TEACHERS ARE KEY DETERMINANT OF EDUCATION QUALITY “The single most important determinant of what students learn is what their teachers know.... Teacher qualifications, teacher's knowledge and skills, make more of a difference for student learning than any other single factor” (Darling- Hammond).

Tyler’s Four Questions Ralph Tyler (1971) concluded that when developing curriculum, planning instruction, and assessing learning, there are four primary questions: (1)What is the purpose of the lesson? (2)What experiences are necessary to achieve the purpose? (3)How do you organize the experiences into meaningful learning? (4)What evidence is available to determine if you accomplished the purpose?

Teaching Behaviors that Make a Difference...

Cognitive Scaffolding Providing context and helping students make connections wherever possible Guiding students from lower-order thinking to higher-order thinking

Cognitive Scaffolding Teachers do this through objectives, questioning strategies, learning activities, feedback, and assessment practices

Whenever possible, match learning activities with students’ learning styles to maximize results.

Modeling Provide students with examples of correct responses Demonstrate the correct way to perform a skill or task

Examples of Modeling in AGED

Check for Understanding... Check for Understanding... Make sure students understand the material

Check for Understanding Check for Understanding This behavior should be on-going and continual throughout the lesson Teachers should review and re-teach as needed How?

Give Students the Opportunity to Learn: Practice and Application Provide time and opportunities for students to practice what they are learning

Guided Practice Guided Practice Provides multiple opportunities for students to apply the new knowledge and to receive corrective feedback while being supervised by the teacher.

Closure At some point near the end of the lesson, a systematic “closing” of the lesson should occur.

Closure... Is a “natural” stopping point in the lesson Points back to the lesson’s objectives and captures their relevance Helps to keep the “big picture” in mind Helps to ensure that objectives are met and applied by students

Closure... May raise a related question or idea for students to ponder in anticipation of the next lesson – “Where are we going next?” Is like looking back on a trail so that one knows from which way he or she has come Effective closure takes time and planning; build it into your lesson plan

Independent Practice Independent Practice Provides opportunities for students to apply the new knowledge on their own (e.g., through homework assignments, through their SAEs, and by participating in various FFA activities).

Some Key Points

“A teacher affects eternity; he [or she] can never tell where his [or her] influence stops.” Henry B. James

The preceding was taken partially from the text, Skills for Successful School Leaders, 2nd edition. (Hoyle, J.R., English, F., & Steffy, B., 1994)