Itinerant Teachers' Writing Instruction.

Increased numbers of deaf and hard of hearing students live at home, attend their neighborhood schools, and receive major portions of their educations from general education teachers with support from itinerant teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students. Although the itinerant service-delivery model is used extensively, there is a paucity both of information about itinerant teaching and of research that has examined its effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to begin a database of information about the job responsibilities, perceptions, and preparation of itinerant teachers, as well as about the characteristics of the students they serve. Data from surveys returned by 319 itinerant teachers was analyzed. The responses indicate that itinerant teaching differs in numerous ways from more-traditional approaches to educating deaf and hard of hearing students. Results, implications, concerns, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to identify educational competencies (competency group - competency element - competency indicator) that itinerant teachers perceive as necessary and important according to the characteristics of inclusive itinerant education in which special education teachers from the Gyeonggi-do Special Education Support Center visit general schools to support students with special needs placed in general classrooms. This study aims to derive implications for future professional development programs to enhance the expertise of itinerant teachers at the Gyeonggi-do Special Education Support Center. To achieve this aim, a draft of the competencies for itinerant teachers was developed by analyzing papers on the competencies of special education teachers and inclusive itinerant education. The validity of these competencies was then verified through two rounds of Delphi expert surveys. Through this process, the necessary competencies for itinerant teachers at the Special Education Support Center were finalized into three competency groups, nine competency elements, and 20 competency indicators. Based on the research results, the structure and components of the final competencies required for itinerant teachers at the Gyeonggi-do Special Education Support Center were discussed; moreover, the differences from the competencies of general special education teachers and the characteristics of inclusive itinerant education conducted by the Gyeonggi-do Special Education Support Center were also considered.

In Japan the education for partially seeing children has developed with priority given to classes for the partially seeing in residential schools for the blind. Due to this fact, Japan is lagging far behind Western countries, especially the United States, in the advancement of an integrated educational program in regular schools for the partially seeing pupils. Public schools with classes for the partially seeing, either on a cooperative class plan or on a resource room plan, are still very few in number in our country. In addition, an itinerant teacher plan has not yet been officially adopted as a system. The itinerant teacher plan is particularly valuable in rural areas where the partially seeing children are widely scattered. We have carefully studied the details and procedures of this plan from the theoretical and practical viewpoint for the last few years. As a result of this research, we have found that there are several factors which may have an influence upon the effectiveness of school and home itinerant instruction. One of the most important findings of ours is that we cannot lightly determine, only by the degree of visual impairment, which one is more appropriate for the education of each partially seeing child, a public school or a school for the blind. Even a partially seeing child with serious defective vision, if his intelligence is high enough, can proceed to learn in a regular class with quite a high achievement level, provided with the appropriate advice of itinerant teacher, the ardor of parents and regular teachers in charge, the effective use of low vision aids, and the understanding and the help of his classmates. It is really desirable from the viewpoint of character building of partially seeing children to put them under a strict guidance, treating them equally with normal pupils with the scrupulous medical and educational care that makes up for their visual defect. In order to promote the regular school education of the partially seeing children in our country, it is necessary to provide classes for the partially seeing at some leading schools in the particular areas and further to attach there itinerant teachers besides special teachers, and thus to utilize these special classes as the education center for the benefit of many partially seeing children in the areas. Undoubtedly the classes for the partially seeing pupils in residential schools for the blind will continue to play an important role in the education of those children that are hard to take care of in regular schools for various reasons.

Increasing numbers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing receive educational services in general education classrooms. This placement shift has altered the way teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing work, causing an increase in the number of itinerant teachers. As placement trends for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and teachers' job responsibilities have changed, the field of deaf education has only slightly modified professional standards for licensed teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Most teacher preparation programs continue training preservice teachers to work in self-contained classrooms, leaving itinerant teachers feeling underprepared. Interviews were conducted with 25 experienced itinerant teachers to determine which content and experiences should be included in preparation programs for preservice teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing who plan to become itinerant teachers. Results indicate that changes in course work and practical are necessary to best prepare these teachers.

