The OECD's PIAAC survey is the first world-wide survey on adults' skills. It tested literacy, numeracy and problem solving ICT skills of adults aged 16-65. PIAAC covers only 17 countries from Europe.
According to the results, those who are highly educated like to participate in adult learning, have higher salary and better job.
The results are shocking: 1 out of 5 adults have low skills in numeracy and literacy. 1 out of 4 adults are low skilled in ICT. 57 million adults lack literacy skills and 68 million adults lack numeracy skills. The adults in Japan, Finland, and in the Netherlands are the top achievers in the PIAAC tests, while Poland, Ireland, France, Spain are the lowest achievers, with Italy scoring the lowest rate. Surprisingly, having tertiary education does not provide great difference in skills in around half of the OECD countries. However, the VET graduated achieved much less than the general secondary school education graduates.
17% of European adults are completely illiterate in ICT, which means that they have never used computer or did not know how to highlight a sentence or move the mouse. For example 27% of the Italians and 26% of the Polish adults are completely illiterate in ICT. Those with a low level of ICT skills achieved at the same time a poorer result in the tests on literacy and numeracy.
The younger adults are more willing to improve their skills than the people in the age group of 55-65. The difference of skills between the young and old is the highest in Korea, Spain, France and Germany. In the US there is no difference. The OECD website provide access to national data.


The state should ensure that new elementary teachers know the science of reading instruction.
In its coursework requirements for elementary teacher preparation programs, West Virginia requires programs to address the science of reading. Elementary teacher candidates must take nine credit hours in reading, which include a focus on the five instructional components of scientifically based reading—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension—as well as how to assess students' reading ability and how to identify and correct reading difficulties.
Middle and secondary preparation programs must contain a minimum of three hours of reading in the content area, which include a focus on vocabulary, comprehension and writing.
However, West Virginia does not require teacher candidates to pass a reading assessment prior to certification or at any point thereafter to verify that they have been effectively trained in the science of reading instruction.
Title 126 Legislative Rules, Board of Education, Series 114, Policy 5100, 6.3.4
Require teacher candidates to pass a rigorous assessment in the science of reading instruction.
Although West Virginia is commended for requiring teacher preparation programs to address the science of reading, the state should also require a rigorous reading assessment tool to ensure that its elementary teacher candidates are adequately prepared in the science of reading instruction before entering the classroom. The assessment should clearly test knowledge and skills related to the science of reading, and if it is combined with an assessment that also tests general pedagogy or elementary content, it should report a subscore for the science of reading specifically. Elementary teachers who do not possess the minimum knowledge in this area should not be eligible for licensure.
West Virginia recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state added that it is exploring the option of adopting a new Praxis II elementary education test, which will include subscores for each of the four content areas: reading, math, social studies and science.


Embracing New Classroom Philosophies: Support Common Core State Standards
It’s no secret that Common Core State Standards have changed how teachers teach. For seasoned teachers, the largest challenge was in restructuring their practices and curricula to align with the new standards. In fact, many would say that for future educators who are currently preparing for their careers—perhaps those seeking an education degree that includes teacher licensure preparation—teaching within the boundaries of the Common Core State Standards might be simpler, as they’re trained in this approach from the start.
Whether you’ve been teaching for 20 years or are considering working toward certification by earning a BS in Elementary Education , there are certain philosophies behind the Common Core State Standards which, once embraced and implemented, can increase your effectiveness in the classroom, while leading to greater student achievement. Those with teaching jobs in elementary education should prepare for differences like the following:*
Teach deeper, not wider. You may cover fewer topics, but for those you do, dig into the details. Trust that learning will come from a deeper, fuller understanding of subject matter.
Nonfiction, not fiction. Literacy and reading will focus more on comprehension rather than the inferences you gain from a story. In the real world, students will need to be able to glean critical details from massive amounts of print and digital information in order to thrive.
Have them prove it. Students will need the ability to logically prove their claims and show supporting evidence. “Student interpretation” is no longer an acceptable answer; rather, students should be able to support their claims with facts.
Speaking and listening skills are key. Course curriculum will include these two skill sets, at all grade levels, helping to ensure students can communicate effectively in the real world. Educators focus on central themes such as preparing for discussions, listening respectfully, building on the conversations of others, and asking clarifying questions.
Integrated technology. Anyone with a degree in education will need to be comfortable with all types of online technology in order to support the Common Core State Standards. Students and educators will use a variety of devices including tablets and even smartphones to access the Internet, Google Docs, and online tools and software.
More rigorous learning. Students who succeed in the Common Core environment won’t just be preparing to pass tests; they’ll be required to transfer knowledge from one area of learning to another and show evidence of that learning. As an educator, you’ll need to incorporate less prompting, encourage students to be risk takers, develop deeper content for your lesson plans, and differentiate instruction to reach all levels.
Creating a learning environment that incorporates all of the essential elements of Common Core can be a challenge. By choosing to earn your BS in Elementary Education, you can position yourself with the knowledge and skills necessary to create a classroom environment that supports the social, emotional, and academic development of your students.
*Jacqui Murray, 7 Ways Common Core State Standards Will Change Your Classroom, Teach Hub, on the Internet at www.teachhub.com/7-ways-common-core-will-change-your-classroom.
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Facilities and Resources
Art is an enjoyable subject and is a popular choice at GCSE. We believe that Art has a central role in the pursuit of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, which encourages innovation, analysis and evaluation. Lessons are taught in two-specialist art rooms, each have a range of equipment including computers with software installed, digital cameras, light boxes, screen and lino printing equipment and a small printing press plus easels.
Art is important from a cultural perspective; a strong art education can give young people an appreciation of why art matters, where it comes from, and where it fits in a wider social, historical and political context.
We develop our pupils, confidence in their creative ability enhancing their independent thinking skills to promote the acquisition of skills in problem solving, presentation, organisation, self-discipline, critical analysis, communication and technology. We aim develop creative and independent learners who seek to design original outcomes in fine art, graphic design, illustration, and three dimensional work involving photography.
Quote from pupil - “Our Art lessons are super inclusive and enjoyable; this year I have enjoyed sculpture especially using soap!” - Year 10 pupil
At KS3 our Art Programme is a full on creative experience –Pupils will see a variety of inspirational sources and stimulus from the world around them inspired by the work of prominent artists, designers and craftspeople from various backgrounds and cultures, who have worked through key points of history, up to and including, current working artists. All pupils study Art and Design in Years 7, 8 and 9. In KS3, pupils receive 2 hours of Art and Design per fortnight. All KS3 pupils work in A4 sketchbooks using equipment and resources to stimulate and ignite pupil’s ideas using IT skills as an integral part of the curriculum for secondary research purposes.
At KS4: Art and Design/Graphics: Our pupils follow the OCR GCSE course. This broad base course offers pupils the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and understanding using practical skills, whilst developing an understanding of the wider world looking at area of art, craft and graphic design. Our curriculum demonstrates their ability through; fine art, drawing, photography, painting, printmaking, textiles, stencilling, mixed media and Graphic design. Graphics pupils also investigate designers through drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles, graphic design, and architecture from ancient times to present day.
Beyond The Curriculum - offers a variety of extra-curricular to pupils of all ages and abilities. Lunchtime clubs, 1-1 tuition at lunchtime and after school. We currently offer photography tutorials, Photo-pea tutorials in a learning environment where pupils are encouraged to be independent. Pupils visit colleges and universities where pupils study Art and design – invite younger pupils to visit photography workshops/fashion shows.
One of the highlights within the school calendar is our Annual Art exhibition, an evening that displays the talent and the dedication of our KS3 and GCSE pupils as we exhibit a range of artwork celebrated by pupils, parents, staff and our local community.


Documentary outlines long-term benefits of early intervention programs addressing behaviour problems in young children
I’ve long had an interest, especially given my career in elementary education, in research related to brain development in early childhood and the long-term impact of optimal – as contrasted to suboptimal – conditions for children’s growth and learning.
In this regard, I was really interested to hear a broadcast on March 26, 2014 on CBC Radio’s The Current regarding a documentary, “Angry Kids, Stressed Out parents.”
The caption for an illustration at a link (no longer an active link) regarding the above-noted documentary reads: “The Journal of the American Medical Association believes the intensity of modern life may be causing behavioural problems with children. More kids are diagnosed with mental health conditions than with physical ones. (Tiz Beretta/Bountiful Films).”
I have seen the documentary. It’s an excellent film. I’m really pleased I had the opportunity to view it on the CBC’s Doc Zone channel.
The CBC radio program speaks of a brain scan of a three year old who is growing up in a stimulating, nurturing environment. Active engagement of the brain is evident in the scan.
The brain scan of a three year old child living under conditions of “grinding poverty” shows a markedly different neurological profile. Much less active engagement of the brain is evident in the scan.
The absence of helpful early childhood learning experiences, according to the overview outlined by The Current, gives rise to effects that are similar to those of abuse or neglect.
The problem can be addressed through early intervention, which seek to enable a child to develop suitable skills at self regulation.
Early intervention programs
The cost of such early intervention programs aimed at addressing poverty-related problems is minimal compared to the costs to society of the subset of young children who develop behaviour problems that persist into adolescence and adulthood. Acts of violence committed by individuals in the latter category give rise to extensive costs to society, including but not restricted to the costs of incarceration. The costs of early intervention programs are minimal, in particular when compared to the costs when early intervention does not occur.
The documentary addresses issues which are addressed in updates and content of some previous posts at this website.
An Aug. 19, 2016 Brookings Institution article is entitled: “The long-term impact of the Head Start program.” The opening sentence reads: “A growing body of rigorous evidence suggests that policy interventions aimed at early childhood bear fruit for decades.”
An April 13, 2017 CBC The Current article is entitled: “Roughhousing benefits kids, suggests Quebec daycare guide.”


