Connecting Practice and Research in Education

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Connecting Practice and Research in Education

• State of Tennessee
• Department of Education
• Kym L. Dukes
• School Innovation, Improvement and Accountability
• Education Consultant

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Urban Status in Tennessee

• Statewide, six urban school systems serve
  approximately 35 of the students in Tennessee.
• 42 are economically disadvantaged students
• 75 are minority students
• 31 are students with disabilities
• Davidson, Hamilton, Knoxville, Madison,
  Memphis and Montgomery Co.
• Source Tennessee Department of Education

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A Road Less Traveled
Toughest Challenge
The Parent Experience
On Second Thought?
1st Teaching Experience
Most Memorable Moment!
Favorite Teacher
1st 12 Years
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Piecing it all Together through Research
The early childhood years are critical to a
childs development.
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Brain Research

• An infant has roughly 100 billion neurons _at_
  birth. (Schiller, 1997)
• From infancy to age 10, (middle school) the brain
  cells form most of the connections they will
  maintain throughout life. (Kotulack, 1996
  Newberger, 1997)

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Brain Research

• 90 of brain growth occurs before kindergarten.
  (Lambroso, 1998)
• By age 3, the childs brain has 1,000 trillion
  synapses about twice as many as the childs
  pediatrician. (Shore, 1997)

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Brain Research

• The quality, quantity, and consistency of
  stimulation will determine the number of brain
  synapses that are formed and how those
  connections will function. (Schiller, 1997)

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At-Risk!

• What comes to Mind When you hear the term
  AT-Risk?

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Brain Research
Research confirms that the At Risk child is
more likely to miss those quality experiences
that promote brain development. (Ramey, 1997)
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Brain Research
According to research based on the High/Scope
Perry Pre-school Project, a group of twenty
(at-risk) children who do not participate in a
high quality pre-K program may experience the
following outcomes as they mature.
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Brain Research
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Actual Difference in Quantity of Words Heard

• In a typical hour, the average child would hear
• Low-Income 616 words
• Working Class 1,251 words
• Professional 2,153 words

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Actual Difference in Quality of Words Heard
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Teaching to the Need of All Children
Diversity in the Classroom

• ADD /ADHA
• Gifted / AP
• LD /ED
• Education
• Gender
• Religion
• Bully
• Residence
• Underachiever
• Individuality

• Divorce
• ESL
• Defiant/Aggressive
• Abused
• Neglected
• Incarcerated Parent
• Affiliation
• Minority
• Obesity
• Single Parent

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Begin with an End in Mind
There is no magic wand. Every time you try
something that doesnt work, it teaches you
something. Use what you learn in planning
something else.
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Begin with an End in Mind

• Realize your perimeters and concentrate on what
  you CAN do, not what you cant do.
• Personally accept responsibility for student
  achievement.

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Begin with an End in Mind
Utilize all current data available to enhance
your ability to improve student achievement.
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Problem
When we find something that work, we want to
change our curriculum for everyone. If what you
are doing is working for some, change whats
needed - for those who need change.
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The Impact of Student Self-Image on Achievement
and Motivation
We cannot possibly bring out the best in our
children, unless we are willing to give the best
of ourselves. (Crystal Kuykendall, 1989)
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The Impact of Student Self-Image on Achievement
and Motivation
Although, teens base much of their self-image on
the perception of their peers, research show that
this is due to the fact that teens reach out to
peer groups as substitutes for a perceived lack
of adult affection.
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The Impact of Student Self-Image on Achievement
and Motivation
Research confirms that 80 of African Americans /
Hispanics have a positive self-image when they
enter school 20 by fifth grade and only 5
by their senior year of high school.
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Indicators and Characteristics of Low Academic
Self-Image
Children who fail to complete work Children who
are hostile, disruptive, delinquent and/or
defiant
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Indicators and Characteristics of Low Academic
Self-Image
The Daydreamer or poor attention
span Children who have little or no eye
contact
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Indicators and Characteristics of Low Academic
Self-Image

• Children who frequently use excuses to justify
  poor performance
• Children who are afraid to try something new or
  give up easily

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Indicators and Characteristics of Low Academic
Self-Image

• Children who dislike school

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Gender DifferencesDid you Know?

• Compared to girls, boys are
• Held back a grade at a higher rate 34 of boys
  are in grades below their age compared to 26 of
  girls.
• More likely to be assigned to special education
• 73 of students with LD are boys
• 76 of ED students are boys
• Less likely to return to a regular ed. classroom
• More likely to commit suicide
• Less likely to attend college

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Gender DifferencesDid you Know?

