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      • Teaching, Language & Reference
        January 2009

        Sorbonne Confidential

        by Laurel Zuckerman

        After losing her high tech job in Paris, Alice Wunderland dreams of a new, unemployment-proof career as English teacher and decides to dedicate a year to training for France's prestigious competitive exam; After all, she reasons, how hard can it be for an educated American to pass a test in English? She enrolls at the Sorbonne, but her Arizona English fails to impress. Even Shakespeare's English falls short. Only one English will do: Sorbonne English! Even while learning this new language, Alice vows to investigate: Why devise an English exam that few native speakers can pass ? Could this explain why French schoolchildren rank last for English skills in Europe? Is it true that Frenchness is a question of formatting? If so, can a foreigner even one with French nationality ever become truly French? As riots break out in France among the children of immigrants, Alice cannot help but wonder: could there be any connection between her bewildering experience and theirs? A hilarious, hair-raising insider's look at the esoteric world of French Education. (Harriet Welty Rochefort --author of French Toast).

      • Organization & management of education
        January 2013

        The Multiplier Effect

        Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools

        by Lois Allen, Elise Foster, and Liz Wiseman

        Why are some leaders able to double their team’s effectiveness, while others seem to drain the energy right out of the room? In this engaging and highly practical book, leadership expert Liz Wiseman, leadership coach Elise Foster, and veteran principal Lois Allen team up to offer compelling research showing the overwhelmingly positive and exponential effect on schools getting more done without increasing the number of teachers and resources. Taking a deep dive with more than 100 of education’s best leaders, the authors explore the five disciplines that distinguish Multipliers from Diminishers and how these leaders attract and develop talent, as well as harness new ideas and energy to drive educational innovation. These five disciplines are not based on innate talent; indeed they are skills that every educator can learn to use – even when steeped in lifelong Diminisher settings. By practicing these disciplines, leaders learn how to - Attract top teachers to their school • Create an intense environment that demands people’s best thinking • Drive sound decisions by constructing debate and decision-making forums • Give their team a sense of ownership for responsibilities and results

      • Educational strategies & policy
        November 2014

        Theories of Professional Learning

        A Critical Guide for Teacher Educators

        by Carey Philpott

        An essential guide to important theories of professional learning for teacher educators, of particular value to those taking on new responsibilities in relation to initial teacher education (ITE) and those interested in developing new ways of working in partnership.

      • Teaching skills & techniques

        Visible Learning for Teachers

        Maximizing Impact On Learning

        by John Hattie

        In November 2008, John Hattie's ground-breaking book Visible Learning synthesised the results of more thanfifteen years research involving millions of students and represented the biggest ever collection of evidence-based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning.Visible Learning for Teachers takes the next step and brings those ground breaking concepts to a completely new audience. Written for students, pre-service and in-service teachers, it explains how to apply the principles of Visible Learning to any classroom anywhere in the world. The author offers concise and user-friendly summaries of the most successful interventions and offers practical step-by-step guidance to the successful implementation of visible learning and visible teaching in the classroom.This book:links the biggest ever research project on teaching strategies to practical classroom implementationchampions both teacher and student perspectives and contains step by step guidance including lesson preparation, interpreting learning and feedback during the lesson and post lesson follow upoffers checklists, exercises, case studies and best practice scenarios to assist in raising achievementincludes whole school checklists and advice for school leaders on facilitating visible learning in their institutionnow includes additional meta-analyses bringing the total cited within the research to over 900comprehensively covers numerous areas of learning activity including pupil motivation, curriculum, meta-cognitive strategies, behaviour, teaching strategies, and classroom management.Visible Learning for Teachers is a must read for any student or teacher who wants an evidence based answer to the question; 'how do we maximise achievement in our schools?'