Nelson Mandela said, ‘Education is the most powerful tool you can use to change the world’. He was talking from personal experience: he first used this tool to change his world, and this enabled him to change the world outside of himself.
Many young adults emerge from school with basic language skills, particularly those of reading and writing. They will have used these mostly to gain further subject-specific knowledge during their primary and secondary schooling. Yet tertiary education requires more advanced, self-reflective reading, writing and thinking skills.
Of these three skills, the advanced, self-reflective writing skill drives learning the other two. To illustrate this, not far into students' first tertiary courses, they will be required to complete written assignments – usually essays – on the material covered up to that point. To do so, they will need to read the material; they may need to do research to complement their readings; and they will need to organize their thoughts. All of this will be driven by the requirement to write on their topic.
Hence, in learning to understand how topic sentences work in writing expository texts, one learns how to identify these while reading and thinking about others' texts and to apply them in structuring one's own texts. Another aspect of the self-reflective, advanced writing skill is understanding the creative process and writing with this understanding. In a broader sense, the creative process is synonymous with the learning process.
If students have not been taught these advanced, self-reflective skills prior to embarking on their tertiary studies, they would do well to take responsibility for acquiring them, starting with learning about the creative process, the writing process, and language structuring terms and conventions. A very cost-effective way to do this would be to purchase The Natural Creative Process in Writing: A Core Writing and Editing Handbook for Everyone.
With their newly acquired self-reflective, advanced writing skill, students could progress to gaining more skill in the areas of reading and thinking.
With all three advanced foundational skills in place, success in the academic and working careers of everyone – no matter their age and stage – will be that much closer. They will be, as Nelson Mandela was, positioned to change their own lives and to influence the world as he did.
By Russell de la Porte


ibwaae Wooden Number Tracing Board Set Beads Counting Game Preschool Math Game Color Sorting Toys for Kids Fine Motor Skill Montessori Toys for Toddler(Peg Board)
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【WAY TO LEARNING】: The wooden number board is great math teaching tool to develops visual focusing, thinking, memory, sensory and fine motor skills, perseverance, diligence, attentiveness for beginner.
【HOURS OF FUN】: When kids enjoy it on their own, it is a great toy to improve their patience and develop independent thinking and logical reasoning skills, and helps establish close interaction and communication between parents and children or playmates.
【SATIDFIED AFTER-SALES】: We design every toy to the highest quality standards, focus on the experience of each user. Please give us messages or Amazon replacement/refund if any problems and we’ll make it right.


“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life...”
— Kahlil Gibran
Cello Lessons in Grants Pass
Cello Lesson Options
A Little Bit of Info About the Cello. The cello (short for violoncello) is sometimes compared to the the human voice because its range encompasses the notes sung by all four human voices - the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano. It's rich, mellow tone touches the heart much as the human voice does.
In an orchestra cellos and double basses provide the low harmony, with the cello often playing the melody for brief sections or for extended sections when featured in a cello concerto. The cello is also used extensively in popular music.
Cellos are Featured in All Musical Styles. In the 1960s The Beatles incorporated the cello in songs such as "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" and "Strawberry Fields Forever." The Beach Boys also utilized the cello in their innovative song, "Good Vibrations". In the 1970's the Electric Light Orchestra included the cello and violin in their rock/classical fusion style. Other bands incorporating the cello include Aerosmith, Nirvana, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, and OneRepublic. The cello is also used in bluegrass and folk music, even appearing in some Celtic folk music performances with the performers demonstrating the skills and techniques of traditional fiddle playing.
What Your Child Will Learn in Cello Lessons. Students in our cello lessons learn the fundamentals common to playing both classical and popular music including playing position, bowing technique, scales, and classic songs with a focus on playing in tune. As a student begins to master these foundational skills in their cello lessons, they will work with their teacher to learn the techniques needed to play the styles of music they love.
Your Child's Cello. For their cello lessons your child will need an instrument that is the correct size for their height. Renting with the option to buy is a good way to purchase an instrument for your child's cello lessons, since rental plans usually let you trade your child's instrument in for a larger size as they grow. We recommend Great Northwest Music for cello rentals - they will be able to tell you what size is best for your child and get you set up with everything you need for your child's cello lessons. If you are interested in purchasing a cello or if yours needs repair or a new bow, we recommend Holst Violins, a home based violin-family instrument shop. . .contact Brad Holst at 541-622-3540.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size of cello will my child need?
There are several ways to size a cello. One method is based on your child's height:
1/8 to 1/4 size—below 4 feet
1/2 size—4 to 4 1/2 feet
3/4 size—4 1/2 to 5 feet
4/4 size—5 feet and above
What accessories will my child need?
End Pin Anchor
How much will my child need to practice?
It will be important for your child to play the cello regularly to make progress in lessons. We recommend that beginners practice 15-30 minutes every day.
Playing the cello can result in sore fingers at the beginning, so it is may help to practice time into two sessions a day for 10 minutes with several hours in between to give sore fingers time to rest.
As your child practices regularly, they will eventually develop callouses on their fingers so that they no longer hurt. At that point, they can play for longer periods of time. The more time a musician practices, the faster they progress in their playing.
Teresa is the principal cellist in the Three Rivers Community Orchestra. Having taught cello for over 5 years, she is inspired by her students and loves sharing music with others.


This study explored the ways in which technology can and does assist heritage language literacy development.
Drawing on data from 212 online questionnaires and 10 family interviews, the study found that, while 87% of families used books in the heritage language at least once a week, only a fifth of them used online or mobile apps and games for the same purpose – despite 82% of parents acknowledging their children were interested in mobile games and apps, and 78% of children were interested in learning the heritage language.
Qualitative answers and family interviews revealed a number of reasons for this mismatch, ranging from lack of access to suitable resources in the relevant language to parental fears of children having too much screen time. In addition, comments revealed that parents treat apps and games differently to books: whereas books are viewed as a shared resource – something to be enjoyed together – apps and games are more frequently seen as something to keep children quiet, or to be used as a motivator, principally by the child alone.
Comments from some parents also remarked that children were playing games “wrong”, leading to questions around the purpose of play and language play. An overview of resources that accompanied the study found that heritage language children’s needs are difficult to meet in the current market of apps and games, which are aimed either at learners of the language (focusing on vocabulary development), early learners (focusing on early literacy development), or native speaker children (using language that may be beyond a heritage language child growing up outside the full linguistic space afforded by the language). For children, this had connotations with regards to their identity development, and how they viewed themselves as plurilingual individuals.
Further studies are currently under preparation to explore the various findings in more detail.
Findings from the study were disseminated at the following events:
– UKLA conference, July 2015
– Festival of Social Sciences (Sheffield, November 2015)
– Young Language Learners’ Conference (Oxford, July 2016)
– Researchers’ Night (Sheffield, September 2016)
– International Association of Applied Linguistics conference (AILA 2017, Rio de Janeiro, forthcoming).
For further information contact Sabine Little at firstname.lastname@example.org .


