The effects of a professional development course on the teaching practices of P--12 classroom teachers

This follow-up study examined the long term effects of a staff development model on P–12 classroom teachers' instructional practices and dispositions regarding a curricular innovation. The sample, 44 private school practitioners who participated in the staff development program that used the model, was administered a survey at three checkpoints over a three year period to gather quantitative data regarding the participants' concerns about the curricular innovation. A comparison group of 19 practitioners also completed the survey. Qualitative data, gathered through interviews conducted with ten of the 44 participants, contributed to understanding the participants' perspectives on changes they perceived in their teaching practices as a result of the staff development. Elements of the model that were most instrumental in effecting those changes were identified. ^ The findings indicated that the participants demonstrated changes in the quality of their concerns, moving from self concerns and task concerns to impact concerns immediately following the training. The decrease in self concerns was sustained three years after the staff development, while task concerns increased and impact concerns returned to pre staff development levels. A significant difference in stages of concern between the participant and the comparison groups was noted at self and impact stages. ^ Findings revealed that participants changed their teaching practices and beliefs about instructional processes as a result of the staff development, becoming more collaborative and confident in implementing innovative approaches; they were perceived as leaders among their peers. Elements of the staff development model that participants identified as being influential in the change process included the opportunity for collaboration, authenticity of the training activities, and ongoing and comprehensive nature of the training. ^

The effects of an individualized clinical reading program on kindergarten and beginning grade one at -risk students: A longitudinal study

This was a longitudinal study that investigated the effects of an early intervention program which was implemented at the beginning of formal reading instruction and used individual clinical instruction with at-risk students. A total of 37 private school students were divided into three cognitive ability groups and evaluated over a three year period using the reading comprehension and study skills sections of the Stanford Achievement Tests (1982) administered annually. At-risk students were matched with a normal peer group for gender, cognitive ability, and time at school. Results showed there were no significant differences in the reading comprehension scores for program and non-program students. However, the at-risk group showed significantly lower scores on the study skills section at the end of grade three. These results indicate that early reading intervention for at-risk students promotes compensation and helps develop processes for adequate reading comprehension but these students continue to have weaker linguistic abilities. ^

The effect of active student responding in computer -assisted instruction on social -studies learning by students with learning disabilities

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of three student response conditions during computer-assisted instruction on the acquisition and maintenance of social-studies facts. Two of the conditions required active student responding (ASR), whereas the other required an on-task (OT) response. Participants were five fifth-grade students, with learning disabilities enrolled in a private school. An alternating treatments design with a best treatments phase was used to compare the effects of the response procedures on three major dependent measures: same-day tests, next-day tests, and maintenance tests. ^ Each week for six weeks, participants were provided daily one-to-one instruction on sets of 21 unknown social-studies facts using a hypermedia computer program, with a new set of facts being practiced each week. Each set of 21 facts was divided randomly into three conditions: Clicking-ASR, Repeating-ASR, and Listening-OT. Hypermedia lesson began weekly with the concept introduction lesson, followed by practice and testing. Practice and testing occurred four days per week, per set. During Clicking-ASR, student practice involved the selection of a social-studies response by clicking on an item with the mouse on the hypermedia card. Repeating-ASR instruction required students to orally repeat the social-studies facts when prompted by the computer. During Listening-OT, students listened to the social-studies facts being read by the computer. During weeks seven and eight, instruction occurred with seven unknown facts using only the best treatment. ^ Test results show that all for all 5 students, the Repeating-ASR practice procedure resulted in more social-studies facts stated correctly on same-day tests, next-day tests, and one-and two-week maintenance tests. Clicking-ASR was the next most effective procedure. During the seventh and eighth week of instruction when only the best practice condition was implemented, Repeating-ASR produced higher scores than all conditions (including Repeating-ASR) during the first six weeks of the study. ^ The results lend further support to the growing body of literature that demonstrates the positive relation between ASR and student achievement. Much of the ASR literature has focused on the effects of increased ASR during teacher-led or peer-mediated instruction. This study adds a dimension to that research in that it demonstrated the importance of ASR during computer-assisted instruction and further suggests that the type of ASR used during computer-assisted instruction may influence learning. Future research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of other types of ASR during computer-assisted instruction and to identify other fundamental characteristics of an effective computer-assisted instruction. ^

