Self- Monitoring Techniques: Prior Research

There have been many studies conducted on self-monitoring techniques implemented in classrooms to increase on-task behaviors. Among them is the 1987 study, conducted by Deborah W. Blick and David W. Test, entitled Effects of Self-Recording on High-School Students’ On-Task Behavior hoped to find a way to increase students’ on task behavior through self-monitoring and recording techniques (Blick and Test, 203). These techniques proved to be successful in both training and non-training settings (203).

The abundance of evidence suggesting the effectiveness of self-monitoring leads me to believe that I can expect similar outcomes from my treatment. However, there have been no studies conducted thus far, to my knowledge, testing the efficacy of self-management through journal writing techniques. Any data produced by this study will add to the existing knowledge of behavior management techniques.

The 1987 study, conducted by Deborah W. Blick and David W. Test, entitled Effects of Self-Recording on High-School Students’ On-Task Behavior, sought to determine the effects of self-monitoring and recording on a group of twelve students’ on task performance (Blick and Test, 203). All of the twelve students, nine of which were learning disabled, two were educable mentally handicapped and one was emotionally handicapped, were taught to self-monitor and record (203). At first the students’ monitoring and recording occurred simultaneously with certain audible cues, later, however, the cues were slowly discontinued but the self-recordings stayed. Data showed that students’ in school performance improved in all classroom settings (203). Much like the reason for my study, Deborah W. Blick and David W. Test (1987) hoped to find a way to increase students’ on task behavior. Research has indicated that “if teachers can help students increase their on-task behavior, learning increases” (203).

Students with behavioral disorders often act out in inclusive classroom settings in reaction to certain stimuli. When they are unable to deal with their emotions, the students can lose focus for the rest of the lesson. These outbursts often disrupt the other students in the classroom and can affect the overall learning for all students in the classroom. When this happens an intervention is necessary, however, many interventions can be disruptive and may derail the lesson even more. It would be better for all students if the interventions to such behavior problems were not obvious or disruptive.

I believe that when implemented, journal writing will, over time, become second nature to students with behavioral disorders. Similar to the study conducted by Deborah W. Blick and David W. Test (1987) it is my hope that eventually the students will not be dependent on a cue to instruct them to write in their journals, rather they will voluntarily do it when they feel it is necessary.

Many schools have found successful ways of preventing behavioral problems within the school before they occur or become an issue. School wide behavior management systems or school wide systems of support have had immense success in the prevention of problem behaviors. Positive behavioral supports (PBS), as defined by Vaughn, Bos and Schumn (2007), are “the modifications of behavior management principles applied in various community settings with supports to reduce problem behaviors and develop appropriate behaviors that lead to enhanced social relations and lifestyle (Vaughn, Bos and Schumn, 507). Many negative behaviors can be curbed through transforming the environment (249).

Selecting broad, memorable, and school-wide expectations allows students to not have to wonder what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in each classroom environment. Because the rules are the same school-wide, each student knows what is expected of them and only requires them to remember one set of rules. Only a few expectations are needed because these expectations are broad and envelop many things. Expectations are better than rules because rather than saying you can’t do this and you can’t do that you are giving each student an idea of what they should do and that way when they meet expectations they will be praised for it. The teaching plans are implemented through guided practices, ongoing supervision and positive feedback. PBS schools have saved hundreds of hours in referrals, as well as saving valuable class time because students are not being sent out of class (Olsen and Baumann).

Blick, D., & Test, D. (1987). effects of self-recording on high-school students' on-task

behavior. Learning Disability Quarterly, 10(3), 203.

Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in

education (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Patton, B., Jolivette, K., & Ramsey, M. (2006). Students with emotional and behavioral

disorders can manage their own behavior. Teaching exceptional children, 39(2),14-21.

Creating the Culture of Positive Behavior Supports. Dir. Gray Olsen and Paula Baumann.

Creating the Culture. PBS. Web. 24 September. 2011.

Vaughn, S., Bos, C. S., & Schumm, J. S. (2007). Teaching students who are exceptional,

diverse, and at risk in the general education classroom (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson

Allyn & Bacon.

