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A three-day seminar for nurses was conducted to improve their ability to communicate effectively with other people. The method used in this seminar was microteaching. The basic ingredients of the microteaching concept are the communication techniques dimension, the teach-reteach dimension, and the immediate feedback dimension. Under the direction of a supervisor and working with others in the seminar, each participant demonstrated and spoke on the topic of her choice, with the aim of instructing the listeners. Each demonstration was recorded on video tape. The tape was viewed and analysed, followed by direct question and answer sessions and suggestions for improvement by the supervisor. The benefit of immediate feedback and reaction was apparent, and each participant developed more self-confidence as the seminar progressed. The concensus of opinion at the end of the session was that microteaching is a valuable tool not only for improving communication skills but also for improving teaching techniques. (JD)

The purpose of this study was to examine specific feautres of child language change as determined by change in vocabulary, complexity of sentences and functional use of sentences, and relationships of these changes to the teachers' facilitative or directive verbal behavior. Subjects were 112 nursery school children. Teacher verbal behavior was measured by the Withall Social Climate Index resulting in a facilitative score and a directive score for each teacher. Child language change was determined by a pretesting and posttesting with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and with an Analysis of 50 Consecutive Statements. Within the limitations of this study and from the findings, it was concluded that teachers consistently used a pattern of facilitative or directive verbal behavior in their classrooms; that language for 4-year-old children in this study, as measured by the instruments used, continued to change in the 6-month period; and that for children in this sample, change in use of complexity of sentences was greater in classrooms in which teachers used more directive verbal behavior. In the other aspects of language change studied, language of the children in this sample developed fairly consistently irrespective of teacher verbal behavior as measured by the Climate Index. (Author/MS)

This paper presents a review of research on the effectiveness of educational television compared to traditional face-to-face instruction. The studies reviewed are presented under seven rubrics: TV as a catalyst for learning; two-way TV; use of commercial TV shows; simulation of a real situation; TV integrated as part of the classroom lecture; TV courses instead of lecture in the classroom; and TV courses in the home. The author concludes that while TV has proved effective for teaching basic knowledge, it is deficient for teaching cognitive skills requiring more than "level I" knowledge. A bibliography is appended (the latest reference is to a 1975 publication). (BB)

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of audiovisual aids in the instruction of junior-level preservice teachers. The tapes used were vignettes of persons demonstrating specific teaching skills in the areas of lesson organization, questioning, using student ideas, praise and corrective feedback, and variety and variation in teaching styles. Ninety-six subjects were assigned to one of four groups. All groups were pretested and posttested with identical measures. For each of the five topics, the treatment groups were: tapes only; tapes plus instruction; instruction only; and control. It was hypothesized that preservice teachers who receive instruction and view protocol tapes will score significantly higher on related posttests than teachers who only receive instruction or who only view tapes. An unexpected consequence of this study was the finding that the control group, which received neither verbal nor visual instruction related to the topics of the tapes, performed just as well on related posttests as groups that did receive such instruction. The results of this study support the contention that no generalizations can be made concerning the effectiveness of media in instruction and that each type of media must be evaluated individually. (JD)

This program focused on work in elementary mathematics and science with activities using Lego bricks and plates. Pre-service teachers self-evaluated teaching efficacy beliefs after a 6-hour, professional development session. Participant ratings of overall teaching efficacy and personal efficacy appeared to be acceptable, while participant rating of teaching outcome expectancy was at a lower level.

The article "Some Important Facts about Language Teaching/Learning: Basics and Assumptions" by Dr. Mahmoud M. S. Abdallah explores the foundational elements of language teaching and learning. It emphasizes the importance of language proficiency for personal, social, and professional success, highlighting the cognitive and societal benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. The article discusses various approaches and methodologies in language teaching, such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which focuses on meaningful communication and interaction. It also addresses the role of teachers as facilitators and the significance of using authentic materials and technology in language instruction. The article examines underlying assumptions in language teaching, such as the importance of grammar instruction and the role of input and output in language acquisition. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for learner autonomy and culturally responsive teaching practices. The article concludes by outlining principles of effective language teaching and addressing challenges and controversies in the field, such as the role of native language, the optimal age for language learning, and the impact of technology. Overall, the article provides a comprehensive guide to understanding the complexities of language teaching and learning, offering valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and language learners.

In this brief, we detail three major findings from our year of interviews and observations: (1) We describe how the external contexts of schooling shifted throughout the pandemic and how many of these outside pressures persist today; (2) We look internally at how district leaders make sense of external pressures and weigh their internal values to set budget priorities, arrive at defining problems, then remedy these concerns. Districts displayed three ways of emerging from the pandemic after the return to in-person learning; and (3) We compare the different solutions or innovations that districts pursued to reengage students and support their well-being. We compare large and small structural innovations as well as pedagogical and organizational innovations.

