Analyze how the educator’s responses did or did not align with concepts addressed in your textbook and two other scholarly sources.

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Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the assigned chapters in Introduction to education: Choosing to teach by Krogh. Chapter 5 considers the “community” in conventional classrooms giving strategies and techniques for creating a classroom where children thrive socially and academically. Models for classroom management are discussed in detail.

Chapter 6 examines the complexity of curriculum development while also analyzing the different forms of assessment. Chapter 9 considers the nature of teaching and the occasional controversy over its definition as a profession. This will allow the reader to reflect on if they display a “goodness of fit” as a potential future educator.

In your paper,

  • Summarize the responses of your interviewee in third-person point of view.
  • Analyze how the educator’s responses did or did not align with concepts addressed in your textbook and two other scholarly sources.
  • Evaluate your “goodness of fit” for the profession, using specific details and research to support your conclusion.
  • Describe concerns you might still have about your chosen profession and how you would resolve them.

For the Final Paper, you will demonstrate an understanding of the complex set of issues that must be considered as you embark on your professional preparation to become an educator. The best way to do this is to conduct an interview of an educator to get a realistic perspective of the profession. It is hoped that after the interview you will have a better understanding of the daily responsibilities and how the teaching philosophies and learning theories guide the educator in making decisions. In addition, you will then have an opportunity to reflect on your own “goodness of fit” as a future educator.

Please be courteous of the professionals you are interviewing. Plan and schedule your interviews early. It can be difficult to secure an interview date. Writing or emailing a thank-you note is a recommended professional practice.

Interview Questions: You will interview one educator at the elementary level (K-5) or secondary level (6-12) depending on where your own teaching interests lie.

Please ask your educator the following questions and record his or her responses. Please note the directions for the location of your responses/analysis within your

Final Paper. If you choose to interview a librarian, skip to the section with questions for librarians that appear after the teacher questions.

Questions for a teacher interview: If you have selected a teacher to interview, use this set of questions.

 

Teacher responses/analysis below will go into Section 2:

  1. Why did you decide to become an educator? What was your motivation and what attributes do you think are important for an educator to exhibit to be effective? (Attributes/Motivation)
  2. What is your philosophy of education? What is the role of the educator and the students? (Teaching Philosophy)
  3. What are your learning goals for your students? How do you effectively meet their needs? (Learning Theory)

 

Teacher responses/analysis below will go into Section 3:

  1. What do you believe are the most effective methods for educating students? (Learning Theory)
  2. What is your comfort level with technology and how do you integrate it within your lesson planning? (Technology)
  3. How do academic standards drive your instruction? Do you feel a need to teach to the test? Why or why not? (Academic standards)
  4. What types of assessment do you use in your classroom? Can you give me an example of a formative and summative assessment? (Assessment)
  5. How do you incorporate elements of multicultural education in your classroom? Can you provide a specific example? (Diversity)
  6. How do you effectively manage a classroom? What is most challenging about issues related to discipline and classroom management? (Discipline and Classroom Management)

 

Teacher responses/analysis below will go into Section 4:

  1. How do you foster a positive relationship with students, parents, and the community? (Relationships)
  2. What are the best and worst parts of the teaching profession? What concerns might you have for the future of our education system? (Contemporary Concerns)
  3. As you have gained experience, how has your philosophy of education changed?

**Alternative Option: If you have selected to interview a librarian in lieu of a classroom teacher, this is acceptable, provided you still meet the expectations of the Final Paper. The alternative questions are as follows:

 

Librarian responses/analysis below will go into Section 2:

  1. Why did you decide to become a librarian? What was your motivation and what attributes do you think are important for a librarian to exhibit to be effective? (Attributes/Motivation)
  2. What is your philosophy of education? What is the role of the librarian and the students? (Teaching Philosophy)
  3. What are your learning goals for your students? How do you effectively meet their needs? (Learning Theory)

 

Librarian responses/analysis below will go into Section 3:

  1. What do you believe are the most effective methods for teaching library concepts? (Learning Theory)
  2. What is your comfort level with technology and how might you integrate it in the library? (Technology)
  3. How do academic standards drive your instruction? (Academic standards)
  4. Can you give me an example of a formative and summative assessment you might use in the library? (Assessment)
  5. How do you incorporate elements of multicultural education in the library? Can you provide a specific example? (Diversity)
  6. How do you effectively manage your groups of students? What is most challenging about issues related to discipline and student management? (Discipline and Classroom Management)

 

Librarian responses/analysis below will go into Section 4:

  1. How do you foster a positive relationship with library patrons and the community? (Relationships)
  2. What are the best and worst parts of being a librarian? What concerns might you have for the future of library sciences? (Contemporary Concerns)
  3. As you have gained experience, how has your philosophy of education/library sciences changed?