Article summary of “State Puts Pressure on City Schools over English Language Learners”

Article summary of “State Puts Pressure on City Schools over English Language Learners” By Sharon Otterman

Schools in New York are not appropriately accommodating English language learners, says an article in the New York Times titled “State Puts Pressure on City Schools over English Language Learners” by Sharon Otterman. State education officials told New York schools that they have to improve their education of English language learners (ELLs) or they will face sanctions. The state education commissioner, Dr. King, thinks that student outcomes are a good indication of how poor the services are that are given to ELLs (Otterman, 2011). In 2010 ninety-three percent of New York’s ELL students did not graduate on time and were not ready or prepared for life after high school. Dr. King states that “these numbers are not acceptable” he does not think that New York should “leave so many students behind academically without access to college and career opportunities” (2011).

Last year New York City was directed by the state to make a plan to improve the services that they give to ELLs. Last month, NYC released their pledge, stretching 31 pages (2011). This pledge references what laws they are breaking by giving the services they currently provide. For example, in years past, when students needed to take placement tests or entrance exams into the ELL program, they were often not given such tests in a timely manner (2011).

The shortage of certified teachers is a major problem and factor in the city’s poor performance. The lack of ESL and bilingual teachers prevents thousands of children from receiving the language lessons that they are legally entitled to. Also, many parents are not being given their legal right to choose the services given to their children; instead they are either being put in a program with classes taught mainly in English with some extra help, or in a program in which major subjects are taught in a student’s native language (2011).

New York City’s new plan promises 125 new bilingual programs to be instated within the following three years (2011). The plan also vows to screen teachers more thoroughly, hiring more bilingual teachers, and to also provide the hired teachers with more training opportunities. Accountability, under the new plan, will fall mainly on the principals of NYC public schools. If they do not meet the standards and follow the plan to a t they will be penalized.

I am glad that principals are going to be held accountable for improvements in their bilingual education programs. The incentive to do better and improve the qualities of their bilingual programs is keeping their funding. I think that when money is involved people really start to keep themselves from slacking on the job. It is a harsh reality that helping a large population or learners is not incentive enough for some educators, penalties must be enforced in order for changes to be seen.

I cannot believe that a city as linguistically and culturally diverse as New York City has neglected its legal obligations to serve English language learners for so long. It is troubling to think that a city could get away with only seven percent of its ELLs graduating on time and being fully prepared for college or the working world. What is even more troubling is that there is no real way to increase the number or certified English as a second language and bilingual educators. While New York City’s new plan promises 125 new bilingual programs within the next three years, how can anyone guarantee that there will be a sufficient number of qualified teachers to fill the positions promised?

I hope that more majors incorporate bilingual studies into their curriculums. For example, all teacher education programs require one or more special education classes, but how many require ESL instruction classes or bilingual studies classes? In searching for schools with Master’s degrees in special education, George Washington University was the only school I came across with a major in Bilingual Special Education. I looked for months but this was the only program that incorporated both. Hopefully programs like this will increase in popularity so that more qualified teachers are available to service this population of students.

OTTERMAN, SHARON. "N.Y. State Presses City on English Language Learners - NYTimes.com." NY Times Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2011. >.

Visual Scaffolding as a Strategy for Teaching English Language Learners

Observation and Reflection of Visual Scaffolding

as a Strategy for Teaching English Language Learners

Visual scaffolding is a strategy for teaching English language learners (ELLs) that utilizes drawings, photographs and other visuals in order to help students to better understand the language used in each lesson (Herrell, 26). This strategy encourages active involvement from all students in each lesson. Using methods and resources that add context to the language that a student is learning, such as props, gestures and pictures, contributes to that child’s language acquisition and ultimately to the production of new language (2). Diaz-Rico and Weed (220), and Ovando, Collier, and Combs (2003), believe that teachers who constantly use scaffolding strategies, including visuals and graphics, to assist English learners in multiple areas of learning, are supporting their students in making significant achievements in comprehension of both academic English and curriculum content (7).

When teaching English language learners, each classroom activity needs to be structured so that the students are able to participate in the lesson at a level that they are comfortable (2). Visuals go way beyond the basic photograph, visuals used in scaffolding may include images found on the internet, personal photographs taken by either the teacher, a parent or a student, illustrations in books, children’s artwork, homemade videos, commercials and even class-made videos. A variety of visuals used ensures multiple connections to vocabulary words and concepts. Incorporating familiar visuals in lessons, such as family pictures, videos or cultural objects can put students at ease and make individual students feel much more comfortable participating in lessons.