The global status of English as a lingua franca necessitates effective English language teaching (TEFL) to meet the demands of the global economy and social development. This article explores key principles for effective TEFL, grounded in a sophisticated theoretical framework that integrates cognitive, sociocultural, and constructivist perspectives. It emphasizes the importance of understanding learner needs, focusing on meaningful communication, and implementing Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). Differentiated instruction and technology integration are highlighted as essential strategies to cater to diverse learner profiles and enhance engagement. The article also underscores the significance of cultural awareness in language instruction, advocating for the inclusion of cultural elements to prepare students for real-world interactions. Effective assessment practices, combining formative and summative approaches, are crucial for monitoring progress and informing instruction. Continuous professional development (CPD) is emphasized as vital for teachers to remain current and effective, involving action research, participation in professional learning communities, and reflective teaching practices. By adhering to these principles, educators can create dynamic and inclusive classrooms that promote successful language acquisition.

Dr Mahmoud M. S. Abdallah's article, "The New Territory of Educational Research in TESOL/TEFL: What Novice Researchers Should Know", provides a comprehensive guide for novice researchers in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). It emphasises the importance of research in enhancing teaching practices, informing educational policies, and understanding second language acquisition (SLA). It defines research as a systematic, cyclical process aimed at discovering new knowledge or validating existing knowledge. The article explores various research approaches, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, and action research. Qualitative research is highlighted for its ability to explore human experiences through methods like ethnography, case studies, and discourse analysis. Quantitative research is presented for testing hypotheses and generalising findings through experimental, quasi-experimental, and survey research. Mixed methods research combines both approaches for a holistic understanding, while action research empowers teachers to become researchers in their own classrooms. The article introduces essential research terminologies, such as variables, hypotheses, data, reliability, validity, and generalisability. It outlines the research process, from identifying a problem to writing the report, emphasising the importance of thorough literature reviews, clear research questions, appropriate research designs, data collection and analysis, and findings interpretation. The article encourages TESOL/TEFL educators to embrace research as part of their professional identity, becoming informed consumers and producers of knowledge. It provides criteria for selecting research topics, including relevance, originality, feasibility, personal interest, potential impact, alignment with current educational contexts, and interdisciplinary potential. In conclusion, the article equips novice researchers with the knowledge and tools necessary to engage in rigorous and impactful research, contributing to the continuous improvement of language education.

This article explores the concept of the post-methods era in language teaching, which advocates for moving beyond rigid, prescriptive methodologies. The author argues that no single method can address the diverse needs of all learners and contexts. Instead, teachers should adopt an eclectic and context-sensitive approach, drawing on a range of methods to suit specific situations. Key characteristics of this era include a focus on the learner, the importance of context, authenticity in language use, and the teacher as a reflective practitioner. The article highlights the limitations of traditional methods and the influence of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics in shaping modern language teaching. Practical implications for teachers include informed eclecticism, needs analysis, materials development, action research, and continuous professional development. While the post-methods approach offers flexibility and adaptability, it also presents challenges, particularly for novice teachers and in systems reliant on traditional methods. The article concludes that ongoing research and dialogue are essential for refining effective language teaching practices in this era.

Public schools buckled under the shock that arrived with the global pandemic, most closing their doors in March 2020. Still fresh in our memories, teachers attempted online instruction, viewing their students each day as small squares on computer screens. We know all too well that learning curves of students flattened or fell. Many kids and teachers experienced death in their families, along with emotional angst that's still reported by local educators. Yet as the COVID-19 virus receded, our research team began visiting a handful of California school districts in early 2021. We asked district leaders and school principals about how they were recovering from this unprecedented jolt, along with the challenges and joys of returning to in-person schooling. These early conversations also revealed a variety of organizational and pedagogical innovations--from digitally enlivened lessons to intense work with small groups of pupils. Teachers and staff, still dealing with health challenges in their own families, were turning to the social and emotional well-being of their students.

