Drawing On Science For Kids
All living things use energy. Early man most certainly realized that energy (he may not have had a word for "energy") was something important. Perhaps it was fire …. the heat it produced … that kept him warm and made his food taste a bit better. Maybe it was the club he used to bring an animal down. Perhaps he realized that the higher he held his club the more damage it did when he brought it down. If it weren't for our understanding of energy our lives would be much different today. So what exactly is energy all about?
Energy is the ability or capacity to do work as the result of a change in matter. The change can be physical. Think of the club of early man. It may be chemical. Think of what happens when you strike a match. There are many forms of energy. Let's take a look at them and an example for each.
Heat energy: burning wood Light energy: the sun's rays Mechanical energy: a motor Sound energy: a lion's roar Magnetic energy: horseshoe magnet Electrical energy: powers your TV Chemical energy: storage battery Atomic energy: combining or
Energy can be classified depending on whether it is inactive or active. Potential energy is energy that is stored. It is not yet being used so it is inactive. When a pitcher brings his arm back ready to throw the ball it has potential energy. Kinetic energy is active energy or energy of motion. When the pitcher moves his arm forward releasing the ball, the ball is in motion and has kinetic energy. Depending upon the pitcher's ability, the potential energy and resulting kinetic energy of the ball will vary. A strong-armed pitcher will, of course, store more potential energy in the ball and result in a higher kinetic energy than a weaker-armed pitcher.
So you see that potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy. The reverse is true also. Imagine yourself on a swing. At the forward high point you have potential energy. As you swing downward your potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. When you reach the backward high point your kinetic energy has been converted back into potential energy. Again, as you swing downward your potential energy is converted back into kinetic energy. Of course, if you don't do anything to your swinging, in time your potential energy decreases and so does your kinetic energy.
Scientists soon discovered that energy is governed by physical/chemical limitations. This is known as the Law of Conservation of Energy. The law states that under ordinary conditions, energy can neither be destroyed nor created. Energy can only be converted from one form into another. For example, moving water is used to turn a turbine to produce electricity that is directed to your house. You switch on a lamp and your radio in your room to do your homework. The moving water is kinetic energy, which is converted into mechanical energy to turn the turbine. The rotating turbine produces electrical energy, which you convert into light energy when you switch on your lamp. The light energy is converted into heat energy and the radio produces sound energy as a result of its use of electrical energy. The light energy from your lamp is converted to chemical energy by the plant on your desk to make its own food. Questions/comments? E-mail Steve: Drawingonscience @aol.com


Art is, IMHO an outstanding vehicle for building bridges of understanding
and awareness of the diversity of our world. It is a "universal language".
Take advantage of the opportunites!!! :)
>I believe a good, solid art education (design principles and elements,etc) is
>being sacrificed by an emphasis on art education within
>multiculturalism......at least we had to go this route in our school district
>in order to keep art iinstruction in K-6 education. It was go via
>multicultural art or little support for the visual arts at all.
One can start with what we know best, then choose one new culture and it's
art in context, build lessons on both the Elements and Principals of
Design, and compare and contrast the way people express their world. For
example, my third graders just watched a video about the Daimyo warrior
society of Japan and discussed the similarities and differences between
themselves and the people and their artforms they saw in the video. (I
teach in a school that is 98% Navajo). The Japanese have clan symbols on
their Kimonos, and all Navajos have a clan. So, the students homework was
to know thier own heritage or clan. The next week we made origami hats
similar to Samurai warriors. These were decorated with a circular symbol
for the child's clan.... one of my favorites this year was one for the
"bitterwater clan" a child drew and colored a chile in a glass of water.
Back at their classrooms they made clan tshirts with fabric paint, which
they wore as part of the traditional Native American Awareness week we
Diane Gregory wrote:
>I know this is a sensitive topic and I would appreciate a thoughful,
>>non-threatening,sensitive discussion by everyone who responds.
This post was well presented and I hope to hear more from others!
Christine Merriam, Art Specialist
Kayenta Intermediate School


The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.
Caldecott medals are awarded for the best illustrations in children’s books. This year’s winner is ‘Locomotive’ written and illustrated by Brian Floca. Filled with colorful illustrations, it’s the story of a cross country trip by train when trains still said ‘choo-choo.’ http://tinyurl.com/lco94h5
Do you want to learn a foreign language? Print, CDs and eAudio available at your library.
Reading aloud to children is vital because it helps them acquire the information and skills they need in life:
- Knowledge of printed letters and words, and the relationship between sound and print.
- The meaning of words.
- How books work, and a variety of writing styles.
- The world in which they live.
- The difference between written language and everyday conversation.
- The pleasure of reading.
Reading to young children promotes language acquisition and literacy development and, later on, achievement in reading comprehension and overall success in school.
The percentage of young children read aloud to daily by a family member is one indicator of how well young children are prepared for school.
February is Black History Month. For books on the subject go to our online catalog.


Teaching English Language Learners:Are you looking for a methods book to facilitate literacy and academic development in your K-12 classroom? Building on a solid foundation in language acquisition and learning theory, this book will show you how to examine your own practice and design lessons that consider the individual needs of English language learners and accelerate their achievement. This book is designed to help your students develop proficiency in both everyday and academic English while developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. It also serves as a great guide for promoting high-level, high-quality, and high-expectation instruction with respect to language, literacy development, and academic achievement for all of your students. FEATURES: Constructed from a strong research base, each chapter highlights specific research topics to provide you with practical ideas in applying this research to your own practices. Accessing Prior Knowledge Activities allow you to engage your own background knowledge in visualizing, brainstorming, previewing, reflecting, and observing to help you get the most from each chapter. Spotlight on Instruction features visit classrooms of effective teachers of English language learners providing an authentic context as you learn. Application to Practice case studies build upon one another from chapter to chapter illustrating how to apply this growing wealth of strategies in your own classroom. Teacher Tools in the back of this book provide a collection of reproducibles for use in your classroom, including planning tools, writing assignments, and self reflection tools.


To learn more about child development and reading, consider these modules from The Open University
For those on low incomes financial assistance may be available for Open University courses. Visit our financial support section to find out more.
How can you improve a child’s confidence? What do children need to develop their self-esteem? How can being consistent, open and honest help support their personal growth? This introductory course follows a family and asks you to consider the choices and rights of the children as they grow up.
How much influence does personality have on the actions we take and beliefs we hold? How does personality work together with the world around us to shape our behaviour? How do other people affect our behaviour? What goes on in the brain when we use language or attend to the world around us? This course will introduce you to the different ways in which psychologists investigate these and other questions, and will show you how psychological research addresses real-life issues.
This course shows how psychological enquiry can help us to improve our understanding of the development of children and young people. It’s organised in four parts: Psychological development and early childhood, Children’s personal and social development, Cognitive and language development in children and Developmental psychology in action. This course will be attractive to anyone with an interest in (and concern for) children’s development, including those who work with children and who want to learn more about contemporary theories and research in this area.
This course provides a broad introduction to the vibrant and growing field of children’s literature studies. You will study children’s literature in English ranging from its beginnings in eighteenth-century chapbooks and fairy tales, through seminal nineteenth-century novels, to contemporary examples of fiction illustrating current trends. The course also includes the study of picture books old and new, stage performance and film, storytelling and poetry. You will learn about the distinctiveness and purposes of children’s literature, its prestigious and popular modes and its different representations of children’s worlds.
Understanding children's development and learning
This is a postgraduate course, designed for teachers, psychologists and those involved with children who are interested in up-to-date information and theory. It explains how theoretical and methodological frameworks contribute to understanding developmental change and how psychological research can inform educational and clinical practice. Block 3 focuses on learning disabilities including dyslexia.
Difficulties in Literacy Development
This postgraduate course will serve teachers and other professionals in mainstream and special schools, colleges and other educational settings. It aims to raise the standard of all students’ literacy levels and increase awareness of the barriers to learning some students face. You’ll explore and reflect on appropriate curriculum responses to the needs of children, and wider issues relevant to adults who experience difficulty in literacy development.


