The Issue: Lack of Arts Education in Public Schools
Arts education helps students gain the creative and critical-thinking skills that are necessary for success in school and their future careers, according to a report from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Access to the arts, however, is disproportionately absent in schools located in lower-income neighborhoods, preventing those students from receiving the benefits of art, music, and dance.
The Oakland Youth Chorus reports that, outside of the chorus, none of the Oakland schools have after-school vocal programming, and many do not have any other music-education offerings open to the entire student body. Because of this, the OYC targets youth from under-resourced neighborhoods—including East Oakland, West Oakland, Fruitvale, and San Antonio—who would not otherwise have access to music education or other after-school activities.
The Campaign: Sponsoring Low-Income Students in a Youth Chorus
All donations to this Grassroots campaign will be used by Oakland Youth Chorus to bring students together in song through its school and community choruses. For every $600 raised, Oakland Youth Chorus can sponsor one student from a low-income background in the choir program for one year.
Students start out by auditioning with school and community choirs in their neighborhoods, and every student who auditions gets a role in the choir regardless of musical skill level. While with the choir, they learn musical-theory techniques, ranging from identifying patterns in rhythm to singing in foreign languages and discovering new cultures through an international repertoire. They then showcase these skills in performances for their friends, family, and peers at school recitals and community events.
Oakland Youth Chorus
When the voices of a choir come together, they produce a warmth and a power greater than the sum of their parts. "There is something special that happens when you bring people together in music in general—something about the power of the human voice," explains Oakland Youth Chorus Executive Director Keri Butkevich.
The Oakland Youth Chorus (OYC) helps children find that power. The chorus started in 1974 as an effort to unite youth from different neighborhoods of Oakland. It reached across racial, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers to teach musical-performance skills and foster friendships that might not otherwise occur. Today, it serves more than 600 students in 18 school and community sites. In addition to eight K–5 choruses, OYC directs a city-wide Concert Chorus for middle- and high-school students that has won several national awards at Heritage Festivals and sung at the White House.
The school and community choirs are open to anyone who wants to join. Choir directors assess students' current skills and help them grow from there. The students then showcase these skills in performances ranging from city-wide parades to local school recitals. These concerts present a repertoire that includes everything from the Beatles to Panamanian work songs. In addition to reflecting the community of Oakland, these diverse performances help to "extend people's knowledge of music of the world" by incorporating melodies from Russia and Bulgaria, says Keri.
The K–5 choruses, known as Miracle Choruses, frequently use their voices for good, performing at American Cancer Society events or promoting AIDS awareness and urban-farming initiatives. These performances in particular show what choral music can do. Not only can it transform shy children into musicians—it has the "power of bringing people together." And by using their voices for community service, Keri explains, the singers develop "an awareness and appreciation for being part of a movement for positive change."


Infants’ television exposure can be linked to childhood obesity
It’s no secret why the United States is facing an obesity epidemic – poor diet and exercise habits. But UNC researcher Peggy Bentley said childhood obesity can sometimes take root in infancy, long before kids eat junk food or play their first video game.
Bentley is the Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she also serves as associate dean. In 2003, her research team began studying what happens in the lives of children before they become overweight. They recruited 217 low-income mothers between 18 and 35 to study how they fed and cared for their babies through the first 18 months of life.
Turns out, about half of the mothers fed their babies in front of the television, something pediatricians caution against.
“It’s easier to miss an infant’s cues when a baby or mother is watching television,” said Amanda Thompson, assistant professor of anthropology and a member of Bentley’s team. Both are faculty fellows at the Carolina Population Center.
When babies are distracted by TV, they sometimes push away food, clamp down their mouths, or squirm to get away from the food – typical things babies do to tell parents they aren’t hungry, Thompson said.
And television isn’t limited to mealtime. Thompson also found that:
- Infants as young as 3 months were exposed to an average of 2.6 hours of television or videos a day.
- Forty percent of 1-year-olds were exposed to more than three hours of television a day.
- At 3 months, 14 percent of babies had televisions in their rooms. By 18 months, it climbs to 30 percent.
- Fussier or more agitated babies were more likely to watch at least an hour of TV a day.
The upshot, Thompson said, is that many parents are using television to distract or calm their babies. But the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for kids under 2 years old. Pediatricians and researchers suggest that parents allow babies and toddlers to explore their environment, play with age-appropriate toys and read books with caregivers.
Early exposure to television might set kids up for a more sedentary life or delay motor skill development, but it’s just one precursor to childhood obesity that Bentley’s team has studied. Diet is another; its effect on weight is likely much more direct than television’s.
Maternal health experts recommend that babies stick solely with breast milk for at least their first six months of life. But that’s no longer a common practice in the United States.
Using the same data from surveys and observations of 217 mothers, Bentley’s team found that 75 percent of 3-month-olds were fed complementary foods along with breast milk or formula. Twenty-five percent were fed juice, which is full of empty calories. Just 6 percent were fed breast milk exclusively.
Also, the researchers found that mothers who thought their infants were fussy or agitated were much more likely to feed their babies food and juice at 3 months old.
The findings suggest that babies are getting too many calories at a young age, a likely factor in childhood obesity.
With funding from the National Institutes of Health, Bentley’s team is now studying how to reverse these trends.
Team members are recruiting hundreds of expectant mothers, caregivers and family members to provide guidance on the benefits of breastfeeding, proper diet and engaged play with babies and toddlers, as well as on the potential detriment of watching too much television. Mothers in the control group, meanwhile, will receive interventions about child safety.
“We think these are important teachable moments,” Bentley said. “Moms want their babies to be healthy and on track to reach developmental milestones.”
And they want to soothe their babies. But some mothers don’t know the best strategies to calm an infant, so during the study, Bentley’s team will help mothers develop more parenting skills.
Although it’s easy to distract a baby with a bottle or television, there are other, more beneficial ways to soothe a baby, Bentley said. (The researchers’ most recent paper on television exposure was published in the journal Pediatrics.)
Bentley’s team has shown that the easier parenting methods can lead to some tough consequences. They found one more thing: Overweight infants face a higher risk of delayed motor skill development, which can lead to reduced physical activity.
Childhood obesity, it turns out, can be a vicious cycle that begins shortly after baby’s first breath.


Development Materials for the Principals' Academy for the
CCSS - Macomb ISD
to learn more about the Standards
It is important to analyze the K-12 Standards along with
the three Appendices. Please print these materials:
CCSS for ELA and Literacy in History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects:
College and Career Ready Anchor Standards
CCSS ELA/Literacy Appendix A:
and Recommendations Supporting Each Strand of the CCSS
(including a glossary of key terms)
CCSS ELA/Literacy Appendix B:
Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks
CCSS ELA/Literacy Appendix C:
Samples of Student Writing with
Sequencing for CCSS Professional Development
CCSS Professional Development
PowerPoint - This PowerPoint provides an overview of
the purpose and structure of the CCSS and research
that supports CCSS implementation.
Professional Development Guided for the
- This document provides estimated times and
a printable overview of the activities listed
#1 (Slides 1-3) - Setting the
Participants view the Turn, Turn, Turn
Video #3 and use the "Setting the
Stage: Portrait of a Literate Individual" placemat to
record their thinking.
Discuss and list examples of each student characteristic.
Setting the Stage Placemat
Activity #2 (Slides 4-13) - Exploring the Structure of the
Participants work in teams to complete "A
Treasure Hunt through the CCSS and the Appendices."
Treasure Hunt Activity
Treasure Hunt Key
#3 (Slides 14-20) - Appendix A: Research Supporting Key Elements
of the Standards
Participants reflect upon a challenging class or subject
studied in college and discuss what made the class or
subject difficult? Debrief discussion.
Participants use Appendix A to complete a Guided Highlight
Read on Paragraphs 1-4 (page 2, Appendix A).
Participants use the highlighted words to write a
one-sentence summary on what they have just read.
Participants Jigsaw the following five sections:
- Foundational Skills (pp. 17-22)
- Writing (pp. 23-25)
- Speaking & Listening (pp. 26-27)
- Language (pp. 28-31)
- Vocabulary (pp. 32-35)
At each table, assign responsibility for reading sections.
Each person identifies the three most important ideas from
the section and records notes on the
"Jigsaw Graphic Organizer." Once completed, participants
share their finds with the group.
Reflection: What are the implications of this information
for curriculum, instruction, and assessment?
Appendix A Jigsaw Activity
Appendix A Participant Worksheet
Appendix A - Guided
#4 (Slides 21-28) - Appendix B: Text Exemplars
Participants read To Kill A Mockingbird
(page 107, Appendix B).
Participants read the "Text Complexity Analysis of To
Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee."
Use OKAPI to analyze the Quantitative Measures of
To Kill a
Mockingbird (model the site to the group).
Reflection: What do you notice about the three levels of
text complexity (Quantitative, Qualitative, and Reader to
Task)? How will this influence your selection of linking
Text Complexity Rubric - Informational
Text Complexity Rubric -Narrative
Reader to Task Consideration Handout
Text Complexity Analysis of To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Activity #5 (Slides 29-34) - Appendix B: Text Exemplars
read the passage from The Tipping Point
(page 179, Appendix B). Use
the Text Complexity Bookmark to record your analysis of the
Use OKAPI to analyze the passage for
Quantitative Measures (model the site to the group).
Use the Informational Text Rubric to analyze the passage
for Qualitative Measures.
Use the Reader to Task Consideration Handout for Reader to
Participants will compare their findings with other group
Text Complexity Bookmark
Text Complexity Rubric -
Reader to Task Consideration
#6 (Slides 35-40) - Overview of Writing,
Speaking and Listening, Language, and History/Social
Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Standards
learn about the structure of the additional ELA strands.
Reflection: How will these standards serve your students?
#7 (Slide 41) - SMARTER Balanced Assessment
Participants will learn about future assessment plans.
Please check it out!


