Did you miss our conference in September? Were you unable to attend a particular session? Or do you want to share something you learned with your colleagues? Podcasts from many of the sessions, including the Keynote, plenary sessions, and breakout sessions are now available for FREE download on iTunes!
To access the podcasts, follow this link: http://tiny.cc/a3zwr
The link will open iTunes. To download iTunes for free, go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/.
Many thanks to our speakers, the staff of Swank AV at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, and the volunteers who assisted with recording!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Program Evaluation and Teaching Effectiveness
The New York Times today published an article about a new study showing that student rankings of teacher effectiveness correlate with how much students learn in a school year, as measured by an increase in test scores. The study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is part of a larger effort by the Foundation to work with several districts to improve their teaching effectiveness.
Students filled out confidential surveys about their teachers, and researchers found that teachers who received positive reviews also tended to have students whose test scores improved over the school year. However, teachers who had their classes spend "a lot of time... practicing for the state test" consistently had lower rankings by students as well as lower test scores. This interesting finding has a lot of implications for education reform, and raises some questions about teaching effectiveness in out-of-school time as well.
Many afterschool STEM programs--including museum exhibits and programs, summer camps, and other opportunities for learning in out-of-school time--undergo evaluation to find out how well they are fulfilling their organization's mission or program's goals. This process, though often time-consuming, can be very important for keeping the program up-to-date with current educational standards and expectations as well as essential for proving success to current or potential funders. But how often does that evaluation process include input from students or participants?
Since afterschool program effectiveness many not be measured against test scores, another metric must be used to gather data or feedback on the program's teaching effectiveness. Participant feedback--from students or adults--provides meaningful data on how well the program is doing, and what it could do to improve. Though this study specifically addressed in-school time teaching, hopefully it will provide afterschool programs with an impetus to have themselves evaluated and make an even greater case for out-of-school time education.
Students filled out confidential surveys about their teachers, and researchers found that teachers who received positive reviews also tended to have students whose test scores improved over the school year. However, teachers who had their classes spend "a lot of time... practicing for the state test" consistently had lower rankings by students as well as lower test scores. This interesting finding has a lot of implications for education reform, and raises some questions about teaching effectiveness in out-of-school time as well.
Many afterschool STEM programs--including museum exhibits and programs, summer camps, and other opportunities for learning in out-of-school time--undergo evaluation to find out how well they are fulfilling their organization's mission or program's goals. This process, though often time-consuming, can be very important for keeping the program up-to-date with current educational standards and expectations as well as essential for proving success to current or potential funders. But how often does that evaluation process include input from students or participants?
Since afterschool program effectiveness many not be measured against test scores, another metric must be used to gather data or feedback on the program's teaching effectiveness. Participant feedback--from students or adults--provides meaningful data on how well the program is doing, and what it could do to improve. Though this study specifically addressed in-school time teaching, hopefully it will provide afterschool programs with an impetus to have themselves evaluated and make an even greater case for out-of-school time education.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Computer Science Education Week: December 5th-11th, 2010
This week is Computer Science Education Week, a national initiative designed to raise awareness of the importance of computer science education in the US and share activities and other resources for teaching computer science. It is also the birthday week of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneering computer scientist who wrote two programming languages and made numerous other contributions to the emerging field during the 1940s through the 1970s.
Why is computer science important? According to CSEdWeek's website, the current number of students studying computer science will only fill 52 percent of the projected 1.4 million new computing jobs by 2018. Contributions in computer science shape other aspects of the economy, and are necessary to drive technological innovation. Studying computer science at any age helps kids build critical skills like creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and computer literacy in a digital age. And yet computer science programs are often overlooked and underfunded, leading to insufficient curricula, a lack of teacher training in computer science, and decreased gender and ethnic diversity in computer science programs and careers.
The CSEdWeek website has lots of resources to help advocates build a case for computer science education in and out of school time, including key facts, career guides, and activities for your classroom or program. They have also compiled a guide to events happening across the country promoting computer science. Plus, they're asking advocates to share their thoughts on Twitter (hashtag #CSEdWeek), Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Members of the Coalition for Science After School are working hard to promote computer science in out-of-school time in their communities. Here are just a few:
Why is computer science important? According to CSEdWeek's website, the current number of students studying computer science will only fill 52 percent of the projected 1.4 million new computing jobs by 2018. Contributions in computer science shape other aspects of the economy, and are necessary to drive technological innovation. Studying computer science at any age helps kids build critical skills like creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and computer literacy in a digital age. And yet computer science programs are often overlooked and underfunded, leading to insufficient curricula, a lack of teacher training in computer science, and decreased gender and ethnic diversity in computer science programs and careers.
The CSEdWeek website has lots of resources to help advocates build a case for computer science education in and out of school time, including key facts, career guides, and activities for your classroom or program. They have also compiled a guide to events happening across the country promoting computer science. Plus, they're asking advocates to share their thoughts on Twitter (hashtag #CSEdWeek), Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Members of the Coalition for Science After School are working hard to promote computer science in out-of-school time in their communities. Here are just a few:
- The Department of Computer Science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana
- The College of Engineering and Computer Science at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio
- Computers for Children, Inc., in Buffalo, New York
- Computer Explorers in Tampa, Florida
- Bits, Bytes, & Bots Computer Adventures, a national program with opportunities for learning about robotics, game creation and other computer-based technology skills
- Computer Summer Science Camp at the University of Cincinnati, where high-schoolers learn to write programs in a real computer science lab
- Girl TECH CORPS from TECH CORPS Ohio, a program that brings together girls interested in technology and mentors to learn age-appropriate technological skills
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Science Books for Kids
While it's true that doing hands-on science activities is a great way to learn, every child needs a little down time to relax and let their busy minds process their experiences. Science books can be a great way for younger children to learn before bed, after working and playing hard at school, or on a rainy weekend. Plus, reading lets kids build their science, reading, and critical thinking skills all at the same time. Booklist just released their Top 10 Science and Technology books for 2010. The books cover a wide variety of science subjects--from archaeology, biology, engineering, ecology, and much more.
If you're an educator looking for books to use in your program, the National Science Teachers Association has a huge, annually-released compilation of the best science trade books for K-12 students stretching back to 1996. Again, the books cover a wide range of science subjects and are organized by subject or purpose (such as "Science as Inquiry" and "Unifying Concepts and Processes in Science").
Do you use science books in your afterschool program? What are some of your favorites?
If you're an educator looking for books to use in your program, the National Science Teachers Association has a huge, annually-released compilation of the best science trade books for K-12 students stretching back to 1996. Again, the books cover a wide range of science subjects and are organized by subject or purpose (such as "Science as Inquiry" and "Unifying Concepts and Processes in Science").
Do you use science books in your afterschool program? What are some of your favorites?
Monday, November 22, 2010
How should schools tackle extended learning time?
Last week, in an article on the Washington Post's education blog, Class Struggle, columnist Jay Mathews attempted to reconcile two competing perspectives on extended learning time: advocating for afterschool programs vs. extending school hours. These two ideas are tied up in the wider debate on education reform in the United States and must compete for funding, staff, and public support.
The whole article is definitely worth reading--especially the comments, where Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant jumps in and interacts with Jay, classroom teachers, parents, and advocates on both sides of the issue.
Certainly, students spending more time learning during the day--whether in a classroom or outside of it--has been shown to improve learning overall using test scores (see the article and comments for more specifics). But longer classroom hours and the increased learning effectiveness also correlate with better teaching skills and strategies overall--and it would be hard to argue that simply increasing school hours leads to better teachers. Rather, it would seem that teachers who are good at what they do tend to work at schools with longer hours overall.
And I would venture a guess that many of us know of teachers from our own educational experience who put in the extra effort outside of school hours to ensure that their students were truly learning--through informal chats, extra tutoring time, or running an afterschool program. The key to effective learning seems to be making learning engaging, through creative curriculum and good teaching--something that happens in informal educational settings, which take place in out-of-school time.
There's no doubt that extending learning time is essential to increasing learning effectiveness. Mounds of data--both international and domestic--help to support that case. And it's likely that education reform in the US will include increasing learning time during the school year and summer. It's up to advocates for out-of-school time to develop successful programs with meaningful learning outcomes and to influence the tone of the extended learning time debate.
The whole article is definitely worth reading--especially the comments, where Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant jumps in and interacts with Jay, classroom teachers, parents, and advocates on both sides of the issue.
Certainly, students spending more time learning during the day--whether in a classroom or outside of it--has been shown to improve learning overall using test scores (see the article and comments for more specifics). But longer classroom hours and the increased learning effectiveness also correlate with better teaching skills and strategies overall--and it would be hard to argue that simply increasing school hours leads to better teachers. Rather, it would seem that teachers who are good at what they do tend to work at schools with longer hours overall.
And I would venture a guess that many of us know of teachers from our own educational experience who put in the extra effort outside of school hours to ensure that their students were truly learning--through informal chats, extra tutoring time, or running an afterschool program. The key to effective learning seems to be making learning engaging, through creative curriculum and good teaching--something that happens in informal educational settings, which take place in out-of-school time.
There's no doubt that extending learning time is essential to increasing learning effectiveness. Mounds of data--both international and domestic--help to support that case. And it's likely that education reform in the US will include increasing learning time during the school year and summer. It's up to advocates for out-of-school time to develop successful programs with meaningful learning outcomes and to influence the tone of the extended learning time debate.
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