O canto dos vestibulandos em 140 caracteres: linguagem e construção de identidades no Twitter

The revolution caused by the internet and its various social networks eventually bring forth fruitful reflections on cyberculture and the power of identity construction. What seemed purely fashion has become way of being, representation of self, reality creation (Lévy, 1996). Considering language as a social phenomenon, which occurs through interaction, as explicit in Bakhtin (1929), the speech aired on social networks shapes the profile of their users, constructing identities which, according to Hall (2006), are multiple and non-permanent . This research seeks to examine the use of Twitter by school students, developing a reflection on the construction of their own identities in cyberspace. The subjects are students of Educandário Nossa Senhora das Vitórias, private school in Assú/RN, all graduates from high school. Understanding the Vestibular year as a decisive and a reflection engine ever present about their condition of students, subjects eventually express their anxieties, fears and perspectives in the virtual environment, providing us with enough material to analyze how they are high school students, expectations for appropriate selection processes, plus several representations belonging to the school environment. From the discourse conveyed on Twitter expressed in Featured posts, this study reveals the identities of high school students that emerge from it, which led the cast of some evidence. From them, despite the multiplicity of identities observed, presented some common aspects that corroborate the requirements provided for specific objectives, such as: feeling of belonging to a group - class and school; change of routine and behavior towards education; desecration of traditional teaching practices; changing the identity of students'writings. The analysis of postings enables us to know the perceptions of students regarding the school, the disciplines , the pace of studies, interest in school practices, and from such evidence, the perception of how vestibular modify your daily life and a fondness their identities as school students.

Generosidade e cooperação de crianças monitoradas e não monitoradas: a interação entre a condição socioeconômica e o ambiente escolar

Studies have shown that a person's socioeconomic status (SES) and the environment in which they are inserted modulate their pro-sociality. While children studying in schools with a more affluent student body tend to be more generous, adults with high SES in both real and experimental situations tend to be more selfish, greedy and individualistic. Another factor that influences pro-sociality is monitoring. When we do something under the supervision of another person, we tend to be more generous and cooperative, compared to situations in which no one is watching, even if the "observer" is a drawing of eyes. This monitoring effect occurs in both adults and children. To date, no studies have investigated whether the SES and the environment influence the pro-sociality of the children. There have also been no studies on how the monitoring effect might be influenced by SES and the environment (in this case, whether the environment is a public or private school). Given this context, our main objective was to investigate whether the generosity and cooperation of monitored and unmonitored kids is modulated by these factors. To this end, we did eight matches of the public goods, under monitoring and control conditions, with 249 children from the ages of 7 to 10 years enrolled in public and private schools in Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil). The SES of each child's family was assessed according to the Economic Classification Criterion of Brazil (2013). Contrary to our predictions, SES, school environment and experimental conditions did not significantly influence cooperation and generosity behavior when analyzed separately. We discuss whether the influences of resource and experimental design adopted for the current study and the historical and economic conditions of Brazil might explain these observations. Interestingly, when SES and school environment were analyzed together, an effect of monitoring on generosity and cooperation was detected. More specifically, monitoring had the effect of decreasing generosity among children with greater SES in private schools; and increased cooperation among children with greater SES in public schools. These results suggest that there is an influence of monitoring on the pro-sociality of children in relation to their SES and acquaintanceship environments. We argue that these observations may be explained by different preoccupations with reputation, according to the environment in which a child is inserted.

