text:
Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Curriculum Development/Reading Intervention

The Reading Crisis
For some children, learning to read can be difficult. Research indicates that when a pattern of academic failure starts early, it will persist throughout a child’s education. Long-term studies have shown that there is almost a 90% chance that a child who reads poorly at the end of the first grade will be a poor reader in the fourth grade (Stickland, 2002). “The National Center for Educational Statistics reported in 2002 that 36% of fourth graders couldn’t read and understand even a short paragraph like those in children’s books." (Mathes, 2005)

Over the past 20 years, there has been remarkable growth in understanding how to predict reading problems. The following literacy skills are predictors of children who are at risk for reading failure:
 * Phonemic awareness (the ability to search the individual sounds within words)
 * Knowledge of letter names and sounds
 * Speed of lexical retrieval (meaning of the words) (Mathes, 2005)

Scientists estimate that 95% of children can be taught to read. However, the reality is that a high percentage of students are below their grade level (Scola, 2002). Attempting to solve this crisis, early intervention reading programs have proven to be effective as evidenced by improved test scores.

What is Early Intervention?
Early intervention is designed to positively influence language and literacy development in children age zero through eight. Special emphasis is placed on reading comprehension, word recognition (including phonics), fluency, and writing. Intervention services must be in addition to and cannot replace instruction that the child is receiving. Options for early intervention program delivery may include the use of reading teachers, trained aides, volunteer tutors under the supervision of a trained teacher, or extended instructional time during the school day or year for the targeted students.

The importance of early intervention in Reading Performance is extremely crucial in children becoming successful readers. We wonder why others are more successful than others is because reading was introduced to them at an early age. Children need to be taught these skills early. For example, letter recognition-letter sound correspondences, phonemic segmentation, and aquistion of sight words. These skills correlate with becoming a successful reader. Other basic components of early literacy will be their language-talking about ideas or events in distant time or place. Another fundamental component would be to teach children that words are powerful and important, that books are sources of pleasure and information. So, the motivation to teach children early is crucial. Children must be taught these skills through hard work to master letters and sounds, developing a spoken language, and should be exposed to print early in life and their settings should be positive, and affectionate.

Children should be read to everyday for at least 15 minutes. This will help children to develop their vocabulary, become confident early readers, and encourage them to ask questions about what they heard. Many parents may not know the importance of reading to their child everyday. According to The Developing Person through the Lifespan, "In early childhood, vocabulary increases exponentially, from about 500 words at age 2 to more than 100,000 at age 6. One scholar says that 2- to 6-year-olds learn an average of 10 words a day...but all agree that the most rapid vocabulary expansion usually occurs before age 7" (p.226). In addition to this, children should participate in reading programs such as "Read to Rover", book clubs, and group readings. Another interesting and speedy way that children develop vocabulary is through fast mapping. This is when a child “acquires new words by mentally ‘charting’ new words into interconnected categories; parents should have frequent and elaborate conversations with their children” (p.227). The development of literacy is very vital to the child's success to become a early reader.

Examples of Early Intervention Programs
There are many different early intervention reading programs used today. Here are just a few examples:

Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Programs: Primary Grade Programs (Grades 1-3):
 * Head Start is the most widely known early intervention program for economically disadvantaged children.
 * High Scope is a preschool program that focuses on language development.
 * Whitehurst’s Emergent Literacy Intervention is an early intervention program for preschool and kindergarten, consisting of dialogic and phonemic awareness.
 * Early Reading Intervention (ERI) is a tutoring program for first and second graders who are at risk for failure to read. The program allows a small group of students to work with their teacher 15 to 20 minutes a day, three times a week. This program also has the children read individually for five minutes a day.
 * First Steps is a one-on-one 30-minute tutoring program consisting of a series of leveled books.
 * Reading Recovery is the most researched intervention program. This program is designed for first graders, who receive one-on-one tutoring by well-trained teachers. This reading intervention is commonly used for the lowest achieving 20% of students in the first grade. (Strickland, 2002)

Criteria for Early Intervention Programs
With the large number of programs available, The American Federation of Teachers developed a list of criteria for early intervention programs. The program should show evidence of:
 * High Standards – helps students acquire the skills and/or knowledge to meet high academic standards
 * Effectiveness – proven to be effective in raising academic achievements
 * Replicability – implement the program at other schools
 * Support Structures – including professional development (Scola, 2002)

Program Success
Several characteristics make early intervention programs successful. One-on-one and small group tutoring, instruction that is congruent with the regular classroom instruction, and highly skilled personnel are all characteristics of successful programs.

Much research has also been completed to determine the best instructional practices. Successful interventions should include the following:
 * 1) Letter-sound relationships and word identification strategies, including phonological awareness, letters, words, and word patterns
 * 2) Repeated exposures to words
 * 3) Strategies for understanding text and monitoring comprehension
 * 4) Fluency through repeated reading of connected texts (Quatroche, 1999)

According to the Virginia Department of Education, the anticipated benefits from early intervention programs include: improved primary reading programs, improved reading skills, a higher percentage of students passing the third grade Virginia Standards of Learning Reading Test, a reduction in the number of special education referrals, and a higher percentage of children being promoted in the primary grades. (Virginia Department of Education, 1998)

Success Stories
Murray Elementary School, in Kentucky, uses early intervention programs to identify students with reading and language difficulties and supplement their learning through computerized exercises. Reading Recovery is used to accelerate learning so that children can catch up with others at their grade level. “I can read a little bit faster, and I like telling my friends about what I can read”, said Beau Maness, eight years old (Saunders, 2007).

In Tallahassee, Florida, a two-year study was conducted, involving five schools in Leon County. The study included students who were most at risk for reading failure, based on their performance on screening tests. On a measure of reading accuracy, the groups improved from the 9th percentile in the fall to the 64th percentile in May, as a result of early intervention (Mathes, 2005).

A Case Study was conducted to find the effects of a supplemental reading intervention program on a student at risk. Ryan, a kindergarten student who was non-responsive to a school-wide literacy program, was tutored in small groups during the course of a traditional school day. Results indicated that improvements in phonemic awareness were also associated with better behavior in the classroom. Ryan said that he liked “practicing the sounds” and he wished the program could have lasted “a little longer” (Lane, Menzies, Munton, 2005).

Multiple Choice Questions
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Essay Question
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text:
Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Technology/Role

With every passing year technology gets more and more sophisticated. The abilities of computers are ever expanding and education systems in the United States, and in fact worldwide, cannot keep up. The problem is not only the advancing technology and the inability of teachers to keep up, but the way educational curriculum is setup. Currently, individual learning is the staple in the United States. Children are educated on the basis of generalized ideas and cold, hard facts divided into discrete subjects. While computers may sometimes be used to write a paper or create a presentation, children are still tested independently and success is measured by sequential grades and standardized tests.

Technological advances are beginning to make this method of education obsolete and soon a dramatic shift to a different curriculum will be needed, one that will emphasize problem solving and collaboration over independent study. In light of this revolution in learning style, students will need to set aside the methods they usually use to learn and instead undertake learning an entirely new set of skills oriented around technology. This would include such skills as efficient ways to search, sort, generate, and analyze data. In order to succeed in this transition, teachers will need to pick up some of the slack, acquiring new skills themselves and using them to teach in an entirely different fashion. Therefore, to create a future for education that will thrive with technological advancement a change of this magnitude to curriculum and teaching must not only occur but the change must connect the elements together as to not leave anyone behind.

Curriculum
Computers promise to create an environment that, rather than emphasizing facts and ideas, emphasizes thinking. A student will be able to apply ideas to the real world and in doing so find new meanings. Learning in this fashion can be accomplished with three methods; project based learning, collaborative problem solving, and scaffolding, all of which will be made easy by technological advancements.

In project based learning the students become the teachers. This form of learning begins by creating a problem, goal, or coming up with a topic of interest within a group. Students would then debate, collect data, analyze, design experiments/plans, and draw conclusions. Educating in this way should prove more effective than traditional methods because the students actually create their own assignment through a real life situation that interests them and therefore will motivate them to find a solution. For example, the seeds of this method have already been sewn at Virginia Polytechnic and State University’s Math Emporium. Here, entry level mathematics has been redefined. Five hundred workstations are present and are used to teach more than ten thousand students. High speed networks are in place and learning modules and online quizzes are utilized to aid students in learning mathematics. Most importantly, students can work at their own pace and be provided help by on-site teachers who assess learning and can alert appropriate faculty of specific areas of study that are giving each individual student the most difficulty.