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to supporting innovative advances in educational technology to improve teaching and learning across the nation's education systems and to support educators as they incorporate emerging technology into their learning communities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education is a complex and rapidly expanding topic because individuals have different knowledge, opinions, and perspectives on using AI, which has implications for all members of school communities. This user-friendly toolkit was developed through engagement with educators, community members and technology leaders and is designed to help educational leaders make critical decisions about incorporating AI applications into student learning and the instructional core. This document connects broad ideas about AI to the establishment of school and district use policies that will guide its effective implementation. This toolkit provides guidance for the effective use and integration of AI in teaching and learning and presents an overview of Federal laws and considerations that are essential to anchoring and ensuring the use of AI in a safe, secure, and non-discriminatory manner across ten key modules--from federal policies to pressing educational issues, including privacy, data security, civil rights, and digital equity. Finally, the toolkit promotes the principles of transparency and awareness in the use of AI in schools, and emphasizes the importance of providing students, teachers, and parents opportunities to opt out of AI-enabled applications in school.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the education landscape, but are teacher preparation programs keeping pace? In this report, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) reached out to over 500 U.S. education school leaders to understand how they currently integrate AI into their teacher training programs, how their faculty and preservice teachers engage with AI, their perceptions of the technology's long-term impact on education, and their institution's efforts to embed AI into curricula and coursework. These data should concern those who believe students and teachers need support to engage safely and effectively with this fast-emerging set of tools. This report offers recommendations for higher education institutions, policymakers, philanthropists, and researchers to better support preparing the next generation of teachers to thrive and adapt in the age of generative AI.

This report sets out the findings of the technical development work completed as part of the Use Cases for Generative AI in Education project, commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) in September 2023. It has been published alongside the User Research Report, which sets out the findings from the ongoing user engagement activity conducted as part of this project. As part of exploratory work by DfE into the use of Generative AI within education, Faculty has built a bespoke AI-powered tool to demonstrate the potential of using Large Language Models (LLMs) for a specific use case. The tool is a proof of concept (PoC), limited to just the evaluation of Year 4 Literacy work, however, its design acts as a good approximation for other bespoke or open-source tooling that an institution could feasibly set up for its staff or pupils.

The field of English Language Teaching (ELT) and Learning is constantly evolving, influenced by advancements in educational theory, technology, and global trends. This article aims to explore several key issues and concepts in ELT, focusing on modern approaches and challenges faced by educators and learners alike. I will examine topics such as contextualised teaching and learning, functional linguistics, web-based new literacies and new literacy practices, situated language learning, lifelong learning, cognitive apprenticeship, online professional development, and the challenges specific to teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in the Egyptian context.

Generative AI, particularly Language Models (LMs), has the potential to transform real-world domains with societal impact, particularly where access to experts is limited. For example, in education, training novice educators with expert guidance is important for effectiveness but expensive, creating significant barriers to improving education quality at scale. This challenge disproportionately hurts students from under-served communities, who stand to gain the most from high-quality education and are most likely to be taught by inexperienced educators. We introduce Tutor CoPilot, a novel Human-AI approach that leverages a model of expert thinking to provide expert-like guidance to tutors as they tutor. This study presents the first randomized controlled trial of a Human-AI system in live tutoring, involving 900 tutors and 1,800 K-12 students from historically under-served communities. Following a preregistered analysis plan, we find that students working on mathematics with tutors randomly assigned to have access to Tutor CoPilot are 4 percentage points (p.p.) more likely to master topics (p<0.01). Notably, students of lower-rated tutors experienced the greatest benefit, improving mastery by 9 p.p. relative to the control group. We find that Tutor CoPilot costs only $20 per-tutor annually, based on the tutors' usage during the study. We analyze 550,000+ messages using classifiers to identify pedagogical strategies, and find that tutors with access to Tutor CoPilot are more likely to use strategies that foster student understanding (e.g., asking guiding questions) and less likely to give away the answer to the student, aligning with high-quality teaching practices. Tutor interviews qualitatively highlight how Tutor CoPilot's guidance helps them to respond to student needs, though tutors flag common issues in Tutor CoPilot, such as generating suggestions that are not grade-level appropriate. Altogether, our study of Tutor CoPilot demonstrates how Human-AI systems can scale expertise in real-world domains, bridge gaps in skills and create a future where high-quality education is accessible to all students. [Additional funding provided by Accelerate.]