This strategy can be used at all levels, but is especially appropriate at the lower levels, in elementary and middle schools. If I were to teach a group of English language learners, in an elementary school setting, I anticipate doing many things. First, I would label almost everything in my classroom that is a visual representation of a vocabulary word. For example, I would put a label on the door saying “door” for English learners. Without even trying, when I student looks to the door and sees the word “door” they will be furthering the connection in their brain between the object and the name of the object in English. Labels can be made for almost everything in the classroom, including windows, chalkboards, desks, lights etc. I have seen this method used in almost every one of my Spanish classes, from middle school to high school. In my own experience, I found the method to be extremely useful when trying to learn and make connections to vocabulary words.

While many types of visuals, such as videos, cannot necessarily be stored by students as a reference, many can be, such as drawings and photographs. Graphic organizers that incorporate visuals are great, especially at the lower levels, because they present the information in an organized fashion that can be made readily available to each student as a reference that can be used at any time. These organizers would be implemented in my classroom and would be kept by each student in a binder so that they could be used as a reference when learning new vocabulary words and reviewing old vocabulary words.

I also believe that note-cards are a great way to help students learn new information, memorize that information, and make connections using that information. Note-cards that utilize pictures are great for language learners because they enable students to make visual connections to vocabulary words and concepts. These note-cards can be stored, like graphic organizers, for later use. I anticipate using note-cards a lot in my future classroom.

I believe that visual scaffolding may be one of the most useful strategies for teaching English language learners in a formal classroom setting. This strategy can be tailor-made to lessons in any subject, at any grade level. The use of visuals in the classroom helps to further students’ connections to the material and is a great way to encourage student participation in each lesson.

Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2012). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners (4th ed.). Columbus: Pearson.

Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average

Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average

The study Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average, by Jennifer L. Kobrin, Brian F. Patterson, Emily J. Shaw, Krista D. Mattern, and Sandra M. Barbuti, sought to prove whether or not the changes made to the SAT in 2005 substantially changed how well the test predicts first-year college performance (Kobrin, Patterson, Shaq, Mattern, Barbuti, 1). The changes made to the SAT in 2005 include the renaming of the verbal section of the test the critical reading section, analogies were removed and replaced by questions on reading questions, more advanced mathematics questions were added as well as the addition of a writing section (1). The test was lengthened from three hours to three hours and forty-five minutes (1).

The study compared the single and multiple correlations of SAT scores, high school GPA and first year GPA (3). The study found that the SAT and high school GPA are related but measure different parts of achievement (5). The SAT-W was found to have the highest correlation to first year GPA. Overall, the study found that the revisions made to the SAT did not change how it predicts fist year college performance (6). The college board ultimately believes that the best combination of college performance is both SAT scores and high school GPA. They encourage college institutions to take both into consideration when making decisions.

While the The College Board believes that a combination of both the SAT and HSGPA is the best predictor of college success, Geiser and Santelices have a different opinion. In their study Validity if High-School Grades in Predicting Student Success Beyond the Freshman Year: High-School Records vs. Standarized Tests as indicators of Four-Year Outcomes, Saul Geiser and Santelices found that high school grade point average is the best predictor of four-year college success Geiser and Santelices, 1). While The College Board only focused on the first year of college, this study expands the scope to the whole college experience. As a matter of fact, Geiser and Santelices uncover that the predictive weight of high school GPA increases after the freshman year of college (1). This suggests that there could be a major flaw in the study by Korbin et al. Korbin et al did not consider all of the years of college and therefore may not have an accurate prediction of college success.

I believe that the SAT should be used in part by college admissions boards; I do not however, believe it is the only measure that should be considered. I think that the SAT is a good way to see each student’s English and math abilities, however, it does not show other subject that each student excels in, nor does it show what a hard worker a student is. In this way, I think that high school GPA and recommendation letters are a good way to even the playing field. I think that motivation and effort have a lot to do with each student’s first year grade point average. The good thing about standardized tests is that they are the same across the board, while high schools differ in levels of difficulty

When I was in high school, there was a boy in my classes who was incredibly smart. If my memory serves me correctly he scored around a 2,200 on the revised SAT. This boy, however, never did any homework and was often off-task in class. For this reason, he did not get into the amazing colleges we all thought he would. His high school grade point average told a very different story than his SAT scores. I do not believe that pure intelligence is enough; you need to have a balance of smarts and motivation to be successful in a college environment, and in life in general.

