Improving numbers And research InstructioN.

Improving numbers And research Instruction



Improving Math And Science Instruction

Introduction

Widespread research shows that neither holding students back a grade nor advancing them unprepared in math and science promotes success. Studies show that retention negatively impacts students' behavior, attitude, and attendance. Social promotion undermines students' futures when they fail to develop critical study and job-related skills (Denton, 34; U.S. Department of Education, 56). Recent research and practice show that alternative strategies in math and science, which strike at the root causes of poor performance in math and science, offer genuine hope for helping all students succeed in these areas and in life. These strategies are: intensify learning, provide professional development to assure skilled teachers, expand learning options, assess students in a manner to assist teachers, and interfere in time to stop poor performance.

Discussion

High-stakes testing and the accountability movement have sparked many states to end the practice of social promotion. Also, opponents of retention point to years of research documenting its ineffectiveness. Because of the ineffectiveness of social promotion and retention, a search is on for better ways to help students improve their school performances in math and science. Alternatives focus on preventing the failure cycle that results in poor performance so that social promotion and retention can blend into an effective, high-performance, strengthened learning, skilled teachers, and expanded learning options, assessment that informs teaching and intervention—early and often.

Strengthened learning helps build high-achieving schools, which in turn are most likely to produce successful, high-achieving students. High-achieving schools are rigorous schools. They develop rigorous standards, a rich curriculum, knowledgeable and skilled teachers, and meaningful learning experiences as essential elements (Wheelock, 23).

Having a apparently defined set of measures helps educators concentrate on direction, makes clear to scholars and parents degree level expectations, and double-checks that scholars are made for the next grade. Most states actually have measures in location for scholars in degrees K-12. Studies of high-achieving schools with deprived scholar populations revealed that integrating learning measures with demanding coursework and high anticipations led to a assessed enhancement in student presentation (U.S. Department of Education, 456). Integrating standards into the curriculum is the first step for schools that are working to create high achieving learning environments for their students (Pattison & Berkas, 56; U.S. Department of Education, 34).

Hiring productive and well-trained educators is one of the most significant assesses schools can take to intensify discovering for all scholars. Outside of the home natural environment, educators are the number-one resource in assisting scholars succeed. According to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (Darling-Hammond, 56), teacher expertise has a direct correlation to high student achievement. "Students who have highly effective teachers three years in a row score as much as 50 percentile points higher on achievement tests than those who have ineffective teachers for three years in a row," states Darling-Hammond (34). Effective teachers "know the content they are teaching, recruit students in finding out, and dispute them to greater accomplishments" ...