for the next day, meet with parents, meet with other staff members, and catch up on paperwork. Many teachers also volunteer their time during off hours to coach a team, lead extra curricular activities, or supervise a club.
Finally, consider joining a professional teachers association, or an organization within your specific teaching specialty. Just as you encourage your students to never stop learning, your education and training should also continue. Teachers who stay up to date on the latest technologies, teaching strategies, and real world requirements give their students the best possible foundation to succeed in school and in life.
Schools Offering Early Childhood Education Courses:
Kaplan University is focused on recognizing the achievements of military and veteran students and offers the flexibility of an online education.
- Undergraduate in Early Childhood
- Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Administration
At Kaplan University, we offer over 180 degree and certificate programs.
- BS in Early Childhood
- Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with ED-6 Generalist Certification
At Post University, we believe you shouldn’t have to put your life on hold to further your education.
- B.S. in Child Studies
Regent University prepares students with the knowledge to excel and the faith to live with purpose.
- Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education*


Gibbs, Graham R. (2007) Mathematics and statistics skills in the Social Sciences: dealing with deficits. In: Addressing the Quantitative Skills Gap: Establishing and Sustaining Cross-Curricular Mathematical Support in Higher Education, 25th – 27th June 2007, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. (Unpublished)
- Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives.
- Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.
The quantitative/numeracy skills issues for social scientists are somewhat different from those affecting many of the natural sciences and technology. In general students do not need a facility with abstractionism and symbolic systems (the equations) but they do need a good sense of number (scale, size etc) and an understanding of some of the logical principles and thinking that underlie mathematical proofs. The main area of application of these skills is in research methods and statistics.
Dealing with the quantitative part of research methods is always a struggle for teachers, but there is a range of different approaches that have been adopted: teach statistics with formulae; teach statistics using step-by-step instructions and teach statistics use without calculations and formulae.
QAA benchmarks, the BPS and the ESRC Training Guidelines for postgraduates are very clear about the importance of methods and statistics in the subjects. These guidelines will be outlined and their implications for student teaching and student recruitment examined.
Such numeric and statistical skills are important for work after graduation. A survey of recent graduates in sociology and psychology undertaken at Huddersfield in the 1990s showed that the topic from their degree that they found most valuable after graduating and in work was the research methods and statistics.
The paper will conclude with a look to the future, first in terms of possible impacts on the nature of the disciplines and secondly on some of the ways that students may be supported to overcome the hurdle of poor maths and statistics skills.
|Item Type:||Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)|
|Subjects:||H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Q Science > QA Mathematics
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
|Schools:||School of Human and Health Sciences|
|Depositing User:||Graham Gibbs|
|Date Deposited:||19 Oct 2009 09:36|
|Last Modified:||04 Nov 2015 16:33|
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Music is a natural way for all children to express themselves and a great way to explore how sound works. African drums, PVC pipe instruments that are played with flip-flops,, a see-through piano, and more makes investigating sound super fun! Sora’s Stage is filled with tutus, capes, and music makers for little ones to ham it up!
A wealth of scientific research over the last decade is proving that music education is a powerful tool for attaining children’s full intellectual, social, and creative potential.
- It speeds the development of speech and reading skills.
- It trains children to focus their attention for sustained periods.
- It helps children gain a sense of empathy for others.
So surround yourself with the sound of music and have fun playing to learn!
- Pluck the strings on the wooden string instrument and observe how sounds are caused by vibrations.
- Find two different Boomwackers to create a chord!
- Perform on Sora’s Stage to express yourself!
- Observe how the piano’s inner workings move when you strike a key to hear music. Ask your child how they think the sound is created.


Motivators of Reading Enrichment (MORE) encourages fourth-grade students to read for pleasure. Each participating classroom receives a MORE library of 55 high-interest books. A Better Basics volunteer visits weekly to award prize books and incentives to students as they successfully read from the classroom library. This allows students to start or add to their home libraries.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress encourages independent reading as a critical aspect of literacy development, and has documented a correlation between students who read for pleasure and reading achievement. MORE enriches children by motivating them to read and providing access to high-quality literature, thus establishing the habits of reading and writing and improving attitudes toward learning.
Teachers allow students 30 minutes per day to read selections from the MORE library and to complete a 10-question book report to demonstrate and help improve reading comprehension. Students can earn a book for every completed report (up to two books per week), allowing them to develop personal home libraries. The MORE program is responsible for putting thousands of books into the homes of students every year, and often a MORE prize book is the first book a child has ever owned. Research suggests having books in the home provides an opportunity for other members of the family to be positively influenced. The practice often provides much-needed modeling for younger siblings and even encourages parents to improve their reading skills. Additional incentives are awarded when a student reaches the milestones of reading five (MORE T-shirt), 10 (silicone bracelet), 15 (blue ribbon) and 20 (water bottle) books.