Focus on fertility to prevent pollution and boost profits
The basics of elementary education typically center around the three Rs: reading, writing and ’rithmetic. In the field, farmers need to focus on the four Rs of fertility management: the right product, right rate, right time and right place.
Right Product, Right Rate,
Right Time, Right Place
"Choosing the right product and then applying it at the right time, at the right rate and in the right place makes you money by using fertilizer more efficiently," says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie. "It also makes you a better environmental steward by preventing unused nutrients from escaping and getting into water sources."
The four Rs, developed by the fertilizer industry, are so important that Farm Journal is launching a new series called Nutrient Navigator to help put the concept into motion on your own farm.
The key to the four Rs of fertility is that all of the components are applied together. "If just one—the product, the rate, the timing or the placement—is off, you miss out on the benefits of the whole process," Ferrie says.
To set the stage for fertilizer success, let’s look at the role of rate, timing, product and placement.
Rate and timing. Rate and timing are related. To understand rates, you must understand when each crop, as well as soil microorganisms, needs nutrients. For example, both corn plants and
microorganisms need nitrogen early in the growing season.
"When we talk rates, we’re talking about the rate for a certain window of time," Ferrie says. "Your total nitrogen application for a corn crop might be 200 lb. per acre. However, you might
need 50 lb. of that nitrogen applied in late fall or early spring to pay the carbon penalty."
The carbon penalty results from microorganisms decomposing old crop residue. The penalty is greater when residue is incorporated with tillage.
"The corn needs nitrogen for early growth and plant health—a crucial time when yield is being set," Ferrie says. "Microorganisms need nitrogen to promote the breakdown of old crop residue. This triggers the mineralization of nutrients and makes them available to the growing crop.
"You might need to apply 10 lb. of your total nitrogen application as starter fertilizer to make sure the roots of your young corn plants can reach it," Ferrie continues. "You might also need to put some phosphorus in your starter to make sure it is available to the young plants early in the season, when cold, wet conditions might cause phosphorus in the soil to be tied up."
Learn when each crop needs each nutrient. "For example, phosphate, sulfur and zinc need to be taken up by plants early in their lives," Ferrie says. "Those nutrients are not mobile, and they must be present in the plant to satisfy its vegetative growth needs early in the season."
- Mid-November 2012


Monkeys Understand Basic Counting Skills
A team of researchers studying Old World monkeys have found that the primates have better numerical skills than previously believed, BBC News reports.
They found, using a basic numeracy test, that long-tail macaques were able to determine which of two plates had more raisins. However, in strange fashion, the macaques only excelled in the basic test if they were not allowed to eat the raisins used in the experiment.
The results of the experiments show that the animals have the ability to understand the concept of relative quantities.
The researchers, from the German Primate Center in Goettingen, Germany, first tested the macaques by showing them two different amounts of raisins. The primates were then fed the raisins that they pointed to. But the researchers noted that in this test, the monkeys usually got it wrong — choosing the smaller pile of raisins.
Vanessa Schmidt, lead researcher on the study, said that instead of thinking about the quantities, the monkeys were thinking more about how much they wanted to eat the raisins.
“This impulsiveness impaired their judgment,” Schmidt told BBC News. “But when we repeated the test, this time showing them two plates of inedible objects – pebbles – they did much better.”
To find out if the monkeys could actually distinguish quantities, the team decided to try another experiment.
“We wanted to know if they could simultaneously maintain two mental representations of the food items, first as choice, and second as food reward,” said Schmidt.
In the new experiment, which was a little more complex than the original, the macaques were shown plates of raisins, but the reward for pointing to the correct plate was to be fed raisins that were actually hidden underneath.
“They perform as well in this task as they do when choosing the pebbles,” said Schmidt. “This seems to show that they see the raisins as signifiers – representations of the food rewards they’re going to receive.”
Professor Julia Fischer, the study’s co-researcher, said that young children displayed the same difficulty in suppressing their impulses. “There’s a well-known experiment called the reverse reward paradigm,” she said.
“You have two heaps of candies – one big, and one small. The child obviously points at the big heap – which is then given to another child, while the [first] child itself gets the small heap,” Fischer explained.
“Young children have trouble comprehending that they should point at the small heap to get the big one, but if you replace the candies with numerals or other symbols, they can do it,” she added.
Other studies of primates in the past, that have used food to test numeracy skills, may have had inconclusive results because of this effect, and therefore didn’t really understand the real abilities of these types of animals.
The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.
On the Net:


What Matters Most
by AFT President Randi Weingarten
Investing in a Strong Start
NY Times, May 15, 2011
If high-quality early childhood education were a stock or commodity, investors would be racing to invest in these programs that routinely yield a high rate of return. Indeed, savvy policymakers and education leaders have invested in “futures,” so to speak, by devoting funds to programs aimed at children between the ages of 3 and 5, before they start elementary school. But the ongoing economic downturn has squeezed the ability of local districts and states to support many programs that benefit young children. Now, however, we have a rare opportunity to devote much-needed federal funds to greatly expand access to high-quality preschool and other early learning programs.
Decades of experience and evidence clearly show that high-quality early childhood programs can produce significant educational and economic benefits. While such programs benefit all children, they offer a potent opportunity to level the playing field for disadvantaged children in particular—helping close the school-readiness gap and the social-skills gap, and providing a powerful vehicle to help break the cycle of poverty.
The achievement gap between children born in poverty and those of adequate means begins as early as 9 months old. By the time disadvantaged children enter elementary school, the gap often has grown so large that they begin their elementary education with a need to catch up. Too often, that gap is never closed.
Since there is such a doable way to help children keep up, America must stop playing catch-up. High-quality early learning programs lead to improved school readiness, greater literacy, decreased need for special education services, increased grade retention and high school graduation rates, and higher test scores.
These programs are also cost-effective—yielding tangible economic benefits both to the children who enroll in such programs and to society. Conclusive research attests to this, including decades of research on the much-heralded Perry Preschool program in Ypsilanti, Mich., which shows that the overall return on the investment of sending a child to the preschool was 183 percent.
At-risk children who attend high-quality early learning programs have been shown to have increased employment and higher lifetime earnings, as well as reduced incarceration and less need for social welfare programs.
Yet, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research, total state funding for prekindergarten fell during the 2009-2010 school year (the first decrease since NIEER has collected such data), and state per-child spending was about $700 below 2001-2002 levels. The recession has ravaged funding for these programs just as the number of children eligible for them has increased because, as NIEER reports, family income often determines eligibility.
So it was welcome news when Congress recently agreed to provide $700 million in additional funding for the federal Race to the Top program that is intended—although not explicitly mandated—to improve early education and childcare programs for disadvantaged infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children. The decision about how much of that $700 million actually will be used to increase access to early childhood programs lies with the U.S. Secretary of Education. No doubt countless parents, educators and cash-strapped states would share my hope that the decision will be to use ALL of it to give as many children as possible access to an early start on success. Even this $700 million investment would still not be enough to extend vital early learning services to all eligible children, but it would be a significant down payment toward that goal.
Whether one views this issue through an educational or an economic prism, it makes sense to get it right from the start. One of the most effective ways to improve educational and economic outcomes for all children—particularly disadvantaged children—is to provide high-quality early learning experiences that ensure a successful and seamless transition to elementary and secondary school, and beyond.
We often hear about the need to prepare our children for the knowledge economy and for life as accomplished adults and productive citizens. This is a noble priority, but it is no more than empty rhetoric unless we take the tangible steps we know will prepare kids—and that starts with early learning.