December 17, 2004
Literacy on the Rise: Full Day Kindergarten Works
(Santa Fe, NM)--The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) has the results from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment that was administered three times, fall, winter and spring, during the '03-'04 school year to a majority of New Mexico's Kindergarten students. The DIBELS measures provide educators with powerful data that identifies students that have met established benchmarks for reading success and students that are at "some risk" or seriously "at risk" for reading difficulties.
Secretary Veronica C. García said, “The data clearly indicates that full day kindergarten is working. We are preparing our students for a lifelong commitment to reading. The results tell us that even the most disadvantaged children can overcome the barriers to reading with consistent support from their teachers in an all day kindergarten program. ”
§ Some risk/emerging: These students have not yet reached the benchmark goal on DIBELS measures and are likely to need additional instructional support.
§ Low risk/Established: These students are making adequate progress and are benefiting from the current instructional program. They have met or exceeded the established benchmark on DIBELS measure.
Beginning school year 2003-2004, the DIBELS replaced
the State Transitional Reading Test as the Full-Day Kindergarten Program
assessment instrument. The DIBELS are reliable and valid indicators
of early literacy development and predictive of later reading proficiency.
The DIBELS assessment helps educators identify early students who
are not progressing as expected.
§ 38% of students entered full-day kindergarten in the fall of 2003 meeting the required Letter Naming Fluency benchmark for reading success. By the end of kindergarten, the percent increased to 55%, indicating that 55% of full-day kindergarten students in New Mexico are likely to become successful readers.
§ Phoneme Segmentation Fluency is a measure of phonemic awareness and the data indicated that 48 % of full-day kindergarten students met the winter benchmark. By spring, the percent had increased to 59%.
§ Nonsense Word Fluency is a measure of phonics skills. 51% of full day kindergarten students met the winter benchmark for NWF, by spring, 58% of students in New Mexico were on track for reading success as indicated by this measure.
Secretary Veronica C. García said, “New Mexico’s goal is for 100% of the students to reach the established benchmarks to become proficient readers by the end of third grade. These baseline data will provide the starting point to demonstrate student growth in full-day kindergarten programs from year to year using a measure that gives powerful data predictive of reading success for each student.”


This study investigated modes of communication adopted by six student jazz musicians during rehearsal and performance. Six one-hour rehearsal sessions and a performance were observed and videotaped for analysis. Results revealed six modes of communication that formed two main categories, verbal and non-verbal, each containing three distinct modes of communication: instruction, cooperation and collaboration. Non-verbal collaborative mode displayed empathetic attunement, which is a vehicle for empathetic creativity. Empathetic creativity is a theoretical concept proposed by the author based on the concept of empathetic intelligence (Arnold, 2003, 2004). Practical applications of empathetic creativity are discussed with reference to music education, focusing on evaluation of individual contribution to group creative performances.


Child Welfare Programmes
|S.No.||Child Welfare Programmes ||Year of Beginning||Objectives/Description
|1||Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)||1975||It is aimed at enhancing the health, nutrition and learning opportunities of infants, young children (O-6 years) and their mothers.
|2||Creche Scheme for the children of working mothers||2006||Overall development of children, childhood protection, complete immunisation, awareness generation among parents on malnutrition, health and education.|
|3||Reproductive and Child Health Programme||1951||To provide quality Integrated and sustainable Primary Health Care services to the women in the reproductive age group and young children and special focus on family planning and Immunisation.|
|4|| Pulse Polio Immunization Programme
||1995||To eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against polio virus.|
|5||Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan||2001||All children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School, ' Back-to-School' camp by 2003; all children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007 ; all children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010 ; focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life ; bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010 ; universal retention by 2010|
|6||Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya||2004||To ensure access and quality education to the girls of disadvantaged groups of society by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level.|
|7||Mid-day meal Scheme||1995||
Improving the nutritional status of children in classes I – VIII in Government, Local Body and Government aided schools, and EGS and AIE centres.Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.
|8||Integrated programme for Street Children||1993||Provisions for shelter, nutrition, health care, sanitation and hygiene, safe drinking water, education and recreational facilities and protection against abuse and exploitation to destitute and neglected street children.
|9||The National Rural Health Mission||2005||Reduction in child and maternal mortality, universal access to public services for food and nutrition , sanitation and hygiene and universal access to public health care services with emphasis on services addressing women's and children's health universal immunization, etc.|


In 2009, the U.S. Census asked individuals for the first time about both their pay and undergraduate major. Then, researchers at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. collected and analyzed this pay and degree data and drew conclusions about earnings and correlations to race and gender.
According to the AP
story, “New Study Tells Students the Worth of Their Majors
,” the Georgetown study included 171 majors in 15 fields and found that white men are the most likely to pursue the highest-earning majors, like engineering and pharmaceutical sciences, while women choose low-earning majors like education, art and social work.
While PayScale’s analyses do not focus race, we do know that certain majors are most likely to be lucrative and that women, on the whole, choose less lucrative fields of study and earn less than men, even with a similar degree.
For example, the median mid-career pay for petroleum engineers is $157,000 per year according to PayScale’s 2010 College Salary Report
. By comparison, elementary education majors will likely be earning around $44,400 per year. That means that the engineers are earning 3.5 times more than the education majors, after 15 years in their careers.
And, 80 percent of chemical engineering
majors are men, while 94 percent of elementary education
majors are women. Plus, among chemical engineering majors, men earn more than women overall. This discrepancy could be from more years of experience, a higher level of management and other not-necessarily-gender-specific factors, but it is a fact that women with chemical engineering degrees typically earn less than men with chemical engineering degrees.
You will find degree, gender and pay information throughout the PayScale research center
. For now, here are the top 10 and bottom 10 earning degrees, according to PayScale’s most recent College Salary Report. This list of college majors by pay correlates closely with what the Census Bureau data shows. Highest Earning Majors
- Petroleum Engineering
- Aerospace Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Nuclear Engineering
- Applied Mathematics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Engineering
Lowest Earning Majors
- Child and Family Studies
- Elementary Education
- Social Work
- Athletic Training
- Culinary Arts
- Paralegal Studies/Law
- Recreation & Leisure Studies
- Special Education
More from PayScale
Which Pay Best? Jobs in Food Service and Retail
Top Employers of Veterans
Industries with Best Wage Growth


Comparative Study of American and South African Primary Education
LocationJohannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Venda, South Africa
We will explore four regions of South Africa in our comparative study of primary education. To examine the factors of geography, history, culture, the arts, economics and politics as they affect education, we will travel to KwaZulu-Natal to explore the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game reserve and the St. Lucia Estuary before heading to Durban to see the traditional home of the Zulus. From there we move to the Venda region of the country in Limpopo Province to spend two weeks living with host families, running a winter intercession school program for fourth through seventh grade students, and exploring the countryside at the Tropic of Capricorn. On our return to Gauteng Province, we will make a stop at Kruger National Park for some game drives to see "the big 5" before traveling through the scenic route to visit Blyde River Canyon to see the Three Rondavels and Bourke's Potholes and do some hiking.
Once we arrive in the capital city of Pretoria, we will live in University of Pretoria housing for two weeks as we meet with UP faculty and students from the Early Childhood Department to learn more about primary education, teacher education programs, and the issues South Africa faces to educate all learners equitably. During this time we will work in a township school, assisting teachers and providing professional development workshops that afford us opportunities to share what we are learning through our experiences in the schools. Visits to the Voortrekker Museum, government buildings,Freedom Park, as well as visual and performing arts programs will provide the socioculture background for our understanding of this area . Our experience ends with a visit to Cape Town where we will explore Robben Island, the prison for the nation's leaders in the fight for democracy, the wine lands, Table Mountain, and other cultural and historic sites.
South Africa is on the southern tip of the African continent. Our travels will take us from the northernmost province of Limpopo where we will cross the Tropic of Capricorn to see ancient baobab trees and giraffes, kudu, and zebra in the natural habitats. Mpumalanga Province, home to Kruger National Park and the "Big Five" and Blyde River Canon offer stark geographical contrasts in the landscape. Gauteng Province is home to Johannesburg, the "Place of Gold," and Pretoria, the nation's capital as well as anthropological sites for the beginnings of humankind. Cape Town, at the southern-most tip of the country, is home to the country's garden district, winelands, and Table Mountain as well as historical reminders of the country's fight for democracy.
DirectorTeresa Harris | email@example.com | Early Childhood, Elementary, & Reading Education
AccommodationsWe will stay with families for the two weeks we are in Venda; we will stay in university housing for the two weeks we are in Pretoria. Prior to departure for Venda and during our time in Cape Town we will stay in hotels. All meals are provided in the program fee.
Additional Items to Consider
Passports with at least 4 blank pages are required. Cell phones with air time are provided for pairs of students; air time for calls outside of the program are not covered by the program fee. All in-country transportation is covered as part of the program fee and provided by ZOTE International, the people with whom we have worked since 2008.
This program is targeted towards graduate students and designed specifically for education students.
For this program, students are required to submit the following material(s):
JMU Short-Term Application Form
- A supplemental essay addressing the following questions:
- What do you hope to gain from the experiences provided through this study abroad experience?
- What do you plan to contribute to the study abroad experience?
Attend an interview with the program director prior to the application deadline: Teresa Harris | firstname.lastname@example.org | Early Childhood, Elementary, & Reading Education
Submit a completed Faculty recommendation form.
Applicants must have a GPA minimum of 2.75.
For more detailed instructions and to download the application, please click on the following link to the Applications and Forms section for JMU Short-Term Programs.
Official transcript required for first-semester transfer students and non-JMU students.
All dates are tentative and subject to change
CoursesELED 501: Special Topics in Elementary Education: Comparative Study of Primary Education (3 credits)
ELED 510: Creativity and the Arts in Elementary Education (3 credits)