Conceived by Mathematica creator and scientist Stephen Wolfram as a way to bring computational exploration to the widest possible audience, the Wolfram Demonstrations Project is an open-code resource that uses dynamic computation to illuminate concepts in science, technology, mathematics, art, finance, and a remarkable range of other fields.
Its daily growing collection of interactive illustrations is created by Mathematica users from around the world who participate by contributing innovative Demonstrations.
Interactive computational resources have typically been scattered across the web. Moreover, their creation requires specialized programming knowledge, making them difficult and expensive to develop. As a result, their breadth and reach are limited.
With its debut in 2007, the Wolfram Demonstrations Project introduced a new paradigm for exploring ideas, providing a universal platform for interactive electronic publishing. The power to easily create interactive visualizations, once the province of computing experts alone, is now in the hands of every Mathematica user. More importantly, anyone around the world can freely use these thousands of fully functional Demonstrations.
From elementary education to front-line research, topics span an ever-growing array of categories. Some Demonstrations can be used to enliven a classroom or visualize complex concepts, while others shed new light on cutting-edge ideas from academic and industrial workgroups. Each is reviewed and edited by experts for content, clarity, presentation, quality, and reliability.
All Demonstrations run freely on any standard Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. In fact, you do not even need Mathematica. You can interact with any Demonstration using the free Wolfram CDF Player—for most platforms this happens right in your web browser. If you have Mathematica you can also experiment and modify the code yourself.
Demonstrations can be created with just a few short lines of code. This opens the door for researchers, educators, students, and professionals at any level to create their own sophisticated mini-applications, then publish and share them with the world using Wolfram's Computable Document Format (CDF).
The Wolfram Demonstrations Project is part of the family of free online services from Wolfram Research—these include Wolfram|Alpha, the world's first computational knowledge engine; MathWorld, the number one mathematics website; as well as The Wolfram Functions Site, WolframTones, and more.


The Significance of Music Education: From Wikipedia
The following is an excerpt taken directly from Wikipedia’s article on music education. We think it sums up the importance of music education quite nicely:
According to the Florida Music Educators Association, “Music and the Fine Arts have been a significant portion of every culture’s educational system for more than 3,000 years. The human brain has been shown to be “hard-wired” for music; there is a biological basis for music being an important part of human experience. Music and the Arts surround daily life in our present day culture. Most present day artists, architects, and musicians acquired their interests during public school Fine Arts classes… Education without the Fine Arts is fundamentally impoverished and subsequently leads to an impoverished society.”
William Earhart, former president of the Music Educators National Conference, “Music enhances knowledge in the areas of mathematics, science, geography, history, foreign language, physical education, and vocational training.” Music not only inspires creativity and performance, but academic performance over all is seriously impacted. A research study produced by the Harris Poll has shown that 9 out of 10 individuals with post graduate degrees participated in music education. The National Report of SAT test takers study indicated students with music performance experience scored higher on the SAT: 57 points higher on verbal and 41 points higher on math. Schools that have high academic performance in the US are spending 20 to 30% of their budget in the arts with emphasis on music education.
Music education also increases one’s success in society. The Texas Commission on Drugs and Alcohol Abuse Report noted that students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances.
An education in music also increases overall brain activity. Research done at the University of Wisconsin has indicated that students with piano or keyboard experience performed 34% higher on tests that measure spatial-temporal lobe activity, which is the part of the brain that is used when doing mathematics, science, and engineering.
Music also improves learning. Specifically, music aids in text recall. Wallace (1994) studied setting text to a melody. One experiment created a three verse song with a non-repetitive melody; each verse had different music. A second experiment created a three verse song with a repetitive melody; each verse had the exact same music. Another experiment studied text recall without music. The repetitive music produced the highest amount of text recall; therefore, music serves as a mnemonic device. Smith (1985) studied background music with word lists. One experiment involved memorizing a word list with background music; participants recalled the words 48 hours later. Another experiment involved memorizing a word list with no background music; participants also recalled the words 48 hours later. Participants who memorized word lists with background music recalled more words demonstrating music provides contextual cues.
It is important to note that “While studies show positive influences in other academic areas, music and the Fine Arts are an academic discipline that are, as the other academics, an independent way of learning and knowing.”  Unfortunately, music in our schools are being cut at a drastic rate due to budget cuts being forced upon the schools. The Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction with Chesapeake Public Schools in Chesapeake, Virginia, Dr. Patricia Powers states, “It is not unusual to see program cuts in the area of music and arts when economic issues surface. It is indeed unfortunate to lose support in this area especially since music and the art programs contribute to society in many positive ways.” What some school boards do not know is that cutting music might cause test scores to fall due to the positive effect on everything from academics to citizenship and ironically personal hygiene.