All week, we will be sharing (numbered) points from Seth Godin’s new education manifesto, Stop Stealing Dreams (what is school for?). You can download a free copy of the full 100-page manifesto at Squidoo.com.
100. Can anyone make music?
Ge Wang, a professor at Stanford and the creator of Smule, thinks so. The problem is that people have to get drunk in order to get over their fear enough to do karaoke.
Ge is dealing with this by making a series of apps for iPhones and other devices that make composing music not merely easy, but fearless.
He’s seen what happens when you take the pressure off and give people a fun way to create music (not play sheet music, which is a technical skill, but make music). “It’s like I tasted this great, wonderful food,” he says now, “and for some reason I’ve got this burning desire to say to other people: ‘If you tried this dish, I think you might really like it.’”
His take on music is dangerously close to the kind of dreaming I’m talking about. “It feels like we’re at a juncture where the future is maybe kind of in the past,” he says. “We can go back to a time where making music is really no big deal; it’s something everyone can do, and it’s fun.”
Who taught us that music was a big deal? That it was for a few? That it wasn’t fun?
It makes perfect sense that organized school would add rigor and structure and fear to the joy of making music. This is one more symptom of the very same problem: the thought that regimented music performers, in lockstep, ought to be the output of a school’s musical education program.
It’s essential that the school of the future teach music. The passion of seeing progress, the hard work of practice, the joy and fear of public performance—these are critical skills for our future.
It’s a mistake to be penny-wise and cut music programs, which are capable of delivering so much value. But it’s also a mistake to industrialize them.
As we’ve learned from Ben Zander (author and conductor), real music education involves teaching students how to hear and how to perform from the heart…not to conform to a rigorous process that ultimately leads to numbness, not love.
103. This is difficult to let go of
Those of us who have successfully navigated the industrial education system like it when people are well informed, when sentences are grammatically correct, and when our peers understand things like what electrons do and how the scientific method works.
Does the new economy demand that we give this up?
No. But applying ever more effort and rigor to ensure that every kid knows every fact is insane.
We’ve failed at that. We’ve failed miserably.
We set out to teach everyone everything, en masse, with embarrassingly bad results. All because we built the system on a foundation of compliance.
What if we gave up on our failed effort to teach facts? What if we put 80 percent of that effort into making huge progress in teaching every kid to care, to set goals, to engage, to speak intelligently, to plan, to make good decisions, and to lead?
If there’s one classroom of beaten-down kids who scored well on their PSATs due to drill and practice, and another class of motivated dreamers, engaged in projects they care about and addicted to learning on a regular basis, which class are you going to bet on?
If we can give kids the foundation to dream, they’ll figure out the grammar and the history the minute it helps them reach their goals and make a difference.


By Diana Townsend-Butterworth
The ability to read and write, to understand the subtleties of language, to think and reason clearly, and to communicate effectively with others is key to success in school and in life. Researchers have identified a window of time from birth to around age 8 as crucial for a child's development of literacy. Preschool teachers develop literacy by continually exposing children to oral and written language, and by building on prior knowledge and language experiences. Pictures, play, and the printed word combine with oral language to help your child understand the symbolic representation that underlies reading and writing. Her teacher will use a variety of fun, engaging strategies in the classroom to develop literacy:
Reading aloud: A small group of children cluster around their teacher in the reading corner, listening intently as she reads The Cat in the Hat. She holds up the book so they can see the illustrations and talk about them. The teacher asks questions about the story and the children make predictions about what will happen next. By actively participating in the story, preschoolers acquire skills that will promote future success in reading. They learn new vocabulary and gain an understanding of the way stories are structured. They also experience high-level thinking as they form connections between the story and what they know in life.
Poetry: Nursery rhymes, songs, and poetry are a key part of literacy development, says Bernice E. Cullinan, Ph.D., professor emerita at New York University and the author of more than 40 books on reading, including Read to Me — Raising Kids Who Love to Read. Listening to, and repeating, poetry is a wonderful way for children to learn phonemic awareness. That is the ability to notice and isolate the individual sounds, or phonemes, in words, like the "c" in cat or the "b" in bat — a key skill for future success in reading. Preschoolers first learn that speech is made up of sounds, syllables, and words indirectly from listening to stories, nursery rhymes, poetry, and conversations. They gain phonemic awareness, says Cullinan, by "playing with language" — by meowing like the cat in the story a teacher is reading, or making up nonsense rhymes. Rhyming games also help children think about sound and the structure of words.
Storytelling: Listening teaches story structure and helps children learn to predict outcomes, says Bill Gordh, an author, storyteller, and director of expressive arts at the Episcopal School in New York City. He finds children get caught up in the rhythm of his stories and understand them instinctively, without explanation. One advantage of storytelling (versus reading aloud from a book), according to Gordh, is that you can change the story depending on how the children respond. He believes children learn the meaning of the story by responding verbally and with physical gestures. When you tell a story, says Gordh, "it is just you and the children and language. The moment is unique. They have to remember the story because they can't go pick up a book and reread it."
The printed word: To understand how print works, preschoolers need to be surrounded by it — in books and magazines, in signs around the classroom, on bulletin boards, in labels on their clothes and possessions. They need to learn that written words correspond to spoken words, that words are composed of letters, and that sentences are made up of words with spaces between the words. They learn that in English we read from left to right and from the top to the bottom of the page. They are encouraged to incorporate the written word into their pretend play.
The alphabet: Alphabet books and puzzles help children learn the relationship between sounds and letters and give them practice recognizing and distinguishing letters.
Writing and invented spelling: Writing is a key part of early reading. Children learn to read by writing, says Cullinan. They practice using the symbols they associate with sounds as they write using "invented spelling." At preschool, your child will be encouraged to write captions for his pictures, to write stories about what he's drawn, and to tell stories based on his experiences and imaginations.
Dramatic play: Children exercise their imaginations, practice their communication skills, and learn the subtleties of spoken language in dramatic play and dress-up games.
Computers: A computer can be an important tool for children in learning to write. Because their small motor control is still developing, preschoolers often find it easier to find the letters they are looking for on the keyboard than to use a pencil to form them. The teacher will help them search for letters in the beginning and encourage them to read the words they are writing and then print them out.


Carmen Nazario, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reads to an early childhood class at P.S. 5 in New York City.
A new phrase that recently entered the national education lexicon is “the P-20 continuum” or the “P-20 pipeline.” The P stands variously for pre-natal or pre-kindergarten, and the 20 represents the age at which many young people are launched into the world of work. The thinking behind this phrase is important, right-headed and long overdue because it recognizes that the goal of education at all levels is to prepare young people for productive adulthood—and that the levels are intrinsically connected, starting with our youngest children. P-20 efforts are seeking to establish authentic linkages between and among the various levels of our education system (early childhood, elementary school, secondary school, college) and to help young people, as well as their parents, make successful transitions from one level to the next. In fact, studies of The Children’s Aid Society’s Zero to Five Programs have consistently shown that parents who participate in the program become leaders at their schools and are highly invested in their children’s education process.
This kind of “connect the dots” thinking is not new to community schools, and this issue of Partnership Press focuses on one set of critical linkages—that of early childhood to elementary education. We feature three approaches: the integration of a comprehensive Zero to Five program into the primary grades in two New York City community schools that are partnerships between The Children’s Aid Society and the New York City Department of Education; a national effort sponsored by the Coalition for Community Schools and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation that is demonstrating how to link early childhood systems to elementary education in three cities; and a brief profile from the St. Paul School, Centre de la Petit Enfance, in Quebec, Canada. The results from all of these efforts are promising and have caught the attention of policymakers at many levels. For example, Children’s Aid recently hosted a study visit to P.S. 5 (one of our community schools linking early childhood to elementary education) for several officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including Carmen Nazario, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families. The Early Childhood Challenge grants program represents a major new investment by the Obama Administration, which is recognizing the important connections between early care and education (ECE) and subsequent school success. In fact, the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services recently made a joint announcement about the launch of the program—a dramatic and unusual testament to the power of linkages across the developmental stages.
At Children’s Aid, we are aware of the work of some colleagues in other parts of the country who are inventing strategies to solidify the connections between early childhood and elementary education. We are grateful to Dr. Ed Zigler and his team at Yale University for their pioneering Schools of the 21st Century, a well designed and nationally replicated community schools model that exemplifies best practice. We would love to hear about other work on this important topic and urge you to contact us so that we can learn from your successes and innovations.


Mission Statement of the Preparatory Program
The goal of the Preparatory Program of the University of Miami is to develop your child’s individual interests and abilities in music from music appreciation to preparation for music conservatories.
Why Study Piano?
For years, arts advocates have argued that music education develops the concentration, coordination, and self-confidence necessary for children to excel in other facets of their lives. Recent studies support this claim. A 1989 study conducted using 282 second graders in Greenwood, Mississippi concluded that by the end of two semesters of piano study, children in the piano class scored an average of seven percentage points higher on Standard Achievement Tests as compared to those who did not study piano. The piano group demonstrated a greater ability to concentrate and showed marked improvement in coordination and self-confidence. This is only one proven example of what piano study can do for your child.
Can Children Learn Piano in Groups?
Group learning has long been recognized as one of the most efficient ways to teach children academic subject matter. A group environment has the added benefits of using positive peer pressure as an incentive to learn and the interaction between students that encourages and promotes understanding. These benefits are multiplied when studying piano. The opportunity to make music together with friends and classmates who share common goals and skills adds additional incentives for progress and success. In group lessons, the children participate in activities that are fun, thus instilling positive lifetime attitudes toward music and learning.


