January/February 2004
Bringing Parents on Board
Strong home-school connections enrich learning opportunities for immigrant kids-and their parents, too
By Sue Miller Wiltz
There is a Spanish saying that has slowly been gaining currency with the educators of English Language Learners (ELLs): "Lo que se aprende en la cuna, siempre dure." That which is learned in the crib lasts forever. Few programs embrace that concept more strongly than AVANCE, a nonprofit organization founded in San Antonio, Texas, in 1973 to prepare poor and primarily Latino kids for academic success by focusing on their earliest and most influential teachers-parents.
Many researchers have noted the importance of parental involvement in the education of all students, not just immigrants. But given that immigrant parents often do not speak English and may not be familiar with the standards and customs of U.S. schools, getting them involved in their kids' education presents special challenges for teachers and administrators.
The rest of this article can be found in the January/February 2004 issue of
the Harvard Education Letter. Buy this issue.
Landing the "Highly Qualified Teacher" How administrators can hire--and keep--the best By Robert Rothman
Although the process of hiring workers is a challenge in any industry, the stakes of getting it right in education are particularly high. A growing body of research suggests strongly that the quality of teaching is the largest school-related factor associated with student achievement. Studies conducted in Tennessee, Dallas, and elsewhere have shown that good teachers can improve student achievement by as much as an extra grade level over the course of a year.
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By Robert Rothman
Martin Haberman, a distinguished professor in the school of education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has developed an interview protocol intended to help principals identify teachers who will be effective in urban schools. The protocol is designed to elicit prospective teachers' attitudes and behaviors and compare them with the attributes of "star" teachers, gleaned from interviews Haberman and his colleagues have conducted. In the interviews, principals examine seven dimensions of teaching and rate prospective teachers as "average," "high" and "star."
Haberman's seven dimensions of effective teaching can be found in the January/February
2004 issue of the Harvard Education Letter. Buy this issue.
New and Noteworthy Teaching Math to Migrant Students: Lessons from Successful Districts
by Reino Makkonen
To raise math achievement among migrant students, schools should focus on teacher collaboration, student reflection, real-world problem solving, and frequent review, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin.
The rest of this article can be found in the January/February 2004 issue of
the Harvard Education Letter. Buy this issue.
Volcanoes and Huesos: An Intelligent Museum in El Paso by Sue Miller Wiltz
On a recent weekday afternoon, a purple bus filled with excited three-and four-year-olds pulls up outside the new Head Start IntelliZeum on El Paso's sprawling North Side. With the help of teachers and parents, the youngsters clamber down the steps and are ushered by groups of eight inside the sparkling, 2754-square-foot facility to an interactive exhibit known as the Dinosaur Time Zone.
In the "time capsule"-a tubular shaped room that resembles the inside of a cargo plane-they strap themselves in for a ride millions of years into the past. The door opens and several kids gasp in delight as they take in the scene before them: an erupting volcano and six life-size examples of dinosaurs, each one labeled in Spanish and English.
The rest of this article can be found in the January/February 2004 issue of
the Harvard Education Letter. Buy this issue.
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