practice-center

EduFocus # 9: How much value does an effective teacher add?

Submitted by Alesia on Feb 8, 2012 16:29 pm

One of the primary roles of schools and teachers is to add value to students. That is, teachers and schools are expected to make their students “more” than when they first entered the classroom.

EduFocus # 8: Can we have it both ways? Embracing Jamaican Creole to improve acquisition of Jamaican Standard English

Submitted by Alesia on Dec 15, 2011 09:53 am

Few Jamaicans will challenge the fact that we are a bilingual society, but the concern for many years has been whether our local patois is actually a language. Regardless of the official linguistic classification, a large percentage of Jamaican households use Jamaican Creole, or patois, as a ‘home language’ and for many, it is their only language.Derived from both African languages and English, Jamaican Creole (JC) is a colourful and expressive language that is often used in informal settings.

Getting Students to Learn: Academic Leaders Tell Us How

Submitted by Alesia on Oct 14, 2011 05:39 am

“I just want to see them learn and I would do everything to get them to learn. [I have] sleepless nights, just to ensure that they are provided with the [right] learning experiences. [I try to] motivate them and stimulate them, and if one thing is not working [I] try something else. This is my area of specialization and I just love it.”                                                                 Eualee Willis Roberts, Camp Summer Plus Academic LeaderThe entire focus of Camp Summer Plus (CSP) 2011 was moving the children along the literacy continuum.

The Four Blocks Approach: Supporting Balanced Literacy Development

Submitted by Alesia on Oct 14, 2011 05:29 am

Academic Leaders used the Four Blocks Approach to ensure that students improved their literacy skills during the intensive five weeks of Camp Summer Plus (CSP). This approach was developed by literacy experts Dr. Patricia Cunningham and Dr. Dorothy Hall, along with first grade teacher Margaret DeFree in North Carolina in 1989. It has two guiding principles:

Making Mathematics Straightforward

Submitted by Alesia on Oct 5, 2011 14:40 pm

During Camp Summer Plus 2011, children were taught concepts such as shapes, fractions, addition, subtraction, and measurement. Teachers ensured that instruction used relevant experiences to make it easier for students to grasp the concepts. Therefore, creative classroom activities and “manipulatives” were used to make mathematics more true to life and less abstract.The usefulness of manipulativesManipulatives refer to items that aid the learning process by providing students with visible models that help them to solve problems and learn concepts.

EduFocus #5: Key Prescritpion for the journey of improvement: Lessons from 20 Education systems

Submitted by Alesia on Jul 13, 2011 20:38 pm

In December 2010, McKinsey & Company published “How the World’s Most Improved Schools Systems Keep Getting Better” based on lessons from 20 education systems with the largest performance gains. Systems were selected based on having “achieved significant, sustained, and widespread gains in student outcomes from 1980”. The authors classified schools within two categories. Sustained improvers were defined as systems with at least five years of consistent increases in student performance across multiple data points and subjects.

EduFocus #4: Improving literacy the Lyssons Primary way: The quality of teachers and leadership matters

Submitted by Alesia on Jul 13, 2011 09:03 am

Ena Barclay, Principal of Lyssons Primary School, is animated and passionate. She has explained the reasons for the success of her school very plainly. Lyssons Primary is one of the most successful primary schools in Jamaica because it has always had strong leaders, high expectations for both students and teachers, and highly motivated and committed teachers.

EduFocus #3: Reading by age 6? See how 12 British Schools made it happen!

Submitted by Alesia on Jul 13, 2011 06:48 am

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) has released a comprehensive report which examines the practices of 12 nursery and primary schools which have had above average success in enabling their year 2 students to read at the appropriate level.The information was collected as part of the inspection process in the UK and involved classroom observation and interviews with head teachers. The report noted that these successful schools shared a number of characteristics.  These shared features include:

EduFocus #2: The Success of Jessie Ripoll Primary

Submitted by Alesia on Jul 13, 2011 05:47 am

Thirty one years ago, Jessie Ripoll Primary faced a challenge; how to provide additional learning space for the growing number of children in the area without resorting to a shift system.  Using innovative strategies, the school has been nurtured into an institution that maximizes its partnership with parents and community and developed a culture that fosters discipline and continued improvement. The school has been moving from success to success in the past ten years.

EduFocus #1: Comer School Development Programme

Submitted by Alesia on Jul 12, 2011 12:20 pm

Often dubbed the Comer Process, this “operating system” is designed to “improve interpersonal relationships and school climate through three teams.Comer School Development Programme (CSDP) is a successful school reform program, which began in 1968, through Yale University in collaboration with the New Haven Public School System in Connecticut, by child psychiatrist, Dr. James P. Comer. The programme is built on the idea that adolescent and child development principles should guide performance improvement efforts.

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