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non-systematic or no phonics instruction."
Go Phonics pdf file info sheets: Let it completely download. Then, SAVE AS A FILE to your desktop and then click on the file to open. Newer computers may show the pdf file from your web browser.
NOTE: Pdf files can be viewed and printed in Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or greater, click on the icon to download the program from adobe.com. Save the download to your desktop, then click on the icon to begin installation.


Education and health policies
Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools were first appointed for this purpose in 1839, and the first state-sponsored teacher-training scheme followed in 1846. The path to still greater state intervention was securely paved in the early Victorian period and led to the 1870 Education Act, which developed local board schools to fill up the gaps left by Church provision.
'... "the workhouse", an indelibly powerful symbol of degradation and shame ...'
Compulsory elementary education followed in 1881 and the opportunity for almost all children to receive free elementary education without payment of any fees was provided by 1891. Responsibility for state-supported education was transferred, as Arthur Balfour put it, to 'those great public assemblies, the borough councils and the county councils of the country' in 1902.
A distinctive pattern of government growth was apparent in other areas too. Spurred on by fear of cholera epidemics, and by powerful propaganda led by Edwin Chadwick, a Health of Towns Commission reported in 1844/45 and a Public Health Act was passed in 1848. This established a central Board of Health with some compulsory powers.
The device of a central Board with certain powers and local administration was pioneered in 1834, when the Poor Law Amendment Act replaced a discredited older system. The aims were to save ratepayers' money, and to discourage idleness in working people. The new Poor Law created, in 'the workhouse', an indelibly powerful symbol of degradation and shame that lasted until the final and unlamented dismantling of the Poor Law system in 1929.


More Ways to Help Wildlife
National Wildlife Federation offers a variety of educational opportunities to engage your students. Explore some of NWF’s other program and build learning about trees to your whole school or community.
For Pre-school – High School
Eco-Schools USA- An international initiative designed to encourage whole-school action for the environment. Eco-Schools USA helps schools achieve a smaller carbon footprint, smarter resource consumption, and a curriculum that improves students' academic performance.
Schoolyard Habitats– Creating outdoor learning classrooms and gardens provide an educational learning opportunity which uses all the senses, learning styles and provides practical application of learning principals.
Wildlife Watch – Observing our surroundings is one of the foundational skills we all use. Wildlife Watch takes the love of nature and combines it with observing wildlife and reporting your findings to increase tracking of wildlife in the US as part of citizen science program.
National Wildlife Week– Celebrate the 3rd week in March annually, National Wildlife Week provides teachers and educators with an arrary of thematic activities about wildlife, and what you can do to help them.
For adults and college age students or advisors
Campus Ecology– College Students and Young Adults participate in program to Green their campus and community and learn about Green Jobs in their future. By using practical application to knowledge students learn from participating in knowledge sharing and communicating their success and lessons learned to fellow colleagues across the US.
Certified Wildlife Habitat - Grow your love of trees to a love of nature and wildlife by taking four steps to creating a wildlife habitat in your backyard, neighborhood or other community sites.
Awarding Winning Publications
Ranger Rick - Ranger Rick has been an icon for over 40 years takes us on adventures and increasing our knowledge of wildlife and nature. Share the love of nature with someone you know or sponsor a classroom set of magazines. Help to continue the inspiration and love of nature in the next generation.


Types of Teachers
When you're thinking about pursuing a degree in education, you may want to consider what type of teacher you'd ultimately like to be once you graduate. Doing so will help you to choose the right types of courses. Whether elementary, high school, or special education, teachers are in great demand. By specializing early, you'll ensure that you have your pick of jobs once you graduate.
Preschool teachers can work for school districts, but they can also run private organizations. As a preschool teacher, you'll have a basic lesson plan that covers early learning. To be a preschool teacher, you should have a focus on early childhood education.
|Flexible curriculum||Very little time spent teaching|
|Kids stay with you for a few years (usually)||Most of time spent getting kids to clean up, get along together, etc.|
In an elementary setting, you'll be responsible for a class of students aged 5- 12 years old. You'll handle most of the curriculum they learn, meaning that you'll need a thorough knowledge of curriculum in all subject areas.
|Complete access to students||Many classrooms underfunded and overcrowded|
|The ability to thoroughly manage a curriculum and help those who need it||School administrators/ school board setting limitations on what curriculum can be taught|
High school teachers can choose to specialize in one or more subjects, and can teach a range of ages from 13-18 years of age. High school teachers may get the same students year after year until they graduate, which can have a reasonable impact on their knowledge of the subjects you teach. As a plus, you're dealing with more mature students (hopefully) at the elementary school level.
|Inricate knowledge of a few subjects||Less time interacting with the same students|
|Getting to know your students and making a difference in their education||Less chance to help those who need it|
Besides teaching in a public setting, many teachers choose to teach in private schools and institutions where they have access to better funding and a wider range of curriculum choices. Private schools can teach a few grades, or go all the way from K-12.
|Wider range of subjects to teach||Some curriculum limitations in religious-based schools|
|Better equipped schools||Pressure for students to get good grades so parents keep them enrolled|
There is always a high demand for teachers who help teach adults in continuing education. These classes may be on high school topics, university level, or may be outside of regular curriculum – such as teaching about using computers, etc.
|Teach a few/ many classes, depending on your schedule||Usually paid on a class-by-class basis|
|Can teach continuing education in addition to a regular teaching job||Job depends on enrollment|
Instructor / Professor
In time, you may have the experience to move into a teaching role at a college or university. As an instructor, you'll teach anywhere from a few students to a few hundred, and you'll likely have student teachers or teaching assistants to help you. Additionally, you may be able to get grants for studies you wish to do outside the classroom on whichever subjects you are proficient in.
|Great pay||Need a Master's or doctoral degree|
|Good hours||Takes many years of experience to be qualified|
|Freedom to teach how you want|
Schools Offering General Teaching Courses:
If quality is what you want then McCann is where you want to be.
- Early Childhood Education - Associate in Specialized Business
Further your education and strengthen your skill set at Rasmussen College
- Early Childhood Education Certificate
- Early Childhood Education Associate's - English Language Learner
- Early Childhood Education Associates - Child Development
- And more...
- B.S. in Education / Elementary Education
- BS in Education / Elementary Teacher Education
- BS in Education / Elementary Education/Science
- And more...
- Early Childhood Education
Keiser University offers degrees in fields that are in demand and provides job placement assistance to all its students and alumni.
- Elementary Education, BS


International Journal of Art & Design Education
Fly’s Eye View: Introducing Young Children to Digital Art through Virtual Reality
Volume 19.2 2000
SMITH, DAVID & COYLE, JANICE
This paper describes ‘Fly’s Eye View’, a project devised and directed by David Smith and supported by a grant from the UK Techniquest Pantechnicon Millennium Awards (intended to help bridge the gap in public perception between science and art). ‘Fly’s Eye View’ was specifically aimed at young children, aged 7–11 years (Key Stage Two of the UK National Curriculum). The project used a low-level VR fly-by system to represent a garden scene as it might be experienced by a dragonfly. The analogy between the mosaic visual ‘perception’ of insects and image representation in computer systems allowed some interesting explorations into what may be involved in ‘seeing’. This analogy was used as the starting point for a series of exploratory activities using digital art work. The paper reviews the out-comes of the project and discusses their possible significance in the context of current approaches to art education and the stimulation of creative thinking in young children.


ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Teacher Resources by Grade
|1st - 2nd||3rd - 4th|
|5th - 6th||7th - 8th|
|9th - 10th||11th - 12th|
Using American Sign Language to Improve Comprehension and Vocabulary
|Grades||1 – 3|
|Lesson Plan Type||Standard Lesson|
|Estimated Time||One 60-minute session (or two 30-minute sessions)|
Grades K – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
"2-4-6-8, students will be spelling great" in this lesson that teaches the y rule for adding suffixes through cheering the spelling of words aloud, word sorts, and writing stories.
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Unit
Students engage in a rich study of vocabulary words from the song “America the Beautiful,” using music and art.
Grades 5 – 12 | Calendar Activity |  June 27
In the spirit of Helen Keller, students explore the American Sign Language Browser from Michigan State University and try using a few signs.
Grades K – 12 | Professional Library | Position Statement
This position on Multimodal Literacies is a summary statement developed by the Multimodal Literacies Issue Management Team of the NCTE Executive Committee.
Grades K – 12 | Professional Library | Book
Nagy describes the three methods of vocabulary instruction that most effectively improve comprehension and the teaching methods that employ them.
Grades K – 6 | Professional Library | Journal
Using hand gestures is a great way to get students engaged in learning and more focused on reading comprehension strategies.