      • Adult literacy guides & handbooks
        June 2013

        DYSLEXIA DISMANTLED

        A practical breakdown of the myths and realities of dyslexia

        by Laughton King

        Finally, an insightful, clear and practical breakdown of the realities of dyslexia, from the author’s own life experience. This exposition of the thinking, learning and living style that characterise the dyslexic individual is written equally for the educator, the parent and the struggling dyslexic himself. Eighteen myths dispelled, 61 personal characteristics outlined, and a raft of indicators examined, this book will help a large section of the population understand their own normality, their own intact and integrated thinking style, and allow them to take positive charge of their learning processes and their functioning in society. There is nothing wrong with their brain wiring, they are not deficient, they do not need medication. As a diesel motor differs from a petrol engine, the so-called ‘dyslexic’ differs from the non-dyslexic in a simple and rudimentary way. The Western world has a modern education system based around language as the prime learning tool – teaching, learning and assessment are typically language-based. The ‘dyslexic’ person is disadvantaged in this system, not only because is he a pictorial thinker, but because of a lesser capacity to use 'internal dialogue', he is unable to process the language-based education system at a competitive level.

      • Teacher training
        January 1992

        Teacher Supply, Demand, and Quality

        Policy Issues, Models, and Data Bases

        by Erling E. Boe and Dorothy M. Gilford, Editors; Committee on National Statistics, National Research Council

        This book examines policy issues, projection models, and data bases pertaining to the supply of, demand for, and quality of teachers in the United States from kindergarten to twelfth grade. It identifies additional data needed to clarify policy issues or for use in projection models, with a long-range view of contributing to the development of a teaching force of higher quality in the United States. The book has major implications for the teacher work force and for statisticians and researchers involved in investigating, modeling, and projecting teacher supply, demand, and quality.

      • Teacher training
        October 2001

        Testing Teacher Candidates

        The Role of Licensure Tests in Improving Teacher Quality

        by Karen J. Mitchell, David Z. Robinson, Barbara S. Plake, and Kaeli T. Knowles, Editors, Committee on Assessment and Teacher Quality, Center for Education, Board on Testing and Assessment, National Research Council

        Americans have adopted a reform agenda for their schools that calls for excellence in teaching and learning. School officials across the nation are hard at work targeting instruction at high levels for all students. Gaps remain, however, between the nation's educational aspirations and student achievement. To address these gaps, policy makers have recently focused on the qualifications of teachers and the preparation of teacher candidates. This book examines the appropriateness and technical quality of teacher licensure tests currently in use, evaluates the merits of using licensure test results to hold states and institutions of higher education accountable for the quality of teacher preparation and licensure, and suggests alternatives for developing and assessing beginning teacher competence. Teaching is a complex activity. Definitions of quality teaching have changed and will continue to change over time as society's values change. This book provides policy makers, teacher testers, and teacher educators with advice on how to use current tests to assess teacher candidates and evaluate teacher preparation, ensuring that America's youth are being taught by the most qualified candidates.

      • Teacher training
        April 2000

        Tests and Teaching Quality

        Interim Report

        by Committee on Assessment and Teacher Quality, National Research Council

        Improving the quality of teaching in elementary and secondary schools is now high on the nation's educational policy agenda. Policy makers at the state and federal levels have focused on initiatives designed to improve the abilities of teachers already in schools and increase the numbers of well-qualified teachers available to fill current and future vacancies. Tests and Teaching Quality is an interim report of a study investigating the technical, educational, and legal issues surrounding the use of tests for licensing teachers. This report focuses on existing tests and their use.

      • Teacher training
        September 2007

        Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers

        Potential Uses of Information Technology, Report of a Workshop

        by Committee on Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers, National Academies Teacher Advisory Council, National Research Council

        Teachers, like other professionals, need to stay informed about new knowledge and technologies. Yet many express dissatisfaction with the professional development opportunities made available to them in schools and insist that the most effective development programs they have experienced have been self-initiated. Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers explores how the provision of professional development through online media has had a significant influence on the professional lives of an increasing number of teachers. Growing numbers of educators contend that online teacher professional development (OTPD) has the potential to enhance and even transform teachers' effectiveness in their classrooms and over the course of their careers. They also acknowledge that it raises many challenging questions regarding costs, equity, access to technology, quality of materials, and other issues. Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers suggests that teachers be active participants in planning and implementation of any new technologies that enhance professional development. The book recommends that federal and state policy makers take on the responsibility of promoting equal access to technology while the federal government and foundations play an important role by supporting the development, evaluation, and revision of OTPD.

      • Teacher training
        December 2005

        Linking Mandatory Professional Development with High-Quality Teaching and Learning

        Proceedings and Transcripts (CD-ROM)

        by National Academies Teacher Advisory Council, National Research Council

        This is a CD with the proceedings and transcripts from a workshop on Linking Mandatory Professional Development with High-Quality Teaching and Learning. This workshop was presented by the National Academies Teacher Advisory Council, Divisions of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, and the National Research Council.