For many adults, the enhancement of component reading and writing skills itself is not the ultimate objective, but the attainment of larger life goals related to career and educational advancement and improvement in the lives of their families. The instructional practices studied in research must have clearly stated learning goals and objectives. These should take into account both the need to develop component skills of reading and writing and the literacy facility needed for education, work, parenting, and other purposes. It is also important to empirically document the particular constellations of component literacy skills needed to perform important literacy tasks associated with larger learning goals (e.g., GED preparation, college entry and completion, fulfillment of parental responsibilities, performance of workplace skills, participation in civic responsibilities).
Although learners across programs share literacy development needs and learning goals, the current system of instruction is a loose mix of programs in many places that lack coordination and coherence with respect to what is taught and how. There also is a lack of alignment to be addressed in the learning objectives for literacy development across adult education, colleges, and K-12 instruction. Adult literacy research is hampered by the lack of a coherent system and established curricula with materials and standard practices that can be tested. An empirical mapping of component skills to literacy tasks and learning goals would offer a basis for aligning literacy instruction across places and systems of instruction and for developing standard instructional curricula and practices to meet the needs of diverse learners across learning contexts.
At present, information is limited from adult education programs and colleges about the specific reading and writing development needs of the adults they serve; the instruction that is used and whether it is implemented effectively; and whether the instruction facilitates development of reading and writing skills needed to achieve broader learning goals. There is a need for ongoing collection across the systems that provide literacy instruction of data on learners’ skills, the quality of instruction they experience, and other characteristics of learners and learning environments to enable planning and implementing instruction effectively and the tracking of progress. A sound assessment system is needed to support and monitor learning at the individual, program, and systems levels to plan instruction and track progress in the component reading and writing skills and functional literacy skills related to broader learning goals.
A primary problem to resolve is how to engage adults in the amount and intensity of instruction and practice that is required to develop literacy skills and conduct the needed research. High attrition rates, which are typical of both adult literacy and college developmental education programs (Alamprese, 2009; Comings, 2009; Goldrick-Rab, 2007), compromise the integrity of research findings and can be a disincentive to research. Several


The General Education Program at American Indian College is based on the following Core Competencies: Biblical and Theological Studies, Oral and Written Communication, Scientific Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis, Social and Human Behavior, Civic and Community Engagement, Technology and Information Literacy, Human Values and Ethical Reasoning and Health and Wellness. The program is designed to develop intellectual skills that will enhance the student’s professional, civic, and personal life. Students will learn how to analyze the world around them from different perspectives, how to communicate their ideas and understand the ideas of others, how to solve problems, and how to apply their knowledge to real-world projects. (42 Credits)
Listed below are the objectives with corresponding courses.
Students will demonstrate a basic knowledge of the persons, geography, and stories contained within the Biblical text.
Students will demonstrate and apply a basic knowledge and comprehension of Pentecostal Biblical doctrine.
Students will produce persuasive and informative oral presentations in diverse settings using an appropriate style and delivery.
Students will identify and use rhetorical strategies (i.e., invention, arrangement and style) in the processes of analyzing and composing texts; produce effective written, visual and oral texts, given diverse purposes, genres and audiences and explain the importance of ethical communication as practiced within academic, civic and professional communities.
Students will analyze and interpret literary text and support that analysis and interpretation with evidence.
Students will solve problems using basic mathematical concepts including use of numbers and the structure of number systems, theories of mathematical operations, linear equations, polynomials, factoring, exponents, roots and radicals.
Students will investigate the fundamental principles of the natural sciences and apply scientific methods of inquiry to explain the natural world from a Christian-world perspective.
Students will engage in free and open inquiry that fosters mutual respect across multiple cultures and perspectives.
Students will describe and explain findings derived from the application of fundamental principles of empirical scientific inquiry which is biblically integrated and culturally relevant to illuminate and analyze social and human behavior.
Students will investigate the people and events corresponding to a specific time period of American history (pre-Spanish American War, post Spanish American War, or American Indian History) and relate their findings to current conditions.
*Elementary Education majors are already required to take HIS 123 and GOV 213 as part of their program of study related to subject matter competency. The General Education choices for Elementary Education majors will therefore be HIS 113 or HIS 223.
Students will use research resources effectively and incorporate the information obtained into their academic and creative endeavors. They will demonstrate their ability to locate, evaluate, organize and use research material from a broad range of sources. Student will be able to format and document source material in properly constructed papers, presentations, and a variety of visual formats.
Students will interpret practices and principles that contribute to strong learning, life skills, academic socialization, and integration of Biblical values as practiced within the American Indian College community.
Students will develop a capacity for active citizenship, ethics, social responsibility, personal growth, and skills for lifelong learning in a global society.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of, participate in, and perform basic physical education and wellness activities.


Sent to the Taipei Times, November 3, 2011
Lii Ding-tzann (“Reading your way to true wisdom,” Nov. 3) argues that reading in a way that connects to your own life makes a powerful contribution to our intellectual development. Research strongly supports his position: Studies show that wide, self-selected reading is related to our literacy development, our knowledge of the world, and achievement: People who read more read and write better, know more, and accomplish more in life.
Creativity researcher Dean Keith Simonton has concluded that "omnivorous reading in childhood and adolescence correlates positively with ultimate adult success.” Strong evidence comes from cases of highly successful well-read individuals with little formal education: Famous examples include Thomas Edison, who profited from reading books in his father's home library as well as the Detroit public library, and Michael Faraday, who had the good luck to work for a bookbinder, and became an enthusiastic reader.
School can either encourage or discourage the development of a reading habit. The over-emphasis on testing, a disease that seems to spreading world-wide, inhibits intellectual development by not allowing time or opportunity for students to develop their own interests by reading widely. But school could help students by exposing them to many different ideas, allowing them time to explore their interests, and by providing access to a print-rich environment.
University of Southern California
Original article: Reading your way to true wisdom