This course provides Education Support Staff, parents and classroom helpers with practical strategies that support learning for primary school students who are struggling with literacy. It gives you an understanding of the literacy methodologies used in classrooms.
- Effective evidence-based methodologies
- How children learn language and the importance of ‘Talk’
- Why children fail to learn to read
- Ways to help children with spelling difficulties
- How to learn to read effectively
- Specific strategies to support the development of comprehension
- Specific strategies to support the development of writing
- Multi-sensory approaches to literacy education
- Hands on, interactive and fun-learning experiences to support spelling, reading, writing and comprehension development
- Useful resources for literacy development
Delivery is over fifteen hours.
Dates and venues
2 days and 1 evening (Wednesdays)
12 February (9am – 3.30pm)
19 February (9am – 3.30pm)
26 February (5.30 – 8.30pm)
1 day and 3 evenings (Wednesdays)
5 March (9am – 3.30pm)
12 March (5.30 – 8.30pm)
19 March (5.30 – 8.30pm)
26 March (5.30 – 8.30pm)
Application form (pdf | doc)
There are no formal prerequisites for this course. However, you must possess a satisfactory level of spoken and written English.
Practical tasks will be identified during the course.
You will receive with a Certificate of Completion from the Faculty of Education, Monash University.
Ph: +61 3 9905 2700
Ph: +61 3 9905 2911
Fax: +61 3 9905 2621
Engagement and Partnerships Office
Faculty of Education
Building 6, Clayton campus
Level 2, Room 210
Victoria Australia 3800
“[The course] was very beneficial, especially to those who are new to working in the school environment.”
- Lidia Calleja
“This course has provided me with excellent literacy strategies that I can now implement in my work within the primary school. It is very beneficial to anyone working/intending on working in primary schools”
- Jessica Cremona
“Excellent. [The course] has provided me with excellent resources and strategies to try within the classroom. Loved the whole group discussions and sharing of ideas.”
- Anita Cochrane


The figures look so good, it’s no wonder that they’re trumpeted by the National Association for Music Education. “On the 2012 SAT,” the organization notes, “students who participated in music scored an average of 31 points above average in reading, 23 points above average in math, and 31 points above average in writing.”
A strong argument in favor of music education? Maybe not so much. As we point out regularly here, correlation and causation are very different things. Newly published research concludes those differences reflect the types of kids who decide to participate in music, rather than anything that occurs in the practice room.
Music students tend to be those “who are already more likely to outperform others on educational measures,” Kenneth Elpus of the University of Maryland reports in the Journal of Research in Music Education.
“On the 2012 SAT, students who participated in music scored an average of 31 points above average in reading.”
Once you remove factors such as socioeconomic status and prior academic achievement from the equation, he writes, “music students in the U.S. high school class of 2004 did not outperform non-music students on college entrance exams, or on standardized math tests.”
Elpus’ analysis is based on data from a longitudinal study of 13,530 American students who were high school sophomores in 2002. Transcript data from that group (the class of 2004) showed that 36 percent earned at least one course credit in music.
After controlling for various demographic factors, academic success in previous grades, and expressed attitudes toward school and learning (including whether they expected to earn a college degree), he found no significant difference between music students and others on either college entrance exams or standardized math tests.
Elpus concedes that his decision to consider students who have completed one music course as “music students” may not “separate ‘real’ music students from dilettantes, or those participating in a required music course.”
However, he also crunched the numbers for kids who took music courses throughout their four years in high school. He found that “even those students with sustained music enrollment did not outscore their non-music peers on standardized tests, once fixed effects, demographics, and prior academic achievement are taken into account.”
None of this contradicts the evidence that music lessons have a positive impact on the brains of young children. (For examples, see here, here, and here.) But it does suggest that arts-education advocates, placed in the awkward position of having to justify such courses on “practical” grounds, may be overstating their case when it comes to high schoolers.
“It may be time to question seriously, or even retire,” Elpus concludes, “the advocacy argument that implies music students are more academically successful on standardized tests than their non-music peers because of their enrollment in music.”
“A more candid appraisal of the current body of research literature might suggest that music is somehow attractive [to those] who are already more likely to perform well academically, and as such, may serve as an important artistic outlet with positive developmental benefits for those students who choose to study it.”


The Best Children's Books.org
These are lists of the best children's books selected by teachers and sorted by topic and reading level. The only titles that are included on these lists are award winning and highly rated books.
Guys Read is a web-based literacy program made to help boys find stuff they like to read. Get started by checking out recommendations from other GUYS READ visitors. Or go ask GUY what he thinks you might like to read.
The Lexile Framework for Reading
Parents can use the Lexile measure to help their reader find books and articles at an appropriate level of difficulty (visit Find a Book), and determine how well that readers will likely comprehend a text. You also can use Lexile measures to monitor a reader's growth over time.
Literacy Empowerment Action Plan of Western New York
Nonprofit organization with a variety of programs and assistance for school children, adults, and community groups such as literacy assessment, family literacy, remedial reading programs and more. The site includes both a program calendar and a list of online, interactive reading sites.
Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo & Erie County, Inc.
Organization committed to improving the lives of Erie County residents looking to improve basic reading and English-language skills. Use their web site to locate literacy facts, programs, events and more.
NoveList K-8 Plus is a comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction. It will help young readers answer the question of what to read next. For use at any library or from home with a valid Buffalo & Erie County Public Library card number.
- NoveList Plus. is a comprehensive readers' advisory resource for fiction and nonfiction. It will help you answer the question of what to read next. For use at any library or from home with a valid Buffalo & Erie County Public Library card number.
Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping struggling readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
Read to Succeed Buffalo
Web site for the coalition of local organizations (including the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library) working to improve literacy in Buffalo which includes a calendar of literacy events, suggested reading lists and more.
Washington Learning Systems
Download free activities for adults and young children that encourage early language and literacy development from birth through preschool. Materials are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically. To download materials, visit www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says "Free Parent Education Handouts."


|Undergraduate Course Details|
|Title||Language and Literacy Development|
This introductory course focuses on language and literacy development for children from preschool through elementary school. Emergent literacy skill, including oral language, phonemic awareness and concepts of print, will be explored. The processes involved in the reading and writing development of a first or second language learner, including vocabulary knowledge, word analysis, fluency and reading comprehension, will be emphasized. In addition, students will learn to use children?s literature, technology, and other materials in support of children?s reading and writing development. Three lecture hours per week. Required for all Education majors with Early Childhood and Elementary concentrations. Prerequisite: EDU 100 or EDU 105.


Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
Australia has a serious problem in low participation in higher education by students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Indigenous children from urban welfare dependent families, just like non-Indigenous children from similar welfare dependent backgrounds, have very low participation in higher education. The mainstream schools they attend - so called ‘sink’ schools - do not provide adequate primary and secondary education to enable these children to proceed to university.
Children from remote communities are even more disadvantaged because Indigenous schools in those communities fail to teach basic literacy and numeracy, let alone a full primary school curriculum. For these children, the chances of progressing to higher education are negligible.


Most children begin learning phonics by sounding out letters and learning what items represent that sound and that letter, i.e. A is for apple; A sounds like “aaaaaaaaaaaaaa”. Children begin learning phonics from parents, siblings, videos, and music at a very early age (2-4 years old) even before entering school.
Phonics and phonemic awareness are comingled when teaching children in this manner. Phonics involves the relationship between sounds and written symbols, whereas phonemic awareness involves sounds in spoken words. Therefore, phonics instruction focuses on teaching sound-spelling relationships and is associated with print. Most phonemic awareness tasks are oral.
Even though parents are the initial teachers, it will take a professional to instill all of the rules of phonics and to teach students decoding skills as they begin to read. Hiring a tutor with experience teaching early learners will ensure a student’s success as they begin elementary school. A professional tutor can also reinforce phonics for those students that were taught the Whole Language approach to reading and are still struggling in 2nd and 3rd grades. Hiring an Advanced Learners tutor is a guarantee that you will receive a professional tutor that can make a difference in a child’s ability to read.
High School Tutors
“High school isn’t what is used to be.” High school students are inundated with grades, sports, work, volunteering, activities, and sometimes a little old fashioned teenage fun. Most students tend to take on more than they can mentally and physically handle, but want to prove they can do it. When a high school student shows signs of struggling it is important to get them the help they need as soon as possible. If your high school student begins wondering where they left their books, complaining they don’t have enough time to study, exclaiming the teacher isn’t fair, begins to say they just don’t understand or it’s too complicated, it’s time. It’s time to call for help. A simple call to hire a tutor now can make all the difference later. A tutor well versed in working with high school students understands these students are juggling a lot and they have ways to help the student stay focused, organized, well-prepared, and achieve their academic goals. Call or email us to day and we will help you find the right tutor for your student
San Diego Tutors
San Diego’s emphasis on education is apparent in its notable support of the biotechnology research being conducted at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. The Census Bureau ranks San Diego as the 9th most educated city in the US with 40% of its population attaining a bachelor’s degree or higher. San Diego is home to some of the most coveted private schools, colleges and universities in America. San Diego hosts four school districts to cover the needs of all its public school students. These residents take their education very seriously and so do we! As a city with students of all ages, we have cultivated an elite group of tutors to help students with any subject necessary. Our highly customized service means that you determine exactly who your tutor will be, where the tutoring will take place, and for how long. Our reputation as a premium service is evident in the multitude of testimonials and referrals we have received from parents, students, and schools throughout the San Diego area.
View Some Of Our High School Phonics Tutor Profiles
Our Tutoring Service
We offer our clients choice when searching for a tutor, and we work with you all the way through the selection process. When you choose to work with one of our tutors, expect quality, professionalism, and experience. We will never offer you a tutor that is not qualified in the specific subject area you request. We will provide you with the degrees, credentials, and certifications each selected tutor holds so that you have the same confidence in them that we do. And for your peace of mind, we conduct a nation-wide criminal background check, sexual predator check and social security verification on every single tutor we offer you. We will find you the right tutor so that you can find success!