How do we effectively teach children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken?
In Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, a committee of experts focuses on this central question, striving toward the construction of a strong and credible knowledge base to inform the activities of those who educate children as well as those who fund and conduct research.
The book reviews a broad range of studies—from basic ones on language, literacy, and learning to others in educational settings. The committee proposes a research agenda that responds to issues of policy and practice yet maintains scientific integrity.
This comprehensive volume provides perspective on the history of bilingual education in the United States; summarizes relevant research on development of a second language, literacy, and content knowledge; reviews past evaluation studies; explores what we know about effective schools and classrooms for these children; examines research on the education of teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students; critically reviews the system for the collection of education statistics as it relates to this student population; and recommends changes in the infrastructure that supports research on these students.
Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 1997. Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children: A Research Agenda. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/5286.
|2 BILINGUALISM AND SECOND-LANGUAGE LEARNING||29-52|
|3 COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF SCHOOL LEARNING: LITERACY DEVELOPMENT AND CONTENT LEARNING||53-84|
|4 THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF SCHOOL LEARNING||85-112|
|5 STUDENT ASSESSMENT||113-138|
|6 PROGRAM EVALUATION||139-162|
|7 STUDIES OF SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM EFFECTIVENESS||163-250|
|8 PREPARATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS SERVING ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LEARNERS||251-274|
|9 ESTIMATING POPULATION PARAMETERS||275-306|
|10 ISSUES RELATED TO THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE||307-342|
|11 PRIORITIES FOR RESEARCH||343-362|
|A THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RESEARCH ON ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION||363-412|
|B FEDERAL AND STATE INTERVIEWS||413-432|
|C FUNDED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES||433-466|
|D COMMITTEE SOURCES||467-470|
|OTHER REPORTS FROM THE BOARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES||487|
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Musicians perceive sounds differently than the average person – a fact that likely doesn’t shock you in the least. But would you be surprised to hear that perception of sound varies between different types of musicians? A new study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex has found that there are noticeable differences between how the brains of guitarists and beatboxers respond to music.
“Most research in this area has focused on classically trained musicians, who have had extensive tuition from a very young age, but we found that professional beatboxers and guitarists also display neural patterns typical of these expert classical musicians,” says Dr. Saloni Krishnan, the study’s lead author who completed the research while at University College London.
The study involved 60 participants who listened to recordings of beatbox and guitar tunes. Half of the people were non-musicians, while the other half were professional beatboxers and guitarists with an average of 8-9 years of experience. Results showed that the sensorimotor brain areas – which control movement – were activated in the musicians’ brains, but this effect was not seen in non-musicians.
But an interesting distinction was found between the two musician groups. The activation of the sensorimotor brain areas was only seen when participants were listening to tracks from their own fields of interest. According to the researchers, this may mean that the brain is connecting movements associated with making that form of music while the musician is listening.
For beatboxers, listening to beatboxing sparked activity in the region of the brain that controls mouth movement. For the guitarist group, listening to a guitar track increased activity in the area of the brain responsible for hand movement.
“We are excited by these findings because they indicate that experience of producing music changes the way we perceive it – perhaps explaining why professional musicians can hone in on technical expertise so easily to play complex pieces without having to think about each note,” explains Krishnan.
Additionally, the MRIs showed a spike in brain activity in a region connected to language tasks, such as reading or picture naming.
“We’ve identified a perceptual network which is engaged when you hear an instrument you can play, and which shows how acquiring this expertise has shaped your brain responses,” says senior author, Professor Sophie Scott. “There’s already a lot of evidence that music education is good for you – here’s an example of what it does to the brain.”


Claude Debussy, a French composer, was a true revolutionary in the world of classical music. Although he disliked being labeled as an impressionist, many compare his musical style to the works of famous painters like Monet and Renoir. Debussy believed that calling him an impressionist limited the innovative nature of his compositions.
Portrait of Claude Debussy at 46 (1908) by Atelier Nadar, Paris
He was a genuine pioneer, challenging the traditional rules and musical structure. His tunes are filled with rich harmonies, delicate melodies, and surprising twists. Also, rather than telling a linear story or conveying a specific emotion, Debussy’s compositions excel in creating enchanting atmospheres and evoking moods.
In fact, he was a key figure in the development of modernism. Without his contributions, the music of the 20th century could have taken a completely different path.
Music is the silence between the notes.
Born in 1862 on the outskirts of Paris, he grew up in a rather tumultuous family environment. It wasn’t until he enrolled at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 10 that he had the opportunity to receive formal music education. Initially, his ambition was to become a concert pianist, but as he reached the age of 18, his focus shifted toward composition, particularly songs.
At 22, he achieved a significant milestone by winning the esteemed Prix de Rome (a unique scholarship awarded by the French government), despite frequently disregarding the established “rules” of composition.
I love music passionately. And because I love it I try to free it from barren traditions that stifle it.
Debussy’s most famous piano piece, Clair de Lune (Moonlight), is the poignant third movement of his Suite Bergamasque, composed in 1890. This dreamy composition has gained widespread recognition and has been featured in diverse advertisements, ranging from airlines to toilet rolls, and seamlessly integrated into numerous TV scores and films, such as Westworld, Twilight, and Ocean’s Eleven. Another piano composition, the first of the two Arabesques, is almost as famous.
Debussy’s most popular and frequently performed orchestral work is La Mer or The Sea (1905). This triptych of “symphonic sketches” showcases Debussy’s remarkable ability to paint vivid scenes through music. The piece masterfully captures the shimmering effects of light on water, creating a truly immersive listening experience.
And let’s not overlook the groundbreaking Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, 1894), which beautifully evokes nature and the dreamy atmosphere of a lazy afternoon in the forest. French conductor Pierre Boulez regarded this composition as a pivotal moment, more or less the beginning of modern music.
In François Lesure’s definitive French-language biography of Debussy, the composer is depicted as “catlike and solitary,” being a withdrawn, unsociable, taciturn, skittish, susceptible, distant, and shy individual. Debussy lived with a sense of haughty misanthropy, often shielded behind a wall of irony.
Those around me persist in not understanding that I have never been able to live in a real world of people and things.
Claude Debussy’s personal life stood in stark contrast to the tranquility of his music, marked by turmoil, mainly resulting from his own actions. He engaged in multiple high-profile affairs, broke engagement, and was married twice.
In 1909, Debussy received a devastating diagnosis of colon cancer, which rapidly deteriorated his health. Sadly, at the age of 56, on March 25, 1918, he passed away.
Debussy’s extraordinary legacy endures. He achieved something that is exceedingly rare, transcending the boundaries of a single lifetime—he introduced a new form of beauty to the world.
Words of Wisdom
“Art is the most beautiful of all lies.” —Claude Debussy
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ―Oscar Wilde
“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” ―Dr. Seuss
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ―Mahatma Gandhi


Homeschool Music Education
Homeschool music education Scientific Research Shows Homeschool Music Education Helps Young Minds Develop .......* In the last several years, the results of some scientific studies are constructing a Home School Editions">strong foundation of proof that Home School Editions">music instruction is not only inherently deserving but that it helps young memories flourish and flourish. Homeschool Music Education structures intellect. Informant: NAMM Foundation Did You Know?* Homeschool Music Education making promotes the growth of neural contacts in the mentality* IQ tallies rise with increased frequency of music survey Source: NAMM Foundation Did You Know?* New reports are rising on a regular basis that substantiates a better understanding of music's impact on progress. In order for these benefits to reach progenies, we have to work together to assure that all kids have access to music education Root: NAMM Foundation Did You Know?*
Secondary school and high school students who participated in instrumental music tallied significantly higher than their non-musical peers in standardized test Generator: University of Sarasota Study, Jeffrey Lynn Kluball; East Texas State Study, Daryl Erick Trent Did You Know?* University analyzes conducted in Georgia and Texas located significant correlations between the number of years of instrumental music teachers and academic achievement in math, science, and language artworks Generator: University of Sarasota Study, Jeffrey Lynn Kluball; East Texas State Study, Daryl Erick Trent Did You Know?* Music majors were more likely graduates to be admitted to medical school.
Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical institution applicants. Informant:" The Comparative Academic Abilities of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University," Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480 He found that 66% of music majors who applied to med Academy were acknowledged, the highest percentage of any group. For comparison, 44% of biochemistry majors were acknowledged. Generator:" The Comparative Academic Abilities of Students in Education and Other Areas of a Multi-focus University," Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480 Did You Know?* Music study can help girls understand advanced notions.* Music implies rates, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and period Source: Neurological Research March 1999 Did You Know? Music Students Tally Higher on SAT Tests Average 63 degrees higher in verbal Average 47 qualities highest in math.* A ten years old analyze, tracking more than 25000 students, would point out that music-making improves test tallies Source: The College Board Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers*. Irrespective of socioeconomic background, music-making students get higher celebrates in standardized tests than those who had no music involvement.
Source: The College Board Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers Did You Know?* A McGill study found that pattern identification and mental illustration ratings improved significantly for students presented piano instruction over a three time season*. The analyst also found that self-esteem enhanced for students given piano education* or Homeschool Music Education Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study showed that music participates received more academic reputations and accolades than non-music students.* The percentage of music students earning As and Bs was higher than the rate of non-participants receiving those tiers Source: National Educational Longitudinal Study First Follow-Up, 1990, US Department of Education Did You Know?* Research would point out that piano students are better equipped to comprehend mathematical and scientific concepts.
A group of preschoolers received private piano lessons. A second group received special computer exercises. The offsprings who received piano set play-act 34% higher on tests evaluating spatial-temporal ability. "Spatial-temporal" is proportional reasoning. Root: Neurological Research Why Learn Music?* Music helps develop abilities needed by the 21 st century workforce such as critical reasoning, imaginative problem-solving, effective communications, team work, and more* Homeschool Music Education also improves the quality of a young persons life and assists in healthy social development Did You Know?* Seven out of ten parents strongly agree that music and artworks instruction is very important for their children's institution curriculum Root: NAMM Foundation* Nine out of ten adults and teens who play instruments agree that music shape creates the family closer together, Informant: American Music Conference 2000
As found on Youtube


Department Staff: T. Greenwood – Head of Science
P. Board – Science Teacher
The science curriculum at Falconer is designed to inspire and encourage students to question and challenge the world around them. The science curriculum develops learners’ knowledge, skills and understanding through key computational concepts and experience. Students develop their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, techniques and procedures before applying them to unfamiliar contexts. Students also learn to analyse information and ideas to make judgements, draw conclusions, develop and improve experimental procedures.
Key Stage 3 overview
At KS3, students follow a condensed 2-year programme (Years 7 and 8) which covers the National Curriculum. This sets the students up for tackling the KS4 programme at the start of Year 9. Students will have 4 teaching sessions per week which covers a rotation of topics in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. They will also be proficient in lab skills, scientific enquiry, literacy and numeracy skills.
Some of our KS3 students will follow a more nurture based primary model for the science curriculum giving them more support and encouragement to develop their skills at their own pace.
Key Stage 4 overview
From the start of Year 9, students follow the AQA curriculum for all of our science options at GCSE.
The majority of students will be entered for the Combined Science Triology GCSE this allows student to gain 2 GCSEs, an average being taken from all of the exams taken in each of the three sciences. Students will have four teaching sessions per week and the Biology, Chemistry and Physics topics are taught in rotation. Embedded in the course are required practical’s ensuring that the students continue to get a hands on science experience.
KS4 Science Curriculum and Progression
AQA Combined science specification
BBC bitesize KS3
BBC Bitesize KS4
Oak National Academy that provides teaching and learning resources.


