Through the last several courses, several areas have been reviewed and considered for research. The main area in which I am focusing on at this time is the area of computer aided language learning (CALL). Specifically, I am interested in the literacy development of second language learners. However, I am also aware that there is significant resistance from many teachers to integrate the technology in its entirety and there is also resistance from parents. From the student’s point of view, I think it depends on the age group and the teacher’s influence, but I have not seen any research that actually supports that idea.
It seems that research in this area would be challenging because it would require both a significant amount of time and
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In addition, with a study like this, the control group would be group of students who do not have specific technology available. It still seems that the area of study is far too broad, however.
The final consideration was to create a case study based on a specific situation which I have seen repeatedly in my classroom. I work with English language learners who come from many parts of the world and with many levels of educational backgrounds. OI have witnessed certain areas which both frustrate and worry me as an educator. Some of my students are highly gifted, but there is no program available for them because they are not fluent in English. If their native language is Spanish, the district is able to test them in content specific areas. However, if their primary language is not Spanish, they are not tested until they achieve a certain level of proficiency. These students usually end up having very low scores and often drop out of school. The other scenario which I have witness is the students who comes either with limited schooling or with significant disabilities and limited English. When these students arrive as very young students, there are many programs available to help them. However, when these students arrive in the secondary levels (6th grade or higher) there are not many options for them and the students are very self conscious about their lower ability compared to their peers. How would technology based or
Also, the amount of teachers qualified was a concern. The ratio of student to teacher in the classroom was an issue. Many classrooms were overcrowded which makes it hard for teachers to focus on students individually if assistance was needed. Teachers in turn were not able to receive assistance from teacher aides. Strength of all individuals is culture. The ethnic background of the children was taken into consideration. Federal funding was used to provide more training to teachers in relation to cultural competency and technical skills. The teachers will take into consideration a child’s culture and their ability to learn and retain information. In addition, the use of technology provided a full range of technical skills to analyze data to improve quality of decision-making skills and classroom experience (United, 2010).
The Data that has been collected, read, and analysis was to determine Miguel’s strengths and challenges (weaknesses). According to Miguel’s Data his strengths are Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and Vocabulary. In the phonemic awareness: The student is scoring very well in phonemic awareness/oral language. He was able to get 10 out of 10 in sounding out words. He was also able to
The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 2004 has several different procedure and document that are to be followed when assessing individuals for a special education program. In Guiberson's (2009) research he suggests that some educators may be unprepared to work with diverse student populations. In a 200 participant survey of speech pathologist a study found that a third of the participants did not have sufficient training in multicultural issues (Guiberson, 2009). Studies have shown that students that learn in educational environment that reflect their cultural background tend to achieve more academically, which make multicultural instruction important in school with diverse populations (Ornstein & Levine, 2007). Guiberson's
High Stakes Testing has been overly integrated in the education systems. High-stakes testing are used to determine grade retention, school curriculum, and whether or not students will receive a high school diploma (Myers, 2015). Since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, high stakes testing has become the norm and mandating that students must pass a standardized test before moving up in grade. As a special education director, the focus is to ensure the student’s accommodations are being followed. Accommodations help increase students’ academic performance. “Both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) call for students with disabilities to participate in the general education curriculum and in testing programs to the maximum extent possible for each student (Luke and Schwartz, 2010).” Throughout the years, high stakes testing is becoming more common than ever before. The reality is high stakes testing is one indicator in evaluating children with specific needs. This paper will discuss, the violation of the statutory language regarding assessment based on IDEA, the strategies and goals of a remediation, staff training, common Core and PARCC assessment, and funding for the remediation plan under IDEA.