Todays youths need solid academic preparation not just for the Ivy League and other universities but also for the trades, automotive repair, high-tech manufacturing, and other jobs that provide self-supporting income. They also need these foundational skills to manage their personal lives, guide their families, and actively exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
The United States cannot continue to succeed in a challenging international economic environment if we allow large numbers of our youths to leave high school unprepared. Fortunately, Americas education leaders are responding to the call for change.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the landmark bipartisan education legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. Under NCLB, schools are accountable for educating all students, no matter their race, income, or background. Students are assessed annually in reading and math in grades 3-8 and once during high school. And students in schools in need of improvement are allowed to transfer to a better public school and may qualify for free tutoring. NCLB is making fundamental changes in the American education system and results are already being seen.
Older students are among those benefiting from the high expectations found in NCLB. Many high schools are finding ways to help students catch up academically, master high levels of academic content, and make smooth transitions into further education, training, and the high-skill workplace. A school that provides rigorous academics for all students maximizes the number of options students have after graduation.
But more needs to be done to improve our nations high schools. As part of the effort to strengthen high schools for all students, President Bush has called for annual learning assessments for students in grades 9-11. Annual assessments in high school will help ensure that schools accountability for results does not stop at middle school and that high school students, no matter their race, income, or background will have the tools necessary to succeed.
More information regarding high schools and what is being done to improve them is available on the U.S. Department of Educations Preparing Americas Future website at: www.ed.gov/highschool.
About Extra Credit
NCLB Extra Credit is a regular look at the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's landmark education reform initiative passed with bipartisan support in Congress.
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Volume 11, Issue 3 (1982)
Stephen N. Elliott, Wayne C. Piersel
Reading is a complex process involving many learning behaviors and cognitive skills. The acquisition and refinement of these skills is a primary focus of elementary education, yet many children experience difficulties and frustration when learning to read. Gibson and Levin (1975) estimated that as many as 25% of school children read below their grade placement. If these children’s reading skills are not improved, they have a greater chance of failure in other school tasks (Cawley, Goodstein, & Burrow, 1972; Gillespie & Johnson, 1974). A significant number of children are referred to school psychologists because reading problems have hindered academic achievement and may have resulted in disruptive classroom behaviors. Thus, it is important that psychologists who work in educational settings have knowledge of factors which influence reading, of various reading problems, and of techniques for assessing and remediating problems.
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Study in Georgia
Click on one of the following types of study for Georgia:
Study in GeorgiaWritten and researched by K White
Georgia, or officially, the Republic of Georgia, is an independent country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, with a total geographic area of roughly 27,000 square miles. The country is situated at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and shares borders with the Black Sea in the west, Russia in the north, Azerbaijan in the southeast, and Turkey and Armenia in the south. Once a member state of the Soviet Union, Georgia was granted independence on Christmas Day, 1991, and since that time, the country has been a unitary, semi-presidential republic with a representative democracy. The capital and largest city in Georgia is Tbilisi.
Georgia has an estimated population of approximately 4.7 million, and its people, much like most native Caucasian people, do not fit into any of the main ethnic groups of Europe or Asia. As of the last census, 84 percent of the people in Georgia were ethnic Georgians. Minority groups in the country include small numbers of Abkhazians, Armenians, Azeris, Turks, Poles, Russians, Bulgarians, Belarusians, Estonians, Germans, Greeks, Moldovans and Ossetians. Georgia also has one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in the region. While many languages can be heard throughout Georgia, Georgian is the only official language of the country, a unique language to the region because its roots are not Indo-European, Turkic or Semitic, but rather Kartvelian in nature. In present day Georgia, religious freedom is granted to all citizens; a freedom they did not enjoy when under Soviet rule. According to census data, nearly 84 percent of the population practices Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Religious minorities in the country, in order of their prevalence, include Muslims (10%), Armenian Apostolic (4%) and Roman Catholic (1%).
Education in Georgia
Education in Georgia is overseen by the national government (Ministry of Education) and is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 14. The system is divided into 4 separate stages: elementary education, for children aged 6-12; basic education, for students aged 12-15; secondary education, for students ages 15-18; and higher education.
Elementary and basic schooling are both compulsory, offering students a well-rounded education through a broad academic curriculum. In the early grades, reading, writing, grammar and basic arithmetic make up most of the curriculum. However, once students reach the third grade, typically at age 8 or 9, additional subjects, including general science, history, geography, art and music are added.
Secondary education in Georgia, while not mandatory, is well-attended, largely due to the many choices students have at this level regarding the type of education provided. Students may choose to attend either a general secondary school—a three-year academic program that helps prepare them for university admission—or a vocational secondary school—a two-year program in which students receive education and training in a career field of their choice. Students who successfully complete the vocational education track are awarded a certificate and can use the skills they’ve acquired to enter the workforce. General secondary school graduates are granted a diploma, which is required for university consideration.
Students wanting to enroll in one of the many Georgian universities must first take and pass the Unified National Examination—a government-administered entrance examination that measures a student’s academic proficiency in a number of core subject areas. Much like in other European countries, the higher education system in Georgia was recently restructured—a decision that was quite controversial when it began in 2004. Borne out of a series of educational reforms and outlined by the Bologna Process, the new structure now features a standardized credit (120 credits per academic year) and degree system: Bachelor Degree (3 Years), Master’s Degree (2 Years) and Doctorate or PhD (3 years). By clearly defining the academic year and making each program the same length, the primary goal of this new structure is to facilitate student transfer, not only within the Georgian higher education system, but in universities throughout the European Union.


Trisha Moquino, Olivia Coriz, and Mara Matteson describe the philosophy and practice behind the new Keres Children’s Learning Center
All 19 Indian pueblos of New Mexico have an understanding that we are at a critical point in our long history — that critical point being the difference between language loss and language maintenance and revitalization. Many Pueblos still feel it is the responsibility of the family to give language, and in families where language remains strong, this is still being done. With this understanding and the desire to support families in maintaining their children’s language in the crucial early childhood years, the Keres Children’s Learning Center (KCLC) opened at Cochiti Pueblo in September 2012 after six years of preparation: researching related endeavors, developing the model, shoring up financial support, and laying the groundwork in the community.
Co-founded by Trisha Moquino and Olivia Coriz, the school begins as a preschool, serving children from ages two and a half to four. The pedagogical approach is Montessori, and the language of instruction is Keres, the unwritten language of the Cochiti people. As the children matriculate to ages six and older, the school will evolve into a dual-language Montessori school, and an English language teacher will join the team.
The school was created to address the critical language loss being experienced at Cochiti Pueblo and to give Cochiti parents the opportunity to educate their children in a manner that is in line with traditional practices and where they know their children will hear Keres in an immersion setting. Parents and families are supported through weekly evening seminars in which we discuss their responsibility to pass on the Keres language. In passing on the language, values, beliefs, and a worldview like none other are also transferred to the next generation.
At KCLC, children receive lessons that are culturally appropriate as well as lessons that will prepare them for mainstream education. KCLC emphasizes creating self-motivated learners through meaningful everyday lessons and activities, such as washing dishes, cleaning windows, setting up snacks for classmates, grace and courtesy, caring for the self, and learning the foundational skills for future literacy, numeracy, and the humanities.
The ultimate goal is to have our students be truly bilingual. With families and KCLC working together to reclaim the children’s education, we put our faith and our hearts into this effort. KCLC is independently funded. While it is a struggle to raise the necessary money, it gives KCLC freedom from the many early-childhood English-oriented policies that would interfere with its primary purpose. KCLC is grateful to everyone who has supported and contributed to our efforts.
Trisha Moquino and Olivia Coriz are co-founders of KCLC, and Mara Matteson is a teacher at the school. This article originally appeared in Soleado, published by Dual Language Education of New Mexico — www.dlenm.org. For more articles from Soleado, please visit www.soleado.dlenm.org.
To catch a glimpse of day-to-day life at KCLC, please visit the Keres Children’s Learning Center Facebook page. For more information on KCLC, visit www.kclcmontessori.org.
The languages spoken by the Pueblo people of Acoma, Cochiti, Laguna, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Santo Domingo, and Zia Pueblos are so closely related that linguists usually consider them dialects of a single language, known as Keres or Keresan. This Keresan language is not related at all to the Kiowa-Tanoan languages spoken by most of the other Pueblo people of New Mexico. Keres is spoken by nearly 11,000 people in the American Southwest today.
There is some disagreement among the Keres people as to whether Keres should be a written language or not. Some Pueblo elders feel that their languages should be preserved by oral traditions alone. However, many Keres speakers have decided that literacy is important for passing the language on to children. The Keres-speaking pueblos have developed their own orthography for their language, and today there are programs teaching Pueblo children to read and write in five of the seven Keres-speaking pueblos.


Affinity diagrams, run charts, mission statements and weekly goals may not sound like standard classroom tools.
However, Reese Elementary School educators are using the business practices to teach students responsibility and organization - two qualities needed for the workforce.
Lodi Unified School District officials showed off the successful program Thursday morning to Congressman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy.
Pombo toured several classrooms at Reese Elementary School, which was the first district school to adopt the Koalaty Kid program in 1998.
Ten Lodi Unified schools are currently using the program and several more schools are expected to be trained in the practices in the next year.
Catherine Pennington, Lodi Unified's assistant superintendent of elementary education, said the program is expected to take shape at all district elementary schools in the next two years.
The Koalaty Kid Alliance was founded by the American Society for Quality, a nonprofit Wisconsin-based business group.
The approach began at Carder Elementary School in Corning, N.Y. during the late 1970s. ASQ became involved and in 1994, the program was officially launched. More than 200 schools in the country use the program.
In Lodi Unified, Reese started the Koalaty Kid approach after receiving a $10,000 grant from the Bank of Lodi.
A $400,000 grant from Lodi Gas Storage, LLC, which will be donate over five years, is helping district officials expand the program to the rest of Lodi Unified schools.
Reese Principal Joan Morrison said the program's goal is to teach students how they can make a difference in their learning. A familiar saying at the school is "If it's to be, it's up to me," she said.
In several classrooms, Reese students showed how they used lotus diagrams to brainstorm and analyze story characters and charted their math progress with run charts.
In Donna Bennett's third-grade class, students sat on the classroom floor listening to a book about renowned Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh.
Afterwards, Bennett passed out purple sticky notes to each student. "What would be one important fact that you would include in writing in a paragraph about van Gogh?" she asked her pupils.
The students wrote down the facts and posted the notes on a chart paper. Their responses ranged from how van Gogh painted with dark colors to "he was so sad that he cut off his ear."
Bennett organized the notes in columns, matching similar facts about van Gogh. That information transformed into an affinity diagram, which students would later use to write paragraphs about the artist.
Pombo learned of the innovative program used by Lodi Unified from a staff member and decided to check it out while Congress is out of session for the next month.
"It's really interesting to see. It's like a quality control program for education," Pombo said.
The Koalaty Kid approach could help other schools raise school academics to meet requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush earlier this year, he said.
Pombo said the program teaches goal-setting and positive thinking, skills needed for academic success. "Looking at the school's test scores, it's proven to be successful," he added.
Some students were glad to display their work, especially for a Congressman.
"It's pretty cool," said 7-year-old Christopher Gatschet about Pombo's visit.
Comments about this story? Send mail to the News-Sentinel newsroom.
To subscribe to the Lodi News-Sentinel, fill out our online form or call our Subscriber Services Department at (209) 333-1400.