While project based learning should make learning easier and more interesting, scaffolding goes a step beyond. Scaffolding is not a method of learning but rather an aid that provides support to individuals whom are undergoing a new learning experience such as using a new computer program or beginning a new project. Scaffolds can be both virtual and real, in other words, a teacher is a form of scaffold but so is the little paperclip man in Microsoft Office. Virtual Scaffolds are internalized in the software and are meant to question, prompt, and explain procedures that may have been to challenging for the student to handle alone.

Much like project based learning, collaborative problem solving works on the premise that application of knowledge is much more important than memorizing facts and ideas. In addition, collaborative problem solving helps students realize that complex real world issues are not solved by individuals but rather by a team working together. Technology can be used for this purpose. Several technologies are under development that will have this collaborative capability, one such technology is the computer-supported intentional learning environment (CSILE) where the computer takes a students topic of interest and creates a textual and graphical database. To create this database students have to communicate with each other sharing their knowledge and posing problems as well as solutions to those problems.

Many of the most successful teachers are using different forms of collaboration learning in their classrooms including the jigsaw puzzle concept. This includes having the students in groups learn a new idea or concept and then teach it to the rest of the group. Each child teaches his or her group what they have learned. Many cases this helps to promote self confidence in the students and lessens the racial and social barriers that children sometimes face. They are forced to listen to each other and respect what they have to say. Many times teachers will use the computer or research information for this type of learning. Students will have to find the information in numerous places often looking to technology for this purpose.

The only downside to collaborative learning is that this has not been tested at the college level. Many studies have been done to see the effects at the elementary and secondary levels and how it is working. Many college students are already using technology for the learning purpose. However when does learning turn to “goofing” off on the internet instead of studying (Collaborative learning)?

New Technologies
In technology and education there are two problems we face. One, as mentioned previously, is keeping up with the continued advancements of technology. The other is integrating different forms of technology to make life easier for everyone. The first difficulty is solved by simply knowing what technologies are out there and how they can aid in teaching. The future of education will employ more sophisticated forms of many present technologies and many others that are not yet in use. Among these technologies are interactive digital video, virtual reality, advanced internet, networking, and PDAs. Presently the majority of our digital media are in asynchronous forms, meaning communication is one way (not real time). A shift is beginning to create forms of communication such as the ones previously stated that will provide synchronous communication meaning network based communication on which people are able to talk to each other live. Advanced internet is a good beginning to this objective and in the future with advanced networking will become affordable for all users.

In advanced networking rather than simple asynchronous communication people will be able to speak over the computer face to face. This type of communication is an improvement over the present allowing for richer interaction, allowing one another to interpret not only words but tones, expressions, and emotions. Advanced internet is in its early stages in forms such as video conferencing which remains expensive and therefore has not become widely used. In addition, networks such as Internet2 are appearing which allow for synchronous communication with advanced network connectivity. These networks are connecting K-12 students to information and research in half of the United States’ colleges at a speed hundreds of times faster than the current public networks.

Other technologies such as virtual reality will also improve education in the future. This technology will allow students to explore virtual environments that otherwise they would never be able to explore, such as spill sites, galaxies, and DNA molecules. Using these virtual environments teachers and students will be able to conduct activities and in doing so evolve a better understanding of the world we live in. By integrating this virtual reality with “smart objects” from a design template, students can interact with their virtual environment allowing for sample collection and analysis.

The last three technological advancements, PDAs, interactive digital video, and advanced networks are really the reason many people envision the future without a concrete classroom structure, but rather a mobile, interactive, virtual environment where the student works opportunistically.

PDAs (personal digital assistants) are already a reality. In the future, however, they will become much more available to everyone because of price drops. PDAs will allow for the mobility previously mentioned, allowing students to work on projects at any location. Students will be able to communicate with each other and access computer processing functions whenever and wherever they need. Interactive digital video like PDAs will prevent the need for a physical classroom. A student will be able to watch TV, access the internet, and watch a telecourse right on their own television. Interactive digital video has already begun to be used for basic functions in hotels, allowing people to use the internet or watch a video-on-demand without leaving their rooms. The only task left to do is build the required video servers and networks needed to connect the student with the outside world.

Networks are perhaps the most important aspect of education’s digital future, allowing computers worldwide to connect with each other and share information. As time passes these networks will connect more electronic devices and will do it faster than ever before. Here in lies the problem. Exchanging information currently is limited because barriers exist between technologies which prevent communications. For example, a person uses an AOL service provider for internet but other information/voice services such as a cell phone uses an alternate service. Connection of technology at this scale will require companies to increase infrastructure capabilities and allow integration of their services with all others through networks of fiber, coaxial cables and wireless communication. In this way not only students but everyone will be able to enjoy “ubiquitous computing” communication 24 hours a day. Meaning from a person’s personal computer sending or receiving almost any form of communication is possible.

Teaching
The students are not the only ones that will need to be able to master the technology, teachers will have a new role to play and it will center on understanding current technology. To be able to do this, teachers must first and foremost lose the perception that technology is just an add-on or bonus when it is used in the classroom. In their new role teachers will have to be more flexible than ever before, acting as mentors and managers rather than the tradition dispenser of knowledge. Teachers will need to attend more in-services and conventions in order to learn the technology, and they must be given the time to do so by administration. To teach the student, teachers need to share ideas and organize activities based on what they learn and based upon student interests. Organizing these activities in light of increasing technological advances and integration introduces a broader range of resources to use, and teachers need the flexibility and know-how to use them. In addition to the time required to organize detailed problem solving or project based activities, teachers will need to mentor children, opening their eyes to different ways of completing a given task and assuring students meet their goals. Lastly, teachers will no longer be teaching a specific subject but instead will be interdisciplinary. Due to the infrastructure of the new founded curriculum teachers will have to be able to apply their specialty to other fields and ideas.

Conclusion
There is obviously much work that needs to be done before education can be revolutionized. Curriculum, teaching role changes, and technology integration are just a few of the problems the future will face. There are cultural, economic, and social issues that will also have to be dealt with. Culturally the ease of communicating with friends of your culture may very well reduce a person’s need to go out and make new friends of other cultures. In addition, this ease in communicating virtually may reduce people’s healthy psychological need for in-person contact. Finally, with advancing technology will the economic divide between rich and poor widen or narrow? Costs of obtaining technology will decrease over time but price for the ongoing training and tools needed to use it will not. The change in education due to technology is a necessity; the difficulty in dealing with these factors is what will determine how long the transition will take.

Multiple Choice Questions
Click to reveal the answer.

Essay Question
Click to reveal sample responses.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text: LaTeX/simple.tex

title: LaTeX/simple.tex


text:
Talk:How To Tie A Tie/The Knots

The Pratt is not a poor cousin...
I prefer the Pratt because it is symmetrical without the bulk of the Windsor. I think it is more elegant and streamlined. Some ties with thicker linings are almost untieable with the Windsor, but look quite good with a Pratt. Many of my friends wonder why I have to untie my tie after I take it off, I explain, and most of them have adopted it themselves. Please give the Pratt its due. It was only discovered in the 1980's, so it is not mainstream, but it certainly is not analogous with a VW. Try it before you dismiss it as "commie" garb. The Four-in-Hand would be at the bottom of my list just behind the Half-Windsor.
 * Peasant. I suppose you also think that knots the size of a man's fist are the current trend, eh??  WRONG.––193.118.203.3 08:39, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Pratt knott's uniqueness
I have amended the line on the Pratt knott being unique in starting revere side side out. Many other knots (e.g. the oriental knot) start like this.

Self-releasing
Currently the oriental knot is described as "self-releasing". In terms of neckties, what does this phrase mean?   A rbitrarily 0   ( talk ) 00:56, 11 September 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:How To Tie A Tie/The Knots


text:
Talk:How To Tie A Tie/Tying the Knots

Four-In-Hand (feedback)
I have just put a step by step guide up from tying my own tie several times. I have checked it from starting either way round and find the narrow to my (biological/medical) right to be easiest starting position, but this is because I always tie it that way. They both give the same knot.

I am unsure if it is affected by handedness, I am right handed.

If anyone who doesn't know how to tie a tie would like to post a message if they cannot follow the instructions let me know so I can improve the instructions. Please let me know where it all started to go wrong if you have an idea. If you know exactly where the instructions make you tie it wrong, change them if you wish. This is to make the instrucitions better so please do not send me messages of panic, as I am unable to be able to answer them fast enough and will feel bad at not being able to help you in time. Ksbrown 21:30, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Oriental
I have also added the oriental instructions for people to try. Ksbrowntalk 10:29, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Windsor
Just added to test drive, probably will need some clarification. 86.135.75.27 23:28, 10 January 2007 (UTC) I was not logged in so any comments to the same place as always if you think I'm not reading the on here: Ksbrowntalk 23:29, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Diagrams
I put some images in. This might make things much clearer. However, I'm not a native English speaker, so I didn't add instructions. A comprehensive list of knot diagrams can be found on de.wikipedia. You might want to adopt them --Pumbaa80, 85.180.83.253 17:39, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:How To Tie A Tie/Tying the Knots


text:
Spanish/Answers/¿Qué te gusta hacer?

