Mandates to improve curriculum and instruction and incorporate technology in teaching U.S. K-12 students have failed to improve math proficiency as measured by standardized assessments. Still, 40–60% need remedial coursework in college. Past efforts have focused on incorporating specific technologies. The SAMR approach redirects the effort to focus on how technology is used, aligning with Bloom’s taxonomy. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was used to quantify the contribution of Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition to MAP Growth in math for 644 students taught by eight teachers across 36 class sections at a single Indiana middle school. A wide range in teacher use of technology corresponded to significant ( p < .05) differences in MAP Growth. Hierarchical multiple linear regression revealed that incorporation of SAMR elements above Substitution explained a small, 2.0%, yet significant ( p = .001) part of variation in MAP Growth. At least Most Weeks use of Augmentation added 1.06 points ( p = .008), Modification an additional 2.12 points ( p = .002), and Redefinition an additional 1.19 points ( p = .003) for a combined significant net 4.37-point increase. With all teachers from the same school and only some using technology at high learning levels, the findings led to a recommendation for investment in professional development training rather than focusing on adding specific technology tools.

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Effect of Technology Integration on Middle School Math Proficiency: A Multiple Linear Regression Study

ions, analogies, and dimensional thinking. Creative people use dimensional thinking to alter the scale of an object from a blueprint from two dimensional to three dimensional. Dimensional thinking along with analogies and abstractions is used in creating models of processes and things to describe the world realistically. Teachers used portable die cutters to teach visualization and mathematics to young children as part of a project located at the University of Virginia. Students created 2-D cutouts that were then die-cut and changed into 3-D figures. Models depicting the major tectonic plates of the earth were designed and assembled using a tennis ball. These explorations combine the power of maneuvering digital bytes and bits with the physical aspect of atoms. Deep play or transformational play. The outcome of innovative people playing with procedures, ideas, or things may produce advanced ways of thinking through unforeseen discoveries. Creative individuals in divergent disciplines play with boundaries, distinctions, impregnable truths, and the limits of possibility, and they are transformed through the playing. This is called deep play to make a distinction between

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The Impact of Instructional Technology on Lesson Effectiveness and Obstacles to Incorporating Technology Into Lesson Design as Perceived by Elementary School Teachers

This study explored the intersection of the Common Core State Standards and the field of Deaf Education, specifically the impact of the Common Core on the pedagogy of elementary mathematics teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. I defined pedagogy in this study as the union of the philosophy of teaching a teacher holds and the methodology of teaching a teacher uses in their classroom. This study made use of an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, which included a phase of quantitative data collection through a survey of elementary mathematics teachers in Deaf Schools in Common Core states and a phase of qualitative data collection through interviews with a sub-sample of participants from the quantitative phase. This study was exploratory in nature and caution should be taken when attempting to generalize the findings of this study to the larger population of Deaf Education teachers. For the quantitative phase, I used an instrument I created for this study, the Deaf Education Common Core Mathematics Pedagogy questionnaire, which explored demographics, beliefs about teaching, and methods used in teaching by elementary mathematics teachers who teach in Deaf Schools in Common Core states. The instrument was disseminated using an online platform and was analyzed for reliability vii post-survey. Sixty teachers participated in the survey and their data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The qualitative phase included comments made during the survey and interviews I conducted with eight volunteers who had participated in the quantitative portion of the study. I analyzed these data using qualitative analysis coding following a phenomenological lens. The Common Core is having an impact on teachers of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, although the impact is a mixture of positive and negative. When the quantitative and qualitative data were integrated, six key themes emerged. From these themes, recommendations are made for Deaf Schools, teacher preparation programs, and the field of Deaf Education as a whole, mainly revolving around the need for Deaf educators to acknowledge the impact of the Common Core on teachers and students and then discuss approaches, both philosophical and methodological, for supporting teachers and students in the Common Core.