The First Tee National School Program introduces the game of golf and The First Tee Nine Core Values and Nine Healthy Habits to elementary students during physical education classes. Currently introduced to more than 6,000 elementary schools, this school golf program creates an environment where young people are introduced to the lifelong sport while learning the basic golf motor skills and the inherent values of the game.
Physical educators receive professional development training and are provided age-appropriate materials, junior golf lesson plans, and equipment for effective implementation into their existing physical education programs.
- Provide a complete golf program appropriate for today's elementary school physical education students and teachers
- Enable physical educators to introduce golf consistent with national standards developed by NASPE
- Develop student appreciation for the positive personal and social values associated with the game with each lesson
- Engage students in daily lesson activities that lead to motor skill development
- Present golf to students as a lifelong recreation and physical fitness activity


- Developing numeracy skills – Skip counting, number recognition and number patterns.
- Fine motor development – cutting, gluing and manipulating craft materials.
- Self-esteem – sense of achievement and pride.
Posted by November 9, 2011 1 Commenton
Octopus Counting is a fun and creative way to introduce numbers, learn to count, or for the older kids skip counting. I have done this activity with my kids before but thought I would do it again when Miss 5 who is interested in counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. I wanted to support her learning with a visual cue but make it fun too. Counting Octopus has a paper plate head and 8 wiggly streamer legs with numbers attached in sequence at the bottom. What you will need? You will need sticky tape, large round paper plate, and streamers cut into eight strips and download Printable Numbers for Counting Octopus. Miss 5 cut out the numbers and laid them out in order, counting by tens. She then used sticky tape to attach the numbers in order on the ends of the streamers. Good practise to re-order and sequence the numbers again. When all the numbers were attached to the bottom of the streamers, Miss 5 sticky taped them to the back of the paper plate. This was great for self-correction and checking the ordering of numbers again. Don’t forget to draw on a cute octopus face to finish off. Counting Octopus is promotes fun and learning by:


Constitution of Mexico
popularity : 100%
Article 2. Slavery is forbidden in the United Mexican States. Slaves who enter national territory from abroad shall, by this act alone, recover their freedom and enjoy the protection afforded by the laws.
Article 3.(1) The education imparted by the Federal State shall be designed to develop harmoniously all the faculties of the human being and shall foster in him at the same time a love of country and a consciousness of international solidarity, in independence and justice.
I. Freedom of religious beliefs being guaranteed by Article 24, the standard which shall guide such education shall be maintained entirely apart from any religious doctrine and, based on the results of scientific progress, shall strive against ignorance and its effects, servitudes, fanaticism, and prejudices. Moreover: a. It shall be democratic, considering democracy not only as a legal structure and a political regimen, but as a system of life founded on a constant economic, social, and cultural betterment of the people;
b. It shall be national insofar as – without hostility or exclusiveness – it shall achieve the understanding of our problems, the utilization of our resources, the defense of our political independence, the assurance of our economic independence, and the continuity and growth of our culture; and
c. It shall contribute to better human relationships, not only with the elements which it contributes toward strengthening and at the same time inculcating, together with respect for the dignity of the person and the integrity of the family, the conviction of the general interest of society, but also by the care which it devotes to the ideals of brotherhood and equality of rights of all men, avoiding privileges of race, creed, class, sex, or persons.
II. Private persons may engage in education of all kinds and grades. But as regards elementary, secondary, and normal education (and that of any kind or grade designed for laborers and farm workers) they must previously obtain, in every case, the express authorization of the public power. Such authorization may be refused or revoked by decisions against which there can be no judicial proceedings or recourse.
III. Private institutions devoted to education of the kinds and grades specified in the preceding section must be without exception in conformity with the provisions of sections I and II of the first paragraph of this article and must also be in harmony with official plans and programs.
IV. Religious corporations, ministers of religion, stock companies which exclusively or predominantly engage in educational activities, and associations or companies devoted to propagation of any religious creed shall not in any way participate in institutions giving elementary, secondary and normal education and education for laborers or field workers.
V. The State may in its discretion withdraw at any time the recognition of official validity of studies conducted in private institutions.
VI. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
VII. All education given by the State shall be free.
VIII. The Congress of the Union, with a view to unifying and coordinating education throughout the Republic, shall issue the necessary laws for dividing the social function of education among the Federation, the States and the Municipalities, for fixing the appropriate financial allocations for this public service and for establishing the penalties applicable to officials who do not comply with or enforce the pertinent provisions, as well as the penalties applicable to all those who infringe such provisions.
Article 24. Everyone is free to embrace the religion of his choice and to practice all ceremonies, devotions, or observances of his respective faith, either in places of public worship or at home, provided they do not constitute an offense punishable by law. Every religious act of public worship must be performed strictly inside places of public worship, which shall at all times be under governmental supervision.


Almost half of adults have maths skills below those needed for the lowest possible GCSE pass grade, a government survey suggests.
One in five adults were below the numeracy standard set for 11 year olds
The Department for Education and Skills blamed "decades of neglect" for figures showing millions of people lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills.
The survey found 47% of the adults in England - or 15 million people - had a lower level of mathematical knowledge than was needed to gain a grade G at GCSE.
Some 21% - or 6.8 million - were less numerate than the standard set for 11 year olds in national tests.
Meanwhile, 16% of adults had sub-GCSE literacy, with 5% failing to achieve the expertise required of 11 year olds.
Skills minister Ivan Lewis said: "I am determined to ensure that today's young people will no longer endure the decades of neglect in literacy and numeracy education which is reflected so starkly in this survey.
"Our recruitment of 50% more maths teachers in just four years and dedicated literacy and numeracy strategies in primary schools are already delivering significant improvements in maths attainment at secondary level."
The DfES said the number of adults with sub-GCSE literacy skills had fallen from 7 million to 5.2 million since 1997.
However, the earlier figure was based on an estimate.
Those adults lacking an 11 year old's accepted standard of numeracy had fallen just by just 200,000.
The DfES findings, based on a survey of 8,730 16 to 65 year olds in England, found a strong link between numeracy and literacy and higher wages.
Some 68% of full-time workers earning more than £20,000 a year had gained at least one GCSE at grade C or above.
Parents with poorer numeracy and literacy were also less confident when helping their children with school work, the DfES found.
The CBI estimates that poor skills cost the British economy £10bn a year.
Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis said: "Decades of neglect in British education are continuing under Labour.
"After six years in office, the government can no longer blame its discredited predecessor for the shocking lack in the nation's skills.
"The Government's obsession with misguided targets has resulted in minimum improvement at GCSE level."


