Question

According to the NAEP article, there is "a thorough disconnect between the ideal and the real" in reference to what the researchers observe and what actually goes on in the classrooms. Do you think it's possible for both of them to tie in together? If yes, how?

WEEK 1: ELLs

• I've had experience with people from diverse cultural and lingusitic backgrounds. My family, friends, co-workers all contribute to this area.

• I don't experience working with ELLs in schools as of yet, but I tutor on the side and I had a child who didn't know how to speak or write English, so I had to help him with those skills.

•No, I do not have experience in teaching ELLs.

• I feel that ELLs motivates and encourages students because they get more one-on-one attention. The teachers needs to instill confidents in his/her students because they need to feel proud of themselves inorder to succeed.

• Students who don't know English can easily fall behind in their classes. This carries over to all the subjects in school.

• Again, I haven't had direct experience during my observations yet, but I would imagine the teachers to work closely with the students till they show understanding. They could provide extra reading material aside from the class's work as a strategy, along with emphasizing confidence in their work in-order to increase their self-esteem because they can easily fall along the sidelines. It is very important to reach out to the family for them to be aware of what the situation is like, so they can address it and work along side the students for encouragement and support.

WEEK 2: Video Response

The video shared a lot of great point in terms of assessment that are crucial to out understanding as future teachers. The instructor gave a number of ways we can test students of their knowledge in different areas of literacy. She started of with saying there are a number of trends people follow in schools, districts, etc, but they don't help with individual themselves. I really liked how she brought this up because when we are interacting with the students one-on-one, these aspects of the school's or district's background are unreliable. She said there are different areas we can use, such as, word knowledge, fluency, comprehension, motivation and interest, general, writing and language. These various area all eventually tie in together but it helps us to compare in different contexts. We are to continually assess our students, whether it may be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthy, etc. Different methods such as running records, conferences, presentations, expository or story-based essays all count as assessments. Assessment happens while the teacher is teaching because it is embedded in the instruction.

WEEK 3: Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy & RTI

Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP

            Literacy is one of the focal aspects of one’s schooling. It includes “thoughtful literacy-an ability to link the text with one’s existing knowledge to arrive at a considered and logical response” according to the article titled, “The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP: Why the States Aren’t Measuring Up”. From early on, Thorndike stated that reading and the act of thinking are to go hand-in-hand. This has been one of the fundamental cores that we took pride in our schools before, but recently it has gone downhill.

            To get out in the work field while this is a problem can be quite challenging so it is important to know what issues are at hand. There are pressures for the teachers as well in this area because they are expected to teach the material for the test and are limited teaching time for skill building. There has been research done to show that there is a “disconnect between the ideal and the real.” State results have let down the line because of laws such as the No Child Left Behind Act. This in turns leads us to believe ideally the results haven’t changed much but in reality, it has tremendously changed.

            There are some things we can do to bring about a change. By focusing on vocabulary, genre, text organization, characterization and detail, like the article had shared, we can move towards a different result. Our attitudes as teachers go a long way because when we engage and encourage our students, they are motivated to learn. We are to work as a team with our class to make a difference.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

            One of the positive results through the many resources we have now is our responses. Through identifying students with learning disabilities, teachers are able to provide support and intervention to struggling students. RTI was started to be more of a well-structured program that involves IQ tests and achievement tests and using the scores of “intellect and achievement to identify a learning disability”, according to the article, “Response to Intervention (RTI): What Teachers of reading Need to Know”.

            The RTI process has five main steps and the results illustrate positive results. There is universal literacy practices are clear, scientifically valid interventions are implemented, the progress of students receiving intervention is monitored, individualize interventions for students who continue to struggle, decision- making process to determine eligibility for special education services. The model identifies and places students into services that are based on “effectiveness of those services.” This has been experimented through different subjects as a means of random selection. This is the best way to know if a method is being measured at the best possible outcome.

            RTI helps with struggling readers and it is a dominant and alternative way to address the problem. There are tests still being done and these diverse ways are the most effective way to screen learning. Intervening in these specific areas is important for a student’s learning behavior.