scholarly journals Rigorous and Meaningful Science for English Learners: Urban Ecology and Transdisciplinary Instruction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvira Armas ◽  
Gisela O'Brien ◽  
Magaly Lavadenz ◽  
Eric Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Urban Ecology ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Interdisciplinary Instruction ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Southern California School ◽  
Teacher Professional

This article describes efforts undertaken by two centers at Loyola Marymount University—the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) and the Center for Urban Resilience (CURes)—in collaboration with five southern California school districts to develop and implement the Urban Ecology for English Learners Project. This project aligns with the 2018 NASEM report call to action to (1) create contexts for systems- and classroom-level supports that recognizes assets that English Learners contribute to the classroom and, and (2) increase rigorous science instruction for English Learners through the provision of targeted program models, curriculum, and instruction. The article presents project highlights, professional learning approaches, elements of the interdisciplinary, standards-based Urban Ecology curricular modules, and project evaluation results about ELs’ outcomes and teachers’ knowledge and skills in delivering high-quality STEM education for ELs. The authors list various implications for teacher professional development on interdisciplinary instruction including university partnerships.

scholarly journals The Future of Math Teacher Professional Learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Slama ◽  
Roya Madoff Moussapour ◽  
Gregory Benoit ◽  
Nancy Anderson ◽  
Justin Reich
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Current State ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Math Teaching ◽  
Comprehensive Programs ◽  
Math Teacher

We summarize the results of a field scan that set out to describe the current state of math teacher learning and promising future directions for improving math teaching and learning for all learners, particularly those most underestimated by the education system. We share five key learnings: (1) math teacher learning is in a "steady state," where schools and districts generally use three approaches to support math educators: professional learning communities (PLCs), instructional coaching, and professional learning workshops, (2) researchers have not been able to document a strong link between each of these three approaches and teacher and student learning, with the exception of coaching which shows benefits for teachers but not direct evidence of student learning, (3) comprehensive programs that apply several of these approaches simultaneously with sufficient supports can improve math outcomes for students, but gains often dissipate when supports decline, (4) there are a few "points of light" of innovative new approaches including teacher-led learning innovations, teacher pipeline initiatives, practice-embedded models, and digital clinical simulations, and (5) there are opportunities for new initiatives in math education to pay greater attention to the implications for teacher learning. We discuss important critiques of our report and offer a "call to action" for stakeholders in the field.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perception of Their Code-Switching Practices in English as a Foreign Language Classes: The Results of Stimulated Recall Interview and Conversation Analysis

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110138
Author(s):  
Yetti Zainil ◽  
Safnil Arsyad
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

Teachers often code-switch in the EFL classroom, but the question of whether or not they are aware of their code-switching has not been satisfactorily answered. This article presents the study on teachers’ understandings and beliefs about their code-switching practices in EFL classrooms as well as effective language teaching and learning. The participants of this study came from four junior high schools in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia: five teachers with their respective classes. This research used the conversation analysis and stimulated recall interviews to analyze the data which came from the video recording of classroom observations and the audio recording of stimulated recall interviews with teachers. The results revealed the pedagogical functions and affective functions of teacher’s code-switching. The data also showed that the use of stimulated recall interviews helped teachers to be consciously aware of their code-switching as well as of their other pedagogical practices in the language classroom. Therefore, stimulated recall interviews can be a useful tool for teacher self-reflection that they were not aware of their code switch. This awareness could be incorporated into language teacher professional development and in-service teacher professional learning.

scholarly journals Online Professional Learning in Response to COVID-19—Towards Robust Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Alireza Ahadi ◽  
Matt Bower ◽  
Abhay Singh ◽  
Michael Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Evaluation Models ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Workshop Evaluation