By Imogen Foulkes
BBC correspondent in Geneva
The United Nations' target of universal primary education by 2015 is unlikely to be reached, a new report shows.
Many teachers' salaries are too low to meet basic living standards
More children are going to school, but many are dropping out before finishing primary education, the UN educational, scientific and cultural agency said.
Many more are leaving without having learned even basic literacy and numeracy skills, the UN said.
Unesco's 2005 Education For All report also reveals a continuing gender inequality in education.
Two thirds of children who do not attend school are girls. Two thirds of the 800 million illiterate people around the world are women.
The report monitors the progress of 160 countries towards achieving universal education.
School attendance is increasing, but not fast enough, the report found.
Around the world, over 100 million children do not go to school.
Moreover, an improvement in school attendance has not, in mainly developing countries, been matched by an increase in teachers or in education funding, the report said.
Unesco's Ingeborg Breines said that getting children into the classroom is only part of the task.
"For many years the developing countries have thought that the main bottleneck was to get the children to school."
"Little by little they have experienced that if the quality is not satisfactory and the content of what is being taught is not relevant to the learners, they will drop out," she added.
In some African countries Unesco found teachers struggling with classes of 60 or more children.
Teacher's salaries were often not enough to guarantee basic living standards and teacher training was rudimentary.
In some schools mathematics teachers had only basic numeracy skills. They often scored less than their own pupils on tests.
Such lack of quality leads to high dropout rates, and to children leaving school having learned very little.
Unesco wants greater political commitment to schooling, starting with a promise by governments to allocate at least 4% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education.


"Makers" and the Art and Science of Learning
From MythBusters to Etsy to Steve Jobs -- the "maker" culture is all about DIY, do it yourself. Can that creative impulse also be tapped for student learning? A new project funded by the National Science Foundation and co-directed by Kimberly Sheridan aims to find out.
* * *
Dr. Kimberly Sheridan, an assistant professor at George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development, and her colleague Erica Halverson from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently received a grant from NSF for a project called "Learning in the Making: Studying and Designing Makerspaces."
They are working with the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and its one-year-old "MAKESHOP" -- a space that brings together digital media and the DIY culture -- to study environments that foster creative doing and learning.
Hands-on, self-directed, and appealing to all ages, the type of learning Dr. Sheridan is researching often fosters a sense of wonder and inquiry. It can be seen in endeavors as diverse as robotics, fashion design, car repair, computer programming, art, engineering, and more.
By studying how such maker communities emerge, function, and create opportunities to learn, the project aims to produce research that informs other environments -- classroom or otherwise -- and lead to new ways of supporting student learning.
Photo from MAKESHOP at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Sheridan's project is included in an article in "Education Week" published this week titled "Federal Effort Aims to Transform Learning Technologies" and written by Sean Cavanagh. Excerpts from the article are below:
* * *
"The federal government has been funding projects focused on technology and education for decades... but the relatively new program, called 'Cyberlearning: Transforming Education' is the National Science Foundation's attempt... to back projects that will increase scientists' and educators' understanding of technology's capacity to enhance student learning...
"[One] project will examine whether technology and other approaches can be integrated within 'maker spaces' — informal environments created in museums, community centers, or even garages that allow people of all ages to design, build, or tinker with projects — to improve student learning. Those projects could focus on almost anything, from car repair to electronics to welding.
"The researchers hope to develop something akin to a 'cyber-enabled critique tool' that would allow students using maker spaces to work with a broader community and refine their work based on feedback from experts, and allow researchers to understand how that learning can be transferred to other math and science skills, said Erica Halverson, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is co-directing the effort with Kimberly Sheridan, an assistant professor of educational psychology and art education at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va.
"The researchers are working with a number of maker spaces around the country, though the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is the site for their design experiments.
"'The ethos of making has been around for a long time,' Ms. Halverson said. Her project, she said, focuses on 'elevating making to a level where we see the value of these spaces, in terms of the skills and abilities we want our students to have.'"
George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) includes two schools, the Graduate School of Education, which is the largest in Virginia, and the School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism. CEHD offers a comprehensive range of degrees, courses, licensures, and professional development programs on campus, online, and on site. The college is distinguished by faculty who encourage new ways of thinking and pioneering research supported by more than $75 million in funding over the past five years.
For additional information:
- Contact CEHD Communications: email@example.com
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Online elementary education degrees from accredited universities and schools.
What is Elementary Education?
Elementary education normally involves the teaching of children in kindergarten through grade 5 or 6, depending on locality. Beyond the obvious task of providing students with instruction in the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, a teacher performs many additional important functions. This includes developing and employing curriculums that will provide students with knowledge and information that will help build them mentally, physically and spiritually. It includes the ability to understand and interact with students in ways that will provide encouragement, draw out their talents, reward them for their work, motivate them to achieve and at times provide comfort, a feeling of being loved, or just a listening ear. At the same time, it can involve patience in dealing with unruly or uncooperative students. As with any occupation, it can entail considerable self-sacrifice and long hours.
Elementary Education Degrees
In general, educators on the Kindergarten and Elementary school level are required by states to complete an approved teacher education program, be licensed and have a bachelor’s degree. However, many states offer alternative licensing programs to attract teachers for positions that are hard to fill. Most states require continuing education for renewal of a teacher’s license.
Job Opportunities with an Elementary Education degree.
Job opportunities for teachers of Kindergarten and Elementary school are expected to grow as fast as the average for all occupations. The Department of Labor also indicates, “fast-growing states in the West particularly California, Idaho, Hawaii, Alaska, Utah, and New Mexico will experience the largest enrollment increases. Enrollments in the South will increase at a more modest rate than in recent years, while those in the Northeast and Midwest are expected to hold relatively steady or decline. Teachers who are geographically mobile and who obtain licensure in more than one subject should have a distinct advantage in finding a job.”


Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
>>"The real problem that worrys me a lot is about acessing the art works
students , it is easy to acess certains criteria: as interest,
vocabulary, organisation and methode. But what about creative work?There
many possible answers in art communication, for instance a still life ,
say a drawing about a chair What are your criteria to acess it?"
This ties in to the notion that objective standards CAN become obsolete by
the time they are institutionalized. It's one thing if we assign projects
which fall within an established context such as Impressionism. We can
write a rubric which covers the essential criteria.
I think the major thrust of Art Education today is education "about art"
passing on of date to enhance art appreciation and to qualify the art
consumer. It's not my cuppa tea, but that's neither here nor there. In
that context however it makes a great deal of sense to work to a rubric:
The students work will receive a superior grade if it incorporates
qualities w, x, y, and z. If only three of those qualities are present the
assessment comes down a level. Only 2? Another level. Only one? Again, it
drops a level.
Maybe you are studying an artist. Seurat, if the student uses pointillist
dots and avoids using lines, that's good, if those dots mix color a/la
Seurat that's better, if the imagery incorporates Seurat's other theories
about upturned and downturned forms even better! You could ad to that or
revise as needed.
The thing of it is you assess the qualities you can specify and that both
you and the student can identify. Everyone knows whats expected.
A problem may only arise when you confront a student like I was who is
more immediately concerned with their own personal expression in and
through art than in their ability to understand what has gone before or in
replicating something already achieved. Objectively the student will fail
because they won't fulfill the rubric with any interest or intention.
Maybe you will get some of it back or not.... Sadly the student is deeply
involved in art and doing everything the way some 'real' artists would in
confronting Seurat. Maybe the student uses something other than dots
consciously or unconsciously anticipating Close. What do you do? Maybe she
restricts the palette or the imagery using a more Okeefe subject. Maybe
the student is interested in some other psychological theory than Seurat
in the upturned line.
Very quickly the divergent student coopts the project making it their own
and making the rubric, as a result, useless. What to do? Usually the
teacher had to give me a "c" or a "d". Some just left me alone. :)
(Of course if you were a divergent teacher you'd have the opposite set of
problems. You REALLY want all your students to diverge and become
independently and creaticely engaged in the process of art and many of
your students (depending on your situation of course) would simply want to
complete the assignment, demonstrate their competence, and move on to the
next assignment; either with the goal of graduating or of learning things
in the proper way.
National standards and examinations provide a procrustean filter cutting
off the best just as surely as they identify "the worst". A good
proportion of your "intelligent and creative set" are likely to crash and
burn unless someone gets them on a track that understands and accepts
their divergencies. Other will be gifted enough to be able to get through
the system unaided.
There really SAD thing is that the arts are perhaps the best suited to
accomodate such students and to bring the greatest advantage out of their
gifts but, no matter where I look, something in the institution seems bent
on eliminating the divergent independent individual or bending her closer
to the norm. It is the administrator unwilling to adapt to the student who
argues that the student needs to learn how to adapt because the world
demands it. "The world" does not demand it is the individual who
religiously believes in the importance of conformity and who also finds
conformity of greater convenience and requiring less effort.
A "Genius" (someone "intelligent and creative", at least) can always be
hired but they are notoriously unstable and therefore "throwaway people"
if at all inconvenient.
(time to get off my soap box!)