EDITORIAL Teacher Morale Recently I was involved in writing up the final report for a study investigating changing perspectives on the meaning and the implementation of the Least Restrictive Environment requirements of Public Law 94-142 in relation to educational placement and provision of services to deaf children. Twenty-eight programs were included in the study, serving children in residential, separate class, resource room, and integrated settings across the United States. As might be expected by educators of the deaf, the results reflected a complicated situation; there was a great deal of variation across and within categories. In one area, however, the findings were consistently negative: the morale of teachers of the deaf appeared to be well below published norms for general education teachers. Regardless of the teaching environment, teacher satisfaction ratings were uniformly low. Whether functioning as itinerant teachers, resource room teachers, teachers in self-contained public school classes, or teachers in residential schools, all showed greater dissatisfaction than regular classroom teachers. Preliminary analysis suggests that this dissatisfaction exists in teachers of the deaf regardless of hearing status, ethnic background, or gender. These results are in sharp contrast to findings in the same study suggesting that the self-concept of American deaf children in various types of educational settings is similar to that of hearing norms, and to encouraging data indicating that parents seem to be adjusting to the presence of deaf children in the family and learning to communicate more effectively than they have in the past. The low morale of teachers of the deaf is especially troubling, as the information was gathered from a well-educated and well-trained sample. The education of deaf children has always placed additional strains on teachers, because most deaf children do not start school with the same English language—or any other language— skills thathearing children bring to the educational process. As a result, much of the curriculum is devoted to closing the English and related communication gap between deaf children and their hearing peers. Teachers of the deaf typically deal with a situation in which their children have normal intellectual potential but academic progress is constrained by limited English and other communication skills. Teachers may see only small incremental growth in standardized test scores from year to year and may— mistakenly in my opinion—hold themselves responsible for what they perceive to be an unsatisfactory rate of progress. Low morale among teachers of the deaf apparently is caused by a number of factors and is more complex than simply dissatisfaction with mastery of English skills by their students. Our results show that the greatest difference between teachers of the deaf and teachers in general is related to feelings about the workload, with teachers of the deaf expressing much greater dissatisfaction. Perhaps teachers of the deaf work harder than teachers in general. This itself is an area in need of study. Another area in which there were great differences lay in the fact that teachers of the deaf felt much greater pressure from community expectations. Possibly, teachers of the deaf believe that the expectations of others for the progress of deaf children are unrealistic, or maybe they believe that the responsibility for fulfilling those expectations falls disproportionately on teachers. Perhaps the situation is not as grim as the results suggest. However, with 213 participants from across the country, there is every reason to believe that the results are valid. In any case, future research is called for to ascertain the validity and generalizability of the findings. If morale is low, this maybe one explanation for the greater turnover among teachers of the deaf that has been documented for more than a decade. If so, it may be necessary to explore the causes of low morale in depth. It is highly likely that preservice training procedures should be modified extensively and that professional in-service training should concentrate much more comprehensively on teacher morale . Last, but certainly not least, we should be paying attention to the environments—physical and otherwise— in which teachers of the deaf function. Donald F. Moores Editor Vol. 136, No. 3 AAD 243 ...