As COVID-19 continues to impact upon education worldwide, systems and organizations are rapidly transiting their professional learning to online mode. This raises concerns, not simply about whether online professional learning can result in equivalent outcomes to face-to-face learning, but more importantly about how to best evaluate online professional learning so we can iteratively improve our approaches. This case study analyses the evaluation of an online teacher professional development workshop for the purpose of critically reflecting upon the efficacy of workshop evaluation techniques. The evaluation approach was theoretically based in a synthesis of six seminal workshop evaluation models, and structured around eight critical dimensions of educational technology evaluation. The approach involving collection of pre-workshop participant background information, pre-/post-teacher perceptions data, and post-workshop focus group perceptions, enabled the changes in teacher knowledge, skills, and beliefs to be objectively evaluated, at the same time as providing qualitative information to effectively improve future iterations of the workshops along a broad range of dimensions. The evaluation approach demonstrated that the professional learning that was shifted into online mode in response to COVID-19 could unequivocally result in significant improvements to professional learning outcomes. More importantly, the evaluation approach is critically contrasted with previous evaluation models, and a series of recommendations for the evaluation of technology-enhanced teacher professional development workshops are proposed.

Identifying and Serving English Learners in Gifted Education: Looking Back and Moving Forward

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-335
Author(s):  
Rachel U. Mun ◽  
Vonna Hemmler ◽  
Susan Dulong Langley ◽  
Sharon Ware ◽  
E. Jean Gubbins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Gifted And Talented ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
English Learners ◽  
The United States ◽  
Effective Practices ◽  
Referral Process ◽  
Screening Assessment ◽  
Looking Back

Although the number of English learners (ELs) in the United States continues to increase, this population remains underserved by gifted and talented (GT) education programs across the nation. This underrepresentation represents a societal and research dilemma for reasons we address in this systematic review of the most effective practices documented to identify and serve ELs for GT programs. We examine 50 theoretical and empirical articles according to four major themes: nomination, screening/assessment, services, and identification models. We discuss identification recommendations, including outreach and professional learning to foster stakeholder recognition of GT potential in all ELs, an equitable referral process based on a multiple-lens approach, and observation of students completing problem-solving tasks. Finally, we address perceived best practices in serving GT ELs, including making accommodations for ELs in GT programs.

scholarly journals Integrated STEM for Teacher Professional Learning and Development: “I Need Time for Practice”

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Andrea C. Burrows ◽  
Mike Borowczak ◽  
Adam Myers ◽  
Andria C. Schwortz ◽  
Courtney McKim
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Authentic Science ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Integrated Stem ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
K 12

This study compares three pre-collegiate teacher professional learning and development (PLD) integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences framed in astronomy. The study is set in the western United States (USA) and involves 60 pre-collegiate teachers (in the USA these are K-12 teachers) over the course of three years (June 2014–May 2017). During the PLDs, astronomy acted as a vehicle for pre-collegiate STEM teachers to increase their STEM content knowledge as well as create and implement integrated STEM classroom lessons. The authors collected quantitative and qualitative data to address five research questions and embraced social constructionism as the theoretical framework. Findings show that STEM pre-collegiate teachers are largely engaged with integrated STEM PLD content and embrace astronomy content and authentic science. Importantly, they need time to practice, interpret, translate, and use the integrated STEM content in classroom lessons. Recommendations for PLD STEM teacher support are provided. Implications of this study are vast, as gaps in authentic science, utilizing astronomy, PLD structure, and STEM integration are ripe for exploration.

Enhancing EFL Teachers’ Pronunciation Pedagogy Through Professional Learning: A Vietnamese Case Study

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822095247
Author(s):  
Loc Tan Nguyen ◽  
Jonathan Newton
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teaching Skills ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Impact

The role of teacher professional learning (TPL) in assisting teachers to teach pronunciation in English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts has received little attention. The study reported in this paper extends this line of research by investigating how six EFL teachers at a Vietnamese university transform and integrate the pronunciation pedagogical knowledge they received from a TPL workshop into teaching practice. It then examines the teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the workshop on their knowledge gains and pronunciation teaching skills. Data were collected from seven lesson plans designed by the teachers, video recordings of 24 subsequent classroom observations, and six individual semi-structured interviews. The study adopted a content-based approach to qualitative data analysis. The findings show that the teachers were all able to translate TPL into classroom practice of pronunciation teaching. The findings further show that workshops designed and implemented in accordance with research-based TPL principles can be effective for promoting teachers’ knowledge of pronunciation pedagogy and refining their pronunciation teaching skills. The study has implications for ESL/EFL teachers’ professional development in pronunciation teaching.

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