“Keep their minds and bodies engaged in wonder during the summer months when they are not attending school.” That’s what Julie Olson, director of elementary education for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools recommended last week. She was one of 39 education leaders who responded to my request for suggestions about what parents could do to encourage continued learning during the summer. They described a combination of community, school and family activities that can produce a summer with happy memories and student growth.
Raymond Queener, Cambridge-Isanti superintendent, and many others agreed: “ My advice is first to encourage students to read, read, read! Also, enjoy some activities at the Science Museum, maybe an art exhibit, spend some time outside in fun activities, and maybe get involved in a Community Education class of their interest. There are a lot of activities available, so make sure students stay involved, engaged, and try to find ways to encourage learning to continue.”
Corey Lunn, Stillwater superintendent, explained: “I always encourage families to keep their kids active and involved in different experiences. There are many opportunities through community ed., libraries, zoos and museums. Some teachers and schools offer summer work, most frequently with math. There are also many websites to keep kids learning as well, such as Kahn academy. I think the goal would be to balance added family time with perhaps a bit of academic enrichment.”
Steve Allen, of Cambridge, director of the Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs, pointed out: “Summer programs often come in the form of applied learning opportunities that tend to really engage and/or motivate students. I’ve seen students really become encouraged about their learning after a summer of relevant and meaningful activities. Another reason that I encourage students to continue with summer extended time activities is that it continues to reinforce good study habits. Particularly with potentially at-risk students, it is beneficial to keep them in the routine of going to school. Finally, some of the best programs I’ve ever run have been summer credit make-up programs. Students may fail one or two classes along the way. If you can make those credits up during the summer, students don’t get overwhelmed and ‘give up hope.’ If a student gives up hope, we all lose.’”
Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, the state’s teacher union, wrote: “For students in elementary and middle school: Read! Students should read books all summer (not too easy, but not too hard). Give children daily opportunities to read (maps, newspapers, even recipes) and give children a chance to read aloud. For students in high school: Read! Also, find opportunities to grow life skills, like meeting deadlines and personal responsibility through part-time jobs, volunteering and service projects.”
Gary Amoroso, executive director of Minnesota Association of School Administrators, urged families to consider programs that districts offer: “These activities can include academics as well as arts and crafts. This is a great way for a child to continue the learning process throughout the summer.”
Tom Kearney, director of New Heights charter in Stillwater, wrote: “I administer a school with a minimal or sensible homework philosophy and parents are always asking why we don’t send more ‘homework’ or they ask for us to provide them with things to ‘keep my kids busy.’ Well, with so many software options and community options such as the Minnesota Historical Society of the Science Museum of Minnesota, I always tell them that all educational moments do not need to be at school or facilitated by a teacher. We suggest tapping into what makes the student excited and then planning some excursions around those interests. Take some great field trips and have the children write or journal about what they saw. See if there is a treasure hunt of sorts available at the places you visit. Also, insist that your children are reading something all summer and that they are engaged in the material. Summer should be different, but not a full break from learning. Moms and dads should be asking questions all the time about things students are engaged in. Learning can be fun when students have a say in what they are learning.”
Modeling from families is key. That along with helping youngsters set and work toward goals, plus encouraging reading, exploring and talking, are great ways to spend the summer.
Joe Nathan, formerly a Minnesota public school teacher, administrator and PTA president, directs the Center for School Change. Reactions are welcome at email@example.com.


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.


Knowledge You Can Take Straight to Class
Careers in elementary education are experiencing healthy growth. Kindergarten and elementary school teacher positions are expected to grow 17 percent through 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Related to careers in elementary education, instruction coordinator positions are projected to grow 20 percent, according to the BLS. With an MEd in Elementary Education, careers in education can be enhanced and broadened.
The MEd in Elementary Education degree combines theory with hands-on, practical experience in a real classroom.
As you work toward earning your initial teaching licensure or additional endorsement for careers in elementary education, you will explore a wide variety of vital topics, including:
- The use of technology to enhance student learning and achievement.
- Concepts, methods, techniques and material necessary to effectively teach social studies and fine art.
- How to prepare developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote investigation, problem solving and exploration.
- Effective practices to support the development of reading and language.
- How to apply scientifically based instructional strategies to promote learning.
- Understanding classroom literacy environments that encourage the development of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.
- An in-depth examination of literary genre and categories found in children's literature.
- An introduction to the issues related to children with disabilities and the educational implications for participation within the regular classroom.
- Concepts of mathematics for grades K-8.
Elementary Education Resources
To learn more about potential Elementary Education jobs and other resources for teachers, check out the following professional development organizations:
Professional Organizations and Associations
National Education Association
The mission of the NEA is to advocate for education professionals and to unite members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
Through the process of professional accreditation of schools, colleges, and departments of education, NCATE works to make a difference in the quality of teaching, teachers, school specialists and administrators.
National Association of Special Education Teachers
The mission of NASET is to provide support and assistance to professionals who teach children with special needs, as well as promote standards of excellence and innovation in special education research, practice, and policy to foster exceptional teaching for exceptional children.
New Hampshire Department of Education
The NHDOE is committed to helping students, parents, and educators (including teachers, principals, superintendents, and school communities) meet the educational needs of each student.
University Council for Education Administration
The UCEA is a consortium of higher education institutions committed to advancing the preparation and practice of educational leaders for the benefit of schools and children.


Concertina foundations is a course aimed at the player who already knows how to play the concertina but who wants to learn or improve on the basic foundations of concertina playing. These foundations include the use of alternate fingering patterns, basic grace-notes, an introduction to chords, double noting and variation. Most of the tunes taught in the course are picked from the repertoire of common session tunes enabling the learning concertina player to go to local music sessions and join in with confidence knowing that he/she will have tunes in common with other musicians. Each lesson will feature a new tune. After teaching the melody phrase by phrase, Ernestine demonstrates how to incorporate ornamentation and various other techniques into the tune.
This is an introductory lesson for the Concertina Foundations course. Ernestine demonstrates the 'press and draw' scale of G major and discusses correct positioning when playing the concertina.
In this lesson the polka 'Road to Prizon' will be taught. Ernestine teaches this polka with focus on the ornament the 'cut'.
This lesson teaches the jig 'The Lilting Banshee'. Ernestine begins her study of cuts, octave playing and chords.
In this lesson the jig 'The Ship in Full Sail' in G major will be taught. Ernestine continues her study of cuts, octave playing and chords. She also discusses the use of triplets. The last section of the lesson focuses on variation.
The jig 'The Maids of Glenroe' will be taught in this lesson. Ernestine continues with her study of double noting, ornamentation and variation.
In this lesson the reel 'The Five Mile Chase' in G majorwill be taught. Ernestine continues with her study of double noting, ornamentation and variation.
In this lesson the polka 'The Upside Down Page' in G major will be taught - one of Ernestine Healy's own compositions! Focus will be placed on creating 'rhythmic lift' in the music and the use of chords.
The hornpipe, 'The Boys of Bluehill' in D major will be taught in this class. Ornamentation and double noting will continue to be examined throughout the course of the lesson.
In this lesson the reel, 'The Bird in the Cage' will be taught. Ernestine introduces the 'roll' in this class.
This lesson will teach the jig, 'The Little Drummer Boy'. Ernestine continues her study of the roll, grace-notes and chords.
In this lesson the fling 'Kitty got a Clinking coming from the Races' in G major will be taught. A fling is a tune type in 4/4 time and is similar to a reel. Flings tend to be simpler in melodic structure to the reel and are played with bounce and swing.
In this lesson the reel, 'Palmer's Gate' will be taught. Ernestine continues her study of the roll, grace-notes and chords.
- Road to Prizon
- The Lilting Banshee
- The Ship in Full Sail
- Maids of Glenroe
- The Five Mile Chase
- The Upside Down Page
- The Boys of Bluehill
- The Bird in the Cage
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Kitty got a Clinking coming from the Races
- Palmer's Gate
Ernestine hails from County Mayo. A qualified secondary school teacher, she has also worked as a lecturer in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, in the University of Limerick. Having occupied the position of Acting Course Director on the Graduate Diploma in Music Education postgrad programme during 2008/09, she then went onto lecture on the BA in Irish Music and Dance undergraduate programme in 2009. Ernestine has also worked as a tutor in the Music Department in University College Cork. Ernestine is an internationally recognized concertina player, as well as a tutor and producer on the Irish musical scene....[Read More]


