Q&A Hero

Q: You have just been assigned to teach a class that has several management problems. A good strategy to reduce or eliminate these problems would be to:A.keep teaching materials and supplies locked up, so that students call on you when they need assistance.B.actively teach procedures, routines, and rules along with the academic curriculum.C.avoid eye contact with the students while teaching so that all students feel comfortable.D.place student desks near the supply cabinets so that students do not need to move around for supplies.

Q: In the first step of the pedagogical cycle, a teacher:A.asks questions.B.provides feedback.C.introduces the topics.D.addresses questions.

Q: By beginning a lesson with a challenging riddle or an anecdote, a teacher is trying to:A.establish clear objectives.B.inspire motivation.C.promote clarification.D.create a scaffolding.

Q: When a teacher is breaking down (or "chunking") information to explain the concept more effectively to students, he is engaged in:A.scaffolding.B.transition.C.review.D.clarification.

Q: A.creating.B.evaluating.C.applying.D.analyzing.

Q: Do you ever foresee a time when technology minimizes the value of human teachersor even makes them obsolete? Why or why not? What can teachers do to keep something like this from happening? Be sure to support your answers with specific examples.

Q: Discuss how technology can enhance the learning experience in traditional schools and homeschools. What can educators in these settings do to get the most use out of technology? Be sure to use specific examples to support your discussion.

Q: What is your understanding of the digital divide? What are the educational implications of an apparent technology gap? What do you think should be done to address this gap?

Q: What are your suggestions for tomorrows curriculum? After going through the current educational curriculum, what do you think is missing in the educational system? What changes would you suggest? Be sure to use specific examples to support your ideas.

Q: Evaluate the movement toward Common Core State Standards and testing. Do you think national standards and testing will raise the performance of students in U.S. schools? Why or why not?

Q: One of the criticisms of high stakes testing is that it results in a narrowing of the curriculum where certain courses such as math and English/language arts are valued more than others. Certain subjects such as the arts, physical education, history, and foreign languages receive less attention and support. How would you make the case for the importance of these subjects to policymakers concerned with scores on high stakes tests? Be sure to support your answer with specific examples.

Q: In Atlanta, approximately 180 principals, teachers, and staff were involved in test tampering. What were the factors that might have contributed to such widespread cheating on standardized tests? What does such an action say about the impact that testing has on the curriculum? To what extent does cheating on standardized tests undermine the image of educators as professionals?

Q: What are the major arguments for or against teaching the theory of evolution as the sole explanation for the origin of life and its diversity? How have the differing meanings of the word "theory" affected this debate?

Q: In your view as a future educator, should there be a curricular canon in the curriculum? Why or why not? If you feel that there should be a curricular canon, list five books that should be included and state why they should be included. If you responded "no," how should educators determine the value of what students should read?

Q: A multicultural curriculum doesn't contribute to the fissures; it's meant to address the fissures, to redefine what our common culture is. Do you agree? Justify your answer.

Q: In response to an informal complaint, a school librarian quietly removes a book from the library shelf and pretends that the book is out of stock. This is an example of:A.state censorship.B.standard censorship.C.fair censorship.D.self-censorship.

Q: Which of the following comments is most likely to be made by an opponent of censorship?A."I really feel that it is the job of schools to indoctrinate students and teach them correct values, by regulating the books to which students are exposed."B."I really feel that it would be best if parents and other adults determine what ideas children should be exposed to."C."I really feel that, while schools should protect children from blatantly inappropriate ideas, inappropriate' is a pretty subjective term."D."I really feel that school libraries really should reflect the ideas of the community. After all, it's the taxpayers in the community who pay for the books."