Author's Introduction Whereas Creationism is usually taught in the context of religion and the history/philosophy of science, this guide has been written in the conviction that creationism is not ultimately about science at all, but is rather about the status of the Bible in the modern world. Creationism as a modern ideology exists in order to defend the authority of the Bible as a repository of trans‐historical truth from the challenges of any and all historical sciences. It belongs to and is inseparable from Protestant Fundamentalists’ desire to resubject the modern world to the authority of the inerrant Bible. Intelligent Design Creationism, to the extent that it distinguishes itself from reactionary biblicism, is a program advocating a supernaturalist, providentialist understanding of the world. This guide outlines an approach to teaching about creationism that situates it in relation to the development, from the early modern period onwards, of the historical, critical study of the Bible and the liberal theology that followed from that study, as well as from the more familiar perspectives of the history and philosophy of science. Annotated Reading List Forrest, Barbara and Paul Gross. Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. A thoughtful critique of Intelligent Design Creationism and a well‐documented expose of the wider cultural program of its proponents. Kitcher, Philip. Living with Darwin: Evolution, Design and the Future of Faith . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. A philosopher of science argues that Intelligent Design Creationism is ‘dead science’ rather than non‐science, and then reflects on the religious costs of accepting Darwinism. Larson, Edward. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997. The best of the voluminous literature on the Scopes Trial. McCalla, Arthur. The Creationist Debate: The Encounter between the Bible and the Historical Mind . London & New York: Continuum, 2006. A wide‐ranging intellectual history study arguing that the debate between creationists and evolutionists is not only about the content of evolutionary and other historical sciences, but also about historical‐mindedness in relation to the status of the Bible in the modern world. Numbers, Ronald. The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2nd ed. 2006. This new edition of Numbers’ standard work has been expanded to include discussion of Intelligent Design. Pennock, Robert (ed.). Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives . Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001. A valuable compendium of key articles by leading proponents of Intelligent Design Creationism and their critics. Rossi, Paolo. The Dark Abyss of Time: The History of the Earth and the History of Nations from Hooke to Vico , Lydia Cochrane (trans.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1984. An intellectual history study of how what came to be called geology and anthropology challenged biblical chronology in the early modern period. Ruse, Michael. Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. An accessibly written account of the history and present‐day status of the design argument. Online Materials 1. http://www.ncseweb.org This site of the National Center for Science Education, an organization that defends the teaching of evolution in public schools, monitors anti‐evolution activity in the USA and around the world, provides scientific criticism and historical analysis of creationist claims, and reviews recent publications and videos. 2. http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/kitzmiller/kitzmiller_342.pdf This is Judge John E. Jones’ 138‐page Memorandum Opinion in Kitzmiller v Dover (2005), the Pennsylvania test case on the constitutionality of teaching Intelligent Design Creationism in public schools. 3. http://www.talkorigins.org A Usenet newsgroup on the creation/evolution controversy and related topics. The site includes an archive of mainstream scientific responses to frequently asked questions in the group and refutations of creationist claims. 4. http://www.icr.org and http://www.answersingenesis.org These are two influential young‐earth creationist websites, maintained by the Institute for Creation Research and Answers in Genesis, respectively. 5. http://www.discovery.org/csc This is the home site of the Discovery Institute, whose Center for Science and Culture spearheads the movement for Intelligent Design. Sample Syllabus This sample syllabus includes readings appropriate to both general‐level courses (indicated by A ) and advanced or seminar courses ( B ). 1. The Earth Acquires A History A Paolo Rossi, The Dark Abyss of Time: The History of the Earth

This study aims to analyze a ‘google classroom application in teaching writing’ at eleven grade students of SMA Islam 1 Surakarta. This study was carried out in the academic year 2021/2022 at eleven grade students SMA Islam 1 Surakarta. The researcher used qualitative descriptive method. The researcher took 34 students of SMA Islam 1 Surakarta as the sample. The researcher researcher used questionnaires and interview with the teacher and students. To collect the data of questionnaire and interview, the researcher use questionnaire by Google Form. The data from questionnaire were analysed by using Likert scale. After collecting the data the researcher analyzed the data by using data triangulation to analyzed qualitative data. The result of this research showed that the implementation of Google Classroom in Teaching Writing was the student’s responsibility is good enough. The strengths and weakness of Google Classroom in Teaching Writing was the students who feel they can focus on learning lessons using Google Classroom, which according to them, the learning media is very interesting and plentiful. Key words: Google Classroom, Writing, Online Learning.

Due to China’s unique rural-urban dual system, education differs significantly between rural and urban schools. However, research related to the rural-urban disparity in inclusive education is limited. Moreover, general education teachers’ instructional strategies, in particular, remain unclear and could be studied further. To bridge this gap, a qualitative method was adopted to interview 16 general education teachers in rural and urban inclusive classrooms in China, and the differences in inclusive instructional strategies, teaching design, and support for and barriers to general education teachers’ inclusive instruction were explored. The findings showed that shorter assignments and different expectations were the most frequently utilised strategies in inclusive classrooms; teachers’ teaching designs were significantly geared towards general education instead of students’ individualised needs, and the barriers to inclusive instruction were far greater than the support obtained. Moreover, general education teachers in urban areas adopted more teaching strategies, had fewer barriers to inclusive instruction while receiving more support than rural teachers. Implications for future research and practices in the field of general education teachers’ instructional strategies in inclusive education were discussed.

