New technologies are changing literacy by expanding its contextual landscape. The article entitled "Toward a Theory of New Literacies Emerging from the Internet and Other Information and Communication Technologies" highlighted a few of the social and historical contextual events that ultimately shaped literate behavior. A few of the examples highlighted in the article to demonstrate the changing social and historical context of literacy are the ancient Sumerian development of written invoices to aid commerce, the spread of Christianity, and the social revolution in Czarist Russian. In the aforementioned examples the social and historical contextual landscape of literacy in a particular era changed but literacy in and of itself did not change.
The latter point holds true as it pertains to new technological innovations and literacy. With the advent of the information technology age and its many technological mediums particularly the Internet, only the contextual landscape in which literacy is fostered has changed. For example, in our class we have to be literate in a few technological mediums to effectively participate and contribute; word processing, email, search engines, and the Internet. Becoming literate in the aforementioned technological mediums involves learning new skills that impact our technological literacy. However, the essence of literacy hasn't changed because regardless of the context, literacy involves the ability to comprehend written, oral, and auditory information.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Week 4- Thoughts re: NCLB
The NCLB Act is good in theory but falls short in practice. From a theoretical point of view, legislative educational reforms at a national level (e.g. NCLB) are necessary due to economic reasons. As our economy becomes more of a “Global Village”, children from our country will be competing with the children of foreign countries for jobs. Because of the latter it is imperative that the US government makes a concentrated effort to ensure that our children will be equipped with the educational resources necessary to effectively compete and survive in the global economy.
Unlike the jobs of the past, employment in the present and ultimately the future will require an advanced level of skills that are acquired from strong foundations in reading, writing, and mathematics. Currently, at a national level, our children are lacking in the aforementioned skills. In fact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently found that the U.S. ranks 23rd out of 29 OECD countries in math achievement. A list of OECD countries can be obtained by accessing the following page: http://www.oecd.org/document/58/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1889402_1_1_1_1,00.html. That list of countries does not include China or India.
In practice, the lacking federal funds to adequately support the objectives of the NCLB coupled with the stiff penalties associated with AYP may cause some states to resort to other measures to achieve compliance. In an effort to avoid the stiff penalties of NCLB, some states have been accused of “dumbing down the tests”. In a brief article entitled, “Are States Dumbing Down Student Achievement Tests”, by Robert Longley the aforementioned issue is raised. Longley cites a report by the U.S Department of education that implies some states may possibly be reducing the difficulty of standardized state assessments. The article and the report can be found by accessing the following page: http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/a/217640.htm. Whether of not the report substantiates such acts by individual states is not as important as the underlying message conveyed through such actions: states, districts, administrators, and educators are under immense pressure to meet compliance with NCLB!
Unlike the jobs of the past, employment in the present and ultimately the future will require an advanced level of skills that are acquired from strong foundations in reading, writing, and mathematics. Currently, at a national level, our children are lacking in the aforementioned skills. In fact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently found that the U.S. ranks 23rd out of 29 OECD countries in math achievement. A list of OECD countries can be obtained by accessing the following page: http://www.oecd.org/document/58/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1889402_1_1_1_1,00.html. That list of countries does not include China or India.
In practice, the lacking federal funds to adequately support the objectives of the NCLB coupled with the stiff penalties associated with AYP may cause some states to resort to other measures to achieve compliance. In an effort to avoid the stiff penalties of NCLB, some states have been accused of “dumbing down the tests”. In a brief article entitled, “Are States Dumbing Down Student Achievement Tests”, by Robert Longley the aforementioned issue is raised. Longley cites a report by the U.S Department of education that implies some states may possibly be reducing the difficulty of standardized state assessments. The article and the report can be found by accessing the following page: http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/a/217640.htm. Whether of not the report substantiates such acts by individual states is not as important as the underlying message conveyed through such actions: states, districts, administrators, and educators are under immense pressure to meet compliance with NCLB!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Week 3 - Thoughts pertaining to Routman Chp 15
In chapter 15 of the “Conversations” book by Regie Routman, the subject of assessment was discussed. During the discourse by Routman various types of assessment were discussed such as authentic, portfolio, and self-assessment to name a few. Additionally, Routman discussed connecting core curriculum standard with assessments as well as the benefits of standardized assessment. While reading this chapter I had some of my own thoughts specifically concerning standardized assessment.
In most of the books I have read concerning standardized assessment, the views appeared to be skewed to either side of the debate with a lack of compromise for a middle ground. Routman appears to be a proponent of standardized testing and offers an interesting insight on the subject. On p. 589, Routman mentions a standardized test can improve instruction and learning depending on how it is constructed. While a comment such as the latter is not a revelation by far, Routman cited a very interesting example to support his claim. Routman mentioned that the state proficiency test in Science given by the state of Ohio is designed to test concepts rather than facts. As a result, instruction is concept driven and allows teachers to teach the subject matter based on the premise of understanding rather than retention.