Dialogue

 * ''Raúl: Hi Sophie! ¿Do you like sports?
 * ''Sofía: Good day. I love playing football. And yourself?
 * ''Raúl: Not much. However, I go swimming all the time.
 * ''Sofía: Ah, I can't swim. Do you play chess?
 * ''Raúl: Yes, I love it; it's a fun game.
 * ''Sofía: Yes, bye Raúl
 * ''Raúl: See you tomorrow!

Sports and Activities

 * c
 * h
 * f
 * i
 * a
 * e
 * d
 * b
 * j
 * g

Stem-changing verbs

 * 1) Vuelvo
 * 2) Vuelves
 * 3) Vuelve
 * 4) Volvemos
 * 5) Volvéis
 * 6) Vuelven

 * 1) Practico natación
 * 2) Juego al rugby.
 * 3) Podemos cantar en España.
 * 4) Jugáis al fútbol.
 * 5) ¿Por qué juegas al críquet?

Compound sentences

 * My birthday's on the 11th of January, so I'm 48 years old.
 * I'm 89 and he's 89 too.
 * He plays rugby and tennis.
 * We don't go swimming.
 * We live in the city because the countryside is boring.
 * I don't go swimming because I can't swim.
 * When do you all play cricket?

 * Juego al tenis pero no puedo nadar.
 * Viven en Italia porque no les gustan los deportes.
 * ¿No puedes nadar?
 * Se llama Georgina también.
 * Así, ¿cómo te llamas?
 * No pueden jugar al ajedrez.
 * ¿Cuándo duermes?

¿Que opinas sobre los deportes?

 * 1) ¿Que opinas sobre el rugby?
 * 2) I love chess
 * 3) No me gusta nada cantar.
 * 4) I like sports a lot because they're lively.
 * 5) ¿Te gusta nadar?
 * 6) I don't like living in Boston; there's nothing to do.
 * 7) Los niños son bonitos cuando cantan.
 * So, why can't you sing?
 * 1) Le gusta el campo porque es bonito.
 * 2) I don't like crying.

title: Spanish/Answers/¿Qué te gusta hacer?


text:
User talk:Pmo200g

Is there some reason why your blanking pages and deleting a lot of contents from the Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education textbook? Do you need help with something? --dark lama  22:22, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Editing
Hello...we are getting ready for the next semester's class, and I'm going through and editing out all of the rating scripts from any material that was designated as "supplimental" from the first edition. This will allow for the content to be created in the second edition to have those ratings.

Any page that doesn't have any content except for the rating script, I'm blanking out. If there's some way that I'm supposed to be doing this, I'm happy to do so.

If the pages is not needed any more, instead of blanking a page, a page should be requested for deletion. I would normally suggest adding to the top of the page and explaining why on WB:VFD on votes for deletion and give it a vote, but since this is a class project it may be better to tag it with  to let admins know the page should be deleted and why. If I'm incorrect someone will turn it into a vote for deletion. --dark lama  22:37, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Excellent. Thanks. I'll go back and make sure that all of the unnecessary pages have the delete tag at the top. Pmo200g 23:07, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:SCFAE Cover.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:SCFAE Cover.jpg. However, the image may soon be deleted unless we can determine the copyright holder and copyright status. The Wikimedia Foundation is very careful about the images included in Wikibooks because of copyright law (see Wikibooks' Copyright policy).

The copyright holder is usually the creator, the creator's employer, or the last person who was transferred ownership rights. Copyright information on images is signified using copyright templates. The three basic license types on Wikibooks are open content, public domain, and fair use. Find the appropriate template in Image copyright tags and place it on the image page like this:.

Please signify the copyright information on any other images you have uploaded or will upload. Remember that images without this important information or giving false information can be deleted by an administrator. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, or ask them at the Study help desk. Thank you. Az1568(Talk) 23:53, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Looks like you already tagged it. Thanks : ) --Az1568(Talk) 04:35, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Get Your User Page in Order, Dr. O'Shea!
You may want to put up your bio and perhaps a nice pix. For a couple fine examples, see my user page and Pete's user page.

Dwallen 15:16, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Image:AERASymposiumPresentation.pdf
Thanks for uploading this. Always interesting to see other people's thoughts about this project. So you know, I the licensing because the presentation incorporates some fair use elements (the screenshots). – Mike.lifeguard  | talk 19:00, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Pmo200g


text:
Ruby on Rails/ActionMailer

Note: The following documentation was taken directly from the Rails API documentation

ActionMailer allows you to send email from your application using a mailer model and views.

Model
To use ActionMailer, you need to create a mailer model.

bin/rails mailer Notifier

The generated model inherits from ActionMailer::Base. Emails are defined by creating methods within the model which are then used to set variables to be used in the mail template to change options on the mail, or to add attachments.

Examples:

Mailer methods have the following configuration methods available.

 * recipients: Takes one or more email addresses. These addresses are where your email will be delivered to. Sets the To: header.
 * subject: The subject of your email. Sets the Subject: header.
 * from: Who the email you are sending is from. Sets the From: header.
 * cc:Takes one or more email addresses. These addresses will receive a carbon copy of your email. Sets the Cc: header.
 * bcc: Takes one or more email address. These addresses will receive a blind carbon copy of your email. Sets the Bcc: header.
 * sent_on: The date on which the message was sent. If not set, the header wil be set by the delivery agent.
 * content_type: Specify the content type of the message. Defaults to text/plain.
 * <tt>headers:</tt> Specify additional headers to be set for the message, e.g. headers ‘X-Mail-Count’ => 107370.

The body method has special behavior. It takes a hash which generates an instance variable named after each key in the hash containing the value that the key points do.

So, for example, body "account" => recipient would result in an instance variable @account with the value of recipient being accessible in the view.

Mailer Views
Like ActionController, each mailer class has a corresponding view directory in which each method of the class looks for a template with its name. To define a template to be used with a mailing, create an .rhtml file with the same name as the method in your mailer model. For example, in the mailer defined above, the template at app/views/notifier/signup_notification.rhtml would be used to generate the email.

Variables defined in the model are accessible as instance variables in the view.

Emails by default are sent in plain text, so a sample view for our model example might look like this:

Hi <%= @account.name %>, Thanks for joining our service! Please check back often.

Sending HTML Mail
To send mail as HTML, make sure your view (the .rhtml file) generates HTML and set the content type to html.

Multipart Mail
You can explicitly specify multipart messages:

Multipart messages can also be used implicitly because ActionMailer will automatically detect and use multipart templates where each template is named after the name of the action, followed by the content type. Each such detected template will be added as separate part to the message.

For example, if the following templates existed:

 * <tt>signup_notification.text.plain.rhtml</tt>
 * <tt>signup_notification.text.html.rhtml</tt>
 * <tt>signup_notification.text.xml.rxml</tt>
 * <tt>signup_notification.text.x-yaml.rhtml</tt>

Each would be rendered and added as a separate part to the message, with the corresponding content type. The same body hash is passed to each template.

Attachments
Attachments can be added by using the attachment method.