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The Pedagogical Impacts of the Common Core State Standards on Elementary Mathematics Teachers of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing

Since the publication of A Nation at Risk, some scholars have argued that a national curriculum and national testing are necessary to hold school personnel accountable for student achievement and, ultimately, to raise educational standards. The idea of developing a nationwide curriculum has been widely debated in the United States, where the traditions of local control and state responsibility are dominant. Thus, this article examines the relevance and feasibility of a uniform curriculum in physical education. A core curriculum for physical education has the potential to provide clear goals, coherent instructional guidelines, and relevant assessments aligned with designated program outcomes. A more advanced curricula framework with clear guidance for P-12 curricula and pedagogical practices could promote system-wide changes in school-based physical education. In contrast, the adoption of an overly rigid national curriculum would create a stifling educational context where cultural differences and ...

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National Curriculum for Physical Education in the United States.

Purpose: Given criticism of P-12 physical education and wide variability in instructional quality and subject matter outcomes in the United States (US), a national curriculum has been debat...

Physical Education Teacher Education Leaders' Perceptions on a National Curriculum in Physical Education.

Review of Literature With each generation of students comes a change in educational practices. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka declared the unconstitutionality of separate public schools for White and Black students. In 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) granted students with disabilities equal opportunities for free public education. In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act sought to raise standards for all students while assessing students' attainment of those standards. Many educational changes have been looked at with admiration as a much-needed change in education. Nevertheless, others have been viewed with less than welcoming sentiments. The latest change in the educational system is the adoption of the Common Core State Standards--also known as CCSS or the Common Core--which has received much ambiguous attention by teachers, administrators, and parents. The Common Core State Standards are a relatively new concept in education. In 2009, a group of state officials, members of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers, designed "real-world learning goals" that would prepare students for college, career, and beyond (CCSSC, 2015). States began reviewing the standards in 2011, and in 2013, 45 states had adopted the Common Core standards. Since that time, 2 states have withdrawn their support. Porter, McMaken, Hwang, and Yang (2011) assert that having this common curriculum across states would allow for consistent expectations, focus, efficiency, and computerized assessments. However, in their comprehensive analysis of the Common Core standards at their implementation in 2010, they report a shift in "cognitive demands" on students. The researchers analyzed the data through Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC), "a two-dimensional framework defining content at the intersections of topics and cognitive demands" (Porter et al., 2011, p. 104). They also note that while the Common Core math standards are "somewhat more focused," the same cannot be said for the English language arts and reading standards; and the Common Core standards are different from what many teachers report they are currently teaching. Some state standards are more focused than the Common Core standards while others are less focused. Despite these findings, 43 states are still involved with Common Core and push to assess students based on its standards. While ACT (2012) points out factors that have helped some schools succeed with Common Core (e.g., high expectations, formative assessments, strong relationships between students and their teachers, etc.), many parents argue that the standards are taking the focus away from what is important, especially in the early grades (Gallagher, 2013). Two mothers in Indiana, for example, noticed their elementary children's changing math homework. Instead of simple addition and subtraction problems, students were being asked divergent questions, such as "How do you know?" (Gallagher, 2013). Just as parents noticed and complained about the changes in their children's homework, teachers are also noticing but are the ones being required to implement the change. Educational Change Change in any industry is inevitable. In education, change comes more frequently than in most other arenas. In education, veteran teachers are often criticized for being hesitant to implement the latest modification in the education system. However, although teachers are generally the individuals responsible for implementing changes, they are rarely given the opportunity to provide input into the development of such changes (Sikes, 1992). Many teachers fear change, or have an aversion to it, because of its moral implications. Some teachers worry that the newest rendition of the system "will not work or will make matters worse" (Fullan & Hargreaves, 1992, p. 5). However, many teachers realize that these changes are necessary because research constantly shows many first-year college students are unprepared for undergraduate work and need remediation (Cheng, 2012). …

Jessica Lucas

Papers

Adapting to Change: Teacher Perceptions of Implementing the Common Core State Standards.