Every school has campus goals that they wish to thrive at even if they are short term or long term goals. One of those constant goals is instructional improvement. Instructional improvement is defined as helping teachers acquire teaching strategies consistent with instructional goals that increase the capabilities of students to make wise decisions in varying contexts (with regard to peers, adults, academics, and life) (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2010).
There are constant needs to improve classroom instruction. Instruction is defined as interactions among teachers, students and content, in environments (Cohen, Dewey, Ball, & Thurnau, 2000). The interactions occur in such varied settings as distance learning, small groups in classrooms, informal groups, tutorials, and large lectures (Cohen, Dewey, Ball, & Thurnau, 2000). Instruction thus is not created by teachers alone, or students, or content, but in their interactions (Cohen, Dewey, Ball, & Thurnau, 2000). There is not one strategy that will work to improve instruction that help reach students and help them succeed. It will take a collection of practices to help improve classroom instruction. Some of the practices are collaboration among teachers, improving curriculum, increasing the rigor of work, improving and analyzing assessments, professional development, and student writing.
Collegial learning opportunities allows teachers to work together, either one on one or in groups to help the teachers to learn from one another by looking over instruction work, student work and assessments (Peurach, Glazer, & Karen, 2004).
Curriculum allows schools and teachers to know what they are teaching. It is important to prioritize the curriculum and how to monitor it and un...
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...er data collection instrument would be to introduce alternative instructional strategies to help improve instruction. These could be introduced at faculty meetings or in-service trainings and give teachers hands on practice on these strategies and collaborate with teachers in their department and others at the school. As these new instructional strategies are being applied to instruction, administrators will take a close look at the lesson plans teachers are submitting and work on improving them and aligning them with the curriculum and the instructional strategies.
Lastly the final data collection instrument would be to analyze classroom, district and state assessments. It is vital to evaluate how students are performing on their assessments and make sure teachers are aligning their lessons with the curriculum and students are actually learning the content.
...teacher see what their students know, wonder about and techniques they use to make sense of the world and the classroom. This information can then be used by the teacher to differentiate instruction. The teacher can recover material, present alternative activities that students are more receptive in order to foster student responsiveness and engagement. In Page Keeley’s article An Introduction to Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs) she articulates the purpose and power of a classroom that frequently uses formative assessments by saying, “it organizes the entire classroom around learning and informs ways teachers can provide more effective learning experiences based on how their own” (10). Formative assessments foster a supportive classroom community where students and even teacher thoughts are encouraged and in turn shape the future of that classroom.
Definitions for curriculum are many and varied. Broad sweeping statements claim that curriculum is what is taught in various subjects and the amount of time given to each. While a more specific view is that curriculum are performance objectives for students that focus on specific skills or knowledge (Marsh, 2010). Marsh (2010, p. 93) defines curriculum as “an interrelated set of plans and experiences” that are completed at school. The curriculum used in education can have various interpretations, it may refer to the curriculum as a plan that encompasses all the learning that is planned and directed by the school. Cu...
...servations used data gathering instruments designed to focus on instructional quality in literacy for the observer, teacher, and the administrative team.
We need theorists and researchers to generate and refine learning-focused instructional design theories. Such theories will help educators and trainers to meet needs that focus on learning and that foster development of initiative, teamwork, thinking skills, and diversity. Instructional-design theory must involve stakeholders in the design process.
William, D., & Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with instruction: What will it take to
Students are being tested on elements that were seen on their pre-test. More specifically, the students are being tested on elements of the pre-test that they did not score well on. After more than four weeks of instruction on these elements, this assessment will project the evidence of student learning in regard to five specific learning goals. I will collect this data by having students complete the test with their answers for this assessment. By using a multiple choice test, students can receive immediate feedback on their assessment because a machine automatically tabulates correct and incorrect answers as the test is fed through the machine. My rationale for this data-collection method is based on the fact that it provides immediate feedback to the students and myself. Quick turnaround is essential when evaluating the evidence of student
Ornstein, A. C., & Lasley, T. J. (2004).Strategies for Effective Teaching. (4th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
When it comes to implementing a curriculum everyone has an opinion. Whether it is the organization of the curriculum or the evaluation of the curriculum, everyone from administers, teachers, and parents will have their opinions on the new curriculum. The curriculum development group has many difficult decisions to make. They have to decide when and how to implement, who will be in charge, what data will be collected, and how will the curriculum be evaluated.
Marzano, R.J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kameenui, Edward J., and Deborah C. Simmons. Designing Instructional Strategies: The Prevention of Academic Learning Problems. Columbus, OH: Merrill Pub., 1990.
Curriculum is important being it’s the underlying factor that plays a role in determining ones growth, achievement and success. The majority of curriculum con...
First let’s take a look and evaluate the classroom by observation to see what need to be improved. One idea that came to mind was some teacher were using peer tutoring as a tool to get out of instruction, thus they were not paying sufficient attention to the students as they worked. The article titled: Using Peer Tutoring to Facilitate Access discussed the findings of this teaching strategy in all levels of learning and basics subjects. This strategy has been defined as one of best ways to reach the student. In comparison to Gusky’s ideas, there is a relationship between professional development and improvement in student learning. For improved student learning peer tutoring is higher achieving students being linked with lower achieving students to promote social enhancement and academic gains. There are three different kinds of peer tutoring; cross-age, peer assisted learning strategies, and reciprocal. Each kind was broken down and explained descriptively. The one that really stood out to me was the reciprocal tutoring. This was illuminating because the students are grouped together with two or more. They have ...
Educational institutions today are increasing their emphasis on high standards as a crucial factor in improving the quality of education imparted to their students. They are, therefore, looking at new and better ways to develop such a curriculum that meets all the pre-decided standards. This calls for a change in the way schools are run and the methods of teaching in order to design, implement and evaluate curriculum effectively.
Prior to teaching a unit, I believe it is useful to incorporate surveys and diagnostic assessments to determine what your students understand before instruction.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.