Example:

Configuration Options
These options are specified on the class level, like ActionMailer::Base.template_root = "/my/templates"

 * <tt>template_root:</tt> template root determines the base from which template references will be made.
 * <tt>logger:</tt> the logger is used for generating information on the mailing run if available. Can be set to nil for no logging. Compatible with both Ruby’s own Logger and Log4r loggers.
 * <tt>server_settings:</tt> Allows detailed configuration of the server:
 * <tt>:address</tt> Allows you to use a remote mail server. Just change it from its default "localhost" setting.
 * <tt>:port</tt> On the off chance that your mail server doesn’t run on port 25, you can change it.
 * <tt>:domain</tt> If you need to specify a HELO domain you can do it here.
 * <tt>:user_name</tt> If your mail server requires authentication, set the username in this setting.
 * <tt>:password</tt> If your mail server requires authentication, set the password in this setting.
 * <tt>:authentication</tt> If your mail server requires authentication you need to specify the authentication type here. This is a symbol and one of :plain, :login, :cram_md5
 * <tt>raise_delivery_errors:</tt> whether or not errors should be raised if the email fails to be delivered.
 * <tt>delivery_method:</tt> Defines a delivery method. Possible values are :smtp (default), :sendmail, and :test. Sendmail is assumed to be present at "/usr/sbin/sendmail".
 * <tt>perform_deliveries:</tt> Determines whether deliver_* methods are actually carried out. By default they are, but this can be turned off to help functional testing.
 * <tt>deliveries:</tt> Keeps an array of all the emails sent out through the Action Mailer with delivery_method :test. Most useful for unit and functional testing.
 * <tt>default_charset:</tt> The default charset used for the body and to encode the subject. Defaults to UTF-8. You can also pick a different charset from inside a method with @charset.
 * <tt>default_content_type:</tt> The default content type used for the main part of the message. Defaults to "text/plain". You can also pick a different content type from inside a method with @content_type.
 * <tt>default_mime_version:</tt> The default mime version used for the message. Defaults to nil. You can also pick a different value from inside a method with @mime_version. When multipart messages are in use, @mime_version will be set to "1.0" if it is not set inside a method.
 * <tt>default_implicit_parts_order:</tt> When a message is built implicitly (i.e. multiple parts are assembled from templates which specify the content type in their filenames) this variable controls how the parts are ordered. Defaults to ["text/html", "text/enriched", "text/plain"]. Items that appear first in the array have higher priority in the mail client and appear last in the mime encoded message. You can also pick a different order from inside a method with @implicit_parts_order.

title: Ruby on Rails/ActionMailer


text:
Talk:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Nature/Cats (North American Division)

An anonymous editor renumbered some of the requirements, presumably to match the numbering as adopted in his or her division. If this is the case, it would be better to make two versions of the honor and create a disambiguation page.

I would do this myself, but I need to know which division numbers them differently. I checked the South Pacific Division, and though the wording of the requirements are slighty different, the order is the same as in the North American Division and the General Conference edition.

Please leave a note on my talk page if you'd like to discuss this. Jim Thomas 23:42, 30 December 2006 (UTC)


text:
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Camping/Boiling

Camping foods that are prepared by boiling include:
 * Pasta (spaghetti, macaroni, etc.)
 * Oatmeal
 * Boiled eggs
 * Cooked vegetables (carrots, green beans, corn, etc.)

/Overlapping requirements


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Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Camping/Frying

Foods that are prepared by frying include
 * Pancakes
 * Scrambled or fried eggs
 * French toast
 * Vegetarian sausages
 * Veggie burgers
 * Grilled cheese sandwiches


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Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Camping/Baking

Foods that are prepared for baking on a campout include:
 * Bread on a stick
 * Biscuits
 * Cobbler (see the Dutch Oven Cooking honor for more ideas)
 * Baked potatoes
 * Corn on the cob
 * Veggie burgers

Baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and veggie burgers can all be baked by wrapping them in aluminum foil and covering them with hot coals. Veggie burgers can have onions, carrots, and thin potato slices added to them and cooked in the same package.

/Transcluded Modules


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User:EVula

Hi, I'm EVula and you're not.

title: User:EVula


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Ruby on Rails/ActionView/Builder

XmlBuilder is a class which supports creating XML output with Ruby methods. Most method calls sent to the XmlBuilder class will be rendered directly. You also have access to all instance variables defined in the action. For example:

In /app/controllers/demo_controller.rb:

class DemoController < ApplicationController def index @title = 'History' end end

In /app/views/demo/index.rxml:

xm.instruct! #  xm.html {                     # xm.head {                   # xm.title(@title)       #     History }                           #       xm.body {                    # xm.comment! "HI"          # xm.h1("Header")           #     Header xm.p("paragraph")         #     paragraph }                           #     }                              #

title: Ruby on Rails/ActionView/Builder


text: User:Xerxesxi

title: User:Xerxesxi


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Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Camping/Participate in a weekend campout

Weekend campout are a lot of fun, especially if the campers have some knowledge of camping! Once every five years, Seventh-day Adventist Divisions hold a division-wide camporee, where people from all over their division attend. Many clubs from outside the division also attend. In 2009, the North American Division held a camporee in Oshkosh Wisconsin, and it was attended by 33,000 Pathfinders! The NAD also held camporees in Oshkosh in 1999 and in 2004, and at other locations prior to that.

Within the Divisions are Unions, and many of them hold camporees every five years as well. Union Camporees are held between Division Camporees. Divisions are made up of local Conferences. Many Pathfinder clubs attend Conference Camporees every year - and some conferences have camporees twice a year (once in the fall, and again in the spring). In addition to these camporees, some clubs go camping by themselves as a club. This is a special bonding time for members of the local Pathfinder club. Of course, Pathfinders also like to camp with their friends and families, and those trips can also be used to meet this requirement. Remember, the more you know about camping, the more fun it is!


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Ruby on Rails/Built-In Rails Tools/Make your own rake tasks

You can make your own rake task by creating a file in the lib/tasks directory of your Rails application and adding the Rake tasks to it. For example, adding the following to lib/tasks/database.rake will make the db:recreate task available to your Rails application:

The namespace method puts the contents of the block in the specified namespace. You can nest namespaces as deep as you want although usually one or two nestings is sufficient.

This task can now be executed with

rake db:recreate


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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Accountability/Flexibility

Teachers have always felt the need to be accountable for the students they teach. They grow attached to their students and they want them to succeed. According to the Education Commission of the State website, accountability means holding key individuals and groups responsible for student achievement through the systematic collection, analysis, use and reporting of valid and reliable information. Accountability systems assume that educators, policymakers and others know how to act on the information to improve education.” Ever since the federal law, "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), came into play in 2002 the era in which teachers teach has become more scrutinized than ever before. "No Child Left Behind" reauthorizes a number of federal programs that aim to improve the performances of the United States primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools, as well as providing parents more flexibility in choosing which school their child attends. (No Child Left Behind) This act requires that by the end of the 2005–2006 school year that all teachers will be "highly qualified". To be considered a "highly qualified" teacher, new teachers must hold a bachelor's degree and must be able to pass a state test demonstrating their subject knowledge and teaching skills in all core content areas for elementary level, and for middle and higher level, they must pass a state test in each academic subject area they teach, plus have an undergraduate major, graduate degree, or coursework equivalent to an undergraduate major or an advanced certification or credentialing. (No Child Left Behind) These standards become very hard to implement in various places around the country due to small communities with small schools. In an interview with Kathleen Rowe, an instructional aide for the Buchanan County Public Schools, Rowe stated, “In rural areas, we are often times faced with choosing anyone willing to work with the students. We face that problem in this county because we’ve hired all the known qualified people in the area and we are still lacking.” (Rowe)

Becoming Flexible
Teachers not only have to recertify themselves every now and then, and teachers must always be striving toward making their resume of education better, teachers also take this accountability idea personally. This is where flexibility comes in to play. Teachers need to move into mentorship, coaching, and ongoing professional development in order to stay accountable. Teachers must always be aware of the content they are teaching because ultimately assessment leads back to the content taught. (Jackson)Teachers and administrators must always be checking themselves to make sure that all state standards are being met and carried out in the way they were intended. In order for all of this to be done, teachers must remain flexible. Teachers must be willing to put forth the extra effort to help his/her students in anyway possible. In order to make sure that no child is left behind, teachers need to always be on the look out for new ways to interest students in their studies and to always present the content is an easy manner for all to be able to understand. Teachers can remain flexible by speaking one-on-one with the students and finding out how the child learns best. With a classroom full of children, no one child is the same, so teachers must be flexible in dealing with the opportunity to teach in various ways for the many types of different learners she encounters. Without this flexibility, teachers would be denying their students a quality education. A loving, stress free learning environment is best for children to retain the information needed to be known for standardized testing. Currently, most states are so focused on standardized testing that this way of evaluation and assessment has become the norm. (Zimmerman) Students and teachers alike feel like they must master the art of taking a test in order to pass, but they do not really focus on the material being taught. Teachers should be able to help their students learn how take the tests in the easiest way possible, with the least amount of stress involved. As you can see, students, teachers, and parents all live in an age of accountability. Students are pushed to their breaking points to learn certain standards and teachers are held accountable for the student's results. (Gusky) In order for students to want to learn, incentives may need to be offered to help students stay motivated.