As educators, we are in urgent need of a newly conceived language and literacy curriculum….We need rich visions of classroom possibilities, and that is just what Janet Evans and her colleagues offer in abundance.
Anne Haas Dyson, Michigan State University
When it comes to new and different literacies, children are ahead of the curve. Their daily engagement with popular culture and technology is changing the very nature of what it means to be literate and raising questions for teachers.
How are children shaped by these literacies and how do they shape the popular culture around them?
What's the best way to help young readers capitalize on their cultural and technological knowledge to make sense of the all the messages they take in?
Literacy Moves On tackles 21st century literacy, and demonstrates how you can bridge the gap between children's interests and your curriculum. With an emphasis on celebrating children's development of new and different literacies and their participation in the dynamic and rapidly changing world around them, Janet Evans and a group of internationally known literacy experts:
- examine and demystify some of the influences on contemporary literacy, including popular culture; new technologies; and critical literacy
- enhance your awareness of how these influences connect to the emergence of children's literacy abilities and the development of their critical literacy skills
- show, through special "Implications for Practice" sections, how you can link children's individual, out-of-school interests with the demands of your school's curriculum.
Popular culture and technology are second nature to kids—but not always to their teachers. Read Literacy Moves On and plug your established best-practice teaching into Digital-Age ideas of literacy development. You'll give students the skills they need to not only participate in their increasingly complex world, but to make personalized meaning in it.
Introduction: The Changing Nature of Literacy in the Twenty-First Century
I. "New" Literacies and Children's Ways of Using Them
II. Focusing on Texts with a Critical Eye: Critical Literacy in the Elementary School
- Multimodal Texts: What They Are and How Children Use Them, Eve Bearne
- Moving Stories: Digital Editing in the Nursery, Jackie Marsh
- Children Reading and Interpreting Stories in Print, Film, and Computer Games, Margaret Mackey
- The Dagger of Doom and the Mighty Handbag: Exploring Identity in Children's On-Screen Writing, Guy Merchant
III. Bridging the Gap Between Children's Personal Interests and Teachers' School-Based Curriculum Demands
- Creating Opportunities for Critical Literacy with Young Children: Using Everyday Issues and Everyday Text, Vivian Vasquez
- Beanie Babies: An Opportunity to Promote Literacy Development or a Money-Spinner for the Business Tycoons?, Janet Evans
- Children Reread and Rewrite Their Neighborhood: Critical Literacies and Identity Work, Barbara Comber & Helen Nixon
- Curiosity Kits: Linking Reading and Play in the Middle Years, Ros Fisher
- Writing About Heroes and Villains: Fusing Children's Knowledge About Fantasy Texts with School-Based Literacy Requirements, Elaine Millard
- Getting It Right for Children: Making Meaningful Connections Between Culture, Community, and School, Dominic Scott
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Music grants are available in many forms to many different groups or individuals and from many different funding organizations. The type of grant to apply for depends upon how the funding will be used as well as who the funding is for. The best way to determine what types of music grants to apply for is to conduct research either online or at a library.
Grants for music funding can come from many different funding organizations. Arts councils, business and community development organizations, and charitable arts trusts are common sources. Creative development agencies and the federal government are also types of organizations that may fund different music projects. Some music grants may be available only in certain locations.
One of the specific types of music grants is a grant for groups. This can include community education programs or schools and may cover costs such as teaching wages or travel expenses. The Arts in Education program, for example, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education, is a federal grant program that schools can utilize for funding. Musical productions are also projects that may request grant funding. This could be a community theater or school production, and funding can be used for things like costumes, props, or wages for the director.
Music lessons may also be subjects of grants. These grants can be for individuals or groups and can range from instrument to voice lessons. These types of grants are often awarded to people who have musical talent but do not have the financial means to get formal training. A video or showcase of the individual or group's talent may be part of the grant application process. In addition, grants may cover the cost of music supplies or instruments for people who can't afford them.
Music education is another area that may be funded through grants. For example, someone who wishes to major in music but cannot afford the college tuition may apply for a grant to help cover the costs. Some of the different types of jobs that music majors may pursue could include teaching, composing, or working in radio or television or with a record company. More recent opportunities have become available in computer or Internet music or developing music software. Music grants are available to more than just musicians.
Teaching is another area where music grants can be helpful. These types of music grants may help fund a musical artist-in-residence for a school. Musicians themselves may also receive grants, which can cover costs such as living expenses while the musician is performing, practicing, or researching.
One of the largest grant providers is the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency in the United States. This organization generally provides music grants to groups or ensembles, such as jazz, chamber music, and performing ensembles. It also may offer funding for music festivals, symphony orchestras, or choruses. In addition, this organization, among others, may provide funding to preserve music.
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This exhibition presents works by the 112 children aged six to twelve who participated in the educational program Learning Through Art in the academic year 2011–12. Taught by artists Elssie Ansareo, Naia del Castillo, Ibon Garagarza, Maider López, Manu Muniategiandikoetxea, and Jorge Rubio, the program reinforces the primary school curriculum through the use of art as an educational tool.
Classroom teachers identify educational goals and skills to be incorporated into lessons with the Museum’s artists and educators in order to devise a series of workshops. Every program is unique, designed to meet each participant’s needs, and fosters the students’ interests and skills.
Talking openly about art and the creative process helps students to explore a variety of topics in a more creative, personal way. Employing different disciplines, such as photography, painting, sculpture, video, performance, and movement, the program breaks down barriers between curricular disciplines and encourages participants to look at the world from freer and more imaginative perspectives. So art becomes a tool to discover, explore and understand reality, emphasizing the value of individual expression and creative freedom.
To celebrate the Museum’s 15th Anniversary, the children from the six participating schools have created a commemorative or celebratory work of art entitled Zorionak, Museoa!! (“Congratulations, Museum!!”).


Money Savvy Kids
Could UK youngsters be the silver lining to the nation’s recession cloud?
New research from TK Maxx reveals that the failing economy has actually helped parents nurture a new generation of highly savvy, money conscious young shoppers. The research saw parents of primary school children surveyed and discovered that many money-conscious children now hold their own purse strings when it comes to shopping. Over half (51 per cent) spend, on average, around £365 a year on clothes alone.
But far from thoughtlessly splashing their cash, nearly two thirds (60 per cent) of 5-11 year olds meticulously save up their pocket money and cash received from relatives for Christmas and birthdays, stocking up their piggy banks so they can support their personal purchases.
Born out of the recession these children have grown up with an eye for a deal, using knowledge and financial know-how garnered from their parents to ensure they spend their money wisely.
Most Mums and Dads (71 per cent) believe they have an obligation to the younger generation and the future economy to instil these values in their offspring.
It’s therefore no surprise 60 per cent of parents agree their kids have a greater awareness of money than they did when they were young, with over half (55 per cent) boasting that their children are exceptional bargain hunters.
According to the TK Maxx Young Shoppers study these good money morals are being put into practice by UK kids, as follows:
- More than one in two (55 per cent) 5-11 year olds know how to spot a deal.
- Over two-thirds (68 per cent) of children carefully check the price on labels before making a decision
- Over half of primary school kids (52 per cent) go as far as adding up the cost of their shopping trip
- 43 per cent of kids replace items with something cheaper if they go over budget
In response, kids are enjoying a newfound responsibility, independence and opportunity to shape their own style with a quarter (25 per cent) as young as five being the key decision maker when buying their clothes.
Many parents (84 percent) use shopping trips as an opportunity to teach their children basic numeracy skills, asking them to add up and subtract the cost of their purchases and work out discounts.
They also try to instil appreciation and good spending habits in their young ones by:
- Communicating that some item(s) are too expensive (82 per cent)
- Teaching their kids to appreciate what they’ve been bought by saying ‘thank you’ (70 per cent)
- Telling them the price of items before buying them (64 per cent)
- Ensuring their kids earn their purchases through carrying out chores (36 per cent)
- Limiting their child to a number of items per shopping trip (27 per cent)
A TK Maxx spokesperson, said: "It’s interesting that no matter what age we are, as a nation we have developed a far more sophisticated and savvy approach to shopping. Not only are the younger generation confident in establishing their own style, the research also shows they have a role in helping shape our future economy whilst learning how to save and manage their money from an early age.”
In a live experiment conducted at a TK Maxx store, a group of children were each given £30 vouchers to spend in-store on clothing and accessories. The results showed the children repeatedly seeking out the best and most attractive fashion deals to ensure they got more bang for their buck.
Mrs Moneypenny, presenter of Channel 4’s SuperScrimpers, who hosted the experiment said, “Given the current economic climate it is refreshing to see that parents are instilling such good money values in their children, from as early as five years old. The tactics used to teach kids bargain hunting techniques makes learning and shopping fun whilst ensuring they get more for their money, making any budget go a long way.”
Mrs Moneypenny’s top tips for money-savvy kids:
- Financial education should begin as soon as a child can count so before they even start school. It is never too early; teach them to recognise coins and ask for the price of things. Playing shop is an excellent way of doing this.
- Saving is a vital skill to learn. Deferred gratification – saving up for something rather than buying it on credit – is the single most useful skill parents can teach their children. Open a savings account with a physical book to encourage them to watch it grow.
- Paying children for tasks is a good way to teach them the value of money.
- Saying ‘thank you’ is something which everyone needs to learn. At every age
Do you have money savvy kids? Do you use shopping as an opportunity to teach your children numeracy skills? Let us know by leaving a comment below.


Importance of Literacy
By: Lori Furgerson
“Students who are not reading at grade level by the end of first grade have a 1 in 8 chance of ever catching up”. (Juel, 1988, 1994).
This is a shocking statement and one that I really want you to reread to yourself. This shows how important it is that students are where they need to be by the end of first grade. If they aren’t, it takes a lot of extra time and money to get them where they need to be. Unfortunately, being in teaching for as many years as I have been, I have seen that this is true first hand. When I see children who are in 4th grade that are struggling with reading and I go back to their kindergarten data, it shows they were low then as well.
If a child doesn’t learn to read, it affects all of us. Illiteracy has a negative effect on the quality of life that individual has. They will only be able to get lower wage jobs and their access to important information regarding health, safety and general well-being is limited. An astonishing fact is that the state of Texas budgets for how many prisons they will need to build in the future based on the state reading assessments of 3rd graders. This shows the direct correlation between not learning to read and the future for these children.
The great news is that reading failure is preventable. Research has identified that there are seven key factors that influence reading development regardless of a child’s socioeconomic level. They are:
1. Development of phonemic awareness and of the alphabet principle.
2. The ability to decode words.
3. Automaticity with enough words.
4. Acquisition of vocabulary and the application of reading comprehension strategies.
5. Extensive reading of narrative and expository text.
6. Maintaining the motivation to learn.
7. Adequate teacher preparation and materials.
We as teachers need to make sure children in our class are getting the instruction they need. Teachers need to be aware of where their students are academically and it is the teacher’s job to get them where they need to be. Unfortunately, we can’t control what happens when they are not with us but we can control the six to eight hours they are with us.
Stay tuned for more ways we can guarantee the children placed in your classroom receive the instruction they need to be successful in life! You may be their only hope!
Lori Furgerson is a national literacy consultant who has provided technical assistance to school sites and professional development to teachers across the country. She taught for 16 years in three under performing schools with great success. She has been a reading intervention teacher, as well as State Implementation Advisor to the state of Hawaii. Skillful use of a variety of core reading and intervention programs has allowed Lori to professionally shape leadership at the state, district, and local levels while increasing their instructional ability to successfully execute effective instruction. She works with teachers daily as an instructional coach and has a true passion for seeing them succeed and become the best they can be.