      • Teacher training
        July 2002

        Studying Classroom Teaching as a Medium for Professional Development

        Proceedings of a U.S.- Japan Workshop

        by Hyman Bass, Zalman Usiskin, and Gail Burrill, Editors , U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction, Board on International Scientific Organizations, Policy and Global Affairs Division, National Research Council

        The Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) and the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction (USNCMI) took advantage of a unique opportunity to bring educators together. In August 2000, following the Ninth International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME-9) in Makuhari, Japan, MSEB and USNCMI capitalized on the presence of mathematics educators in attendance from the United States and Japan by holding a two and a half--day workshop on the professional development of mathematics teachers. This workshop used the expertise of the participants from the two countries to develop a better, more flexible, and more useful understanding of the knowledge that is needed to teach well and how to help teachers to obtain this knowledge. A major focus of the workshop was to discuss teachers’ opportunities in both societies -- using teaching practice as a medium for professional development. Another focus of the workshop addressed practice by considering the records of teaching, including videos of classroom lessons and cases describing teachers and their work. These proceedings reflect the activities and discussion of the workshop using both print and video to enable others to share in their experience

      • Teacher training
        January 2016

        Science Teachers' Learning

        Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts

        by Suzanne Wilson, Heidi Schweingruber, and Natalie Nielsen, Editors; Committee on Strengthening Science Education through a Teacher Learning Continuum; Board on Science Education; Teacher Advisory Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

        Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.

      • Teacher training
        March 2016

        Promising Practices for Strengthening the Regional STEM Workforce Development Ecosystem

        by Committee on Improving Higher Education's Responsiveness to Regional STEM Workforce Needs: Identifying Analytical Tools and Regional Best Practices; Board on Higher Education and Workforce; Policy and Global Affairs; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

        U.S. strength in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has formed the basis of innovations, technologies, and industries that have spurred the nation’s economic growth throughout the last 150 years. Universities are essential to the creation and transfer of new knowledge that drives innovation. This knowledge moves out of the university and into broader society in several ways â€" through highly skilled graduates (i.e. human capital); academic publications; and the creation of new products, industries, and companies via the commercialization of scientific breakthroughs. Despite this, our understanding of how universities receive, interpret, and respond to industry signaling demands for STEM-trained workers is far from complete. Promising Practices for Strengthening the Regional STEM Workforce Development Ecosystem reviews the extent to which universities and employers in five metropolitan communities (Phoenix, Arizona; Cleveland, Ohio; Montgomery, Alabama; Los Angeles, California; and Fargo, North Dakota) collaborate successfully to align curricula, labs, and other undergraduate educational experiences with current and prospective regional STEM workforce needs. This report focuses on how to create the kind of university-industry collaboration that promotes higher quality college and university course offerings, lab activities, applied learning experiences, work-based learning programs, and other activities that enable students to acquire knowledge, skills, and attributes they need to be successful in the STEM workforce. The recommendations and findings presented will be most relevant to educators, policy makers, and industry leaders.

      • Teacher training
        April 2016

        Developing a National STEM Workforce Strategy

        A Workshop Summary

        by Joe Alper, Rapporteur; Planning Committee for the National Summit on Developing a STEM Workforce Strategy; Board on Higher Education and Workforce; Policy and Global Affairs; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

        The future competitiveness of the United States in an increasingly interconnected global economy depends on the nation fostering a workforce with strong capabilities and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). STEM knowledge and skills enable both individual opportunity and national competitiveness, and the nation needs to develop ways of ensuring access to high-quality education and training experiences for all students at all levels and for all workers at all career stages. The National Science Foundation (NSF) holds a primary responsibility for overseeing the federal government’s efforts to foster the creation of a STEM-capable workforce. As part of its efforts in this endeavor, NSF’s Directorate on Education and Human Resources asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a workshop that would contribute to NSF’s preparation of a theoretical and evidence-based STEM Workforce Development R&D Core Framework. Participants discussed research themes, identified gaps and emerging research opportunities, and recommended refinements in the goals of the framework. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