School District 47 recognizes the importance of good reading and writing skills and has appointed a literacy coordinator.
Calico Clark said she works with and alongside elementary school teachers, both in a collaborative planning process, or making plans for reading and writing instruction. She also works in classrooms with teachers, either doing collaborative lesson teaching, or sometimes doing demo lessons with teachers, and she also works with groups of students.
“I work with any teachers who are interested in working together on reading and writing practices in their classrooms,” said Clark. “We are really just looking at focusing on students and student learning.”
Clark said she comes from a classroom teacher background and she has worked as a literacy coach in a previous job. She is currently working on a master’s degree with a passion for literacy – reading and writing in classrooms. The school district has officially designated the literacy coordinator’s job this school year but she has worked in the capacity of this role for three years.
Clark said literacy is one of the school district’s goals and is an ongoing goal for each of the schools.
“One of the things happening that is exciting in our district is that we are really looking at a comprehensive approach to our reading and writing instruction,” said Clark. “We are certainly looking at early literacy and foundational skills, but that is also balanced with mindfulness and really being aware that we want to have students who are engaged readers and writers who really have meaningful context.
“We have such great support from our teacher librarians, who are working to make sure the libraries are full of really diverse texts that represent kids and families and the world we live in. That becomes a rich centre and focus for literacy throughout the schools.”
Clark said good literacy practices begin in kindergarten and she added that there are amazing kindergarten teachers in this district.
“They are setting kids off to a great start with those early literacy skills,” said Clark. “It’s really about opening kids up to see that their words matter and that their voice is so important. We want to help them share their ideas and to participate in the world.
“Teachers are doing amazing work around writing instruction and giving kids their own voice. They are talking about the importance of writing and we’re highlighting that in classrooms.”
With next week (January 22 to 29) being Family Literacy Week, qathet region schools will be participating in a number of activities to recognize the importance of literacy. Clark said the school district is making a commitment to having students see themselves as readers and writers.


SEG Measurement conducted a national study of nearly 300 preschool children, aged three years through five years, to test the ability of Kindermusik International’s curriculum ABC Music & Me to affect students’ literacy development.
During the study, students in both the treatment and control groups were tested with the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) Pre-K Assessment at both the beginning and end of the school year. Results indicated that students in the treatment group showed a 32% higher gain in PALS scores over the control group.
ABC Music & Me is an early childhood literacy and language curriculum from Kindermusik International that uses music and movement to engage young children, while teaching a variety of skills. Activities are designed to develop and strengthen each student’s early literacy skills, fine/gross motor skills, and social-emotional skills through theme-related songs, poems, stories, dancing, and instrument play.


Jeffrey A Mendenhall has B.S. Degree in Art Education from Florida State University. He has an A.S. Degree in Graphic Design from The State College of Florida. His body of art work incorporates the
themes of color, emotions, brush textures and shapes. The body of work is reflective of his “Study of Colours in Abstract 20th Century Art Work”.
In college, he did a sketchbook/research project on the colors and emotions in 20th century art. Periods of art that were of focus: Fauvism, Abstractism, OP art, and Color Field. The artists Piet
Mondrain, Joseph Albers, Helen Frankenthaler, Wassily Kandisky, Henri Matisse, Bridget Riley were the main focus of the research project. By studying Frankenthaler and other color field artists, he learned that color alone can invoke shapes and textures. His art work is revealing the culture of modern art work
His art work is created thorough the use of Corel Painter on a computer. Corel Painter is a software that allows the artist to create work with different types of media. The user can choose different
brush sizes. Users can control the texture, depth, size, bleed, etc of the brushes. You can have a water color layer. There is a liquid oil layer. In the layers and selections, one can control their brush work. A
Wacom stylus pen on a pressure sensitive tablet is used to draw the artwork.
He creates slide show movies to show the development of pieces. He wants to show people the process of making his digital art. Visit his youtube page to view other digital art works. He wants to continue to use advancing technologies to create art work. One day, he envisions his art work on flexible screens.
Contact Info: 773-263-6557 | email@example.com
Web Portfolio: youtube.com/user/jamdigitalwork


Reading Block for K-2
Reading Block for first and second grade is 75-80 minutes of instruction on the student’s instructional level. It includes word study and guided reading.
- Word study for the OPLC is Project Read Phonology which is a multi-sensory program utilizing direct teaching of concepts to be mastered by your child.
- Guided reading instruction is to take your child from where they are in their reading development and move them towards independence at a higher level.
In Kindergarten Reading Block is a 40-50 minute period which includes:
- Phonemic awareness: The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
- Phonics instruction: Project Read is a step by step way, covering all the basic sounds in the English language: (the consonant sounds, the blends, the digraphs, the vowels, and various combinations).
- Guided reading: a small group of students who are at or about the same reading level are helped through a text by a teacher.


At Selby Primary School we offer students in Prep the opportunity to engage in investigations, guided by their interests and linked to curriculum objectives. Investigations encourages students to work collaboratively as they build on their critical thinking, questioning, creative thinking and a love and passion for learning.
Investigations is well established at Selby and allows students to engage in “play-based” learning inspired by the Walker Learning Approach which is based upon decades of research. This approach to learning combines the need for children to be active participants in their learning through hands on and creative exploration while still participating in formal instruction. There is explicit teaching and development of not only literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge but also a range of vital social, emotional and life skills. This approach to learning supports Preps in their transition to school as they become more connected to their peers and the learning environment at Selby.


Noticing, wondering, sensing, and experiencing are all characteristics of the curious and the creative. They are also at the very core of Reggio-inspired early childhood learning, a project-based educational approach in which learning stems from student interest. Among the countless topics that can ignite children’s inquisitive nature, the weather, with its seasonal, daily, even hourly changes has near limitless potential in early childhood learning. Connecting art and science, while holding the potential to lay the foundation for a life-long commitment to care for our planet, investigations stemming from weather, make for profoundly meaningful learning.
At Discovery Village, which opened this past July, we did not initially imagine how central the weather would be to life in our village. Committed to learning stemming from children’s interests, we watched, attentive to children’s conversations and self-initiated activities. With large windows in each classroom facing the outdoors, and outdoor play and nature walks twice daily, we quickly noticed our students’ conversation, wonder, and explorations into nature, the weather, and over time the changing seasons.
Family trips to pools and beaches, boating and fishing, rainstorms and puddles, plentiful water play, and love for the song “Baby Shark” opened up endless conversation and curiosity this past summer about water. We watched out our windows at the summer rain showers, jumped in puddles when the rain abated, and splashed around through water play outdoors and sensory bins inside.
Investigations stemming from children’s interests included ways people explore the sea, using boats, submarines, and scuba diving gear. We engaged in learning both about creatures that live under the sea, and about ways land animals cool down in the heat. Sensory experiences with water, sand, and even one in which we made our own mud abounded, as did loads of splashing around and water play. We took nature walks collecting items related to summer and watched the sun and the clouds, as well as the shifting colors of the sky. Science experiments using water, as well as art activities with water rounded out our experiences.
As the weather cooled and our relaxed short sleeves and sandals gave way to cozy sweaters, beauty and gratitude emerged as Fall themes. Science activities relating to the changing colors of the world around us, and art projects incorporating fall items we collected on nature walks occupied our imaginations. This led to increasing interest in art and the creation of our own museum and range of gallery exhibits. We learned about the harvest and where our vegetables come from, took many nature walks, and celebrated with harvest festivals and a special Friendsgiving feast.
It is just the beginning of our winter explorations. We’ve already created a range of winter art, and are starting so many experiments with snow and ice.
Even more significantly, we’ve embraced our curiosity about the world in which we live. As we play, wonder, experiment, and create, we’ll also be thinking about ways of showing care for the world around us