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the perception and lived experiences of general education teachers and special education teachers in a co-taught classroom. The study looks at the effects of targeted professional development and teachers' attitudes in co-taught classrooms at the high school level in Pennsylvania. This study is framed by the following research questions: (a) How do general education and special education teachers describe the essences of their experiences with co-teaching? (b) How do the attitudes of general education teachers and special education teachers affect the co-teaching environment at the high school level? and (c) Can a Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on co-teaching strategies improve the perceptions of teachers toward one another and the roles each plays in the classroom? The conceptual framework that provides a foundation for this study is based on the researcher's experience over the past 17 years as a special educator in the co-teaching classroom. Looking through a social constructivist lens, the three streams that form the foundation for the current research include: legislation, effective co-teaching models, and strategies within a co-taught classroom. For the qualitative research, three dual certified teachers, twelve general education teachers, and six special education teachers participate in interviews, focus groups, journaling, and observations. Once data are collected, transcriptions explore themes of the lived experiences of all the general education teachers and special education teachers within the co-taught classroom. Keywords: Co-teaching, professional development, inclusion, special education, general education, professional learning community

The purpose of the current research is to identify the difficulties that primary school teachers experience in the primary reading and writing instruction, and to find out their solution offers for eliminating these difficulties. The study group of the research is composed of 51 primary school teachers selected by criterion sampling as a type of purposive sampling. The qualitative method was used for the research. Semi-structured interviews were made with teachers to ask them three questions. Teacher opinions were taken in writing in order to identify the difficulties which they experienced in the process of primary reading and writing instruction, and thoroughly analyze their opinions about how those difficulties can be solved. The data obtained from these interviews were analysed by the content analysis method. The research revealed that out of the 51 primary school teachers, 37 were happy and 14 were unhappy; the difficulties they described about the process included parental indifference, unreadiness of students, teaching of cursive italic handwriting, lack of professional experience, student absenteeism, lack of interest by students, and physical inadequacies; and their solution offers for eliminating these difficulties included education of parents, carrying out activities suitable for students, change of handwriting type, cooperation with parents, consideration of readiness level, and improvement of physical conditions.

The National Secondary Education Examination (Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio- ENEM) aims that schools adopt an interdisciplinary and contextualized education, being a requirement for entry into higher education institutions. In biology there is an area named Biotechnology, that relates to several technological activities important to society, but with ethical, social, political questions, among others. In this context, the present study aims to examine how biotechnology is addressed by teachers of the 3rd year of high school, focusing on ENEM. In order to accomplish this, analyzes were made of ENEM’s questions from 2009 to 2015, they were applied interviews with teachers from four public schools in the city of Fortaleza / CE. In the analysis of the ENEM exams, it was found that in all editions Biotechnology was addressed directly or indirectly, as transgenic, recombinant DNA, biofuels and stem cells. It was found that biotechnology is being taught in public schools in the city of Fortaleza / CE, but with little depth, since most of interviewed showed some discomfort in teaching the subject, lack of professional renovation, preventing a more secure opinion on certain matters disclosed; such insecurity ends up reflecting the presentation of content in the classroom.

Purpose The estimated prevalence of language disorders in early elementary school-age children is 7%–12%. Despite its prevalence, only 18% of children are identified and receive treatment. Children with language disorders who go unidentified and, consequently, untreated upon entry to kindergarten are at a cumulative risk for academic and social difficulties during their formative and later school years. Since there is no policy supporting universal screening for language impairment identification in public schools, vulnerabilities may exist in referral-based systems for language impairment identification. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the positive predictive value of general education teachers for language impairment identification. Method A record review of special education referrals across four elementary schools was conducted. A total of 177 referrals across all disabilities were examined. Forty-four of those language-based referrals became the focus of this study. Results Results showed, of the 44 referred for language impairment, general education teachers were the least correct of referral sources, with a positive predictive value of .35. Variables of teacher age, sex, years of teaching experience, and years of education did not predict general education teachers' ability to identify children with language impairment. The identification rate across the four schools was 1.38%. Conclusions General education teachers were responsible for nearly half of the referrals made to special education but demonstrated the most difficulty in correctly identifying children with language impairment. As a result, identification rates were considerably lower than prevalence expectations. This is of particular concern as teachers play a primary role in the identification of this population under a referral-based format.