      • Teacher training
        January 2004

        Learning and Instruction

        A SERP Research Agenda

        by M. Suzanne Donovan and James W. Pellegrino, Editors, Panel on Learning and Instruction, Strategic Education Research Partnership, National Research Council

        The Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP) is a bold, ambitious plan that proposes a revolutionary program of education research and development. Its purpose is to construct a powerful knowledge base, derived from both research and practice, that will support the efforts of teachers, school administrators, colleges of education, and policy officialsâ€"with the ultimate goal of significantly improving student learning. The proposals in this book have the potential to substantially improve the knowledge base that supports teaching and learning by pursuing answers to questions at the core of teaching practices. It calls for the linking of research and development, including instructional programs, assessment tools, teacher education programs, and materials. Best of all, the book provides a solid framework for a program of research and development that will be genuinely useful to classroom teachers.

      • Teacher training
        June 2010

        Preparing Teachers

        Building Evidence for Sound Policy

        by Committee on the Study of Teacher Preparation Programs in the United States; National Research Council

        Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system. Preparing Teachers addresses the issue of teacher preparation with specific attention to reading, mathematics, and science. The book evaluates the characteristics of the candidates who enter teacher preparation programs, the sorts of instruction and experiences teacher candidates receive in preparation programs, and the extent that the required instruction and experiences are consistent with converging scientific evidence. Preparing Teachers also identifies a need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about the content knowledge, pedagogical competence, and effectiveness of graduates from the various kinds of teacher preparation programs. Federal and state policy makers need reliable, outcomes-based information to make sound decisions, and teacher educators need to know how best to contribute to the development of effective teachers. Clearer understanding of the content and character of effective teacher preparation is critical to improving it and to ensuring that the same critiques and questions are not being repeated 10 years from now.

      • Family & relationships
        July 2013

        REACHING THE RELUCTANT LEARNER

        A manual of strategies for teachers and parents

        by Laughton King

        This very practical and helpful manual focuses on the learning difficulties that come under the ‘umbrella’ notion of ‘Dyslexia’. The author examines why such difficulties are so common in our schools - right around the English-speaking world - and before giving parents and teachers insights as to how to work usefully with these children, demonstrates what the world is like from the inside for these children. He looks at how these children think, at how they understand the world, at the impact on their behaviour, and at what life is like for them – on the inside. He includes a biographical section based around his own personal experiences as a ‘dyslexic’ child. In clarifying the fundamental differences between linguistic and pictorial thinking styles, and the connection between learning difficulty and behaviour problems, this book opens the way for parents and teachers to reach, and therefore to effectively teach so-called reluctant learners.

      • Education
        August 2013

        Towards a Standards-Based Curriculum 2014

        A Toolkit for the New Primary Curriculum in England (Revised Edition)

        by Jazz C Williams

        Towards a Standards-Based Curriculum 2014 offers England's primary schools guidance on implementing the National Curriculum and responding to standards-based reform in Mathematics, Science and English. Two chapters, 'Assessing Without Levels' and 'Assessment Plans', address school-based assessment in monitoring the impact of teaching on learning and achievement. This revised edition features: Conquering Primary Maths, a programme for Year 1 to Year 6 including medium-term plans Standards-based English unit plans with emphasis on balancing spelling and word structure across a year Key Stage 1 and 2 Writing Assessment Records Standards-based medium-term plans for Science aligned to the QCA Scheme of Work Guided Reading Records The material contained in this book bridges between theory and practice making Towards a Standards-Based Curriculum 2014 an essential resource for schools.

      • ELT resource books for teachers
        May 1996

        Making Polite Noises

        Social and Functional English for Communication!

        by Fletcher / Hargreaves

        Designed for teaching at Council of Europe language level CEF - A2/B1. Where CEF is Common European Framework. This popular book has been updated so that it is particularly suitable for English as a second language learners (ESOL), as well as for EFL. It gives practice in the essentials of Social English. All the main functions of language (asking for information, suggestions, offers, complaints and apologies, starting and finishing conversations, telephoning, persuasion... ) Each of the 21 units gives essential phrases in lively dialogues, then controlled and free practice. Revision exercises and telephone situations recycle this through mini role plays. Includes Teaching Notes - Cassette available “Now, I feel much more ‘at home’ speaking to people in English, because I know so many everyday expressions”

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