Final Paper Requirements: After you have collected the responses from your educator, prepare an eight- to 10-page paper to include the following sections. Use the recommended Final Paper TemplatePreview the document to organize your work.

Section 1: Introduction:

Provide an introduction that includes demographic information (educator name, school, grade or discipline taught, number of children at that school, other pertinent information). Include why it is important to seek out and speak to current professionals in the field you are interested in entering. What is the rationale for conducting an interview?

Section 2: Summary and Analysis: Motivation and Philosophy

Summarize the answers the educator gave to the interview questions 1 through 3 in third-person point of view. Remember that a summary is a “retelling” of what the educator said; you may not to use direct quotes from the educator or copy/paste questions and answers directly. For each response, you must also analyze how the educator’s responses aligned or did not align with the information presented in your text and two other scholarly sources. Show how the responses of the educator supported or did not support what you learned in this class. You must have at least two in-text research citations in each section. Please refer to the Final Paper TemplatePreview the document for correct organization of each section.

Section 3: Summary and Analysis: Instructional Practices

Summarize the answers the educator gave to the interview questions 4 through 9 in third-person point of view. Remember that a summary is a “retelling” of what the educator said; you may not to use direct quotes from the educator or copy/paste questions and answers directly. For each response, you must also analyze how the educator’s responses aligned or did not align with the information presented in your text and two other scholarly sources. Show how the responses of the educator supported or did not support what you learned in this class. You must have at least two in-text research citations in each section. Please refer to the Final Paper Template Preview the documentfor correct organization of each section.

Section 4: Summary and Analysis: Relationship-Building and Reflection

Summarize the answers the educator gave to the interview questions 10 through 12 in third-person point of view. Remember that a summary is a “retelling” of what the educator said; you may not to use direct quotes from the educator or copy/paste questions and answers directly. For each response, you must also analyze how the educator’s responses aligned or didn’t align with the information presented in your text and two other scholarly sources. Show how the responses of the educator supported or didn’t support what you learned in this class. You must have at least two in-text research citations in each section. Please refer to the Final Paper TemplatePreview the document for correct organization of each section.

Section 5: Conclusion: End your paper by redefining your specific career goal in the field of education. Discuss your experience with the research portion of this final assignment. What surprised you most about the information you learned from your informational interview? Do you think you are a “good fit” for your career goal? Why or why not? Consider the attributes that you exhibit that make you a good fit and what motivates you to pursue the career you have identified. What concerns do you have and how might you resolve them? End with a powerful, inspirational statement that leaves your reader satisfied.

Your paper should be formatted according to APA Style and must include a title page and reference page. You may find the Introduction to APA (Links to an external site.) resource helpful.  Please refer to important APA style reminders. You must use a minimum of two scholarly sources in addition to the course text. For help in planning and organizing your assignment, please access the Final Paper Template.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Docicon.png Click to view an EXAMPLEPreview the document of this week’s final paper.

Describe at least three (3) specific needs of the students in the  school district including students with special learning needs. 

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Imagine that your locally elected school district board has  commissioned an Assessment Task Force to improve the  overall standardized test scores of the students within the school  district. The superintendent (a role played by your professor) has asked  you, a member of the Assessment Task Force, to research a specific  topic relevant to improving the standardized testing. Your research will  be combined with research from other team members to create a  comprehensive report on the district’s assessment program. The  superintendent will review the parts of your proposal as you develop  each part and provide you feedback. This feedback needs to be  incorporated into subsequent parts of the proposal for presentation.

Your part of the report needs to include:

  • A summary of the local school district’s established assessment goals.
  • A report of the research you have found on your chosen topic.
  • Proposed recommendations for changes to the district’s K-12 assessment strategy based on your research.

The superintendent would like to see research on these topics in the final comprehensive report.

 

Research the assessment strategies and current assessment results  from the school district in which you currently reside or teach. You  will need to find information on the types of assessments used, when  students are assessed, the policy for student accommodations, the test  results for the past few years, and anything that the district is doing  to address improving student scores and achieving state standards.