This is a guest blog post from Marc Sirkin, Autism Speaks VP Social Marketing and Online Fundraising.
I first found out about David Chesney's software engineering class at dinner with Donald Brinkman from Microsoft. We were talking about different ways technology is impacting autism, and introduced us via e-mail. I was intrigued by the idea of students spending an entire semester, hacking and developing games for autism therapies using Microsoft Kinect devices. As a geek, this was just too good to be true!
As it turns out, students in EECS481 Software Engineering class worked hard all semester to develop games for kids with autism spectrum disorder in cooperation with Dr. Jackie Kaufman and Mr. Joe Kryza from Mott Children's Hospital.
Chesney and his class started with 15 "pitches" and narrowed the class down into teams, each focused on a stand-alone game. They worked closely with Mott Children's Hospital and autism experts to identify therapeutic benefits like gross motor skills, facial recognition skills, communications and language skills, tools for caregivers and even analytics. Most importantly they "play-tested" each game at various times with children and people on the spectrum and got real time feedback on what was fun, what worked and what needed improvement.
I had a front row seat as the students demo'd games like "Tickle Monster", a game that allows players to quickly recognize facial expressions. There was a "Flying Objects" game designed to help players improve gross motor skills and recognize facial expressions while playing a fast moving and exciting game.
"Hide & Seek" was designed for facial recognition as well as memory, concentration and recognizing positive and negative emotions. The player assumes the role of the "seeker" and walks through a randomly generated 3D "map" to get clues and to find what they are looking for.
"Path" is a game focused on motor skill development and allows players to follow an on-screen "path" with their hands, legs, and head. The game allows for caregivers to adjust the complexity of the "path" and is designed to be used in both the home and in therapy.
The platform team integrated all the games into one, seamless "main menu" that allowed for players to view their stats, earn rewards and badges and was the interface for the analytics and data generated by game players. The team felt that a rewards mechanism was critical to engaging people on the spectrum to provide motivation and to bring together all the various achievements earned by playing the different games.
There was a lot about the day that really blew me away - in particular the overall collaboration and the smart way they approached building useful games for different targeted therapies. Over time, I hope to see these games fleshed out even further and to perhaps even see them become commercialized and available on the XBox/Kinect platforms and into the hands of game players looking for fun, and therapies to help them manage some parts of their autism.
To learn more about autism and technology, get connected to "Hacking Autism" www.hackingautism.org.


History as Art, Art as History
Contemporary Art and Social Studies Education
Routledge – 2010 – 272 pages
Series: Teaching/Learning Social Justice
History as Art, Art as History pioneers methods for using contemporary works of art in the social studies and art classroom to enhance an understanding of visual culture and history. The fully-illustrated interdisciplinary teaching toolkit provides an invaluable pedagogical resource—complete with theoretical background and practical suggestions for teaching U.S. history topics through close readings of both primary sources and provocative works of contemporary art.
History as Art, Art as History is an experientially grounded, practically minded pedagogical investigation meant to push teachers and students to think critically without sacrificing their ability to succeed in a standards-driven educational climate. Amid the educational debate surrounding rigid, unimaginative tests, classroom scripts, and bureaucratic mandates, this innovative book insists on an alternate set of educational priorities that promotes engagement with creative and critical thinking.
This sophisticated yet accessible textbook is a must-read resource for any teacher looking to draw upon visual and historical texts in their teaching and to develop innovative curriculum and meaningful student engagement.
"History as Art, Art as History is a powerful and provocative response to schooling that severs the arts and humanities from the social studies and that cuts both from the academic mainstay. It aims to inspire and empower teachers to make intellectually rich classroom connections between contemporary visual arts and history education in a way that strengthens learning in both domains."--Teachers College Record
Winner of the 2010 AERA Division B Outstanding Contribution Award
Part I: Reframing History and Art
1. Introduction, Dipti Desai, Jessica Hamlin, and Rachel Mattson
2. Using Visual Historical Methods in K-12 Classroom: Tactical Heuristics, Rachel Mattson
3. Curriculum as a Creative Process: An Interview with Artist-Educator Thi Bui, Dipti Desai
4. Artists in the Realm of Historical Methods: The Sound, Smell, and Taste of History, Dipti Desai and Jessica Hamlin
5. "Committing History in Public": Lessons from Artists Working in the Public Realm, Jessica Hamlin and Dipti Desai
Part II: Investigating History and Art: A Teaching Toolkit
6. Introduction to the Teaching Toolkits: Visual Approaches to Teaching about History
7. Foundations of Citizenship
Section 1: The Constitution and U.S. Government
Section 2: Japanese Incarceration
8. Constructing Race
Section 1: Slavery and Abolition
Section 2: Immigration
9. The United States and the World
Section 1: Westward Expansion
Section 2: The U.S. War in Vietnam
Dipti Desai is Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Art Education Program, Department of Art and Art Professions, at New York University.
Jessica Hamlin is the Director of Education and Public Programs for the non-profit organization Art21, Inc.
Rachel Mattson is a historian, a teacher educator, and an Assistant Professor, Department of Secondary Education, at SUNY New Paltz.


This is how the Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela described the astonishing small group of Finnish women painters of the late nineteenth century: "mamselles" dabbling with paints. He most likely felt threatened.
This small group of "dabbling women" came from the Swedish-speaking upper classes of the era. That young women of their social class were expected to get some skills in drawing and painting accidentally prepared them for later art education. Several of them managed to study in Paris; few, if any, managed to make a living out of painting and many of them ended their careers prematurely. But to this day such names as Helene Schjerfbeck, Maria Wiik, Ellen Thesleff and Fanny Churberg are well-known in the history of Finnish art.
I did not write the above paragraph with the intention of summarizing the historical situation of women in arts but perhaps managed to do it anyway.
Note the need to have access to training: Traditionally this was only available for some daughters of painters and some women of the upper classes. Note the usual difficulties of women trying to enter the traditionally male public sector: Women in the nineteenth century could get an art education, but they had more difficulty than men: not all schools accepted women, single women traveling abroad alone were suspect and nude models were not deemed appropriate for women. Some of the Finnish female painters got government grants for their studies in Paris, though usually for a shorter length of time than the awards for male painters. There was support for women working in art but the market did not reward them sufficiently, and the traditional female role expectations weighed on them and their work heavily.
Fanny Churberg offers a good example of all this:
Fanny Churberg (12 December 1845 Vaasa - 10 May 1892 Helsinki) was a Finnish painter and one of the great masters of her time.Churberg belongs to the Dusseldorf school. She is best known for her landscape paintings:
Her father, Matias Churberg, was a doctor from a family of farmers and her mother Maria was the daughter of the vicar in Liperi parish, Nils Johan Perander.
When Fanny was twelve her mother died and she had to take on large parts of the responsibility of being the matron of the house. Later on she got sent to a girls' school in Porvoo, but she returned to Vaasa when she was 17–18 years old. When she was 20 her father died. Fanny cared for him day and night during the last months of his life. After her father's death she and her brothers moved to Helsinki where they lived with their aunt.
Fanny Churberg's career ended suddenly in 1880. Her health was weaker and she took care of her brother Torsten who was suffering from tuberculosis. Torsten's death in 1882 made her quite lonely and her will to live lessened as did her energy. The other brother Waldemar, who she used to be very close to, had married in 1877. The reason for ending her career might also have been the harsh criticism she had met before, but she never withdrew completely from the art circles.
In the 1870s Churberg's work was regarded as harsh and hard. She was criticized for the power and tension evident in her paintings, for being too experimental. Later these very same characteristics created the basis for the acclaim her work has received.
What made me pick Churberg as the first of the "mamselles" to cover are her views on the "woman question" of her era. On the one hand she was an adamant feminist. On the other hand she has been quoted as stating that if the "woman question" did not advance to a suitable solution then women could blame only themselves and keep curtsying forevermore. The same tension as shown in her art?
The posts in this series (this being the first) were provoked by a 1981 book I bought at a library sale in Finland, called Taitelijattaria. Malarinnor. The goal is to apply the particular to shed light on the general, in this case on the obstacles of women entering a new field of endeavors.