Q: Which constitutional amendment is at the heart of the controversies surrounding intelligent design, creationism, and evolution?A.The First AmendmentB.The Tenth AmendmentC.The Fourth AmendmentD.The Fifth Amendment

Q: Identify an accurate statement in the context of use of computer-based technologies in schools.A.Computer-based drills and tutorials in science, social science, and math may be effective in helping students show increased performance on standard multiple-choice tests.B.Large investments in computer-based technologies have been matched by encouraging gains in student achievement.C.Considering the subject of biology, virtual dissections have proved to be more effective than actual dissection experiments in the laboratory.D.E-texting helps students to develop grammar and spelling skills and perform better.

Q: The next major growth area in technology-enabled education appears to be:A.hybrid or blended courses delivered neither completely online nor entirely face-to-face.B.completely virtual school courses for all students.C.podcasting lectures and discussions.D.the use of social networking sites such as Facebook as effective instructional tools.

Q: Winston Churchill once said that "we shape our buildings and our buildings shape us." Translated into educational terms, one could say, "we shape our curriculum and our curriculum shapes us." Discuss how exposure to the educational curriculum has shaped you as a person and particularly as a future educator. As a future educator would you like to suggest possible changes to the curriculum? Be sure to provide specific examples to support your positions.

Q: What does it mean when a curriculum becomes obsolete? What factors could make the curriculum obsolete? How do we as a society keep what we teach our children from becoming obsolete? Be sure to support your ideas with specific examples and analysis.

Q: Give an example of a lesson a student might learn from each of the following: the formal curriculum, the extracurriculum, the hidden curriculum, and the null curriculum.

Q: One of the criticisms about the benefits of extracurricular activities is that they are limited to a relatively few privileged students. Meanwhile, other students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic families, are excluded. What steps can schools take to get students from diverse backgrounds to participate in extracurricular activities so that all students may have the chance to benefit? Be sure to provide specific examples to support your analysis.

Q: Regarding the influences that colleges and universities have on curriculum, A. Bartlett Giamatti noted that schools were always trying to "catch up" with college and university admissions requirements. Do you think that colleges and universities and their admissions policies have too much influence over curriculum? Do you think that colleges and universities need to change the way they admit students to reflect curriculumparticularly at the high school level? Be sure to support your answer with examples and analysis.

Q: A scientific theory, such as the theory of evolution, is:A.a scientific guess or hunch.B.often a political position not related to science.C.a well-founded scientific explanation.D.a hypothesis likely to change.

Q: Textbook publishers are under pressure to dumb down textbooks. Hence, authors are asked to avoid the use of difficult words and long sentences. What is the consequence of dumbing down books in this manner?A.It can make books harder to read rather than easier to read.B.It ensures that the author uses shorter sentences and words that clarify relationships between events and ideas.C.It makes it easier for students to understand challenging ideas.D.It ensures that the author replaces ambiguous standard terminology with more precise simple words.

Q: Identify an accurate statement about the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).A.Annual testing for reading, math, and science was not required for grades 38.B.Underperforming schools were granted additional financial support.C.A high-stakes testing culture was created.D.States created uniform standardized testing standards.

Q: A textbook covers twentieth-century U.S. history without mentioning the continuing struggle for civil rights; and pictures throughout the text portray only harmonious relations between the races. This is an example of a form of bias known as:A.unreality.B.fragmentation.C.imbalance.D.stereotyping.

Q: Which statement would most likely be made by a proponent of Common Core Standards?A."One of the challenges the U.S. faces is that it has no national curriculum. The Common Core Standards solve this problem by establishing a uniform curriculum for the nation."B.What is great about the Common Core Standards is that students will encounter more demanding assignments, and the end result will be a less superficial and more in-depth education in America!C.Under No Child Left Behind, our schools became obsessed with testing. The Common Core Standards will end this culture of testing and focus our teachers and students on the critical task of learning.D.Other curriculum plans were very expensive to operate. The relatively small cost of the Common Core Curriculum will free up education funds for other purposes.

Q: One of the primary reasons that the No Child Left Behind Act was revamped was that:A.the law had become too expensive to implement due to the high costs of standardized tests.B.there was a political movement to eliminate the culture of testing that had developed in schools.C.there was a push to return schools to the control of the taxpayers in their local districts and reduce the role of the federal government in schools.D.there was little consistency in student performance from state to state.

