Much has been written about student preparation for standardized tests such as: get enough sleep, do not eat sugary food or drinks, eat a well-balanced meal, wear comfortable clothing, bring appropriate supplies especially extra #2 pencils, answer every question, write neatly and legibly, deduce wrong answers immediately and use all of the time…

According to Johnson and Johnson, group work helps increase student retention and satisfaction, develops strong oral communication and social skills, as well as higher self-esteem (University of Minnesota, n.d.). Group work, when planned and implemented deliberately and thoughtfully helps students develop cognitive and leadership skills as well as…

What is service-learning and how can students and community benefit from it? With the pressure of covering all of the content, passing tests, meeting standards and making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), how is it realistically feasible to make learning more meaningful so that students are able to take it and utilize it in real life? There is no…

There are many kinds of classroom assessment--from informal observation of students to more formal exams and standardized tests. Two categories have been identified--formative assessments and summative assessments. Formative assessments are used by teachers to provide feedback to students and to guide improvement of instruction. For example, if a…

Does clothing make the person or does the person make the clothing? How does what attire a student wears to school affect their academic achievement? In 1996, President Clinton cited examples of school violence and discipline issues that might have been avoided had the students been wearing uniforms ("School uniforms: Prevention or suppression?").…

Since implementing NCLB (No Child Left Behind), raising of test scores and making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) have been paramount in the schools and the search has been on to find "THE" answer in the schools' quest to attain these goals. When hunting for appropriate methods to reach these objectives, needs assessments are often…

How many people reading this brief believes they could financially survive in a household of four people on $19,784 a year? Yet, this was the official poverty threshold as determined by the federal government for 2005. During this same year, 17% of children under 18 lived below the poverty line, of which 14% were white, 11% Asian, 28% Hispanic and…

What is homework? What value and benefit does it have for students? Some common perceptions from the students' perspective is that it is busy work, it takes away from other activities (i.e. sports, clubs, hanging out with friends, jobs, etc.), and/or it prevents them from getting as much sleep as they would like. From the teachers' perspective: it…

According to the 2000 census, high school dropouts had a 52% employment rate, compared to 71% for high school graduates and 83% for college graduates. According to NCSE, the national dropout rate is 30% of which 80% had been chronically absent from school ("School attendance tracking: Challenges and effective practices"), which puts the…

For the past 50 years, poor physical health of adolescents has been a concern in the U.S. The obesity rate has tripled from 5% in 1980 to 15% in 2000. With more emphasis placed on high stakes standardized tests, the priority of physical education classes has taken a back seat. Based on a survey done in 2003, slightly more than half of the states…

In an effort for schools to obtain Adequate Yearly Progress, the pressure is on to make certain that students are loaded with as much information as possible in order to score well on the high stakes tests. Writing has continued to move down the list of priorities of what is taught because: it is not being tested or is minimally being assessed.…

What are ways to encourage minority students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds to take and succeed in AP classes? Advanced Placement courses and their final national standardized exams began in 1954 to help students, mostly white males, get through college more quickly so that they would have more time in the work force. 50 years later,…

Educators create the culture of success in schools through the effective implementation of classroom management and discipline. Creating a proactive learning environment relies heavily on the training of new teachers in classroom management. Having new teachers find a management style which is consistent within the culture of the school and in…