Geiser, S., & Santelices, M. (2007). Validity of High-School Grades in PredictingStudent Success Beyond The Freshman Year. Research & Occasional Paper Series, CSHE.6.07, 1-35.

Kobrin, J., Patterson, B., Shaw, E., Mattern, K., & Barbuti, S. (2008). Validity of the SAT for Predicting First-Year College Grade Point Average. College Board Research Report, No. 2008-5, 1-11.

Article Summary- “Georgia Fails at Improving Teachers"

Article summary of “Georgia Fails at Improving Teachers- Ineffective teachers can have a lasting negative impact on a child’s future. The AJC’s education team discovered the state has spent billions to train and recruit better teachers. But results are mediocre “by Nancy Badertscher, Laura Diamond and Jaime Sarrio.

For the last decade, the state of Georgia has tried gradually to improve the quality of teachers in Georgia public schools, but with little success. The state is having trouble making decisions and sticking to them. In 2000, for instance, the state got rid of job protection laws so that ineffective, or problem teachers, could be fired more easily. Three years later, however, these laws were put back in place. In addition, the state promised raises to those teachers who enrolled in scrupulous certification programs, those raises were cut in 2010 (Badertscher, Diamond and Sarrio, A1). Those teachers who are in fact effective are mixed with those poor performing teachers and make the same salaries. In respect to the stop-go nature of Georgia’s policies over recent years, Tim Callahan, a spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, says that “If you ran a business like this, you would soon run it into the ground” (A10). Throughout all of this, the students of the public schools in Georgia are suffering significantly. Studies have shown that there will be a lasting negative impact on a child’s education if he/she is taught for three years by ineffective teachers (A1).
An investigation conducted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution uncovered that the state of Georgia has spent billions on teacher improvement with insignificant results. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes four reasons why greater results have not been seen. The first reason is that Georgia has not found a way to recognize bad teachers and remove them (A10). For this reason, many ineffective teachers continue to teach. The second reason greater results have not been seen is that according to national data, Georgia’s most intelligent students are not majoring in education (A10). The third reason is that Georgia does not have enough funding to adequately and continually train public school educators. The fourth reason noted in the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that marginal results have been seen is that Georgia has spent nearly $1 billion dollars each year hiring teachers with advanced degrees, but there has been no evidence of an improvement in class performances (A10).
Not everyone in Georgia agrees about how to define a “quality teacher”, however, many people agree that the best teachers “believe all children can learn, are able to improve student achievement and develop in kids a respect for learning” (A10). Quality teachers, are not always fond of working with ineffective ones, according to Paul Rowson “the quickest way to lose top-performing teachers is to let them work side by side with someone who is disengaged and to reward them the same” (A10).
One of the biggest problems with the Georgia Public Schools system is that in the years to come, everyone will be more critical of teacher quality, yet there is next to no training on the job. Also, teachers will likely have a more diverse student population than ever (A10). The student population will be made up of students from many different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds with varying needs, but the teachers will be given little training.
It is troubling to me that the goals and efforts of the Georgia Public School system seem to be in constant conflict. Georgia wants better performance from their educators but limits training opportunities. They want to put an emphasis on quality, yet pay effective educators the same as ineffective educators. Perhaps the most troubling situation to me is that truly effective teachers are going to have a lot of trouble welcoming students into their classes of diverse backgrounds with next to no training. Therefore, in some aspects, these effective teachers may become ineffective teachers.
After receiving my Master’s degree I intend to teach in Georgia. I would be lying, however, if I said that I was not fazed by this article in any way. It is hard to think about working in a school that will possibly not support me when I feel that I need a little extra training in a certain area, or that I may have to clean up the messes made by other educators in my school. Or that I may send my students on to the next grade in great shape, only to be derailed by their next teacher. I understand Paul Rowson’s statement that “the quickest way to lose top-performing teachers is to let them work side by side with someone who is disengaged and to reward them the same” (A10). I would love to work in a school where everyone exhibits the qualities of an effective educator, sometimes however, that dream seems highly unrealistic.