• Tom Mortenson, Pell Institute for the Study of
  Opportunity in Higher Education, reported
• Girls get extra help, while boys get Ritalin.
  USA Today Aug. 29,03
• 1 Million children on antidepressants
• 10 antidepressants are now carrying a new
  warning about possible adverse behavior changes.
• These Include
• Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox. Celexa, Lexapro,
  Wellbutrin, Eflexor, Serzone, and Remeron.
• Source Centers for Diease Control and
  Prevention, 2004.

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The Beat Goes On

• American youth need strong literacy skills to
  succeed in school and in life. Students who do
  not acquire these skills find themselves at a
  serious disadvantage. Yet approximately eight
  million young people between fourth and twelfth
  grade struggle to read at grade level.
• A child who enters school reading below grade
  level has only a one in eight chance of catching
  up. (Juel, 1998)

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What Works In Schools

• More than one head is good, even if one head is a
  cabbage head.
• HOT TOPIC
• Differentiated Instruction DI is a teaching
• philosophy based on the premise that
• teachers adapt instruction to student
• differences. Modifying instruction to meet the
• needs of students

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What Works In Schools

• 5 Principals for successful differentiation
• Flexible Classrooms
• On going Assessment
• Flexible grouping
• Respectful Activities
• Students and teachers as collaborators in
  learning
• All based on students readiness levels, learning
  profiles, and interest.

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DI Belief

• That students differ may be
• inconvenient but it is inescapable.
• Adapting to that diversity is the
• inevitable price of productivity, high
• standards and fairness to students.
• 
  
  
  Dr. Vera Blake, May, 2005

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DI Belief

• 40 million adults in the U.S. cant read well
  enough to read a simple story to a child.
  National Center for Education Statistics
• From 1983-1999, over 10 million Americans reached
  the 12th grade without having learned to read at
  a basic level. In the same period, over 6
  million dropped out of high school. U.S.
  Department of Education

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Reading Initiatives Instructional Strategies
That Work

• Literacy Plan
• Literacy Coaches
• School wide Novel Project
• Reading Across the Curriculum
• Mid-Six weeks Report Cards
• Anticipation Guides
• RAFT
• Graphic Organizers
• Quizdom.com
• Learning Styles Inventory
• Tool-Kit of Resources

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Reading Initiatives / Strategies That Work

• Display Student Work
• Classroom Competitions
• Discussion Web
• Four Square
• Choice Boards
• Tiered Lessons
• Cornell Note Taking
• Clock Buddies
• Exit Slips
• Journals
• Agendas
• Professional Development

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RESULTS

• Students have a more positive attitude towards
  reading
• Classroom scores increase school wide
• Teachers work more as a cohesive body that
  operates efficiently.
• Achievement test scores improve
• A decrease in discipline problems
• Promotion rates increase
• Improvement in school climate

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Please Consider

• An Action Plan
• What are the next steps?
• What support do you need?
• What resources, tools and materials are needed?

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The Most Important Resource of All is TIME

• Time to Plan
• Time to Implement
• Time to Assess and Evaluate

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Resources

• Educating Teachers for Diversity
• By Jacqueline Jordan Irvine
• We Cant Teach What We Dont Know
• By Gary R. Howard
• Literacy With AN Attitude
• By Patrick J. Finn
• Addressing Over-representation of African
  American Students in Special Education
• Good, Whats Not, and How to Tell the Difference
  by Elaine and Patrick McEwan
• Principals and Student Achievement
• What the Research Says by Kathleen Cotton

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Tool-Kit of Resources

• Educating Teachers for Diversity
• By Jacqueline Jordan Irvine
• We Cant Teach What We Dont Know By Gary R.
  Howard
• Literacy With AN Attitude
• By Patrick J. Finn
• Addressing Over-Representation of African
  American Students in Special Education NABSE
• Good, Whats Not, and How to Tell the Difference
  by Elaine and Patrick McEwan
• Principals and Student Achievement
• What the Research Says
• by Kathleen Cotton

• Brain Compatible Classroom
• Using What We Know About Learning To Improve
  Teaching
• by Laura Erlauer
• Differentiating Instruction for Mixed Ability
  Classrooms by Carol Ann Tomlinson
• Classroom Instruction That Works
• ResearchedBased Strategies for Increasing
  Student Achievement by Marzano. Pickering, and
  Pollock
• Differentiated Instructional Strategies
• One Size Doesnt Fit All by Gayle H.
  Gregory Carolyn Chapman

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Tool-Kit of Resources

• WhatWorks.Clearinghouse
• The council of Great City Schools
• Rethinking Inclusion School wide Applications
  by Wayne Sailor Blair Roger

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• Kym L. Dukes
• kym.dukes_at_state.tn.us