Indigenous methodologies for guiding, advising, and educating children have been in place since time immemorial. Those well-honed approaches to education were built to support whole and healthy individual development while also establishing a lifelong awareness and reverence for community, connection, kinship, and reciprocity. In Western cultures, literacy is narrowly defined as reading, writing, listening, and speaking. For many Indigenous peoples from oral cultures, however, the emphasis is placed on a different set of skills, including careful observation and understanding of both the human and natural world. The transfer of intergenerational, place-based knowledge through storytelling and other oral and social interactions and experiences creates a rich and meaningful learning environment in which children develop not only literacy skills but also a deep understanding of the connection between the people, the land, sacred waterways, and animal and plant relatives. In Indigenous cultures, literacy cannot be limited to the ability to read and write but must also include the capacity to understand, respect, and transmit heritage knowledge. The ability to communicate effectively and meaningfully fosters well-being and connection and supports Indigenous people in contributing to the world around them. SEA leaders from the Offices of Native Education in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington met several times over a year as part of the Region 16 Comprehensive Center's (R16CC) Co-designing with Families and Communities initiative. These leaders have been grappling with the complex tensions between Indigenous language revitalization and literacy, particularly in the context of the state and national emphasis on the Science of Reading and the goal of ensuring every student reads proficiently by third grade--an approach that prioritizes English. At the same time, there is growing recognition from the nation's capital of the importance of multilingualism, which for Native families and communities means a focus on language revitalization. This report aims to support SEA leaders as they navigate these tensions, balancing the push for early literacy in English instruction aligned with the Science of Reading while advocating for educational sovereignty, cultural integrity, Indigenous language revitalization, and authentic family and community engagement. As the Co-designing with Families and Communities initiative came to a close, the SEA Native education leaders requested that R16CC create a report detailing the intersections, constraints, and insights related to Indigenous language revitalization and literacy approaches. This report draws on both research and the lived experiences of key leaders and experts, offering perspectives to advance the conversation around these inherent tensions while supporting state efforts to promote language and literacy for Native students in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington.

Mastery learning -- the process by which students must demonstrate proficiency with a single topic before moving on -- is well recognized as one of the best ways to learn, yet many teachers struggle or remain unsure about how to implement it into a classroom setting. This study leverages two field experiments to test the efficacy of a program designed to encourage greater mastery learning through technology and proactive continuous teacher support. Focusing on elementary and middle school mathematics, teachers receive weekly coaching in how to use Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) for students to follow a customized roadmap of incremental progress. Results indicate significant intent-to-treat effects on math performance of 0.12-0.22 standard deviations. Further analysis shows that these gains are concentrated among students in classrooms with at least an average of 35 minutes of practice per week. Teachers able to achieve high-dosage practice have a high degree of initial buy-in, a clear implementation strategy for when practice occurs, and a willingness to closely monitor progress and follow-up with struggling students. [The Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at Notre Dame provided additional support for this research.]

Evidence-based practices are backed up by research evidence. This means there is broad consensus from rigorously conducted evaluations that they work. Teachers, educators and policymakers need to determine how applicable education evidence is to their context when considering adopting new evidence-based practices. Research conducted in different educational contexts--including locations, student demographics, year levels or subject areas--may still offer broadly relevant insights. This research report presents a literature review conducted by The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) of whether studies of effectiveness of 3 well-established, evidence-based teaching practices reveal variation in positive impact across contexts. Specifically, they examined meta-analytic reviews of the effects of formative assessment, explicit instruction and mastery learning on student achievement. Overall, findings indicate that the three practices are beneficial across different subgroups of students and subject areas.

This study provides the first large-scale quantitative exploration of mathematical language use in upper elementary U.S. classrooms. Our approach employs natural language processing techniques to describe variation in teachers' and students' use of mathematical language in 1,657 fourth and fifth grade lessons in 317 classrooms in four districts over three years. Students' exposure to mathematical language varies substantially across lessons and between teachers. Results suggest that teacher modeling, defined as the density of mathematical terms in teacher talk, does not substantially cause students to uptake mathematical language, but that teachers may encourage student use of mathematical vocabulary by means other than mere modeling or exposure. However, we also find that teachers who use more mathematical language are more effective at raising student test scores. These findings reveal that teachers who use more mathematical vocabulary are more effective math teachers.

The immediate impacts of COVID-19 on K12 schooling are well known. Over nearly 18 months, students' academic performance and mental health deteriorated dramatically. This study aims to identify if and how the pandemic led to longer-term changes in core aspects of schooling. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 31 teachers and administrators across 12 districts in two states, we find that schools today look quite different in several areas including the availability and use of instructional technology, instructional practice, parent-teacher communication, and the balance between academics and social-emotional well-being. We interpret these findings through the lens of institutional theory, and discuss implications of the changes for practitioners and policymakers.

This paper reports findings from a nationally representative survey of K-12 teachers in May 2023 that examines the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 on public schooling. The findings suggest fundamental ways in which school operations, instructional practice and parent-teacher interaction have changed since the pandemic. Some changes seem promising; others suggest caution. While policymakers may not be able to directly influence some of the reported changes in the short run, monitoring the evolution of school practices (and their consequences for children) will position educational leaders to help teachers and students address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic going forward.