Produção de narrativas escritas no ensino fundamental: estudo de casos

This paper focuses on the construction of the narrative for elementary school students, searching to identify strategies they employed in the production of narrative texts representative of miniconto genre. Therefore, we take a sample forty texts produced by students of 6 and 9 years of basic education, twenty in the 6th year students (ten public school and ten private school) and twenty students in 9th grade (distributed similarly between public education and private). In general, we aim to understand the mechanisms by which producers build their narratives, as well as providing input for analysis of textual production of this genre. This research is based on Functional-Linguistic assumptions of the American side, inspired by Givón (2001), Thompson (2005), Hopper (1987), Bybee (2010), Traugott (2003), Martelotta (2008), Furtado da Cunha (2011), among others. In addition, from the theoretical framework presented by Labov (1972) about the narrative, coupled with Batoréo contribution (1998), we observed the recurring elements in the structure of narratives under study: abstract, orientation, complication, resolution, evaluation and coda. Also approached, but that in a complementary way, the notion of gender presented in Marcuschi (2002). This is a research quantitative and qualitative, with descriptive and analytical-interpretive bias. In corpus analysis, we consider the following categories: gender discourse miniconto; compositional structure of the narrative; informativeness (discursive progression, thematic coherence and narrative, topical-referential distribution); informative relevance (figure / ground). At the end of the work, our initial hypothesis of the better performance of students in 9th grade, compared to 6, and the particular context of education in relation to the public context, not confirmed, since, in the comparative study revealed that the groups have similar performance as the construction of the narrative, making use of the same strategies in its construction.

Produção de narrativas escritas no ensino fundamental: estudo de casos

This paper focuses on the construction of the narrative for elementary school students, searching to identify strategies they employed in the production of narrative texts representative of miniconto genre. Therefore, we take a sample forty texts produced by students of 6 and 9 years of basic education, twenty in the 6th year students (ten public school and ten private school) and twenty students in 9th grade (distributed similarly between public education and private). In general, we aim to understand the mechanisms by which producers build their narratives, as well as providing input for analysis of textual production of this genre. This research is based on Functional-Linguistic assumptions of the American side, inspired by Givón (2001), Thompson (2005), Hopper (1987), Bybee (2010), Traugott (2003), Martelotta (2008), Furtado da Cunha (2011), among others. In addition, from the theoretical framework presented by Labov (1972) about the narrative, coupled with Batoréo contribution (1998), we observed the recurring elements in the structure of narratives under study: abstract, orientation, complication, resolution, evaluation and coda. Also approached, but that in a complementary way, the notion of gender presented in Marcuschi (2002). This is a research quantitative and qualitative, with descriptive and analytical-interpretive bias. In corpus analysis, we consider the following categories: gender discourse miniconto; compositional structure of the narrative; informativeness (discursive progression, thematic coherence and narrative, topical-referential distribution); informative relevance (figure / ground). At the end of the work, our initial hypothesis of the better performance of students in 9th grade, compared to 6, and the particular context of education in relation to the public context, not confirmed, since, in the comparative study revealed that the groups have similar performance as the construction of the narrative, making use of the same strategies in its construction.

A pedagogia de projetos e o ensino de música na educação básica da cidade de Natal/RN

This research aims to investigate the use of Project based learning as a method for teaching music in Elementary Schools located in Natal, RN. Its main objective is to analyze how this method is used during the classes of music at school context and which are its implications to the process of music learning acquirement. The specific objectives comprise: gathering the music teachers in preschool that work with project based learning as a method for their classes; identifying how the theory meets their practice; and analyzing how project based learning contributes to the learning process of music within schools. The main scholars adopted as theoretical reference were Boutinet (2002), Hernández (1998; 200), Antunes (2001), Cavalcante (2009), from Education area; and Penna (2008), Fonterrada (2008), Queiroz (2012), regarding Musical Education. Such choice was made in views of identifying the relationship and how project based pedagogy associates to the current Brazil school curriculum. For data collection, mixed methodological strategies were used, of qualitative and quantitative approaches that are complementary for better meeting the research needs. By applying a questionnaire, it was sought to identify the music schools and teachers who reported working with project based learning. Based on these results were selected two schools, one private school and one public school to perform a participant observation in two groups following the development of music classes based on project based learning, and the information were recorded in a diary of audio and video recordings. The results of this work show that the Project Education is a methodology frequently used by music teachers from Natal/ RN contributing to the integration of content and subjects and engages students in activities awakening interest and contributing to the development of music education at school. However, it was identified that many of the conceptions of the teachers about projects are confused by ambiguities from the use of the term in different areas and in various theoretical perspectives as well as the lack of publications that address the music education through the project based learning. It is hoped that this study provides discussions and research about the project based learning applied to music education in elementary school.