Getting Help
In March 2004, the Department of Education provided three new ways of flexibility for rural school teachers, science school teachers, and those teachers that teach more than one subject. For teachers in rural areas, they are often faced with the task of teaching a subject that they may not be certified in. The Department gave those teachers 3 years to become highly qualified in the additional subject they teach. They were also to be provided with professional development and supervision to becoming highly qualified in these subjects. Science teachers are a lot like rural teachers. They are often called upon to teach more than one area of science. The Department provided flexibility by leaving it up to the state to determine, based upon their qualifications, if they are highly qualified in a “broad” field of science or in just one particular subject. For teachers who are current and are teaching more than one subject, there were required to go through the HOUSSE (High, Objective, Uniform State Standard of Evaluation) program to become highly qualified in each subject taught. This process oftentimes became very repetitive. In the new guidelines, states may bring these evaluations together for current, multi-subject teachers to be able to show that they are highly qualified in all subjects at one time. (ECS)

New teachers are also given the flexibility to have “alternative ways of certification”. This could be one of two ways, such as allowing a candidate to teach while they are obtaining their state certification or the state itself can adopt new routes to certification, like have an all around assessment for candidates instead of relying on their course work in education school courses. (ECS)

Conclusion
We’ve seen that there are many requirements that the “No Child Left Behind Act” states for current and future educators, but there is room to be flexible. The Department of Education has been flexible in allowing educators many ways to become highly qualified, while teachers have personally become flexible in making sure that all of their students can learn the material in their own way for the standardized assessments

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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Accountability/NCLB Enemy

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB as it is also known), was proposed by President Bush in 2001 and signed into law on January 8, 2002. NCLB reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the main federal law affecting education from kindergarten through high school (ed.gov). NCLB was intended to revamp the education system, and has been built on several principles such as providing academic standards, increased accountability and more school choices for parents. Each state is required to set academic standards in reading and math. The school districts and schools are held accountable for their students in meeting those standards. If students are attending schools that are failing to meet the academic standards, the parents are to be given choices to obtain free supplemental tutoring or to send their children to other schools. On paper NCLB may seem like a great idea, but in reality it is destroying our education system. The principles for which NCLB claims to stand will be challenged in this article so that one can see that the NCLB Act truly is the enemy of quality education.

Teaching to the Test
Under NCLB, all public schools are to annually test students in grades 3-8 in reading and math, and once again during high school. The tests are intended to help the parents, students and teachers to know just what the students are learning throughout the year and whether or not the students may need help in certain areas. This one-size-fits-all theory limits our teachers and eliminates other content areas and activities. Teachers are required to teach the material that is covered on the  standardized tests, thereby depressing the efforts of providing high quality education to the students. Many teachers find that a steady stream of standardized tests is taking too much time away from classroom instruction, undermining their efforts to provide a developmentally appropriate program that meets the needs of all students and truly helps them to learn (Odland). Content areas such as the arts, enrichment, gifted programs, and special education have been affected by either being changed or eliminated in order to ensure proficient academic performance. Students have different learning styles and levels at which they learn. They come from different backgrounds, with different experiences and skills. We cannot expect them to be same. We can give them the same education, but what they do with it, how they learn and grow from it will be different with each student, standardized tests will not change that. With so much time being spent on “teaching to the test”, there is less time for individual instruction to reach those with different learning styles and levels. To expect each student to be the same defies the ability to cultivate individual students and to help them to reach their fullest potential.

Accountability
According to the US Department of Education, the NCLB Act will give accountability for results (Ed.gov), but to whom are the schools being held accountable? The US Department of Education would have one believe that the schools are accountable to the parents, educators and local communities. Rep. Scott Garrett (R) from New Jersey disagrees stating, “NCLB entirely missed the mark. It centralized accountability in Washington with the bureaucrats and appointees at the U.S. Department of Education, completely bypassing the legislators in 50 state capitals, countless township school boards and local elected officials, and -- most importantly -- administrators, educators, and parents all across the nation” (Garrett). Under NCLB, each state is required to define the adequate yearly progress (AYP) for school districts and schools, within the parameters set by Title I. The schools not meeting the AYP for two consecutive years are identified as needing improvement. After four years of failing to meet adequate progress, the district must implement corrective actions to improve the school, such as replacing staff members or fully implementing a new curriculum (Ed.gov). Although it may seem this system would hold inadequate schools accountable, it is still misleading. Rep. Garrett gives an example about a school in his district in the State of New Jersey, “every year, nearly 100% of the students graduate and go on to attend college and the school’s average combined SAT score hovers at 1100. This is a school bursting at the seams with motivated teachers, students, and parents. But, it was put on the warning list because one student did not meet NCLB’s requirement for what they deemed was “adequate performance” (Garrett). Another example is Amelia Earhart Elementary School in Provo, Utah which failed to meet the No Child benchmarks because of low scores by just three students with disabilities (Ripley). This shows how the federal government is using NCLB to hold back schools and their students. The teachers are required to teach on a lower level or slow down for a few students so that they may do well on the standardized tests, therefore increasing the AYP levels for the schools. This causes the remaining students to receive a watered down curriculum, increasing the odds of the losing interest or not working to the best of their ability. If the only school requirement is to pass the standardized tests, then why should they put more effort into their education? Quality schools are more than just test scores. A quality school provides an atmosphere where students and teachers are excited about education and learning new material, challenging each person to go that extra mile, where the adults care about the individual students and their gains in education, and where students have an “I can” attitude and not one of dread.

Choices
Along with the federal requirements that states implement the AYP guides in all schools and districts, they are also required to give the parents choices. In his speech at the University of New Hampshire in January 2002, President Bush stated, “If a school can't change, if a school can't show the parents and community leaders that they can teach the basics, something else has to take place. In order for there to be accountability, there has [sic] to be consequences. And the consequence in this bill is that after a period of time, if a parent is tired of their child being trapped into [sic] a failed school, that parent will have different options, public school choice, charter, and private tutoring." (Snell). The problem with this is that many parents of students in failing schools are not aware of the right to transfer their children. School districts have not made the effort to inform their communities of their public school choice. When a parent does request a transfer, the “choice” of schools they are offered are usually to other Title 1 schools that may be just as low-performing as the school in which they are transferring from. Another detail not known to most parents is that school districts decide which schools the parents will be allowed to “choose” from. Causing further confusion, under NCLB the Title 1 federal funding, money used to provide extra educational services to disadvantaged students in high poverty schools, does not follow the student to the better performing, non-Title 1 schools. Therefore, those schools that are performing better, that a parent may want to transfer their child into, have no financial incentive to admit low-performing students. In Richmond, Virginia during the 2002-03 school year, there were 120 requests for transfer out of 8,000 eligible children. Only 30 of those were honored by the district (Snell). If the NCLB is supposed to give parents choices, they should not be denied their choice because the federal government will not allow the proper financing. The parents and students are in a sense trapped. Once again, this shows that many of the ideas that look good to those in Washington do not work in the thousands of school districts across the United States.

Conclusion
The No Child Left Behind Act is not the way to make sure that our children are educated properly. It is the responsibility of the parents, schools, local communities and each of the 50 states to ensure that children are receiving the quality education they are entitled to. It is not the responsibility of the federal government. Those who work at the federal level in Washington, D.C., cannot know how to educate children in a particular school or classroom better than those working with the children on a daily basis. Schools should not be penalized because a few students were not able to pass a standardized test, especially when those students may have disabilities that those in Washington do not understand or did not take into account when this law was passed. There is much more to education than what is covered in the standardized testing material. As Paul Houston has stated, “If we put too much emphasis on a lower, common denominator, we will be sacrificing higher possibilities for our children.” The concern of NCLB is comparative group scores. Shouldn’t the concern for our children be for their individual growth? We need to know where each and every student started in their educational learning and how far we as parents and educators can take them.

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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Philosophy and Ethics/Teaching Ethics

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Definitions
Before we can begin this philosophical journey of education, we need to define the word itself. What are ethics? Ethics deal with a human philosophy, with respect to what is right and wrong, good and bad, and the motives behind those actions (Dictionary.com).

As I looked into this subject I had to define morals, values, and character because they all flow evenly through each other and build upon one another.
 * Morals are the principles or habits with respect to right and wrong conduct
 * Values are the beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something)
 * Character is a moral or ethical quality in respect to honesty, courage, or integrity (Dictionary.com).

History
Throughout history there have been varying thoughts on the purpose of teaching. Plato debated whether teaching was to provide students with practical skills or to make them virtuous people. Today, “teaching is essentially a moral endeavor, in that the purposes of teaching - to make people more knowledgeable, more skillful, more thoughtful – mean making them better than they were before,” (Hansen, 1993).

Social Need
The purpose of ethics is to rationalize morality. This forefront of values and rules, guide the choices and actions of individuals within a larger community (Ethics and Policy Integration Centre, 2003). Schools can contribute to this development by first expanding our children's knowledge of personalities. During school, children are able to interact with people whose families differ from their own. Secondly, they are exposed to new group norms and institutional practices (Thorkildsen & Walberg, 2004).