Ready for Kindergarten? School Readiness Measurement and Outcomes
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Virginia has adopted a definition of school readiness, but has not set benchmarks for measuring school readiness. For the purposes of the PDG, the evaluation team selected instruments to assess the Essential Domains of School Readiness: language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, social and emotional development, and physical well-being and motor development. Instruments included the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Kindergarten; Woodcock Johnson® Tests of Achievement III Applied Problems subtest; Teacher-Child Rating Scale task orientation, peer social skills, and behavior control scales; and the Virginia Fine/Gross Motor Screening at Kindergarten. The evaluation team developed a set of benchmarks for each measure to determine whether or not children scored within the developmental range. For the literacy assessment, the developmental range is defined by the developers. For norm-referenced measures, we considered children as within the developmental range if their scores were at or above the mean or no more than two-thirds of a standard deviation below the mean based on guidance from early childhood and methodological experts. Children were classified as ready for kindergarten if they performed within the developmental range in both academic domains (literacy and math) and at least one of the other domains (approaches to learning or social and emotional development). Motor development was not included as a criterion for school readiness because 99% of children passed the state-mandated kindergarten motor development screener.
During the 2015-16 SY, VPI+ enrolled 1,551 children in 110 classrooms in 11 of Virginia’s 132 school divisions that ranked highest in need. In fall 2017, the evaluation team assessed 1,146 children who participated in VPI+ during the 2015-16 SY when they entered kindergarten. Overall, 70% of children demonstrated school readiness. A lower percentage of Hispanic (64%) and African American children (69%) demonstrated school readiness compared with White children (81%). At the domain level, most children demonstrated readiness in literacy (90%), cognition and general knowledge (83%), approaches to learning (84%), and about three-fourths of children demonstrated readiness in the social and emotional domain (72%). The Virginia Department of Education and divisions are using these findings to inform VPI+ program improvement efforts. The poster will share additional analyses that were conducted to identify appropriate benchmarks for individual measures and across the domains, and differences by child demographics.


Essay on the Hip Hop Subculture
Number of words: 627
A deviation of cultural rules and values from the larger culture by a particular group or groups of people is what is referred to as a subculture (Holt et al., 2017). Integration into the larger cultural group, sharing, use of symbols and requiring learning are the four aspects of culture that also apply to a subculture. Subversive values which are unlike mainstream values have been identified in subcultures which are established as countercultures to the one of the mainstream communities. The African-American community that was ostracized in the early seventies in the US developed the Hip hop subculture (Muhammad, 2015).
Communities of African descent in the state of New York developed the Hip hop subculture. The mainstream American community did not wholly or partly accept the subculture and the origin of the subculture was predominantly low income. Since he came up with the breakbeat, Disk Jockey (DJ) KoolHerc is regarded as the father of Hip hop who more often than not hosted block parties in the Bronx which later gave rise to Hip hop culture. Societal problems and frustrations were openly expressed by those who participated in the events via the tool that was Hip hop rap. Common practices incorporated in the Hip hop subculture since are sampling of music and Disc Jockeying. Older songs have remained relevant as new songs are being developed through sampling. One of the rapping groups coined the term Hip hop as an insult on the style of other groups which later became the adopted name for the genre. The 1970’s rapping groups such as the Furious Five are credited Hip hop’s many terms (Putra & Suwito, 2020).
Since the rap culture is mostly dominant in the East side and the West side, hand signals are used to identify the respective origin of a rapper because the Hip hop subculture utilizes symbols to put its message across. Racism, crime, and racism against African-Americans are the main themes addressed by graffiti as a style of art employed in the subculture (Bąk et al., 2019).
Above is the mic-drop symbol used in the Hip hop subculture and it signals triumph at the end of a performance that involves deliberately dropping one’s microphone. Metaphorically, when a rapper is pleased about their performance, it conveys triumph as well as demonstrating immodest attitude (Smith & Powell, 2018).
The Hip hop subculture means a lot to me. Mainstream culture does not offer a sense of community to the African-Americans and this is where the Hip hop subculture steps in to provide a sense of ethnic identity to this marginalized group. Another reason I am passionate about the Hip hop subculture is that it gives a chance to vent and speak over social injustices and it also offers a way of addressing their grievances while giving a voice to the voiceless. Additionally, the subculture has learned to appreciate and encourage low-income learners despite their social status and provided them with a community where they have a sense of belonging.
Bąk, T., Kardis, M., Valco, M., Kalimullin, A. M., & Galushkin, A. A. (2019). A philosophical-sociological diagnosis of youth subcultures in the context of social changes. XLinguae, 12, 163-185.
Holt, T. J., Freilich, J. D., and Chermak, S. M. (2017). Exploring the subculture of ideologically motivated cyber-attackers. Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 33, 212-233.
Muhammad, K. R. (2015). Everyday people: public identities in contemporary hip-hop culture. Social Identities, 21, 425-443.
Putra, D. L., and Suwito, K. A. (2020). Hip-hop Cultural Representation in Hip-hop Community through Song Lyrics. Talent Development & Excellence, 12.
Smith, G. D., and Powell, B. (2018). Introduction to the special issue on hip hop, or how not to other the other. Journal of Popular Music Education, 2, 3-7.


June 27, 2021 bilingual education
They are capable of reveal larger levels of cognitive flexibility. The National Latino Children’s Institute considers quality bilingual applications essential to the tutorial success of non-native English speakers. The programs enable English Language Learners to remain on the same tutorial stage as their peers, whereas a “sink or swim” method can cause college students to fall far behind.
Discussions of bilingual education more often centered on Latino communities in metropolitan areas corresponding to Miami, Los Angeles, and New York. The Lau vs. Nichols verdict, which involved a Chinese-talking pupil, along with the advent of post-Vietnam War Asian immigration, suggested that the talk was relevant to different communities in the nation. Similar pursuits were present in localized but nationally observed efforts to include the language of a surrounding neighborhood into a faculty’s curriculum. A particularly contentious and extensively publicized debate arose over “Ebonics” in Oakland, California, within the early Nineteen Nineties.
What Is Meant By A Sheltered English Program?
We have an intent focus on creating English talking, studying, writing and listening abilities. Our celebrated partnerships within the Detroit community and internationally have been showcased by local museums, worldwide institutes, exterior companions, volunteers and organizations invested in English Language Development and Culture. Dual language applications have grown in recognition within the United States, and more schools are adopting these applications because the demand will increase.
These Lau plans greatly expanded the variety of bilingual packages throughout the country. They set standards to determine which college students certified for inclusion in a program and after they could possibly be allowed to exit. During this period, test scores repeatedly showed that non-English-speaking students who participated in well-designed bilingual programs constantly carried out on the similar level as their English-talking classmates. After the Cuban revolution of 1959, waves of Cubans fled to South Florida . Florida’s Coral Way college district established the first state-supported program in decades to instruct students in Spanish, their native language, thereby easing their transition to English.
Writing for The Texas Tribune, Columbia University scholar Diego Lomeli notes that as companies turn out to be extra international, and range in our communities increases, being raised bilingually can help set students up for fulfillment as adults. Lomeli also mentions a rising, urgent need for multilingual communicators. Bilingual education is immersive and helps students turn into proficient in both languages. A recent article in Kidspot points out that “kids will definitely have a bonus in life learning and being educated in two languages.” Being bilingual opens up education and career opportunities. Students who are fluent in a second language can simply select to check or work abroad.
Further, rates of improvement of oral proficiency vary significantly in ESL kids. Consequently, all lecturers, not simply ESL specialists, need to handle the training wants of ESL college students and regulate their instruction accordingly to satisfy the totally different levels of English proficiency, different studying rates, and types of their students . Instructional lodging do not mean, nonetheless, a “watered-down” curriculum. Our degrees in Bilingual Education are designed to prepare prospective and training teachers, researchers, and future academic leaders with a firm basis in language and literacy development and applied linguistics.
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There are additionally cultural advantages for those youngsters who are learning two languages together. Children who come from completely different foreign locations can present their language information to friends from one other nation and vice versa. Modern communication technologies eliminate many global barriers in relation to socialization, business and much more. Programs in two languages and possibly even on three present students a broader worldview, regardless of the student’s native language, and result in higher alternatives for joint studying. People should not limit youngsters at school, based on outdated ideas.