A ESCOLA INCLUSIVA ESTÁ POSTA, E AGORA?

O ambiente escolar é muito rico de histórias, de momentos, de aprendizados e de experiências. Todo professor sempre tem muito a contar. A diversidade de pessoas nesse universo faz com que tenhamos um cotidiano escolar sem rotinas, sem limites para a criatividade. Quando se depara com algo novo ou inesperado, o professor parece se transformar num agente inovador; conquistar o espaço, a situação de maneira a dominá-la e, nas mais variadas oportunidades, surpreender com estratégias enriquecedoras. Nesta pesquisa temos a oportunidade de compartilhar vivências únicas e singulares que possibilitaram contribuir para as já existentes no campo do fazer pedagógico com alunos com necessidade educacionais especiais. Experiências frustrantes também ocorrem no espaço escolar, porém na busca por dar a voz ao professor que desempenha o atendimento educacional especializado, relatamos aqui as experiências de sucesso. Com isso registramos a contribuição de um colégio da rede particular de ensino que tem como uma de suas metas a educação para todos.

AVALIAÇÃO INSTITUCIONAL NA EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA: UMA ANÁLISE DA PRÁTICA DA EDUCAÇÃO ADVENTISTA

O tema desta dissertação é a Avaliação Institucional da Educação Básica. Para tal, faz-se a análise do processo de avaliação, com ênfase no instrumento utilizado pelas Escolas Adventistas de nível básico do estado de São Paulo, considerando que a educação adventista se tornou uma parte consistente dentro da estrutura da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia. Procurou-se, neste trabalho, como objetivo geral, compreender como se configura a prática da avaliação institucional das escolas da Rede Adventista de Educação. O método da investigação incluiu análise bibliográfica dos principais teóricos da área de políticas públicas e do sistema privado bem como da avaliação institucional, seguido de exame documental do instrumento utilizado no processo de avaliação institucional. O estudo resgata a contextualização histórica do desenvolvimento da escola privada, destacando aspectos relevantes de sua relação com o Estado. Também apresenta brevemente a história da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (IASD) nos Estados Unidos (EUA) e no Brasil, de modo a situar o surgimento do sistema educacional adventista, bem como a sua filosofia de ensino, buscando conhecer as origens desse grupo religioso que há mais de um século atua no cenário educacional brasileiro. Em seguida, aborda aspectos da Avaliação Institucional. Finalmente, apresenta-se uma síntese do processo e uma descrição analítica do instrumento de avaliação institucional das escolas de nível básico da Educação Adventista. Na conclusão do trabalho, não se encontraram indícios de que o conceito adventista de avaliação educacional seja diferente do das abordagens tradicionais. Entretanto, na concepção adventista de avaliação, existe mais fortemente a preocupação de se manter um processo de avaliação contínuo e sistemático.

Prevalence of refractive errors in students in Northeastern Brazil

To determine the prevalence of refractive errors in the public and private school system in the city of Natal, Northeastern Brazil. Methods: Refractometry was performed on both eyes of 1,024 randomly selected students, enrolled in the 2001 school year and the data were evaluated by the SPSS Data Editor 10.0. Ametropia was divided into: 1- from 0.1 to 0.99 diopter (D); 2- 1.0 to 2.99D; 3- 3.00 to 5.99D and 4- 6D or greater. Astigmatism was regrouped in: I- with-the-rule (axis from 0 to 30 and 150 to 180 degrees), II- against-the-rule (axis between 60 and 120 degrees) and III- oblique (axis between > 30 and < 60 and >120 and <150 degrees). The age groups were categorized as follows, in: 1- 5 to 10 years, 2- 11 to 15 years, 3- 16 to 20 years, 4- over 21 years. Results: Among refractive errors, hyperopia was the most common with 71%, followed by astigmatism (34%) and myopia (13.3%). Of the students with myopia and hyperopia, 48.5% and 34.1% had astigmatism, respectively. With respect to diopters, 58.1% of myopic students were in group 1, and 39% distributed between groups 2 and 3. Hyperopia were mostly found in group 1 (61.7%) as well as astigmatism (70.6%). The association of the astigmatism axes of both eyes showed 92.5% with axis with-the-rule in both eyes, while the percentage for those with axis againstthe- rule was 82.1% and even lower for the oblique axis (50%). Conclusion: The results found differed from those of most international studies, mainly from the Orient, which pointed to myopia as the most common refractive error, and corroborates the national ones, with the majority being hyperopia