Title: The original German title of this piece is Der Schrei der Natur, “The Scream of Nature.” In Norwegian, the language of artist Edvard Munch, it is called Skrik. The Norwegian title is cognate with the English word “shriek” so one might call
the painting, “The Shriek,” instead of its more common name, “The Scream.”
Inspiration: It is rare that an artist remembers precisely what inspired him or her to create a famous piece of art, but this is exactly what we have in “The Scream.” Munch recalls in his diary:
One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.
Themes: Viewers may feel compelled to characterize Munch as deeply disturbed or grieving. Recent research on the artist reveals, however, that Munch was a talented marketer and a street-smart entrepreneur. He had a strong sense of how to play the art market and how to sculpt public opinion. While some argue that he drew heavily from French and German art, it seems more likely that he drew on influences from his native Norway. Though it is difficult to imagine from merely looking at The Scream, much of Munch’s work explores love and sexuality including “Kiss by the Window” and “The Hands.”
Finally, there is this comment from The Art Story, an American non-profit dedicated to art education.
“Munch intended for his intense colors, semi-abstraction and mysterious, often open-ended themes to function as symbols of universal significance. Thus his drawings, paintings, and prints take on the quality of psychological talismans: having originated in Munch’s personal experiences, they nonetheless bear the power to express, and perhaps alleviate, any viewer’s own emotional or psychological condition.”
Wikipedia, “The Scream,” Retrieved on Feb. 28, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream
Retrived Feb. 28, 2013: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-munch-edvard.htm#sthash.IunXBrMO.dpuf,


Music Discipline Assessment Annual Report 2008-2009
1. Music discipline objectives
Objectives for the Music Major:
1. Musicianship: Students will demonstrate proficiency in vocal, aural and keyboard skills.
2. Performance: In their area of specialization students will confidently interpret and perform a wide range of music literature in a public venue.
3. Music in Historic and Cultural Context: Students will listen to and write about music critically and will be able to apply stylistic principles to music they perform.
4. Music Theory: Students will have a command of undergraduate music theory including contrapuntal techniques and musical forms.
Objectives for the General Education student:
Students will critically explore music in one or more of the following ways depending on
objectives for the various courses:
1. By becoming familiar with musical repertory through critical listening to
2. By investigating the relationship between music and culture.
3. By developing basic skills in music notation, analysis, and composition.
4. By interpreting and performing a variety of solo and/or ensemble musical
repertory in their specialization.
2. Course-embedded assessment.
In addition to regular assessment and testing, separate pre-test/post-tests covering Mus 1101-1102 Music Theory and Mus 2101-2102 Music Theory have been in use since 2004. Both tests attempt to measure student progress in conceptual and practical aspects of harmony and analysis.
Mus 1041 Introduction to Music was assessed 2008-2009. See attached documentation.
3. Direct measures of student learning
Each semester - Performance of five to six minute Vocal or Instrumental Finals in front of applied music faculty with evaluation forms. Faculty debated whether Finals procedures need to be uniform across areas of specialization. At present they are not. Something to think about in the future is to see what is uniform and what is not uniform and how this affects student outcomes. Part of the difficulty with the forms is how to be general but still get enough specific evaluative comments to the student.
End of Second Semester Assessment – These are a separate evaluation form for first year majors used as part of finals. Assessment is done to be certain a student should continue as a major in the area of specialization. Two copies of the assessment are made. One is for music discipline assessment files and the other is for the student portfolio. They are intended to provide a benchmark for students to see their own progress and for faculty to track improvement. The faculty member in charge of assessment will maintain the discipline assessment files.
End of second year – The Jury is a 20 minute performance in the Recital Hall with evaluation by the music faculty. Three style periods are required. Vocalists and pianists perform from memory. The new Jury Evaluation form for assessment now uses two copies of the faculty comments. One copy, kept by the discipline, provides documentation of faculty evaluations and the other provides a valuable document for the student to use in the student portfolio. The change to this format provides more information to both the music faculty and to the student.
End of fourth year - Assessment of Portfolio Project. The portfolio contains a resume, course syllabi, programs, and much more. It was decided that a change is needed in the catalog to make the portfolio part of the senior project. This is what the Art History Discipline does so there is a precedent. The plan is to have in the Music Student Handbook that students need to check in with their portfolio with their advisors at the end of each year up to the senior year when the portfolio is included as part of the senior project.
Senior Project/Capstone experience – senior project is an hour long recital or project. The recital is a vocal or instrumental recital representing at least three style periods. Vocal and piano recitals are performed from memory.
Assessment of Handbook – the handbook is an effective tool to help students learn what is expected of them as majors. Changes include adding a heading for Portfolio and one for the End of Second Semester Evaluation. Other changes will include outlining assessment procedures, clarifying music discipline policies, and formatting the Music Handbook as an online resource.
4. Assessment Objectives for Music Education Students – faculty agreed that certification is the objective for now. The music discipline will continue to work on this item.
5. Annual Assessment meeting with the music faculty was held March 26, 2009. Assessment Committee meeting for the annual report was held May 12, 2009.


Pre-K Teaching Center–Theme-based learning for preschoolers
MY BIG WORLD
Preschool–Pre-K | Ages 3–5 | 18 issues | $4.99
Build early learning skills with the nonfiction magazine for preschool and Pre-K. My Big World helps you teach your little learners your thematic units, vocabulary, social development, and beyond!
Movement activities include fingerplays, sign language, and other kinetic learning activities to help wiggly kids learn. Language activities include rhyming songs and poems to build phonological awareness.
Make early childhood learning fun with simple activities that teach letters, counting, patterns, and shapes. PLUS! You get access to My Big World Online, which includes fun, knowledge-building videos, audio read-alouds, bonus printables, and much more.


Art and Music Resources
- The Incredible Art Department-
This site includes art lesson plans for elementary, Junior
high, and high school art classes. It also includes art news.
- Crayola Art Education-
This site includes ideas for art projects using a variety
of products and some tips for teaching art.
- The Art Teacher Connection-
This site includes lesson plans and tips on using the World Wide
Web in your art classroom and a directory of educators and artists
that would like to hear from you to share common interests and
This site contains information on art curriculum design, links
to other art sights, and links to sites for children to visit.
This site provides lesson plans and resources for art teachers.
- WebMuseum- An
online art museum which also includes music.
- Internet for Educators-
Special Education resources, art museums, lesson plans, online
projects, exercises, children's sites and using technology in
- The Music Educator's Hompage-
This site contains music curriculum materials and links
to other useful sites that may be of benefit to music educators.
- Music Education Resources-
This site contains many links to sites containing resources for
music education and also provides information about printed resources
for music education.
Back to the Educate