Badertscher, N., Diamond, L., & Sarrio, J. (2011, September 18). Georgia Fails at Improving Teachers. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pp. A1, A10-A11.

Reflection on Role of Study Skills in Graduate-Level Educational Research Courses

Reflection on Role of Study Skills in Graduate-Level Educational Research Courses

The Onwuegbuzie and Schwartz (2001) study, Role of Study Skills in Graduate-Level Educational Research Courses sought to find the reason many students of graduate programs in the social and behavioral sciences perceive their required research methodology courses to be extremely hard and, in turn, perform more poorly in those courses than in the other courses required for their major (Onwuegbuzie and Schwartz, 238).The team hoped that the findings from the study would identify the study skills that would have a potential negative impact on the students’ achievement in the research methods courses. The findings would help to identify changes that should be made to the curriculum that would aid in the success of the students in those courses (239).

It appears to me that Onwuegbuzie and Schwartz (2001) had two research questions. Firstly, I think they asked if there is relationship between specific study skills and achievement in a research methodology course (239). Then, they furthered their inquiry by asking what study skills place students at risk for underachievement in the research methodology courses (239).

Onwuegbuzie and Schwartz (2001) used a sample consisting of 122 graduate students, which ranged from 21-51 years of age, 93.4% of whom were women (239-40). Data was collected on the study skills of graduate students. The variables studied included: note-taking, motivation, time-management, techniques and reading skills (240). The participants were administered the Study Habits Inventory (SHI). The SHI consisted of questions that would evaluate the study behaviors the participants. The scores ranged from 0 to 63 and high scores were indicative of good study habits (240).

The analysis of the data collected by the SHI study identified five variables that “significantly predicted” course achievement (242).They found that the students with the highest achievement were more likely to “attend class regularly… to concentrate while studying, to use an advanced organizer when taking notes, to not rely on rote memorization, and to avoid consumption of alcoholic beverages” (242).

Based on the study’s conclusion, I believe that a simple treatment to the problems associated with research methodology courses would be to require that students in graduate programs in the social and behavioral sciences take a study skills class prior to their enrollment in a research methodology class. The study skills class would reinforce the behaviors that this study identified as the best indicators of achievement in the research methods course.

In addition to the study conducted by Onwuegbuzie and Schwartz (2001) I find the study Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement of Senior Biology Students, by C. C. Patterson, to be extremely interesting. Patterson’s study attempted to find out how achievement scores of a senior biology class would change if students were to self-regulate a larger portion of their learning (Patterson, 2).The results of the study indicate that, after the implementation of class-room based, self-regulated learning, to the treatment group, there was a heightened level of academic achievement (6).

I believe that these students, or subjects in Patterson’s study, who succeeded when given the opportunity to self-regulate would most likely exhibit the five indicators of course achievement identified in Onwuegbuzie and Schwartz (2001) study.

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Slate, J. R., & Schwartz, R. A. (2001). Role of Study Skills in Graduate-

Level Educational Research Courses. Journal of Educational Research, 94(4), 238.

Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Paterson, C. C. (1996). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement of senior biology

students. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 42(2), 48. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Education is not one size fits all!

Education is not one size fits all. When I was in elementary school I had a difficult time understanding information when it was spoken to me; yet if I was given a hands-on activity covering the same material, I would soak the information up like a sponge. Every student is different and learns in a unique way.

Through substituting, I have realized that the single most valuable ability I possess is the ability to identify each student’s individual learning style—whether he/she is a visual, auditory or tactile learner. After identifying each student’s individual learning style I am able to integrate multiple styles into lessons. Making lesson plans that integrate many different styles ensures that the majority of students will better understand the material at hand.

When I become a teacher, I plan to incorporate more than one teaching style into my lessons, so that no one student is lost during a lesson. If my teachers in elementary school had not given me the opportunity to do projects and hands on activities, I probably would not be studying to be a teacher today.

I believe that I possess the skills necessary to ensure high academic achievement for all of my students. As an example, below is a link to a lesson that I made on Voice Thread in order to teach kindergarteners vocabulary related to location and direction. This lesson uses the spoken word along with visual aids in order to instill the main points of the lesson into children through different senses. The material was also presented in more than one way so that students who did not immediately understand might make the connection when hearing the information or looking at the picture in a different way.
https://voicethread.com/?#q+kindergarten+location+and+direction.b909202.i4909462