Data-Driven Education Insights

nghimire.weebly.com We often discuss the achievement gap between the Native speakers and Non-native speakers and feel sorry for the low proficiency scores many English learners receive in high-stakes testing. Research, resources, and time spent in identifying effective classroom teaching strategies, language teaching including types, and classroom activities helped enthusiasts understand the limit and effectiveness of various factors associated with ELs and their academic learning gains. They also helped devise, reform, and/or confirm many language-related theories and their importance/appropriateness in L2 contexts. However, for a long time, socio-cultural factor and its impact in language learning classrooms did not get much attention. In other words, SLA and teacher preparation programs fail to acknowledge complex classroom ecosystems (in terms of individual student, his/her culture, etc.) and prepare teacher candidates to handle them appropriately. The diverse nature of everyda...

The first few years of a new teacher’s career are critical in the teacher’s formations as a professional. Argue how you would approach the induction process for new teachers and how you might provide individualized professional development and mentoring based on the teacher effectiveness evaluation you think is most appropriate for teachers; and in particular, ELL teachers. Induction programs are defined to serve new teachers to successfully transition from pre-service teacher candidates to in-service teachers (Laurie-ann, et al., 2009; Bullough, 2012; Joerger, & Bremer, 2001). This transition is extraordinary in many ways and definitely requires some helping hands along the way because of the multiple activities (conduct teaching activities, deal with classroom management issues, meet state/local licensure, changing legislation, practices of career and technical education, etc.) requiring timely attention and actions. This post will attempt to answer why induction programs ...

The epistemological posture of sociocultural turn outlines human learning as a dynamic social activity that is located in physical, social (Johnson, 2006), and cultural contexts that are facilitated by language and other symbol systems (John-Steiner, & Mahn, 1996). In other words, learners learn something when they team up with someone more experienced in a wide variety of activities synthesizing numerous stimuli into their unique modes of understating. By adopting the effects of working together, the novice attains valuable tactics and essential knowledge (John-Steiner, & Mahn, 1996). As noted by multiple socio-cultural theorists, the strategic, goal-oriented, and meaningful dialogue is a crucial element of strategic mediation, dynamic assessment, dialogic video protocol and even the everyday classroom procedures. Thus, this post argues how mediation, dynamic assessment and dialogic video protocol as sociocultural components of pedagogy contribute to teacher education prog...