Regardless of whether or not you agree with standardized testing it is involved in every facet of our society. The ability to perform on standardized testing is becoming increasingly important because schools and the employment market are moving intensely towards more means of standardization as opposed to moving away from it. The following is just a few examples from a previous article I read by Nakonia Hayes (2000) “Like It or Not, We are a Test Driven Society” to further emphasize the move towards standardization:
- In Tacoma, WA public schools plan to place a special seal on the diplomas of students who pass various assessment tests. Additionally, those with the aforementioned special seals coupled with copies of transcripts could give certain students entering the job market a competitive advantage.
- Although this was not mentioned by the article, the implementation of the No-Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, the fiscal consequences for schools districts that do not perform well on state administered testing.
- Washington’s Board of Education plans to require the passage of their state assessment test for high school graduation.
The aforementioned examples will eventually serve to ostracize those that do not have the test taking skills necessary to compete with those that do. It is not my contention to advocate a move towards more standardization in assessment but to merely acknowledge the consequences that will be evident as a result. Ultimately, if students do not improve their test taking abilities then it will be difficult for them to gain entry into post-secondary education, participate as active members in the employment market, and consequently pursue their dreams.
In most of the books I have read concerning standardized assessment, the views appeared to be skewed to either side of the debate with a lack of compromise for a middle ground. Routman appears to be a proponent of standardized testing and offers an interesting insight on the subject. On p. 589, Routman mentions a standardized test can improve instruction and learning depending on how it is constructed. While a comment such as the latter is not a revelation by far, Routman cited a very interesting example to support his claim. Routman mentioned that the state proficiency test in Science given by the state of Ohio is designed to test concepts rather than facts. As a result, instruction is concept driven and allows teachers to teach the subject matter based on the premise of understanding rather than retention.
Regardless of whether or not you agree with standardized testing it is involved in every facet of our society. The ability to perform on standardized testing is becoming increasingly important because schools and the employment market are moving intensely towards more means of standardization as opposed to moving away from it. The following is just a few examples from a previous article I read by Nakonia Hayes (2000) “Like It or Not, We are a Test Driven Society” to further emphasize the move towards standardization:
- In Tacoma, WA public schools plan to place a special seal on the diplomas of students who pass various assessment tests. Additionally, those with the aforementioned special seals coupled with copies of transcripts could give certain students entering the job market a competitive advantage.
- Although this was not mentioned by the article, the implementation of the No-Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, the fiscal consequences for schools districts that do not perform well on state administered testing.
- Washington’s Board of Education plans to require the passage of their state assessment test for high school graduation.
The aforementioned examples will eventually serve to ostracize those that do not have the test taking skills necessary to compete with those that do. It is not my contention to advocate a move towards more standardization in assessment but to merely acknowledge the consequences that will be evident as a result. Ultimately, if students do not improve their test taking abilities then it will be difficult for them to gain entry into post-secondary education, participate as active members in the employment market, and consequently pursue their dreams.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Week 3 - Thoughts pertaining to Routman Chp 4
Chapter 4 of the “Conversation” book by Regie Routman devoted focus to becoming an effective teacher of reading by understanding research, your students, and your own process of reading. I found the section devoted to understanding research interesting but only partially applicable to my students which have major reading problems.
When Routman covered the section concerned with understanding research, a considerable portion of his work was devoted to teaching reading for understanding in domains such as making inferences, summarizing, explaining, and synthesizing versus phonemic and phonetic awareness. The bulk of Routman’s discourse was more applicable to the population of student readers that are phonemically and phonetically competent.
I am a teacher of students with severe learning disabilities. The vast majority of the students I teach lack the phonemic and phonetic awareness necessary to begin the more complex task of reading for understanding. By his own admission (p. 99 second paragraph), Routman is aware that students with major reading problems need to understand the alphabetic principle of reading that is denoted by phonetic and phonemic awareness.
Despite the lack of immediate applicability of Routman’s discourse for teaching understanding to my students with severe reading problems, his ultimate point was well received; a teacher should be conversant of research regarding art of teaching reading.
When Routman covered the section concerned with understanding research, a considerable portion of his work was devoted to teaching reading for understanding in domains such as making inferences, summarizing, explaining, and synthesizing versus phonemic and phonetic awareness. The bulk of Routman’s discourse was more applicable to the population of student readers that are phonemically and phonetically competent.