Q: Andrew is a student in the class Rebecca teaches. While Andrew is not in the lowest percentile of the class, he isn't in the highest, either. In fact, Andrew could go either way in terms of passing or failing. Rebecca will spend:A.a moderate amount of time on him, but will focus more on the talented students because that will increase the average scores of the class.B.the most amount of time on him because he is a bubble kid.C.the least amount of time on him and more on the weakest students in the class in the hope that she can get more of them to pass.D.the most amount of time on him because he is a triage kid.

Q: Identify an accurate statement about using a students test score to assess the teacher.A.Test scores reflect students understanding of the curriculum, hence are an effective and time-tested way of assessing teachers.B.In order to evaluate a teacher effectively, at least 50 percent of the evaluation must be based upon test scores.C.This a flawed approach because one test score is an inadequate measure of student growth, much less student effectiveness.D.This represents an almost perfect and practical application of the value-added concept.

Q: The phenomenon represented by the test-tampering scandal in Atlanta, Georgia, is most closely associated with:A.Campbell's law.B.the Hawthorne effect.C.testing psychosis.D.Noyes's law.

Q: Lisa, Paul, and Jay were given an assignment at the end of their first unit in Spanish I. They were asked to prepare and act out a skit where they had to assume the roles of students visiting Argentina during Spring Break. They were to enter into a restaurant, order a meal, and pay for the meal, all in Spanish. The students knew they were being evaluated on how they performed these tasks, so they made an effort to do a good job. This sort of task is an example of:A.active assessment.B.multimodal assessment.C.authentic assessment.D.standard assessment.

Q: On the subject of teaching creationism, evolution, or intelligent design in schools, a large segment of the public feels that:A.evolution should be taught in schools as the best and most rational explanation of origin of life.B.intelligent design is the best compromise and should be taught in schools, evolution should be considered merely as a theory, not fact.C.the teaching of creationism should supersede all other theories about the origin of life.D.students should be exposed to competing theories in schools.

Q: Intelligent design:A.competes with the theory of evolution, and most people believe that ideas that contradict evolution have no place in a classroom.B.offers a clear scientific position that is devoid of political or religious beliefs.C.supports the ideas of creationism, but directly contradicts evolution.D.credits an unnamed intelligence for aspects of nature unexplained by science.

Q: The role of state governments in curricular decisions has:A.increased through state standards and tests, and frameworks for all schools to follow.B.decreased, due to the emphasis on local control of schools mandated in the No Child Left Behind Act.C.been minimized due to reductions in state education budgets.D.has been restricted to merely providing funds and financial support.

Q: The development of common core state standards that have been adopted in most states reflect the influence of:A.education commissions and committees.B.professional organizations.C.special interest groups.D.publishers.

Q: Which of the following pairs of states, besides Texas and California, have the most influence on textbook creation and adoption?A.New York and FloridaB. North Carolina and FloridaC.Colorado and New YorkD.Virginia and New York

Q: Identify an advantage of being a textbook adoption state.A.It provides for a common statewide curriculum.B.It reduces the ability of states to influence publishers.C.It ensures greater freedom for teachers to choose texts.D.It saves time and work for teachers at the local level.

Q: What do you think is the best way to evaluate a teachers performance? In your opinion, are student test scores the best measure of the competence of a teacher? As students what do you value most in your teachers?

Q: How can students become involved in educational reform? How might your feelings about school reform as a student differ from your perspective as a teacher? Do you think engaging students in reflecting on the purposes and design of their own educational options would help them or hinder them in their studies? Explain.

Q: The study of the "saber-tooth curriculum" brings us to the conclusion that:A.modern curricula are ineffective at handling changing conditions in comparison with old-school curricula.B.unless teachers have a key role in curriculum development, the curriculum cannot meet contemporary needs.C.slavish devotion to the content of past times can result in a curriculum obsolete in the face of contemporary realities.D.as long as the basal reader dominates the curriculum, a truly individualized curriculum can never become a reality.