Supervisão colaborativa para uma educação inclusiva : um estudo com professores do ensino regular

Este trabalho, desenvolvido por uma professora de educação especial no contexto onde exerce funções, resultou da vontade de aprofundar o conhecimento sobre as dinâmicas de trabalho entre os professores do Ensino Regular e entre estes e o professor de Educação Especial. Desta forma elaborámos um projeto de investigação com o propósito de aprofundar o conhecimento sobre estas dinâmicas, no âmbito de uma oficina de formação, dinamizada pela investigadora, realizada no contexto de trabalho dos participantes. Neste âmbito, foi proporcionado um conjunto de experiências vivenciadas em conjunto, procurando contribuir para novas perspetivas teóricas sobre o conhecimento, bem como o envolvimento dos participantes em situações empíricas que lhes permitissem aplicar esses conhecimentos na resolução de problemas concretos emergentes no seu contexto de trabalho. A estratégia formativa baseou-se na colaboração como factor de desenvolvimento e de aprendizagem, surgindo como relevante e necessário o envolvimento dos formandos em processos de investigação da própria prática. A formação, na modalidade de Oficina, foi promovida através do Centro de Formação da Instituição onde a escola, um estabelecimento de ensino particular e cooperativo, se integra. Neste âmbito foi acreditada pelo Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua e envolveu dezasseis professores do 1.º, 2.º e 3.º ciclos do ensino básico. A formação desenvolveuse em duas fases - a primeira fase, constituída por 4 sessões, teve lugar entre maio e julho de 2011, e a segunda fase, igualmente constituída por 4 sessões, teve lugar de setembro a novembro de 2011, num total de 25 horas presenciais e 25 horas não presenciais. Trata-se de um estudo com uma dupla intencionalidade – formativa e investigativa – no qual se procura compreender (i) a relação entre as estratégias de formação e supervisão promovidas pela professora de educação especial e o desenvolvimento de dinâmicas de trabalho colaborativo entre os participantes (ii) e o impacto dessas dinâmicas no desenvolvimento profissional e nas suas práticas, tendo em vista a promoção de uma educação inclusiva. Configura-se como estudo de caso, na variante de multicaso apresentando, ainda, algumas características de investigação-ação. No âmbito deste estudo, utilizámos um conjunto diverso e complementar de procedimentos investigativos, nomeadamente, o inquérito por questionário aplicado a todos os participantes no início e no fim da oficina de formação; o inquérito por questionário de avaliação das sessões, tendo por base os objetivos do estudo; a entrevista semi-estruturada, realizada a quatro docentes do 1º CEB que constituem os subcasos e o portfolio reflexivo individual dos mesmos, os quais se constituem como estratégia de formação e de investigação. Recorreu-se, ainda, como fontes de informação secundária, ao Teaching portfolio do investigador, às videogravações das sessões de formação, aos registos em vídeo de alguns episódios relativos à intervenção dos formandos em sala de aula e aos projetos de investigação-ação, bem como aos dados recolhidos na entrevista dirigida ao Diretor do estabelecimento de educação e ensino, depois de concluído o programa de formação. Os resultados da análise parecem evidenciar a existência de dinâmicas colaborativas e um clima de inter-ajuda que caraterizou a interação ocorrida na formação, em torno de casos concretos, os quais tiveram um impacto significativo sobre o pensamento e a prática dos participantes. Todo o processo desenvolvido parece ter dado lugar à partilha de saberes e à procura conjunta de soluções para os problemas, tendo contribuído para que os professores passassem a ser mais interventivos, evidenciando novas aprendizagens e uma maior consciencialização do conceito de educação para todos e do que esta implica. Os resultados parecem ainda revelar o desenvolvimento de uma parceria estratégica entre os professores do ensino regular e a professora de educação especial, a qual passou a ser aceite como uma pessoa que pode ajudar a encontrar soluções para os problemas que surgem na sala de aula, de forma a garantir a inclusão de todos os alunos e não apenas dos que têm necessidades educativas especiais.