We know that predicting the future, tomorrow, next year, and the next century remains plagued with uncertainty. Entire think tanks are occupied with such questions. But these are essential questions for strategic planning, for conservation, and for investment in global resources and stock markets. The global well-being hinges on it. However, certain trends are clear, through the lens of the latest science, specifically so when dealing with biodiversity, endangered species, and their habitats. We know through simple physics and basic ecological theory, as taught in public schools, that we must remain in the balance of the Earth. The same message is held within the wisdom of elders in their traditional ecological knowledge. Any higher study of ecology, economy, or conservation management brings us to the same conclusion.

The 55th Annual PDK Poll finds that a wide majority (66%) of adults say teachers should have a substantial say in what’s taught in public schools, more than say so about school boards, local residents, or lawmakers. Support for teachers also is apparent in another result from the 2023 PDK Poll: 67% of respondents support increasing local teacher salaries by raising property taxes. That result reflects the public’s broad sense that public school teachers are undervalued, underpaid, and overworked. At the same time, more than half of Americans support shifting to a four-day school week in their community, nearly twice as many as said so two decades ago. And structurally, beyond a four-day week, the poll finds that about six in 10 adults support other changes in how schools operate — longer school days and/or a longer school year — as ways to try to improve student learning outcomes. On another topic, results show widespread support for schools conducting mental health assessments of students. The survey was produced by Langer Research Associates for PDK International, with data collected June 16-25, 2023, in English and Spanish, among a representative, random national sample of 1,002 adults.

When Robert was inducted into the Music Educators National Conference Hall of Fame in 2004, the nominating statement read, Klotman is best known for his extensive work in string pedagogy, his leadership in professional organizations, and his teaching at Indiana (1) By this time, his career had spanned decades, and he had been active across the whole spectrum of music education from K-12 through university levels. Because of his forceful personality, his leadership skills, and his ability to anticipate the impact of new teaching ideologies, significantly influenced how stringed instruments are taught in public schools in this country. Perhaps most importantly, he had the vision to reach out internationally and helped to bring Suzuki violin pedagogy to the United States. Given the impact of Klotman's work on string education, it is appropriate to look beyond the formal trajectory of his career at his childhood and education, the people and ideals that motivated him, and the major life experiences that shaped his career. For music educators it is appropriate to search out, in particular, the distinct issues that were important to and to consider how his advocacy for those issues shaped the path of music education in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century. Robert Howard was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on November 22, 1918. (2) His parents, Louis Harry and Pearl (Warshawksy) Kaplan were immigrants from Tetiev, a small town in the Ukraine located approximately seventy miles southwest of Kiev. (3) In the late 1800s, many Jewish families from that region came to the United States, often settling in the Cleveland area. Louis and Pearl married on December 16, 1917, but divorced when Robert was young. (4) Pearl raised her children on her salary as the owner of a beauty shop. began his musical studies at the age of nine. He remembers his father as being a very musical person who could pick up and play the violin without any instruction. In his family, it was just as natural to excel in music as it was to work hard in academic subjects. (5) Robert sang in the school choir in the third grade. However, when he sang he wanted to hear himself over the other children's voices, so he would sing louder than anyone else. His teacher said to him, I've got a special job for you, and made him the curtain puller. Disappointed, he went home to his mother who stated, Don't cry. You've always liked to play the violin. Thus, attributes the beginning of his violin career to his third-grade choir teacher. (6) His mother could not afford for him to take violin lessons, so she worked out an agreement with a local violinist named Hyman Schandler of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Pearl would style the hair of Schandler's wife in exchange for a weekly lesson for her son. Klotman's mother was supportive of his music lessons, requiring him to practice daily. Later, she said that had she known he would become a professional musician, she would have made him practice three hours per day instead of only one hour. (7) During the years 1932-36, attended Glenville High School in Cleveland Heights, a suburb originally settled by northern European immigrants. After World War I and during the Great Depression, this area became an epicenter of Cleveland's Jewish population. (8) Ralph E. Rush (1903-65) was Klotman's high school orchestra teacher and an early mentor. (9) Rush became the band and orchestra teacher at the school in 1933 and immediately led the orchestra to first division honors at the national orchestra competition in Madison, Wisconsin. (10) says that Rush eventually became a father figure for him. Rush was likely Klotman's first real influence in his career choice and instilled in him the responsibility of belonging to a professional organization and serving the profession. (11) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According to Klotman, people are often curious as to why he attended the Methodist school Ohio Northern University. …