Implementing Ethics in the Classroom
Sometimes we teach one specific subject, and the results of our teaching are unintended. Many morals that are taught are unanticipated. For example, an act as simple and common as raising one’s hand establishes order and teaches us to take turns (Hansen, 1993). You do not have to write a lecture in order to teach ethics. There is no VA-SOL curriculum to follow. Ethics are all around us, everyday. It is up to teachers to develop their own philosophy of ethics and determine the best way to introduce them into their classroom. There is no question; teachers can teach ethics through the application of our daily school requirements and routines.

The Teacher's Role
If we as teachers are going to be responsible for teaching ethics, it is important be aware of our personal beliefs, what we value and treasure in human nature. It may be helpful to define a teaching philosophy or character guidelines that you want to be the foundation of your classroom. It is important to be aware of our values and biases, and it is our duty as teachers to present both sides of the spectrum and not to reflect all of our personal beliefs onto our students. Only then can we truly guide our students to define their own.

Religion
In the American school system, there is established distinction between morality and religious dogma. The idea of teaching religion and morals in public schools causes many teachers and administrators to feel uneasy. Because many moral convictions are common to popular faiths, some social scientists believe that teaching morals is to promote the establishment of religion. On the other hand, some church leaders conclude that ethical behavior will disappear if religious beliefs are not taught to all young people (Zakariya, 1987). The battle between religion and moral principles does not need to deter teachers from providing our nation's youth with positive character traits.

The Building Blocks of Character
When I think of this topic, a title of a book continues to echo in my head. Robert Fulgram wrote the book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. As I pondered all the ways in which teachers regularly teach ethics, I decided that ethics, like all other subjects, begins in kindergarten and we elaborate on them each year. There are 5 character traits that we learn early in school and build upon for the rest of our lives:

1. Honesty – “Did you hit Johnny?” This is a common kindergarten question, which challenges children's first instincts to lie to their teachers. This is why we create consequences, like the loss of privileges. These same choices will continue through life, only the loss of playground time could turn into jail time.

2. Responsibility – “It is your job to feed the hamster every morning this week.” In the first years of school we are taught that animals, plants, and people need each other. Even being the line leader gives us the feeling that our class might not make to art without us. In a sense, it is our first feeling that society depends on our help.

3. Sharing – “Can you share the doll with Sally?” Giving something that belongs to you, or that you initially possessed, is a challenge for children and even many adults. We teach that life isn’t fair, and quickly learn that if we share with someone then they might share with us. As children grow, the scope of their sharing becomes larger, and we encourage our students to collect food for the homeless or volunteer for an organization. Learning to help those less fortunate is a fundamental characteristic of our society.

4. Respect – “It is not nice to tease people; please stop.” It is necessary for teachers to create a safe, comfortable environment for all of their students. This entails role modeling acceptance and tolerance for all races, ethnicities, religions, and genders. It is important that students know that they are an important part of the class; they learn respect for themselves. “Please do not write on the desks.” This is the beginning of respecting others people's property.

5. Success – “Tommy, that is a wonderful picture you have drawn.” From the beginning of our lives we need to be nurtured. As we become little people, we begin to have a desire to be praised. And quickly this feeling forms into an aspiration to succeed. We continue through life with this desire. We wouldn’t be here without it.

As we aim to become the best teachers that we can be, it is important to define our moral ground. Our students will need our guidance and direction when it comes to the skills they acquire and the people they become. We cannot control the decisions of our children, for that is human nature. We can provide them with all the information they need to become the remarkable members of our captivating society.

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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Educational Change/World Work Force

In November 2000, Condoleezza Rice stated: The growing international trend toward democracy and market economies will only be positive for the United States if our job structure in the New Economy matches our workers’ skill sets. There is a growing gap between the knowledge-based, technology-intensive jobs that are driving the U.S. economy and the skills of American workers. Education is the top national security issue of the 21st century.

Since then, we have obviously shifted our security concerns in response to Sep.11, but the competitiveness of our national workforce is still a top concern. The United States ranks 10th in adult literacy among 17 high-income countries. Our nation has the largest gap between highly educated and poorly educated adults. The young adults in our country are the most shocking. We perform worse compared to our peers in other countries from ages 16-25. Individuals have the responsibility to learn the necessary skills to compete in the workforce. We need to improve our education system at all levels to make a change.

Competing Against the Global Workforce
In his State Of The Union Address, President Bush announced The American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) to encourage American innovation and strengthen our nation's ability to compete in the global economy (January 31, 2006, Office of the Press Secretary). To compete more effectively in the global marketplace, the American Competitiveness Initiative proposes $380 million in new Federal support to improve the quality of math, science, and technological education in our K-12 schools and engage every child in rigorous courses that teach important analytical, technical, and problem-solving skills (January 31, 2006, Office of the Press Secretary). Under the ACI, we are training 70,000 teachers over five years to teach Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate math and science classes. We are also trying to bring in math and science professionals to teach high school. At the early level there is a program called Math Now for elementary and middle school students. Thirty years ago, the United States had thirty percent of the world’s college students. Now, that number has fallen to fourteen percent and is falling. Countries like India and China are providing more educated workers for less pay. Indian Engineers make $7,500 compared to $45,000 for an American with the same qualifications.

Education System
Our education system was designed for jobs that required a less technical background. Most of our teachers come from the bottom third of college graduates. The main problem is the pay a teacher makes is considerably lower than other professions. We must educate the future generation with more qualified teachers. Other countries send their kids to college at sixteen. We need to look at how we can modify our system so it is always improving and we can continue competing. Perhaps our high schools should be more like college where students can choose a concentration of study their freshman year. We should provide more specialized schools early on for students interested in vocational studies. Now, as the world is growing more and more technologically advanced, we need to look at improving the system to fit the new demands of the global labor force.

Adult Education Programs
Although emphasis is placed mainly on the K-12 student population learning job related skills, adult education programs are becoming more and more important in the U.S. “Either through choice or necessity, more and more adults are seeking career assistance, and in order to address career or job concerns, are frequently enrolling in educational programs” (Keierleber and Sundal-Hansen, 1985). Layoffs have disrupted the lives of millions of Americans over the last 25 years. We as a nation must offer these displaced workers retraining and more education so they may find new and better-paying careers. Adult Education can provide adult courses in math, in English as a second language and in preparing for a high school diploma. It provides job-hunting assistance, with help in conducting interviews, filling out applications, and writing resumes. It also steers workers into on-the-job training with future employers. There are may Hispanics living in our country today who have never had to communicate in English and about 50 percent who are high school graduates but functioning at a fifth- or sixth-grade level. Therefore, adult programs are needed to meet the increased demand of adult education and training to provide qualified workers for a growing economy.

Mississippi Board of Education
Changes in our education system are already starting. The Mississippi Board of Education has a five step outline to improving their school system and the 26.6 percent dropout rate. They are making the curriculum more challenging, improving on quality and quantity of teachers, improving the quality and quantity of school leaders, create a culture in Mississippi that values education, and redesigning their education system for the 21st century workforce.

U.S. Secretary of Education
"We cannot prepare students for the global economy if we don't get them to grade level first."( Secretary Margaret Spellings). She supports the No Child Left Behind Act, which says our schools must bring our students up to grade level in reading and math by 2014. As a result of this act, test scores have risen and achievement gaps have shrunk in states across the country. Secretary Spellings believes we must not retreat from the world in the face of increased competition(U.S. Secretary of Education—Biography).

A Vulnerable American Economy
The report is based on an detailed survey of 431 human resource officials that was conducted in April and May 2006 by The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management(The Conference Board, Oct. 2, 2006). The interviewed employers said more than forty percent of high school graduate entry level positions are not qualified. They also said that forty seven percent of two-year and four-year college graduates were lacking in writing skills. "One message of this study to educators, policy makers and those concerned with U.S. economic competitiveness is that new entrants to the U.S. workforce are not demonstrating levels of excellence necessary to compete successfully in the face of rising global labor market challenges," says Susan R. Meisinger, President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management(The Conference Board, Oct. 2, 2006). "It is clear from the report that greater communication and collaboration between the business sector and educators is critical to ensure that young people are prepared to enter the workplace of the 21st century," says Richard Cavanagh, President and CEO of The Conference Board. "Less than intense preparation in critical skills can lead to unsuccessful futures for America's youth, as well as a less competitive U.S. workforce. This ultimately makes the U.S. economy more vulnerable in the global marketplace."(The Conference Board, Oct. 2, 2006).

Conclusion
The challenge we now face is to answer the question, “How do we reform our out dated educational system to meet the demands of a constantly changing global market?” We have proposed solutions and have instituted action. The competition for the U.S. economy to ever adapt and improve is here. We must start early at the education level and raise our standards to meet and surpass the rest of the world. With a more educated workforce, we can provide higher quality products and innovative ideas to keep us ahead in the global economy.