Stakeholders in incremental credentialing should be reminded that individuals in the criminal justice system have historically not participated in equitable education systems at the K-12 and postsecondary levels. In many cases, these inequities in academic achievement and educational opportunity have undermined their quality of life since childhood. A 2016 report showed that 30 percent of individuals incarcerated in state and federal prisons lack a high school diploma or its equivalent. Additionally, one-third of the nation’s incarcerated adults performed at low levels of literacy, and about half of them had low levels of numeracy skills compared with the general population. Although 42 percent of incarcerated adults report having some form of education, only 21 percent were currently studying for a formal degree or credential. It is estimated that 2.3 million incarcerated individuals lack access to higher education of any kind, and their ability to obtain access to quality pathways is severely restricted. Reports further reinforce the need to increase incarcerated and re-entering individuals’ access to high-quality learning experiences and high-quality credentials for. Going further, incarcerated learners need full academic programs that lead to meaningful credentials and employment opportunities upon release.
To ensure that incremental credentialing is equitable, we must address the known inequities. The next section of this playbook will explore promising practices undertaken by states, institutions, and other stakeholders to address equity outcomes in incremental credentialing. By adopting these practices and continuing to collect data on their impact, we can better understand their effectiveness and make informed decisions to improve equity outcomes in incremental credentialing.
This section highlights a range of practices and programs that may close equity gaps in incremental credentialing. These include targeted outreach and recruitment efforts, innovative program design and delivery models, and the use of data and analytics to inform decision-making. The section also includes several sets of questions to consider when creating initiatives and programs. These questions are designed to help stakeholders identify and address any potential barriers, and to ensure that equity is at the forefront of their efforts.
National Student Clearinghouse Announces Initiative to Create Centralized DEI Education Research Platform
College Inside – The Prison Credential Dilemma


At Witley C of E Infant school we strongly believe it is important the children are exposed to a wide range of digital devices to support and enhance the teaching and learning in the classroom. A range of IT skills are taught through links to curriculum themes.
In Reception, Children learn that technology is all around them and forms part of everyday life. Through applications on the LearnPad the children begin to develop their literacy and numeracy skills using a range of LearnPad applications to support the EYFS curriculum. They begin to have an awareness of programming and use ‘Beebots’ to input a series of instructions.
In Key Stage 1, children use Logo and Espresso Coding to develop computer programming skills. They learn algorithms are a sequence of instructions used to operate computers and other electronic devices.
Using digital technology, (Chromebooks), the children are given the skills to create and edit their own work for a given purpose. They are taught to use technology to store, organise and retrieve content.
On-line safety is taught through an E-Safety age appropriate scheme of work. They are shown how to keep safe when using digital technology and given the knowledge to know what to do if they have concerns about content, or contact on-line.


A Prof in NCERT struggles for 15 years to change the way art is taught in schools and adopt more perfect ways to enhance creativity among children
Dr Jyotsna Tiwari, Prof and Head of Department of Education in Arts & Aesthetics in National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been struggling for 15 years to change the way art is taught in schools and how it can help enhance creativity, observation and soft skills among children. Thanks to her efforts good initiatives have begun in some states. Since the year 2014, a two year diploma course in performing visual art has been introduced for teachers through NCTE. From this year, it is expected to be taken up by all B.Ed colleges. She is also launching an online platform for teachers. She also pioneered in organisation of Kala Utsav in Delhi last year for secondary level school children. This year will be organised from November 14 to 19.
Dr Tiwari wants to shift the way we look at art. “Art education is a very different kind of area which basically deals with enhancing soft skills, creativity and observation among children. All these come with different art forms. But now the main focus is on drawing only. But art education has much more implications. It is not limited to a textbook. It is everywhere around us. Appreciation about our own culture, history and heritage comes with the exposure of various art forms. It is not only music traditions, it is the architecture, theater traditions, dance forms, both classical and regional forms in different states, etc. These are the living traditions. Until we encourage the children to look around themselves we cannot really promote art,” said Dr Tiwari while talking to Organiser in Delhi.
All the curriculum frameworks of Education Policy talked about art education as an important area for overall development of a child. But that did not happen actually in the schools. Still it is quite marginalised, though in the NCF 2005 it was introduced as a curricular area. Even the constitutional values say every citizen should appreciate its culture and heritage. But it lacks even at the college and university level. “Instead of putting lot of emphasis on classical forms we should integrate local heritage also in it. A child studying in Bastar (Chhattisgarh) should know what is happening in his/her immediate environment and what are their traditions? Metal cast or wood work in our surrounding are also the forms of art expression. The handbook that we have prepared for teachers has many such suggestions,” adds Dr Tiwari, who before joining the NCERT was an act critic in The Hindustan Times, Bhopal.
There is one more problem with the art today. What is taught in most of the institutions is that every art form of Mughal period was very great. “We have very low self-esteem as being Indians. We are not proud of our own heritage. People go to see Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar or Red Fort, but they never appreciate to go to Qilla Rai Pithora in Delhi, which is a living monument of Prithviraj Chauhan. Half of Delhi was under Prithviraj Chauhan’s regime. But nobody knows about it and it is not taught in textbooks. My emphasis in most of the teachers training programmes is that we should appreciate our next door monuments, because they are living examples of our history and we should be proud of that I have never found two sarees of the same pattern or design. You go to market you can find lakhs and lakhs of designs. Those weavers or craftsmen have never been to a design institute. Hence, it is necessary to integrate all these things in the curriculum of not only the art but also social sciences,” she adds.
Though, some states have taken good steps in this direction, it is a long struggle. Since education is a state subject and there are lakhs of vacancies of teachers in many subjects, there is not much sensitisation to create the posts of art teachers. Unless we have trained teachers we cannot show good results.


Making the Ocean: an Immersive Experience for Fifth Graders
For the past four years, 5th grade students in Mr. Eric Ruppert's classroom have build a 55 foot model of the ocean. Students use recycled materials as well as a Makey Makey to create audio explanations of the model.
Sunday, April 22
LOCATION: Table/Exhibit with Hands On Activity TIME: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Christina Martin is the STEM Coordinator for Giles County Public Schools. She has worked in this position for the past three years and has helped develop and grow the Giles County STEM Program. Christina has a Bachelor's Degree from Radford University in Elementary Education. She also holds a Master's Degree in Integrative STEM Education from Virginia Tech. Christina works collaboratively with classroom teachers to develop engineering-design based lessons and activities. She also coordinates after school STEM programs and a Summer STEM Camp.
Eric is a 5th grade science teacher at Eastern Elementary/Middle School in Giles County. Eric is in his 16th year of teaching and holds a Master's Degree from Radford University in Middle School Science Education. Eric strongly believes in creating a culture of self-driven learning in his classroom. Eric utilizes many hands-on, interactive activities and lessons to actively engage his students in the learning process. For the past four years, Eric has worked with his students to create a 55 foot model of the ocean environment. As part of this project, students are responsible for deciding which elements of the ocean environment will be included and designing methods for accurately representing these elements. In addition, Eric strongly believes in utilizing technology in his classroom and uses technology resources to enhance his classroom lessons and activities.


In Primary school at Creek Global School, we aim to engage, and appropriately challenge
our students to provide them with a wide range of skills that will put in them a love of
learning. We have a creative, theme-based curriculum for our (age 6- 11) students. Our
curriculum is carefully designed for child centric learning. This ensures that students are
excited to go to school everyday.
The Creek Global primary school curriculum consists of the following subjects. The “core or
mandatory subjects” include English (language and literature), Science, Mathematics, Social
studies (Geography, History and Civics), Language-2.
The foundation subjects that are taught weekly or bi-weekly consist of- Arts, Sports and
Yoga, Design and Technology, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Music and
Dance, Physical Education and Development (PED), and Astronomy.
Before the start of each term students are given a list of extracurriculars that they choose.
This includes drama, instrument learning, coding, languages, public speaking, cooking etc.
What subjects are offered for International GCSE?
Our Science curriculum is a very rigorous yet fun course that prepares students for the next stage. We make sure students get enough exposure to practical and theory lessons. We offer them regular virtual lab lessons and some home lab activities that they can do themselves, with everything easily found at home
Our students, on an average, improve upto 2 levels in English in a month. All of the Creek Global English teachers are native and are personally trained to the highest level to make sure that they deliver the best education to students. Our English lessons are structured in a way where students do both language and literature in a fun and engaging way.
Mathematics is an integral part of the Creek Global curriculum. Our primary school Mathematics course includes Vedic Maths and Abacus lessons. We make Mathematics fun by using several different study methods such as games, worksheets, role play etc. The unique Creek Math curriculum is a mixture of Singapore, Russian and vigorous Indian Maths
Primary school students at Creek Global School are taught a wide range of relevant Social Science subjects. They are given a healthy mix of History, Geography, and Civics lessons that are not confined to one demographic. Our teaching method includes role plays, dress up days, presentations, and much more.
In a globalised world learning a second language is always a plus point. We at Creek Global believe that the longer a child learns a second language the better it is for them. We have a range of languages to choose from including- English, French, German, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, among others


Home / Public Education / Importance of Specialist Teachers
Importance of Specialist Teachers
Research Supports the Importance of Specialist Teachers and Teacher - Librarians in Elementary Schools
All elementary students should have access to the expertise provided by teacher-librarians and specialist teachers - teachers who have specialist training in music, drama, art, health and physical education, guidance, design and technology. Under the current provincial funding formula, the majority of Ontario schools don't have these specialist educators.
ETFO commissioned an extensive literature review of research that examines the contribution of specialist teachers to the quality of elementary education. The review, published in 2015, confirmed that "overall, the literature surrounding specialist teachers in a range of content areas appears to support the claim that specialist teachers can positively impact student achievement and contribute to student success at the elementary level."