I am a teacher of students with severe learning disabilities. The vast majority of the students I teach lack the phonemic and phonetic awareness necessary to begin the more complex task of reading for understanding. By his own admission (p. 99 second paragraph), Routman is aware that students with major reading problems need to understand the alphabetic principle of reading that is denoted by phonetic and phonemic awareness.
Despite the lack of immediate applicability of Routman’s discourse for teaching understanding to my students with severe reading problems, his ultimate point was well received; a teacher should be conversant of research regarding art of teaching reading.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Week 2 - Thoughts about TIP Chps 5-7
After reading the chapters in “Lenses on Reading”, it is evident that the curiosity surrounding the ability to read has culminated in a considerable amount of empirical research and theoretical concepts that have immensely contributed to the advancement of literacy in young children. For example, the applicability a Piaget’s work in child development has withstood the test of time. While many theoretical concepts such as Maturation Theory have been refuted, Piaget’s stages of child development remain as one of the most important contributions to literacy, child development, and child psychology.
In the previous sentence I mentioned Maturation Theory as not having withstood the test of time. I have taken classes in Child Psychology and have never heard of this theory until I read the assigned chapters. Well…maybe have I heard of the theory and forgot about it! Probably with good reason! Lol! The most dubious aspect of the Maturation theory is the research that convinced Morphett and Washburne that there theory was applicable. The book mentioned that their research concluded that children with a mental age of 6 years and 6 months did better than younger children in the area of reading achievement. I am no experiment in literacy or language acquisition but I don’t see how the results of there experiment was prolific enough to be the basis of learning instruction and literacy curriculum for early children for almost 20 years! Especially considering that during this time Piaget’s theory was the model of child development in children. The Maturation theory would be in direct conflict with the pre-operational phase (the primary period of language acquisition) in Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development.
In the previous sentence I mentioned Maturation Theory as not having withstood the test of time. I have taken classes in Child Psychology and have never heard of this theory until I read the assigned chapters. Well…maybe have I heard of the theory and forgot about it! Probably with good reason! Lol! The most dubious aspect of the Maturation theory is the research that convinced Morphett and Washburne that there theory was applicable. The book mentioned that their research concluded that children with a mental age of 6 years and 6 months did better than younger children in the area of reading achievement. I am no experiment in literacy or language acquisition but I don’t see how the results of there experiment was prolific enough to be the basis of learning instruction and literacy curriculum for early children for almost 20 years! Especially considering that during this time Piaget’s theory was the model of child development in children. The Maturation theory would be in direct conflict with the pre-operational phase (the primary period of language acquisition) in Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Week 2 - Language Acquisition
The language acquisition (LA) page on Wikipedia suggest that children acquire language from their innate capabilities (nature), through environmental factors (nurture), or a combination of both. After reading the LA page, it would be very difficult for me to gravitate towards one side of the nature v. nurture debate on language acquisition. I believe there are both innate and environmental factors that contribute to the LA of a child. The innate components of LA acquisition in children allow them to process, understand, and speak their native language. The later would appear to be valid because if a child had a physiological impairment such as frontal lobe damage, more than likely they would be unable to speak. The latter was confirmed through the experiments of Paul Broca a french neurologist. Broca's experiments focused on the areas in the brain that were responsible for speech.
The other assigned links Ciaran O'Riodan's language learning site and Mama Teached Me Talk appeared to echo the sentiment of the language acquisition page on Wikipedia. Ciaran O'Riodan's page primarily focused on the acquisition of a foreign languages. Within the scope of the O'Riodan page, the enclosed tips for foreign language acquisition involved external factors: auditory (cds/tapes), visual (books and other forms of print media), as well as social interactions with native speakers of a given foreign language. Whereas the page entitled "Mama Teached Me Talk" attempted to advocate the position of the nature side of the debate by citing experiments such as "The Wild boy of Aveyron" and " "Genie".
All three articles have direct relationship with reading because a child has to be able to acquire their native language in order to read or be literate in their native tongue.
The other assigned links Ciaran O'Riodan's language learning site and Mama Teached Me Talk appeared to echo the sentiment of the language acquisition page on Wikipedia. Ciaran O'Riodan's page primarily focused on the acquisition of a foreign languages. Within the scope of the O'Riodan page, the enclosed tips for foreign language acquisition involved external factors: auditory (cds/tapes), visual (books and other forms of print media), as well as social interactions with native speakers of a given foreign language. Whereas the page entitled "Mama Teached Me Talk" attempted to advocate the position of the nature side of the debate by citing experiments such as "The Wild boy of Aveyron" and " "Genie".
All three articles have direct relationship with reading because a child has to be able to acquire their native language in order to read or be literate in their native tongue.
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