Public education in the United States is older, even, than the country itself. The first public school opened in the English colony of Boston, Massachusetts in 1635 and remains today as the oldest public school in the country (Boston Latin School, which boasts five pupils who were signers of the Declaration of Independence). However, mandatory free education provided by the government was not the norm until the late 1800s and early 1900s. By the 1980s, only 1 percent of students in the U.S. were enrolled in schools outside the government education system, and while that number has gone down in subsequent years, the vast majority of students are still part of the free public education system in America.
As the trend toward public education has grown over the years, states have constantly worked to create standardized testing that accurately evaluates students' knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. Texas has recently implemented a new system, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR).
What is STAAR?
In April 2012, Texas switched to the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, replacing the old Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The new system keeps TAKS tests in place in grades 3-8, then implements new end-of-course (EOC) tests for 12 different math, science, English, and history classes beginning in high school.
When the STAAR system was announced, creators acknowledged that the tests are harder than previously administered TAKS assessments, and are intended to push students toward a higher level of achievement. Since the program was rolled out, Texas educators have discovered that the harder tests have resulted in more students who require extra assistance to reach the required level of understanding a comprehension to pass the new EOC tests.
Intervention Strategies
For students who are struggling to keep up with their peers on the new standardized tests, parents, educators, and administrators are looking for effective Response to Intervention strategies (commonly abbreviated as RtI) that will address the specialized needs of those students, aiming to bring them to a higher level of achievement.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) provides educators with student progress monitoring tools, which help identify students who require additional attention. The state RtI system includes three tiers of intervention--beginning with a core curriculum aimed at teaching students the required material to pass the tests.
Students who fall behind are identified for Tier 2, where they receive more individualized attention in groups of 5-10 for 20-30 minutes a day, from either the classroom teacher, a specialized teacher, an external interventionist, or a paraprofessional (as determine by the school). Students who do not respond to this level are moved to Tier 3, where they receive instruction in even smaller groups of up to three students for about an hour each day. Learning strategies are tailored to each individual student for maximum impact.
In addition to the RtI system, many private companies offer products for teachers, educators, and parents that can help identify struggling students and provide strategies that will help students to catch up to their peers on standardized assessments.
Educators hope that the RtI strategies will result in more effective learning and instruction within the classrooms, giving every student access to the best possible education based on their individual needs. Effective RtI strategies help identify students with learning disabilities, creating a better support system as early as possible, and resulting in a more effective system of collaboration among all educators while improving overall school achievement.
----------------------------------------------------
As the trend toward public education has grown over the years, states have constantly worked to create standardized testing that accurately evaluates students' knowledge and understanding of the curriculum. Texas has recently implemented a new system, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Learn more about this and the new response to intervention strategies at http://www.mentoringminds.com/
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=306021
No comments:
Post a Comment