A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource for First Grade Teachers of Struggling Readers

McGraw, F. (2021). A Visual Phonics Curriculum Resource for First Grade Teachers of Struggling Readers This project addresses the question of how visual phonics can be integrated into a phonics curriculum to improve reading achievement in first grade students. Visual phonics is an intervention tool that provides a hand sign for every phoneme in the English language. It has the ability to reduce the burden of phonological memory by providing a visual and kinesthetic support through the use of hand cues as a way for students to visualize a sound. The goals of this project are to improve phonemic awareness through hand and mouth movement and to incorporate a multisensory representation of sound. Therefore, within each lesson of this curriculum there are visual instructional strategies geared towards the 26 phonograms in the English alphabet. Each phonogram is taught through the use of various visual tools and the lesson progresses from teacher directed instruction to students led activities. The overall curriculum design links direct and explicit visual phonics instructional strategies to phonological awareness and reading growth among first grade students. The foundational development of this curriculum was based upon previous studies conducted by Dr. Chion and her findings on the effectiveness of visual phonics as an intervention tool. Her research, along with others, led to the conclusion that the implementation of this curriculum has the ability to allow students to make deeper connections that allow for the success of reading fluency and accuracy. The hope is that the use of this visual phonics curriculum, when incorporated into a small group setting, can help support phonological awareness and provide an alternative source of information about the English language. This will also serve as an additional tool and resource for educators looking to expand their differentiation in instructional strategies

Learning Strategies: An Instructional Alternative for Low-Achieving Adolescents

This is the publisher's version also found at http://sped.org/ABSTRACT: As mildly handicapped students move from elementary to secondary school, they are expected to deal with increased curricular demands. The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has designed and validated a set of task-specific learning strategies as an instructional alternative for these students. Learning strategies teach students "how to learn" so that they can more effectively cope with increased curriculum expectations

Preparing a New Breed of School Principals: It's Time for Action

Defines the challenge in preparing and developing effective school leaders and considers a number of changes for strengthening the certification, selection, and support of school leaders. Includes an action plan to improve school leadership

Progress Being Made in Getting a Quality Leader in Every School

Reviews the progress made by the SREB states in improving their school leadership through redesigning the process of preparation and development of school principals. Describes promising practices being implemented, and offers practical guidance

Monitoring What Matters About Context and Instruction in Science Education: A NAEP Data Analysis Report

This report explores background variables in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to examine key context and instructional factors behind science learning for eighth grade students. Science education is examined from five perspectives: student engagement in science, science teachers' credentials and professional development, availability and use of science resources, approaches to science instruction, and methods and uses of science assessment

Schools Need Good Leaders Now: State Progress in Creating a Learning-Centered School Leadership System

Examines the progress of each of the SREB states, and of the region as a whole, in ensuring that every school has a leader who can help improve student achievement

Preface

This volume in the Buros-Nebraska Series on Measurement and Testing provides current information on the development and implementation of curriculum-based measurement. As the title of the volume suggests, effective measurement of children\u27s classroom achievement is not a new problem. Curriculum-based measurement provides an interesting and useful alternative to traditional strategies for assessing academic performance. This volume continues the tradition of including papers given at the annual Buros-Nebraska Symposium on Testing and Measurement as well as additional contributions selected especially for this book. Each of our authors has made significant contributions to the research that has been produced in the area of curriculum-based measurements. Stan Deno provides an overview and analysis of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in the introductory chapter. His paper was presented as the keynote address at the Buros-Nebraska symposium and provides basic information about the manner in which CBM procedures were developed and initially applied to school-based problems. Gerald Tindal analyzes CBM procedures according to nine criteria that have been used to evaluate measurement strategies. This chapter provides a thorough analysis of the technical properties of CBM procedures and a comparison of how CBM relates to other measurement procedures in regard to technical criteria. Lynn Fuchs demonstrates how CBM can be used to both monitor academic progress and improve instructional programs. Her chapter examines the role of CBM within the larger, more complex instructional environment and she suggests specific applications for practitioners and consultants to consider. Ed Lentz and Jack Kramer look at CBM from the perspective of a behavioral model of assessment. A discussion of the basic tenets of the behavioral model is provided and suggestions for future research in curriculum-based approaches is examined. Ed Shapiro provides a thorough analysis of the implications of CBM for psycho-educational practice. He makes clear his point of view on the value of the entire range of potential applications of curriculum-based assessment (CBA) procedures, Use CBA. Finally, Mark Shinn and Roland Good conclude the volume with an assessment of the prognosis for the future of CBM. Their chapter provides a fitting summary of the potential benefits of the CBM approach. Taken collectively, the contributors represent an impressive group of scholars. Their efforts have defined in large part, the curriculum-based measurement approach. The Buros Institute of Mental Measurements is grateful for their time, efforts, and perseverance in completion of this book

Are SREB States Making Progress? Tapping, Preparing and Licensing School Leaders Who Can Influence Student Achievement

Looks at the progress SREB states are making in developing systems to identify, prepare, and assess future school leaders

Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning

The findings are grouped into four sections. The first section on student achievement finds that there were positive effects on student mathematics and reading performance and that the lowest-performing students made substantial gains relative to their peers. The second section on implementation and the perceptions of stakeholders finds that adoption of personalized learning practices varied considerably. Personalized learning practices that are direct extensions of current practice were more common, but implementation of some of the more challenging personalized learning strategies was less common. The third section relates implementation features to outcomes and identifies three elements of personalized learning that were being implemented in tandem in the schools with the largest achievement effects. Finally, the fourth section compares teachers' and students' survey responses to a national sample and finds some differences, such as teachers' greater use of practices that support competency-based learning and greater use of technology for personalization in the schools in this study with implementation data