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How do we reform our out dated educational system to meet the demands of a constantly changing global market?


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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Educational Change/Essentials

All throughout the course of a child’s education, many things change. They go to different schools as they get older, have different friends, and acquire new teachers. Their interests change from playing with friends after school to sports ,and members of the opposite sex. The one thing that remains constant is the subject matter that is being taught in schools. Regardless of what school a student goes to, the same basic subjects will be taught and all of them are important as they contribute to the development of a student’s mind. While some subjects may be more valuable to students than others, they all shape the way a person thinks. Often times, students may ask, “When am I ever going to use this stuff?” What they don’t see is that they use it every single day whether they realize it or not.

Reading, Writing, and Speaking
Reading, writing, and speaking are essential for everyone to function on an every day basis. While reading is an activity that almost all children learn to do at a very young age, comprehension is a totally different story. Just teaching a student to read is not enough. They must be able to understand what they are reading. There are a few good skills that must be practiced while learning to comprehend what is being read (Colorado). Comparing and contrasting is a great way to get a student thinking about more than just what the story says at the surface level. Also, getting a student to try and figure out the theme to stories and solve the problems that may exist in the story is a great way to make them use their mind for deeper thinking (Colorado). Research now shows that low reading achievement more than any other factor, is the root cause for lower performing schools. Reading is considered to be the fundamental skill upon which all formal education depends on. Any child that does not acquire the necessary skills to read, will be at a disadvantage academically in all fields, however because of recent scientific research and the newly discovered learning disabled program in the Special Education department, new instruction has been developed to help these children read at level once the instruction is delivered by the proper skilled/ trained teacher (AFT Union of Professionals,2007).

The ability to write is an essential tool that students must be possess if they are going to be successful in school and in life. There are several areas in which writing is used in every day life. In the most basic way, people use this skill when doing something as simple as writing down a note. Writing will be used in almost every profession imaginable in one way or another. Whether it is writing a letter to someone or just writing down simple calculations, basic writing skill will be used in the workplace. According to the Belden Russonello & Stewart research and communications survey, Americans voted that writing skills are essential to get ahead today. Nearly three-quarters of Americans say that it is more important today than it was twenty years ago to possess such a skill (Belden and Russonello,2007)There is a high demand for higher education when trying to obtain employment in today's society as well. Along with higher education comes the responsibility of knowing how to communicate ideas verbally, as well as on paper. Writing enhances the development of many other activities as well. Writing helps build vocabulary, and also helps develop important reading skills.

Speaking is another skill that is kind of lost in the shuffle after elementary school. Public speaking is way too important for this to happen. It is completely irrelevant the knowledge a person may have about a particular subject if they can not verbalize their point. Public speaking is used in almost every profession. Someone can be a great writer but may not be able to present the materials in front of other people. One way for children to develop profound reading and speaking skills is the use of phonics. "Phonics is a method of teaching reading based on pronunciation" (Leinwand 89). Helping the pronounce the words in order to read them also helps them to be able to say the different words correctly. It also gives them more confidence knowing they all they have to do is take the time to pronounce each syllable. It is harder for employers to find people who can not speak properly credible if it appears that they are unsure or do not have any knowledge as to what they are talking about.

Mathematics
Most individuals in today’s society do not realize how much mathematics is involved in their daily lives. A skill as simple as counting is using a math. Every time an individual counts, they are using the basic function of addition. From such a basic skill as counting to designing a computer, math is essential in life (Roman). Engineering is one field that uses math more than others.

Engineering has crossed our paths in one form or another. Engineers designed the cars that are driven to work every day. Engineers designed the highways and bridges that are used for our daily commuting purposes. Without the usage of math, these necessities that we take for granted would not be possible. Almost nothing that we have in the world today could exist without the usage of math (Roman). Students do not care for mathematics because they view math as difficult. That is why it is important for teachers to provide remediation for students who do not understand and make it their point to emphasize the importance of math, not to just teach it.

Science
Where did we come from? Why is the sky blue? Why are there clouds in the sky? All of these are questions that most people will ask themselves throughout the course of their lives. That is why science is another important subject in schools today. Without science, these basic questions of life could not have been answered. Science gives people an understanding of the world and why earth functions the way it does. Without science, there would be no way to calculate time. Along with every other subject already discussed, science is used in one way or another in most professions. Without science, how would doctors be able to treat people who are ill? Engineers use science along with math to design the tools that we use on an every day basis. Math and science compliment each other in discovering some of the mysteries of the world.

Literature
Literature is a subject that many students feel is unnecessary in school. They could not be more inaccurate. Literature greatly benefits people. First, it expands the imagination. Great literature can take the reader back in time or to some magical world. Next, literature provides the reader an interpretation of the world from someone else's point of view. Everyone perceives the world in a slightly different way. Literature is a way in which to use the mind to look at the world through someone else’s eyes. Most people just view it as a source of entertainment and of no educational value. When your mind is forced to think in a different way than what it is accustomed to doing, it sharpens the brain and increases the imagination.

History
Most people view history class as being forced to learn a bunch of facts that have no meaning to there life. History is so much more than just learning dates and facts. It is what is done with that information that is important. Instead of just learning that something happened, it needs to be taken into consideration why something happened. It is then that history becomes useful in the world today (Ragland 3). History is useful in today's classrooms because in many cases we have seen that history often repeats itself (Leinwand 77). Even essentialist thinkers believe in a mastery of basic knowledge, a main component being history (79). As we look through all angles, history is a large part of education in all aspects and is one that should not be left out of education. When students know about what has happened in the past, they can use that information to help make decisions. Students can then truly understand history and use it in their lives.

The Arts
The arts are not studied as much in school as the rest of the subjects but it is still very important. Art provides a way through which to communicate to people who may not even speak the same language as the author (Dickinson)! Art can be used to tell a story or just make a statement that everyone can understand regardless of what language someone speaks. Art also makes people think more deeply into it than a lot of other subjects do. When looking at art, it could take a very long time to get what the author is trying to say. This makes the viewer think critically about it (Dickinson). Some schools have taken time and money away from the arts to be able to focus more time on the core subjects. A study published in 2003 by Graham Wilkins et al surveyed over five hundred elementary schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia and showed that taking time away from the arts may be counterproductive. Schools that spent more time in the core subjects and less time in the arts did not have significantly higher tests scores than the other schools (Wilkins). The researchers also found that spending more time in the arts may be related to higher test scores but more studies would need to be done to support that idea (Wilkins). The arts are equally as important in the overall development of students by making them well rounded individuals. Students are typically more active in an art, music, or physical education class, and that activity and break from the typical lecture style class may help increase students' attention and decrease unwanted behavior from some students.

Conclusion
Some of these subjects are going to be more valuable to some than others, but all of them are essential in developing one’s mind. The goal in education is to produce as well rounded of people as possible. Different students will succeed in different areas, but they need to have a general understanding of all the subjects. They are the future of the world and having the privilege of teaching them must not be taken lightly!

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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Educational Change/Early Childhood Education

Over the past years, time and resources have been invested in order to improve the K-12 education in the United States. These efforts may be in jeopardy if more importance is not given to early education for 3- and 4- year old children. School readiness is an important factor that needs to be considered, in order to benefit the educational progress. Studies are showing that at risk children are not prepared enough  to enter kindergarten, compared to high income children. One of the greatest setbacks is the lack of cohesiveness among federal and local governments when administering programs. The Good Start, Grow Smart early literacy initiative was launched by the Bush Administration in 2002. This initiative was created in order to improve children's school readiness. To accomplish this the Federal Government intends to broaden the goals of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and their funding (Clearinghouse on International Developments). Taking all these factors into consideration, early childhood education is a critical component in America's effort to improve education and create a world class workforce. (A Call To Action From the Business Community).

Supporting Research
The National Research Council released From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, a compilation of current scientific data and knowledge regarding the development of children from birth to age five. Through this research four important findings were identified. First, it is important to understand that the development of the brain, which is affected by early experience, lays down the foundation for moral development, intelligence and emotional health. Secondly the ability for healthy early development depends on nurturing relationships. Thirdly, school readiness is greatly affected by the way children think and more importantly, how they feel. Lastly, children's needs are not being met amongst the vastly changing society (From Neurons to Neighborhoods).

It is being discovered that by the time children enter kindergarten at the age of five, there is already a wide gap in their readiness for school. It is known that lower SES children enter kindergarten with poor skills in the major areas of learning and development (Lee and Burkam), compared to the higher SES children which are performing 60 percent higher in achievement tests. This can be attributed to many factors, including lower attendance in programs prior to entering kindergarten (Lee and Burkam).