In the United States, there has been an increase in in the number of children from Spanish speaking backgrounds. The English Language Learners, commonly known as ELL’s, are being placed in Special Education without being properly tested for a learning disability. However there are a large number of ELL’s with learning disabilities in elementary grades that truly have a learning disability and are over looked. Many school districts have problems placing ELL’s. As a result these students end up in special education whether they have a learning disability or language impairment. Teachers are also indecisive when dealing with ELL’s. Most teachers recommend that ELL’s
Discussion of One Question: How does the student’s exceptionality affect his or her learning and/or behavior? Include descriptions of strengths, interests, and talents as well as those areas that pose a challenge to the student. (K ’s) exceptionality hasn’t change, who, he is as a student or individual. He 's just like most of our student’s who is struggling to learn grade level material and being a ESL (English Second Language) student has challenged his ability to translate comprehension between the two languages. As I stated before (K) has an (IEP) to help give him strategies to comprehend core academics. (K) express confusion and he doesn’t understand why some subjects are easy for him and others are more difficult. He is a great reader and (K) can answer most single direction question about a math problem; however, if the problem is asking him to set- up a multi-digit mathematical problem. He tends to have a more difficult time setting up mathematical problem with the correct math operation.One of (K) many strengths is his ability to read with fluency. He always will to help his fellow classmates on math problems that are easy for him to solve. His academic strength lies in math, even though, he struggles with higher math functions/problems. (K) has been place in advance band by his band director, due to his dedication in playing different instruments. (K) is also an extra helper for the band teacher due to his dedication to music. He loves to play soccer, basketball,
In Texas students test scored were being tested and compared to the use of technology in the classroom. They used at-risk students who fell into specific categories to be the test group. These were students who have failed this type of test in the past. One teacher received eight classes worth of these at-risk students and used technology integration every day. The idea was to try to link the use of technology to passing the state English test. By using at-risk students the author had a wide range of test subjects, which included: students with low grades, not maintaining above a C average, student is pregnant or a parent, in an alternative program, student dropped out of school, has limited English proficiency, troubled home life and has family issues or homeless. The author wanted to find out if a technology-rich environment had an effect on state mandated scores of students. Her test subjects were the at-risk students.
Wy’east Middle School (Wy’east) is the targeted instructional setting for this paper. Wy’east is an urban middle school that serves grades six through eight. Wy’east is a Title 1 school in Step 5 of the school improvement process. Wy’east has a population of approximately 851 students comprised of 449 male and 402 female students. There are 18 different home languages spoken. Approximately 54% of the students qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program. There are 84 students active in the ELL program (ELLs) and many more that have been exited from the program. There are 146 students in the Special Education program.
In addition, students achievement needs are not met especially the sp. ed. and ESL student whose academic levels fall below average students. Some students basic language foundation were not met for whatever reason, thus they are performing two or three grade levels below their actual grade.
In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while
Many problems seem almost impossible without them. Technology is also very useful to students in foreign language education, distance education, and for helping students with special needs.
Nowadays, Digital literacy helps to understand and analyze information through digital technology. The use of technology plays an important role within the process of teaching and learning; it can be used to teach reading and writing skills by using digital devices such as laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, or desktops. However, within the context of the use of technology in the area of education, and specifically in the area of language, digital literacy would also encompass its application both in development of language skills and learning of languages (reading, writing, oral comprehension and oral production). Although there are many limitations to the technological advances of digital literacy I believe that the advantages are greater than
much simpler for the students to publish their own work on the internet. When it comes to learning how to improve reading skills, many programs exist, one of the better being Reader Rabbit, which uses games to disguise drill-and-practice routines to help students improve reading ability. All of these are examples of how technology has positively affected Language Arts education.
Technology has made great strides in the past 20 years. It plays a very important role in our lives today and even plays a critical role in the way students learn all over the world. Unfortunately, students now rely on technology instead of learning key fundamentals. Technology has replaced the need to learn and most answers are just a google search away. Technology has also become expensive and lower socioeconomic school districts have found affording the newest technology difficult because of their lack of funding. Technology is a great learning tool when used appropriately. The lower socioeconomic school falls behind in the expanding frontier of technology in the classroom because they cannot afford it compared to their counterparts and results in a gap in education. The development of technology in the classroom has caused students to fail the learning of fundamentals and has exploited lower socioeconomic school districts.
This proves to be a worthwhile endeavour that is both significant and essential to learners in this 21st century. This is a momentous time especially in light of the fact that Trinidad and Tobago like many other countries before it, has embarked on an educational venture that will facilitate students with disabilities being educated alongside their age and grade level non-disabled counterparts.