Press for Learning
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding
Science is such a broad landscape that many teachers and parents can be completely stumped as to what to teach, when to teach it, and where to start. Press for Learning’s curriculum, “Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding” (BFSU) lays out lessons that address and integrate all the major areas of science and focus on building a broad framework of scientific understanding and inquiry learning skills in a logical, systematic manner.
The three volumes of BFSU present a rigorous, seamless, K-8 science curriculum; yet it can be readily adjusted to fit the interests and abilities of individual users or modified to take advantage of time of year, special events, or other opportunities. Suggestions for integrating reading and writing are included throughout.
Author, Dr. Bernard Nebel, a career scientist and teacher, centers BFSU around modern research revealing how children actually learn and retain information. Key among these principles are:
- Lessons must connect to what children see and experience, first-hand, in their everyday lives.
- Lessons must relate to, build on, and connect to one another so that understanding is developed in logical, systematic increments—a natural sequence of stepping-stones that lead to an integrated framework of understanding.
- Thinking, like learning to play the piano, is developed by continual exercise and practice, not by intermittent lessons requiring thinking.
Thus, BFSU differs significantly from what is typically found in elementary science curricula. Gone is the chore of getting kids to memorize things that seem irrelevant. All lessons in BFSU start with and build on what children observe or experience in their personal lives.
Gone is the scattering of unrelated topics that tend to be soon forgotten or confused. It is replaced by a systematic sequence of lessons, each building on, utilizing, and interconnecting with what has gone before, and gradually building a framework of understanding that the mind more readily retains.
Each lesson draws students to exercise their minds in reasoning their way from first-hand observations, through questioning and testing, to logical conclusions. In short, inquiry learning is practiced throughout.
Teaching BFSU requires no specialized training in science or teaching. Yes, drawing students to think and fit things together logically in their minds requires teaching techniques that may be new to many teachers. These techniques are described in the beginning chapters of BFSU and then their application is integrated into all lessons. Thus, novice teachers will find themselves developing these techniques in the course of presenting lessons. Moreover, they will find themselves developing a framework of scientific understanding along with their students. Specialized training in science and/or teaching is not required.
Nebel strives to keep costs minimal. Please observe that each BFSU volume covers three years and averages out to less than a dollar per lesson. Materials required for lessons are mostly items found around the house or easily purchased at grocery or office supply stores. Purchase of BFSU will not involve solicitations to buy special materials or equipment.
Read More. For further features and information concerning BFSU, please go to the top menu and select other sections of this site.
Nebel’s Elementary Education: Creating a Tapestry of Learning
“Nebel’s Elementary Education: Creating a Tapestry of Learning” (NEE) gives an overview for all academic areas of elementary, K-8 education. In addition to science, it includes chapters addressing reading and writing, economics, government, character education, and math. It adheres to the same learning principles keeping lessons child-centered and building understanding in systematic, logical increments. However, it is more summary in nature; detailed lesson plans are not presented, but for the more experienced teacher or parent, they may be easily constructed from the information given. For further information, please go to the top menu, “Synopsis and Content,” and click on the sub-menu, “Nebel’s Elementary Education.” Do the same for “Reviews.”


The information that washes across computer screens, tablets and phones necessitates a re-examination of what literacy means in 2012.
Being literate involves more than understanding what we read and expressing our thoughts clearly in writing. The sorting and evaluating elements of critical thinking now play a greater role in fostering literacy in a society that processes information delivered across multiple media platforms.
And as those varied media platforms increasingly become global workplaces, markets, banks and meeting places, the role literacy skills play in everyday life — including all types of job readiness — expands. As the Maine Department of Education states in a report explaining its new “Literacy for ME” initiative, “For our students to be literate in a digital world, they must become effective consumers, producers and critics of digital media in all its forms.”
A 2007 study titled “ New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension,” by Donald J. Leu and other researchers, argues persuasively that the Internet has revolutionized literacy by redefining reading as a “problem-based inquiry process” and adding the ability to use search engines as a basic communication skill. Instead of starting on Page 1 of a book, readers now most often begin with a question, then turn to the Internet in search of answers.
In simple terms, being literate means being able to make sense of the world for yourself and others. Converting information to functional knowledge — becoming literate — involves a process which, the Department of Education correctly recognizes, begins at infancy and carries into adulthood.
For that reason, the responsibility to promote literacy in Maine extends beyond the K-12 education system to programs such as Head Start, which provides a framework to introduce rudimentary literacy skills to children from low-income families.
In addition to advocating that resources allocated to Head Start adequately reflect new demands for early literacy training, the Department of Education, through initiatives like “Literacy for ME,” can provide an organizational structure and repository for resources. But — as the report makes clear — the effort requires broad community participation. Parents, businesses and other branches of government — not just libraries — have appropriate roles and vested interests in making Maine a more literate society.
By emphasizing the shared responsibility for literacy, the Department of Education isn’t shirking its duties. It’s making a valid economic argument for investing in literacy through forums other than school budgets.
During the Sept. 11 kickoff of “Literacy for ME” in Lewiston, Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen urged communities to form groups that could tailor the initiative to local needs. As those groups coalesce, one of the first topics they should address is how to minimize the impact of economic disparity on the digitalization of literacy, especially during the years before children enter school.
Copious research exists to reinforce the importance of early childhood learning. The experiences learners have in their first five years establish a foundation that goes a long way to determining how they will perform in school and later in the workplace.
The report notes that one in five Maine children younger than 6 lives in poverty, as defined by the U.S. Census, and that 65 percent reside in homes where all parents work.
Young children whose parents can’t afford the technology that makes early literacy training possible in more affluent homes or whose parents, because of work demands, don’t have the time for the level of interaction required to develop early digital literacy skills are far more likely to start school at a disadvantage.
A 2011 Annie E. Casey Foundation study indicates a clear link among poverty, lagging literacy skills and decreased likelihood of high school graduation. New data released Sept. 18 by Gallup show a clear correlation among level of education, job security, income and national economic sustainability.
Increased computer-based programs for young children at public libraries, corporate or philanthropic funding for digital early education similar to the Alfond scholarship program, and greater Maine Department of Education coordination of online learning programs at child care centers all merit consideration as the “Literacy for ME” initiative moves forward.


Indexes & Databases for Art Educators
Search the following databases to find articles on your topics: possible search terms might include any of the following; try different combinations of relevant terms to do the most exhaustive search on your topic.
arts, creativity, lesson plans, art activities, integrated activities, classroom techniques, children's art, teaching methods, educational strategies, pedagogy, art education, visual arts, artists, interdisciplinary approach, specific subject areas (science, social studies, health enhancement, diversity, multicultural education, American Indians, etc.).
DATABASE SEARCH TIP: within Academic Search Complete, ERIC and other EBSCO databases, you can click on CHOOSE DATABASES and search multiple relevant databases at one time!
Finding books, etc., on the teaching of art
Search the Library Catalog to find books related to teaching elementary or secondary art: try a keyword search on these terms:
art study and teaching elementary
art study and teaching secondary
interdisciplinary approach in education
middle school art
teaching visual arts
any other relevant terms you can think of!
You can also search the Library Catalog by location to find children's books:
go into the ADVANCED SEARCH feature
limit LOCATION to JUVENILE COLLECTION
enter keywords such as art, colors, drawing, etc.
Select books on Art Education
Call Number: N363.M58 2005
Call Number: N85.R34 2000 StudEd Juvenile K-12 Textbook Collection
Middle school art : issues of curriculum and instruction
Call Number: N362.M533 1996
A survival kit for the secondary school art teacher
Call Number: N363.H86 1990
Visual arts teacher resource handbook : a practical guide for teaching K-12 visual arts
Call Number: CAL -- N353.V59 1993
Need help to cite sources in APA style?


Australian adults better at words than numbersPUBLISHED: 09 Oct 2013 16:41:00 | UPDATED: 10 Oct 2013 04:58:56PUBLISHED: 09 Oct 2013 PRINT EDITION: 10 Oct 2013
An OECD survey of adult skills has found that Australia is an average performer in numeracy.
Australia’s adult population ranks among the highest in the developed world in literacy but is only average in numeracy, says the OECD’s first international survey of adult skills.
The Survey of Adult Skills places Australian adults (aged 16-65) fourth in literacy, beaten only by the world’s top performers – Japan, Finland and the Netherlands.
Australia scores well ahead of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, other English-speaking developed countries which are all below par in adult literacy.
Part of the reason for Australia’s high results adult literacy is that achievement levels are relatively high among low-income groups, similar to other high achieving countries such as Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
In many below-average literacy countries – such as the US, France, Germany and Poland – low-income groups do not score well in literacy.
The OECD survey also shows that Australia does well, by international standards, in avoiding a large literacy gap between those who have completed tertiary education and those who did not complete school education.
This gap is over a third wider in Canada and the US than it is in Australia.
However, in numeracy Australia is an average performer, although still ahead of other English speaking countries.
In numeracy skills Australia ranked 13th, just below the OECD average.
This is partly explained by the survey finding that, in numeracy, Australia has one of the largest achievement gaps between the best performing adults and the worst performing adults.
Challenge to maintain level
Although Australian adults perform well in literacy, Australia faces a challenge to maintain these results.
In a recognised international benchmark survey released last year, the 2011 Progress in International Literacy Reading Study (PIRLS), 24 per cent of Australian year four students did not meet the minimum accepted international standard for literacy.
Research director at the Australian Council for Educational Research, Juliette Mendelovits said the latest OECD survey results were a rich and complex measure of the skills needed in the 21st century.
“As such the results need to be mined and explored in order to understand the challenges that Australia faces in these vital areas of adult, vocational and workplace education,” she said.
The survey includes the 22 OECD countries plus Cyprus.
It does not include some high performing education countries such as Singapore and China.
About 166,000 adults were surveyed.
The Australian Financial Review