|1867 - 1875 Europe
Saint-Gaudens, who wanted a formal art education, worked days and took art classes at night At the end of his apprenticeship he left for Paris, arriving with $100 saved from his wages. He took courses in sculpture modeling, composition, and execution, ornamental design, anatomy, and drawing from life and casts of ancient sculpture. Living frugally and working at a cameo cutting job, he was able to stay in Paris and study first at the Ecole Gratuite de Dessin and then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1867 to 1870, when he left to study architecture and classical art in Rome until 1873.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Mary, Queen of Scots, cameo (Williams version), 1873,
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish, New Hampshire


weather commonly occurs in the North Texas area. Volatile
weather can exist any time of
the year, and as such, contingencies must be made
to deal with such events.
This information is provided by the Safety and Security Services Department and is intended to provide staff with a guideline for
dealing with severe weather events.
Inclement weather that may exist in this area includes:
and high winds
- Flash floods
- Heavy snow or ice storms
- Heat wave, ozone alert,
The department of Safety and Security Services will
be responsible for monitoring weather conditions
that impact the Plano area.
Members of this department will monitor weather conditions
and television sources, and keep the Superintendent
advised of any conditions that may impact school
operations/student safety. The department of Safety and Security
Services will also share information with
other PISD departments to insure that the District
is prepared to address any weather related event.
Finally, the department of Safety and Security Services
will communicate with the City of Plano to be aware
of any weather event that may require activation
of the Emergency Warning System and civil defense
All school campuses within the District are equipped
with weather alert radios and have access to internet
based weather resources sites. It is strongly recommended
that each campus individually monitor weather conditions
in their area, as well as news and alerts that may
be introduced via internet, radio, or television.
All PISD campuses have access to the Weatherbug computer
program, which provides real-time weather conditions,
alerts, and forecasts.
In the event of impending severe weather that may
impact school operations, the department of Safety and Security
Services will notify
schools and other District
departments of the possibility of a weather event.
Schools will be advised to monitor conditions and
information outlets, and to monitor their PISD Security-issued
emergency radio. In the event of a severe weather
event, these radios will be used to communicate immediate
information to the schools from central administration.
In the event of a severe weather event that impacts
school operations, the Director of Safety and Security
Services or his designee will communicate with the
office of the Superintendent, office of Communications,
department of Transportation, and any other District
department, which might have a need for information.
The Director of Safety and Security Services or his
designee will also communicate with principals, Associate Superintendent for District Services, and the Executive Directors of Secondary and Elementary Education to determine what, if any action
should be taken on the campuses to address a severe
weather event. These actions may include delaying
or expediting the release of students. The decision
to delay or expedite the release of students shall
normally be approved by the Associate Superintendent for District Services
or Director of Safety and Security Services.
- Local Plano Forecast


Providence Talks: Building Vocabulary from Day One
By Providence Mayor Angel Taveras
July 28, 2014
Here in Providence, we’ve made early childhood learning a top priority. We have no other choice: data shows that two-thirds of our children arrive for the first day of kindergarten already behind on national literacy benchmarks. Our efforts to ensure that every child is reading on grade level by the end of third grade have won Providence the All-America Award for grade level reading from the National Civic League.
But every day more research confirms that how children develop in the early years before they arrive in school is a critical factor in future school performance and success later in life. For a child’s vocabulary to develop fully, children need to hear at least 21,000 words per day. But children in the lowest income bracket fall short of that benchmark by more than 8,000 words every day. By the time a child growing up in a low-income household reaches their fourth birthday, he or she will have heard between about 20 and 30 million fewer words than their peers in middle- and high-income households.
Talking to one’s baby doesn’t just promote vocabulary development, but also brain development more broadly. At birth, a child will have developed all of the neurons that will carry him or her through adult life. In the first year of a baby’s life, brain size doubles, and at the age of three, the brain is already at 80 percent of its adult volume. Additionally, synapses are formed at a much faster rate between the ages of zero and three. Every verbal interaction a parent or caregiver has with a baby strengthens the neural connections within the baby’s rapidly growing brain.
Research shows that most children learn at the same rate in school. Due to disparities in vocabulary, low-income students start out at a disadvantage. Each summer, with unequal access to summer learning opportunities, this achievement gap widens. This growing inequality can lead to disparities in school readiness, long-term health outcomes, earnings, and family stability for years to come.
Our award-winning “Providence Talks” program — funded with a $5 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies — is designed to close the 30-million-word gap and ensure that children from low-income families begin school on a level playing field with their peers. Providence Talks aims to empower families with the additional tools and resources necessary to help build their children’s vocabularies from day one. It is the first citywide effort to close the word gap.
Providence Talks combines new information technology with existing effective home visitation programs. Participating families receive a small “word pedometer” that generates charts and graphs showing the number of words and conversations that their child engages with over the course of a day. This information is shared with families by a home visitor, and coaching sessions help them strengthen their household auditory environment. Free books and other resources are designed to help prepare our youngest learners for success in kindergarten and beyond.
Our program is just getting under way, but preliminary data demonstrates dramatic gains in word and conversation count — gains that we think will make a difference in years to come. Over two years, the program will expand from the initial pilot, now open to 75 early head start families, to a citywide scale. We hope that Providence Talks can become a model for other cities, so that more of our nation’s children from low-income families enter school’s starting gate on a level playing field with their wealthier peers.