Use the Internet and Strayer library at research.strayer.edu,  to research one (1) topic from the list of recommendations  the superintendent provided or your own approved topic. Justify your  topic selection by highlighting its relevance to your chosen district  being able to successfully meet its K-12 assessment goals. Your research  should also focus on locating current issues, applications, assessment  strategies, and tools related to your selected topic. Once you complete  your research, submit this portion of the white paper to  your superintendent for review and feedback.

Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:

  1. Explain your research topic in which you detail its relevance to  meeting one (1) or more K-12 assessment goals in your chosen school  district, focusing on a specific grade level, discipline, or target  student population (gifted students, students with special  needs, traditionally underserved students, etc.).
  2. Examine at least three (3) key political, legal, and / or current issues related to your chosen topic.
  3. Describe at least three (3) specific needs of the students in the  school district including students with special learning needs.
  4. Propose at least three (3) applications your topic has to K-12 assessment in your chosen school district.
  5. Provide atleast four (4) sources that document detailed information  about your proposed topic. The sources must be written within the last  five (5) years.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

  • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides
  • Citations and references must follow APA format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the  student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date.  The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required  assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  • Assess various measures for assessing learners’ progress, including  formal, test-based measures, and informal and observational measures.
  • Analyze traditional theories of assessment.
  • Evaluate strategies for using a variety of assessment instruments and the theories behind them.
  • Utilize a methodology for linking assessment practices to learning objectives.
  • Evaluate alternate forms of assessment for special populations.
  • Use technology and information resources to research issues in educational assessment.
  • Write clearly and concisely about educational assessment using proper grammar and mechanics

Justify your evaluations with both cost information as well as adult learning theory.

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Write a paper in which you address the following:

Part 1: Training Method and Justification

  • For each of the trainings, you will:
    1. Describe the training and delivery method.
    2. Describe the assessment method for each training.
    3. Justify your choice of delivery method and training.
      1. Use as much concrete data as possible, including:
        1. Time to develop the training or to implement a COTS training product.
        2. Cost of the training method (cost to develop or purchase, as well as incidental costs, such as the need for additional equipment, software, or space).
        3. Cost of assessment.
        4. Cost of employee time in training.
      2. Include adult learning theory in your justification

Note: Feel free to use a different training method and assessment method for each training.

Part 2: Assess Training Effectiveness

4. Describe how you will evaluate the effectiveness of each training.

  • Justify your evaluations with both cost information as well as adult learning theory.

Use least three quality references from the past two (2) years, no more than one of which you have used previously.

  • Include as much real-world information as possible on the COTS products and other products as they pertain to your proposal.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

  • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

  1. Examine trends and issues in assessment of adult learners.
  2. Determine the costs and benefits of assessment programs.
  3. Analyze models used for assessment.
  4. Evaluate an assessment tool, with at least one authentic assessment technique, for adult learners.

Write a one-page letter to send to families at the beginning of the school year introducing yourself and explaining your classroom management plan and how you will maintain ongoing communication with students and families to build positive school-home relationships.

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Create a “Student Engagement and Classroom Management Plan” for a specific grade-level and content area that includes the following:

In 250-500 words, write a personal philosophy of student engagement and classroom management (adapted from your Topic 1 assignment) that includes:

  • A description of your overall classroom management philosophy aligned to personal beliefs you hold that support it.
  • An overview of how you will manage your learning environment in order to engage students.
  • How you will collaborate with students, families, and colleagues to build a safe, positive learning climate of openness, mutual respect, support, and inquiry.
  • How you will take a leadership role advocating for meeting the needs of students, and enacting system change.

Write a one-page letter to send to families at the beginning of the school year introducing yourself and explaining your classroom management plan and how you will maintain ongoing communication with students and families to build positive school-home relationships.

In 250-500 words, describe how you will actively and equitably engage students by establishing procedures, routines, and expectations. Include 4-5 specific procedures, routines, or expectations you will implement in the classroom. (These procedures or routines may be revised from previous assignments, or they may be new.)

Write a 100-250 word description of three strategies you plan to utilize in your future classroom that will address limiting and mitigating the effects of disruptive and off-task behaviors in the classroom, including rewards and consequences.

Support your findings with a minimum of three scholarly resources.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide,