Our September newsletter offers Wing Institute Knowledge Network members one Wing Institute Overview on the topic of Formal Teacher Evaluation. Additionally, we offer 6 news items of interest to our colleagues:
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Instructional Coaching Program and Practice Standards,
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Does Tailoring Instruction to “Learning Styles” Help Students Learn?,
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Effectiveness of the Practice Style and Reciprocal Style of Teaching: A Meta-Analysis,
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A Review of the Relationship Between Parental Involvement Indicators,
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Academic Achievement, Comparing NAEP to state proficiency standards, and
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Data Matters: Using Chronic Absence to Accelerate Action for Student Success
We would like to thank our Knowledge Network members for referring four outstanding candidates who have express interest in becoming contributing writers for our web site. We look forward to introducing the new contributing writers over the coming months.
Best wishes as the weather cools and we enter the fall season.
Sincerely,
The Wing Institute
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This paper examines formal teacher evaluation. Formal teacher evaluation is integrated into many state and district policies, and, even with shifts in federal focus under ESSA, is likely to remain common practice. The goal of formal teacher evaluation is to collect data that accurately represents teacher practice and the connection to student achievement in a valid and reliable way, and use that information to improve the system for teaching and learning. Although conclusions about the impact of teacher evaluation on student achievement are mixed (Stecher et al., 2018; Taylor & Tyler, 2012a, 2012b), ideally collecting and using information about teacher practice can advance the conversation about quality instruction and teaching potential. Read More
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Instructional Coaching Program and Practice Standards. The New Teacher Center has released guidelines and standards for the implementation of coaching as a powerful means of improving school, teacher, and ultimately student performance. The Instructional Coaching Program Standards define the essential elements of a coaching program designed to accelerate teacher effectiveness. Districts can then use the Instructional Coaching Practice Standards as a framework to implement the components in a strategic, quality practice. These new coaching standards are a clarification and distillation of current practice elements, and are designed to make coaching more productive and cost effective. Read More
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Does Tailoring Instruction to “Learning Styles” Help Students Learn? TIn this 2018 analysis, Daniel Willingham revisits his 2005 review of the literature on learning styles. Thirteen years ago he concluded there is no evidence supporting theories that distinguish between visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles and improved achievement. To update his earlier study, Willingham examined research published since 2005. Learning style theorists have postulated that teaching to a specific learning style will help struggling students achieve success in school. The recent research examined by Willingham supports his earlier conclusion: “There is not convincing evidence to support the idea that tailoring instruction according to a learning-styles theory improves student outcomes." Read More
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Effectiveness of the Practice Style and Reciprocal Style of Teaching: A Meta-Analysis. This meta-analysis looks at the effectiveness of two strategies in teaching motor skills to students: practice and reciprocal. The research examined two of the 11 teaching strategies identified in Mosston’s Spectrum of Teaching Styles designed for teachers in physical education. The study confirms previous research on reciprocal teaching as an effective instructional strategy. Reciprocal teaching has been found to be a powerful strategy for teaching reading and other academic subjects. John Hattie (1995) reported an effect size of 0.74 for reciprocal teaching. The takeaway from this meta-analysis is that practice and reciprocal styles have positive effects on motor skill acquisition. Read More
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A review of the relationship between parental involvement indicators and academic achievement. This study examines the relationship between parental involvement and student academic achievement. Two types of parental involvement are generally examined in the available research: home-based strategies, such as providing structure and support with regard to learning and education at home, and school-based strategies, such as communicating with the teacher or attending school events. The strongest association with improved student performance across all grades was parental expectations and aspirations. The paper also concluded parental involvement and academic achievement does not diminish as children grow into young adulthood. What does change is how parents engage with their child over time; direct involvement actively engaged in learning diminishes, but the value of fostering the conditions for academic success increases. Parents seem to affect their children’s academic outcomes by setting high academic expectations and creating a comfortable space for them to develop their academic motivations in ways not considered intrusive or controlling. This review found that benefits for the parent school-based involvement are not strong or produce mixed results. Read More
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Standardized tests play a critical role in tracking and comparing K-12 student progress across time, student demographics, and governing bodies (states, cities, districts). Each individual state establishes its own curricula, standardized tests, and achievement (proficiency) standards. As these decisions vary significantly across states and time, it becomes difficult to establish common metrics that would assess the true picture of a state’s performance. One methodology is to benchmark the each state’s proficiency standards against those of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test. This study does just that. Using NAEP as a common yardstick allows a comparison of different state assessments. The results confirm the wide variation in proficiency standards across states. It also documents that the significant majority of states have standards are much lower than those established by the NAEP. Read More
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Excessive student absenteeism (chronic absences) can have a devastating impact on student achievement. It’s significance was recognized in the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which now requires all states to include in their school report cards how many students are chronically absent. The Data Matters report analyzes the data in an attempt better understand the relationship between chronic absences and a wide range of variables. The report provides recommendations and strategies for managing chronic absenteeism at all levels of education leadership, from state agencies through individual schools. It also has an interactive web site where the reader can drill down on specific data at all levels of the education system. Read More
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We appreciate your interest in our activities and hope you find this information of interest. Read More
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