Free Uniforms and School bags:
Provision of free and compulsory Primary Education to all children up to 14 years of age is one of the Directive Principles of state Policy of the Constitution of India according to Article 45.Most importantly, the National policy on Education has given unqualified priority for achieving UEE by shifting the central thrust from mere enrolment to all three dimension of UEE namely enrolment, retention and quality in learning. In line with the constitutional directive, the successive plan of both the center and the individual state have given overriding priority for Universalisation of Elementary education subsequently, such plan efforts have resulted in some improvement in access at primary level.
Poverty and economic deprivation are those factors that are responsible for children’s non-participation in school. Those factors demand special governmental interventions to promote better participation of such children. Increased access to the schooling facility has increased number of children from even lower income families. Their retention in schools until compulsory stage depends upon effective programmes like mid day meal scheme, free supply of school uniform, text books, regular health check up etc,.
The main Objectives of distribution of Uniforms is :
- To provide free and compulsory education to all children up to age of 14 yrs.
- To retain the children enrolled in the schools until compulsory stage.
- To bring equality among all children in the schools.
The scheme of supplying free uniforms to children attending school existed even before independence. However deliberate and concerted efforts to introduce free uniform supply as an incentive system began in the year 1961, when the State Government promulgated the compulsory Primary Education Act.
Free Uniforms are distributed to all boys and girl students from class 1st to 10thstudying in Govt and Govt aided school. Uniforms with different size –size 1 for class 1st and 2nd std boys and girls, size 2 for 3rd and 4th std boys and girls, size 3 for 5th, 6th and 7th std boys and girls, size 4 for 8th,9th and 10th std boys and 8th std girls and next size for class 9th and 10th girls are distributed.