- Texas Health and Human Services / Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services – Provides information about deafness and/or hearing loss, local resources, and communication access services. It includes the phone, fax numbers, and links to obtain more information.
- Texas Health and Human Services / Early Childhood Intervention Services – Provides support and help for families with children (birth to three years old) with disabilities and developmental delays.
- Texas Health Steps – Assures that complete health services are available to children, teens and young adults through 20 years of age who are enrolled in Medicaid. This includes free medical and dental check-ups, eye and hearing screenings, lab tests and shots, eyeglasses and hearing aids, prescriptions, and case management for children with special health care needs.
- Texas School for the Deaf – State agency and public school provides educational services to persons who are Deaf and hard of hearing. 21 years of age or younger and
- Statewide Outreach Center (SOC) at Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) supports the improvement of educational outcomes for students who are Deaf or hard of hearing across Texas. Services and resources are provided to students, their families and the professionals who support them around the state.
- Texas Education Agency Services for the Deaf – The Texas Education Agency coordinates the provision of services to children who are Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), or Deaf-blind (DB). This coordination is through collaboration with the 20 Education Service Centers (ESCs), the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), and the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD). It also provides leadership to Local Education Agencies with Regional Day School Programs for the Deaf for the planning, implementation and operation of comprehensive education programs for students who are Deaf and hard of hearing. .
- Texas Health and Human Services – The agency offers the Deaf-blind with Multiple Disabilities (DBMD) program. This program provides services and supports people who are Deaf-blind and have one or more other disabilities as an alternative to living in an intermediate care facility.
Other helpful Websites
- TexasDeafEd.Org - Developed by the Statewide Outreach Center at the Texas School for the Deaf, this website has deaf education resources for families, students and professionals.
- Texas Guide By Your Side™ (GBYS) – A parent guide A family support program that provides unbiased services to families with children who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Support includes direct parent-to-parent emotional support, workshops, trainings, and events for parents and children, networking opportunities with other families, and referrals to other programs that serve Deaf or hard of hearing children.
- Texas Chapter of Hands & Voices – Supports Texas families and children who are Deaf or hard of hearing and the professionals who serve them. Texas Hands and Voices is a parent-driven, parent/professional/community collaborative group that is impartial in their communication
- Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children – Promotes early identification and intervention for children who are Deaf or hard of hearing and helps them develop their maximum potential through listening, spoken language and literacy.
- Callier Center for Communication Disorders – Offers treatment, training, and research in communication disorders.
- Texas Parent to Parent – Supports and educates families with children with disabilities, chronic illness and other special needs.
- Texas Hearing Institute: Texas Hearing Institute serves children from infancy to age 21, as well as their parents. Texas Hearing Institute’s programs have four focus areas: Audiology Department, Speech Therapy Services, the Melinda Webb School, and Support Services. Children come from over 419 ZIP codes and 44 counties, demonstrating the vital needs Texas Hearing Institute fulfills in our extended community.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Provides information on hearing loss in children including facts, causes, prevention, testing, treatments, research, articles and free publications.
- National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) - Serves as the national resource center for the implementation and improvement of complete and effective Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) systems.
Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (PDF) – Endorses early detection of and intervention for infants with hearing loss. The goal of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) is to maximize linguistic competence and literacy development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.


A reading approach developed to help students beyond third grade to improve their reading comprehension, CSR consists of four comprehension strategies that students apply as they read expository text in small cooperative learning groups.
Watch the movie below for a more detailed summary of CSR (time: 2:21).
Narrator: Collaborative Strategic Reading, or CSR, combines two instructional practices that many teachers already implement in their fourth-grade classrooms: comprehension strategy instruction and cooperative learning.
Mr. Shaw: We’ve been working on a lot of pieces to a puzzle. The puzzle is CSR. Who can tell me what CSR stands for? JD?
Student #1: Collaborative Strategic Reading.
Mr. Shaw: Excellent.
Narrator: Teacher Tim Shaw shows how CSR brings together four effective comprehension strategies: Previewing, Click and Clunk, Get the Gist, and Wrap Up.
Dr. Vaughn: One of the types of comprehension strategies that’s associated with improved outcomes for students are those strategies that are called multi-component strategies. And what that really means is that the strategy has more than one element to it. With respect to Collaborative Strategic Reading, or CSR, it really means that there is a family of strategies; some that occur before reading, some that occur during reading, and some that occur after reading. Students who learn this family of strategies can take them to text and use them in a very systematic way.
Narrator: Mr. Shaw teaches his fourth graders how to work in cooperative groups.
Mr. Shaw: Let’s go over the different things that we wanna to make a cooperative group successful. The first thing is we need to share our thoughts. What is important about sharing thoughts in a collaborative group? Sabrina?
Sabrina: To speak respectfully and just share your thoughts.
Mr. Shaw: I really like the way Sabrina said respectfully. ‘Cause it’s very important that everybody’s ideas in the group are respected.
Narrator: Within cooperative groups, each student performs a designated role. Roles are an important aspect of CSR. Mr. Shaw models and explains the roles so students understand their responsibilities during CSR.
Mr. Shaw: Now, don’t get upset if you don’t get a role you want, because every time we do this, we’re gonna rotate those different roles. So each of you will get a chance to be the Leader. Each of you will get a chance to be the Gist Expert. Each of you will get a chance to be the Clunk Expert or the Encourager or the Announcer.
Revisiting Initial Thoughts
Think back to your responses to the Initial Thoughts questions at the beginning of this module. After working through the Perspectives & Resources, do you still agree with those responses? If not, what aspects about them would you change?
What are some reasons to teach reading comprehension strategies in content-area classes?
What can teachers do to improve their students’ reading comprehension?
How can reading comprehension strategies be implemented in content-area classes?
When you are ready, proceed to the Assessment section.


Traditions of art education in Warsaw date back to the reign of king Stanisław August Poniatowski and the Painting Studio at the Royal Castle, run by Marcello Bacciarelli. He became an honorary dean of the Department of Fine Arts created at Warsaw University in 1816 – the first academic art school in the Polish capital. Following the closing down of the University, the Department was replaced by a School of Fine Arts in 1844. And towards the end of the 19th century, Warsaw art education was continued by Wojciech Gerson’s Drawing Studio, which educated the most distinguished Polish artists of the turn of the centuries.
Warsaw School of Fine Arts was created through a community effort, and opened in 1904. The Supervisory Board nominated its first director the painter Kazimierz Stabrowski. The history of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw traditionally dates back to the origins of that school (which is why it celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2004). Among its professors were some eminent Polish artists: Konrad Krzyżanowski, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, Karol Tichy and Xawery Dunikowski. The academic school’s curriculum characteristically included also “applied art” alongside painting, sculpture and printmaking.
The School became Academy of Fine Arts only in 1932. Its curriculum in the interwar period matched those of the most innovative European art schools, thus making its mark in Polish cultural heritage. Art groups and associations, such as Ryt, Brotherhood of St. Luke, and later Ład, originated in the Academy’s milieu at the time.
Reactivated in 1945, the Academy was merged with the State Academic School of Plastic Arts in 1950. With the difficult experience of socialist realism and groundbreaking debates of the late 1950s, a faculty of professors became permanently associated with the school, including Jan Cybis, Juliusz Studnicki, Eugeniusz Eibisch, Aleksander Kobzdej, Tadeusz Kulisiewicz, Franciszek Strynkiewicz, Marian Wnuk, Czesław Knothe and Jerzy Sołtan. The academic school subsequently operated through a system of master studios, supported by outstanding art historians: Ksawery Piwocki and Mieczysław Porębski.
Today the Academy of Fine Arts consists of 9 faculties: Painting, Graphic Arts, Sculpture, Media Art, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, Design, Interior design, Stage Design and Management of Visual Culture. It is the largest academic art school in Poland. Besides its educational functions it plays an important part in the cultural life of the city and the nation. Its international standing has been consistently improving as a direct result of the developing co-operation with academic centres abroad.