Die Koranschule. Eine Alternative zur öffentlichen Grundschule in einem laizistischen Staat? Ein Fallbeispiel: Die Republik Senegal

In Anbetracht der sich eher verschlechternden Lage des öffentlichen Schulwesens in den Ländern Schwarzafrikas sucht man in den internationalen und nationalen Diskussionen u.a. nach alternativen, auf traditionelle und private Bildungsformen aufbauenden Strategien zur Förderung der Grundbildung. Das sich verändernde islamische Bildungswesen in der zu über 90% muslimischen Republik Senegal könnte für einen großen Teil der Bevölkerung zu einer solchen Alternative werden, weil nur 48% der Kinder im Primarschulalter die öffentliche Schule besuchen, die sich am französischen Vorbild orientiert. (DIPF/Orig.)

Telefone celular como recurso didático no ensino de física

Currently, there are several factors that suggest the need for the school to review their teaching practices: 1) the speed with which information and communication technologies - ICT are spread throughout society and in particular the increasing use of mobile phone by groups in school age;2) the scope and power of integrating ICT convergence of these technological resources, that can be used as teaching resources; 3) the fact that nowadays students grow up in a technological world and make their thought patterns operating in accordance with this reality, etc... In contrast, there are educators unrelated to the appropriation of ICT, presenting, in many cases, resistance to them. There is a incongruity between how individuals use mobile phones, for example, inside and outside the school. There are also educators, schools, public educational departments claiming to be against mobile phones usage; bills and laws regulating their use in educational space, etc... For these controversial aspects we have investigated whether cell phone use as a teaching resource practices mediator in Physics teaching. For this purpose, we developed an applied research with qualitative and exploratory approach about the objectives, adopting participant and the technical procedures. A documental and bibliographical research was taken. First of all, data were collected by e-mail, through a multiple choice questionnaire applied to private school teachers in southern Brazil, to identify the researched reality and develop teaching practices likely to be applied in the studied corpus. Then, such practices were applied in workshops located in Curitiba and Ponta Grossa cities, in Paraná state. During the application, data was collected by the researcher's field notes. Then, we recorded chats about the workshops from an instant message software (msn messenger), and we took photographic records. Data analysis was performed by triangulation. The results showed the need to enhance continuing education courses for teachers and the production of national academic literature, such as articles, dissertations, theses and books that explore the theme of the cell phone and its functionality in educational spaces as an educational resource mediator in the practices of teaching Physics. They are available in the dissertation defended in 2012, and now are also systematized in this book, organized as a final product of research conducted by the Graduate Program in Science Education and Technology UTFPR, Campus Ponta Grossa-PR.

Matemática em atividades interdisciplinares: uma base para a estruturação dos seminários integrados

A partir do ano de 2012, lança-se uma proposta de reestruturação no Ensino Mé- dio no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Surge nessa proposta um elemento novo na grade curricular chamado de Seminário Integrado. Esse tem por objetivo aliar a formação geral à parte diversificada do currículo através de um planejamento interdisciplinar voltado à pesquisa. Diante desse cenário surge a motivação para elaborar esse trabalho, nele apresenta-se quatro atividades interdisciplinares relacionando a matemática com outras disciplinas. Nossa proposta é que essas atividades possam servir como uma possível base para elaboração e/ou estruturação de atividades nos Seminários Integrados. Junto com cada atividade apresentamos uma proposta de pesquisa relacionada à prática social, bem como em quais sentidos essas atividades poderão preparar o jovem para ser inserido no mercado de trabalho. O material elaborado pelos professores envolvidos e a escolha dos métodos de ensino utilizados são subsidiados por uma pesquisa bibliográfica que fizemos a respeito do tema interdisciplinaridade. As atividades elaboradas foram aplicadas em duas turmas de terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, em uma escola particular na cidade de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. Apresentamos alguns dados que consideramos relevantes em termos de resultados relacionados ao ganho pedagógico.