Music meaning and transformation: meaningful music making for life
Dillon, Steven C. (2007) Music meaning and transformation: meaningful music making for life. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, United Kingdom.
This book and the series which builds on the philosophy examines the musical experiences that students find meaningful and ways in which teachers, parents and community music leaders might provide access to meaningful music education. This is particularly relevant today because school music often fails to provide sustainable access to music making for life, health and wellbeing beyond school. The book seeks to reframe the focus of music education within a pragmatist philosophy and provide a framework that is culturally and chronologically inclusive. The proposed book is aimed at current and pre-service music teachers, community music leaders and coaches and designed to be a useful professional development tool and reference resource for teacher/community arts workers. Secondary audiences for the book would include all general and trainee elementary school teachers and interested teachers in disciplines other than music particularly those from the community arts concerned with music, cultural health and wellbeing in community settings. Another secondary market would be private music teachers in the community and recreational music-making coaches who need strategies and techniques for the provision of culturally inclusive music experiences within complex multi cultural and cross cultural settings.
Impact and interest:
Citation counts are sourced monthly from and citation databases.
These databases contain citations from different subsets of available publications and different time periods and thus the citation count from each is usually different. Some works are not in either database and no count is displayed. Scopus includes citations from articles published in 1996 onwards, and Web of Science® generally from 1980 onwards.
Citations counts from theindexing service can be viewed at the linked Google Scholar™ search.
Full-text downloads displays the total number of times this work’s files (e.g., a PDF) have been downloaded from QUT ePrints as well as the number of downloads in the previous 365 days. The count includes downloads for all files if a work has more than one.
|Additional Information:||Posted with the permission of the copyright owner for your personal use only. No further distribution is permitted without permission of the copyright owner.|
|Keywords:||Meaningful engagement, Student as maker, Teacher as Builder, constructivism, Music and flow|
|Subjects:||Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > STUDIES IN CREATIVE ARTS AND WRITING (190000) > PERFORMING ARTS AND CREATIVE WRITING (190400) > Musicology and Ethnomusicology (190409)|
|Divisions:||Current > Research Centres > Australasian CRC for Interaction Design (ACID)
Current > QUT Faculties and Divisions > Creative Industries Faculty
Past > Institutes > Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation
|Copyright Owner:||Copyright 2007 Steven C. Dillon|
|Deposited On:||28 Mar 2008|
|Last Modified:||07 Oct 2015 23:17|
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Music a vital part of education
March is "Music in Our Schools Month."
Music education everywhere across the nation is in danger of extinction.
March has been named "Music in Our Schools Month" to promote advocacy to save the programs. Music education is a very vital part of every child's education.
It has been proven time and time again that students who read and play musical scores have increased function in major areas of their brain.
Because of this advantage, student standardized test scores in subjects like mathematics and reading have increased.
In data collected on more than 25,000 secondary school students, the U.S. Department of Education found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show "significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12."
Music also teaches many life skills that students will need when they grow into the work force. It encourages self-discipline, promotes good work habits and encourages teamwork thus increasing student's self-confidence. These are many of the reasons why music education should be a part of every child's required general education.
It promotes great habits and all in all, is just a fantastic, fun way for children to learn and connect with the community.
School schedules hard on children
It's been proven time and time again by doctors worldwide children up to 18 years old need at least nine hours of sleep each night for their developing brain and to meet the challenge to focus on good education.
Here in Red Bank, I hear children leave on their bus for school at 6 a.m. When I was young, I did not have to be at school until 8:30 a.m.
We cry and moan about some failing schools, rezoning jeopardizing our child's quality school capability and location with teachers who need stress tests. Yet we send our kids to school half asleep. And this has been proven to be a real problem by the experts. How stupid is this? You would have to put your child to bed at 8 o'clock every night just to barely keep up with current conditions. We are shooting ourselves in both feet.
Will someone tell me how a child in the seventh grade can determine what sex they want to be with this immature, uninformed and undeveloped mind plus not enough sleep? It is happening every day. Think...
ROBERT D. HENRY
Earlier letter makes the case
I want to thank Joy Sturtevant for the letter in the "Letters to the Editors" in the March 19 paper. The only way we differ is that I am Catholic and Republican.


Promoting ICT Education in Nigerian Public Primary Schools
- 1 Artículo
A world without technology is unimaginable. Children without ICT skills even more so! This is why at Oando Foundation, the provision of ICT Centres in public primary schools and ICT knowledge is priority.
The Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme launched in Nigeria on 30th September 1999 makes primary education in Nigeria universal, free and compulsory. In order to prepare children for the future with the ability to solve problems creatively, ICT was included in the primary school curriculum by the National Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) with the underlying emphasis on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and Education for All (EFA) Goals. Despite all these efforts, the use of ICT in public primary schools in Nigeria is almost non-existent. This stark contrast is puzzling as technology and innovation are fast rising and Internet usage has grown faster in Africa than any other continent.
Oando Foundation, established in 2011, aims to support the Nigerian Government in meeting the Millennium Development Goals to achieve Universal primary education. Through the foundation’s signature project, Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI), key emphasis is placed on improving the learning environment in public schools. One of AASI core program components is ensuring each adopted school is equipped with an ICT/Creative Centre to enhance the learning capabilities of pupils The ICT Centre will facilitate kids exposure to computer education and other technology as they connect with the rest of the world via the use of the Internet.
The foundation recognizes that IT is an essential skill for young children. Pupils need to be able to use the latest technology to gain an effective education in the twenty first century. To this end, Oando Foundation unveiled its pilot (ICT) Centre at Archbishop Taylor Primary School, Lagos and will replicate this model in all its adopted schools across the country. The new ICT Centre is one of six centres Oando Foundation plans to establish in 2014
To further boost the impact of the ICT Centre, Oando Foundation has partnered with the United States Global Partnership Initiative and the LIONS@FRICA to launch a new initiative called AfriCoderDojo to teach 21st century computer coding skills to students between 7-17 years old. The partnership is based on the global CoderDojo scheme, and relies on a volunteer network of implementers and mentors to teach youth the basics of coding.
In addition, Microsoft Nigeria is supporting the foundation’s initiative by training teachers in its adopted schools to ensure they have the relevant ICT Skills and certification to aid effective transfer of knowledge to pupils.
Learn more about about Oando Foundation at www.oandofoundation.org.
Follow us on Twitter @OandoFoundation
Facebook: Oando Foundation