I can add numbers up to 10 adding one more.
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Students learn to add numbers up to 10 by adding one more. They make use of an addition table.
Discuss with students that it is useful if you can add by adding one more. If you know when you can simply add one more, you don't have to calculate different problems separately.
Show the number maze on the interactive whiteboard and ask students if they know which route they should take to go from 1 to 10. They must follow the numbers in sequence. Draw a line from 1 to 2, and continue until you reach 10. Repeat this, but start at 6. Ask students to say what the next number is. Next, show the balls on the interactive whiteboard. Ask students which number comes next and drag the numbers one by one.
Hold one pencil in each hand. Ask the class how many pencils you are holding in total. Next, hold one pencil in one hand, and two in the other. How many do you now have? Repeat this with different divisions of pencils in which you add 1 more each time. Next, show the caps on the interactive whiteboard. Say that there is one cap already, and that one more is added. Together there are 2. Discuss the problems that follow. Ask the students if they notice anything about the answers. Say that one cap is added each time.
Tell student that they can use an addition table that they see on the interactive whiteboard to show addition problems that add one more every time. Explain how to read the table. Show this by using a completed table. Point at the 1 on the left side of the table and say that you add the blue 1 to the number. The table shows the answer of 1=1, which is 2. Repeat this showing how the other totals are given. Ask the students what they notice about the answers. Say that they all show one more. Discuss that you first need to know the answer to the first problem, and then you can add 1 to complete the addition table. Ask students to determine which numbers are missing from the addition table. Next they must complete an addition table. Ask them to write their answers on a sheet of paper and then to hold them up so you can check their work. As a class you can drag the numbers to their place in the addition table.
Check that students understand adding numbers up to 10 by adding one more by asking the following questions:
- What do you need to solve first to make completing the addition table easy?
- 2+2 =4. What are the answers to the problems that come next? 2+3 and 2+4?
Students practice adding one more and completing addition tables.
Discuss with students that it is important to be able to add numbers up to 10 by adding one more, so you can quickly solve sets of problems without needing to calculate each one separately. SHow the addition table on the interactive whiteboard and have students discuss in groups which numbers are missing. They must write the numbers down. Ask students how they know which numbers are missing. Ask them if they used any tricks to make determining the numbers easier, or if they calculated each blank space.
Students who have difficulty with adding with one more, can make use of MAB blocks or other manipulatives. Have them set out blocks to represent the problem, and then add 1 more and then count the total amount of objects they have.
Save time building lessons
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Increase student engagement
Gynzy is an online teaching platform for interactive whiteboards and displays in schools.
With a focus on elementary education, Gynzy’s Whiteboard, digital tools, and activities make it easy for teachers to save time building lessons, increase student engagement, and make classroom management more efficient.


Here are the order in which students learn our sight words.The Importance of Dolch Sight WordsReading is one of the most critical skills students learn. One of the most important goals in teaching young students to read is making sure they are completely proficient with Sight Words.Sight Words (sometimes called the Dolch Word List) are some of the most frequently used words in the English language. Even though they number only about 200, Sight Words comprise approximately 50 to 70 percent of any given general, non-technical text. Therefore, teaching Sight Words as early as possible is considered a crucial part of elementary education.There are two additional reasons why it is important to give Sight Words an extra priority. Firstly, phonetic analysis can't be applied to many of the Sight Words. Secondly, quite a few of the Sight Words cannot be taught through pictures (e.g. "if", "soon", "but", etc.).
Even though it may take a considerable effort for children to learn the entire Dolch Word List, it is well worth it. Having the ability to recognize these words can dramatically increase confidence and improve reading proficiency of the beginning reader.Because complete fluency with Sight Words is the foundation of literacy, a variety of techniques are used to teach them to children. Repetition and practice are very important in making Sight Words recognition automatic. Students should practice sight words nightly until they recognize all 200 words on the Dolch list. Below you will find some online resources to use to help ensure that your child builds this important foundation for literacy.


I can decode words with silent letters.
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In this lesson, students will learn about the sounds made with gn, mb, kn, and wr. They will complete several activities to practice reading and identifying words with these letters.
Students will be able to decode words with silents letters.
Students will discuss what "silent" means and what "silent letters" might mean. They will read some examples of words with silent letters, with gn, mb, kn, and wr, such as "gnaw" and "know." Explain that knowing silent letters will help students become better readers.
Students will sort words by their silent letters (categories include: "gn," "mb," and "kn"). They will complete more activities, including matching silent letter words with pictures, dragging the missing letter to make words, filling in the blank with silent letter words, identifying the silent letters in words, and naming more examples of silent letter words.
Review silent letter words and the rules forming them with these 10 questions.
Students will recall what they learned about the silent sounds made with gn, mb, kn, and we. They will close out the lesson by playing a spin the wheel game.
Save time building lessons
Manage the classroom more efficiently
Increase student engagement
Gynzy is an online teaching platform for interactive whiteboards and displays in schools.
With a focus on elementary education, Gynzy’s Whiteboard, digital tools, and activities make it easy for teachers to save time building lessons, increase student engagement, and make classroom management more efficient.


Working Group Education
This group chaired by Timo Klemettinen focused on music education in Europe.
Music should be a separate, compulsory subject in primary schools.
Sufficient public funding must be guaranteed for music education. Moreoever, to guarantee the sustainability of institutions providing education, this funding must be two-tiered: long-term structural funding and short-term project funding.
- To develop music education and the status of music education in society, collaboration must be strengthened between:
- music education and other stakeholders (e.g. cross-sectoral collaboration and in collaboration with other arts; young musicians)
- music schools and school music education (also through exchange programmes)
- music education and students, alumni and families.
- Both the artistic and the entrepreneurial mindsets of students should be developed to face the present-day job market
Teaching & training
- Continuous professional development, the renewal of teacher-training and quality assessment are key ways to adapt music education to the changing needs of music education and society.
- Music technology should be explored for its uses and benefits in music education.
- International exchange among teachers and students as well as the exchange of good practices should be fostered through projects and networks.
- Equality and diversity in terms of genre, gender and musical tradition, not to mention social and cultural background, must be improved through:
- more activities aimed at addressing social and cultural challenges
- collaboration with non-formal and informal music education
- the use of music technology.


Prof. Prem Lata Sharma
Dr. M.U. Paily
Dr. I.P. Gowramma
World over there is a renewed efforts in defining inclusive education, identifying the characteristics of various inclusive learners, describing the characteristics of inclusive classrooms, innovating teaching learning strategies, and adapting assessment practices.
Though the inclusive education as an educational practice has taken roots in the country, still there appears to be misunderstanding about the concept of inclusive education, the need and importance of inclusive education in the schools and how to implement this practice as a school wide programme. With the right to education becoming a fundamental right, the need to create inclusive educational environment and implement inclusive educational practices have become a mandatory requirement on the part of various stake holders of education. Government of India through its flagship programmes of SSA and RMSA is addressing the concerns of Universalization of elementary education and improving the quality of education both at elementary and secondary level. Quality can only be ensured by taking along all the learners. The maximum problem of dropout and stagnation at elementary stage is happening due to lack of early identification of children with diverse needs. Teachers are not sufficiently equipped to understand the educational needs of children with mild level of intellectual, sensory, health and other problems in time. They are also not equipped with necessary skills and competencies needed to educate children with diverse needs in existing elementary schools. The teacher educators need to train teachers to take this responsibility effectively.
It is in this background that the institute has planned to develop this book on “Inclusive education: What, Why, and How” to find some solutions to the issues related to inclusive education. In this book there are four sections. Section- I: Includes Status of Inclusive Education – Issues and Concerns. In Second Section details related to Managing Children with Diverse Needs are discussed. The Third Section is on teaching different Subjects in Inclusive classroom and the last section is on Support for Children in Inclusive Classroom.
Link to Download the Book will be available soon


Music is a powerful tool for self-expression and helps us tap into our emotions in ways words cannot. That’s why learning to play an instrument, like the piano, woodwinds or strings, benefits children. In addition to unconscious benefits like increased memory and math skills, playing the piano helps develop a number of important life skills, not to mention fostering passion, commitment, talent and joy.
Here are five life lessons that playing the piano helps teach your kids.
Patience is challenging for many adults, let alone kids, but building that capacity is vital. We all want to be immediately good at things, but the reality is that for most skills, it takes time and effort to shine. “Music lessons reinforce the concept of delayed gratification, taking steps that you might not feel like taking at that moment to achieve a goal that you do,” says Mike Morrell, manager of music education at Yamaha Music Schools.
In contrast to the instant gratification of social media and video games, playing the piano grounds kids in the present by demonstrating cause and effect in a real, tactile environment. “Playing even one simple musical phrase requires remembering how this moment relates to the next and the next and the next,” says Morrell. “In other words, holding in mind how this part relates to the whole is an excellent way to develop mindfulness. Mindfulness and being present go hand in hand.”
Practice makes perfect, and playing piano demonstrates that to a tee. Having the work ethic and discipline to practice, especially when social media, streaming shows or video games beckon, ensures kids excel and succeed. “Success reinforces the importance of accomplishment, from working hard on a small passage towards creating a beautiful piece of art when everything is put together,” says Wai Leong, manager of music education curriculum at Yamaha Music Schools. “This promotes the value of persistent, focused skill-honing.” Progression is a great motivator for kids to continue working hard and developing self-discipline.
Kids can be surprisingly resilient by nature, but it’s also important to purposefully cultivate that ability to overcome adversity. “The excitement of learning to express oneself through playing piano motivates students to keep working through failure or disappointment from not hitting all their goals,” says Morrell. “The process offers children opportunities to work through challenges. Resilience comes from putting those challenges or failures into context and learning not to let them define you.”
“Learning to play the piano asks students to look at themselves objectively,” says Morrell. Comparing self-evaluations with their teachers’ feedback can be very eye-opening. “Lessons offer students a way to test their perceptions against reality. Comparison and self-reflection lay the groundwork for objectivity and critical thinking.”
Few things offer lifelong enrichment the way music does. Even if your child never develops the talent of a professional pianist, learning to play the piano provides ample rewards that will benefit children throughout their lives. “Everyone is musical,” affirms Morrell. “There are degrees of predisposed talent, but they are unnecessary to unlock the benefits of being a music maker. Everyone can realize the benefits of learning to play an instrument, like the piano, flute, or violin.”
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