Typically, children’s abilities are related to their families’ income levels. Yet the quality of early childhood experiences can make a tremendous difference and make a difference regardless of family characteristics. Research has shown that children of both high and low SES, who are involved in high-quality pre kindergarten programs, perform significantly higher on measures of abilities and skills that are vital to their success in school (West, Denton, and Reaney). Not only are these programs critical for low SES children but middle SES children can significantly benefit from early childhood education programs (Lee and Burkam). It is important that the existing gap between low, middle, and high SES children when entering kindergarten be reduced in order to ensure success for all students.

Principles
In order for there to be a successful early childhood education program, there must be a set of defining principles. Six main principles have been identified and will be used by The Business Roundtable (BRT) and Corporate Voice for Working Families (CVWF) to create policies and evaluate current programs. The six principles include: learning, standards, teachers, parents, accountability, partnership (A Call To Action From the Business Community).

The first principle is learning because in order for the system to be successful, children's learning should be the central mission. In order to accomplish this, positive learning experiences are needed to create interconnections between a child's cognitive, social and emotional development(A Call To Action From the Business Community).

The second principle is standards, which will ensure the quality of early childhood education systems, and alignment with state academic standards. Objective, curriculum, and research are all aspects of creating and maintaining standards of these programs.

The third principle is teachers; it is vital that teachers and staff possess the skills, attitudes and knowledge to help children enter school prepared and ready to succeed. This can be achieved through the employment of skills teachers with college degrees and adequate knowledge (A Call To Action From the Business Community).

The fourth principle is parents; parents are considered children’s first teacher and these parents need to be offered high quality programs for their children to enroll in. It is key to be able to make early childhood programs accessible to all families, regardless of their socio-economic status(A Call To Action From the Business Community).

The fifth principle is accountability; a successful early childhood program must be accountable for measurable results. Data collection plays an important role in identifying the best practices, performance and assessment systems (A Call To Action From the Business Community).

The sixth principle is partnerships; this principle builds interconnecting partnerships that will govern, finance, sustain and improve the system (A Call To Action From the Business Community).

Programs
There are currently a variety of programs being offered for 3 and 4 year olds. The problem is that high risk children do not have the same accessibility to these enriching programs as other children. Current programs include: head start, early head start, Pre-K and other smaller programs.

Head Start
Head start is a federal program created for children from low-income families. This preschool program is operated by local non-profit organization and are available in most counties throughout the United States (Give Your Child A Head Start). Many other services are provided in conjunction with head start such as medical care and availability to healthy meals. Head start is designed to assist all children in succeeding, enriched with development activities and parent involvement to ensure progress among the participants. Early head start was created as a predecessor to head start, to further ensure school readiness when children enter preschool and Kindergarten. This program believes that children living in high- risk environments need additional aid and support to ensure healthy development. The gaps found in children’s social and cognitive abilities are present even prior to their entrance into head start programs at the age of four (Early Head Start Works). Thus this program was created for 3 year old children at high- risk, in order to further ready them for head start and other preschool programs. Although this is a high quality program made available to low SES families, less than three percent of these children are being served by the program (Early Head Start Works).

Pre- K
Pre-K is a state funded program available to three and four year olds in the U.S. The Pre-K program is equipped with well qualified teachers, and different levels of funding through states. Yet only about 15 percent of children eligible are taking advantage of the Pre- K program (Pre-K Now). Pre-K is a high quality program with many researched benefits. It creates successful students, responsible adults and stronger communities (The Benefits of High-Quality Pre-K). The Chicago Longitudinal Study, has provided data regarding the benefits of Pre- K programs. The participants of this program have higher high school graduation rates, do better on standardized tests, and have reduced grade repetitions (Chicago Longitudinal Study).

Benefit vs. Cost
According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), the benefits of providing quality preschool education to 3- and 4- year olds outweighs the cost of providing such services (Cost of Providing Quality Preschool). The estimated return for every dollar invested is $7, based on the reduced costs of remedial education and increased earnings. NIEER estimates that the average benefits will be $25,000 per child, as the result of  a universally accessible program for 3- and 4-year-olds. The benefits of such a program considerably outnumber the costs of creating and providing this program.

Principles to Policy
There are many early education programs available, funded through many different sources. Yet these programs are not reaching the children they need to reach. Some programs do not meet the high quality standards, and many programs are simply not as accessible as they should be. Taking into consideration the core principles of a successful early childhood education system, policies need to be implemented in order to see the fruition of these principles. These principles can be used to formulate interconnected state and federal policies, in order to offer a more cohesive early education program for all(A Call To Action From the Business Community).

Conclusion
Future progress of the current education system in America is dependant on the implementation of an early education program. As research has demonstrated, there are tremendous gaps between the school readiness of children from varying social economic backgrounds. In order for all children to be prepared for kindergarten, there must be a universal accessibility to a proper policy driven early childhood education system.

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Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Educational Change/Financing

American public schools run on a certain economic equation. A percentage of tax payer money is used for education. The amount of money is broken down within the individual school system to determine how much will be spent on each student. The wealthier an area, the more money the school has to spend on each student. This can leave many schools at a large disadvantage. School districts also must face the education budget being cut all the time. Stan Karp discusses the impact of tax reform in a 2003 article. The fight to give schools enough money and have equal opportunities is virtually impossible through taxes alone. It costs so much money to run a school, which most areas also come up short. This is why people are always searching for alternative options to help fund schools in America.

Importance of the Distributions of Funding
A problem that also goes along with financing American schools is how the funding is distributed. A special report by the Education Trust states that we spend on less in areas that are highly concentrated with low income and minority families. According to the 2005 analysis, we spend $900 less in poor areas than what is spent in suburban areas which is unfair to the students receiving schooling. Because of this unequal trend, students that live in suburban areas receive better technological equipment and receive higher grades. Poor districts have low-quality equipment which discourages the students from learning. Schools should all receive an ample amount of funding to provide for the needs of its students.

Charter Schools
Charter schools exist in many states; they are both publicly owned and financed. Margaret Hadderman wrote an article describing exactly how charter schools work and how they are financed from when they began back in 1988. Although they are “public,” they are not held to many of the public school district’s rules. Charter schools are set up to achieve some goal, and if they produce results then they are able to be free of many traditional standards. They are funded by transferring pre-pupil state aid from the school district. Grants are also issued, and most are on a 3-5 year basis. Aside from the government funding, charter schools can receive financing from private donors and various foundations. These schools often have a theme. Some are based more on science and technology, while others may be more language arts driven. Peter Schrag has written an article about why these schools are not working financially. He discusses the teacher unions fight against privatization, and that bidding wars are a result of schools trying to gain more students.

School Vouchers
Andrew Coulson describes school vouchers as a kind of scholarship program. Instead of giving the money to the public school, they give it to a child’s parents in the form of a voucher. This voucher gives them the power to decide what school they would like their child to attend. This idea originated because of the under-performance of many schools. It is meant to hold schools accountable by taking away funds if a student decides to attend another school. The funding comes from a combination of the government and private organizations. This is favored by many republican leaders, with the concept originally advocated by Milton Friedman. Opponents of this idea believe that it is not a fair system because even with a voucher, private schools do not have to accept every student that would like to attend their school.

Corporate Funding
Corporate funding is a more controversial option being looked at to help fund American schools. This concept can be as simple as a restaurant hosting a school night one evening, and giving 20% of the profits to the school. It can be as large as a computer company providing all the funding needed for technology, but in return would make the curriculum more technology based. In an NPR article, an example of a school who partnered with Pepsi Bottling Group is used to show how this option works. In order for the school district to receive a potential $8.1 million over five years, they agree to only sell Pepsi products aside from milk and school brand water. This sounds like an easy way to earn extra money, but the catch is that the money comes from the actual soda sales at the schools. This upsets many parents, because they see it as the school pushing soda on their children to earn the money.

Corporate funding can also have a line drawn as it relates to wealthy and poor areas. A company is not going to want to support a school that does not give them the publicity that they are looking to receive. Product placement is not very successful, if the families that attend the school cannot afford to buy the product. Small school districts also lose out on this deal. Corporations would likely look to large school districts in order to get the largest profit available.

Kevin Bersett wrote about the movement of parents that is building to block corporate funding. Parents fear that school is becoming more about product placement than it is about learning. Some even fear that children are being brainwashed to an extent. Others argue that favoring a particular product is a small price to buy for so much educational financing support. According to the Michigan Education Report, corporations are not disagreeing with the gains they receive from this type of relationship. They see it as a win-win partnership. They receive publicity, and schools gain the much needed funding. Even with the controversy surrounding the issue, many agree that the use of corporate money will likely stay and expand over time.

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