Q: According to educator Hilda Taba, learning in school is different than learning in life because the former:A.deals with critical socialization skills.B.stresses on the hidden lessons in life.C.teaches skills that are needed for work and the professions.D.is formally organized.

Q: As a student in college, Luisa was shocked at some of the things she was learning in her Survey of American History course. Although she had studied American history before, her teachers had completely omitted many of the things that she was learning for the first time. Luisa's experiences most closely reflect the effects of:A.the hidden curriculum.B.the rhetorical curriculum.C.the null curriculum.D.the saber-tooth curriculum.

Q: Which of the following represents a way in which a teacher might informally influence curriculum?A.Mindy is an elementary school teacher who is selected to be on a textbook adoption committee for her school.B.Millicent is a middle school teacher who has been selected as part of a writing team for a nationally distributed math teaching and learning program.C.Paula decides to include literature from the African continent in her high school English class apart from the prescribed texts from American literature.D.Stephen is selected to advise the school district in its efforts to change the local requirements for middle grades science.

Q: Participation in the extracurricular activities has been connected with:A.higher instances of null curriculum.B.lower grades.C.higher student self-esteem.D.weak race relations.

Q: What is your take on the current emphasis on standards, tests, and academic performance in schools?

Q: Imagine that you are a teacher in a middle school. The new principal has outlined his vision for the school and the changes that he would like to make to improve the school experience for students, parents, and teachers. He has asked each teacher to effectively communicate to the parents about what is happening in the school. How would you go about informing parents about the school's vision? Be sure to provide specific examples.

Q: Discuss how teachers can do a better job of communicating their high expectations to students. What are the barriers to such communication? In your opinion, if a teacher keeps high expectations from his or her students, would that improve a students performance?

Q: Researcher Linda Darling-Hammond recommends investing more in teacher training, in order to reform education. What are your views on effective teacher training? Be sure to provide specific examples to support your arguments.

Q: Discuss the importance of trust among teachers, students, parents, and principals. What are some of the barriers in developing trusting relationships in schools? As a teacher, what can you do to help promote trust among students, parents, administrators, and colleagues? Be sure to provide specific examples to support your positions.

Q: Some supporters of school reform see school choice as a way to rescue a failing public education system and providing better educational options to students. Others view it as an attack on a fundamental component of U.S. education: the neighborhood school. What is your opinion about the different kinds of schools?

Q: What is your opinion about the voucher system? Do you feel Friedmans ideas about vouchers work as well in practice as he might have theoretically conceived?

Q: Why is the use of vouchers for religious schools such a controversial issue? How often are vouchers used for religious schools (in those states that allow it) and how does this affect the debate?

Q: Describe some of the steps a school can take to "go green" and the effects that may have on the environment, the staff, and students.

Q: Imagine that you are a reconstructionist who teaches third grade. What are the societal issues, you feel, you would need to teach your students? What would you have them do to help fix these problems? Be sure to explain the reasoning behind your decisions and provide specific examples to support your arguments.

Q: Formulate an effective plan to get more boys and students of color to participate in service learning activities. In your opinion, how does service learning impact students?

Q: Which statement is true regarding voucher programs?A.Voucher programs have been opposed by the business sector.B.In the Zelman v. Simmons-Harris case, a Supreme Court majority ruled that voucher programs were unconstitutional.C.Voucher programs have been less effective than expected and their impact sounds better in theory than it is in fact.D.Voucher programs have been sanctioned for students to attend nonsectarian private schools.

Q: Schools that offer high-quality programs for talented students and have been used as a method of voluntary racial desegregation are known as:A.magnet schools.B.open enrollment schools.C.charter schools.D.for-profit schools.

Q: Identify an accurate statement about open enrollment.A.Students become eligible to enroll in any public school with available space.B.Students are currently offered open enrollment, in fewer than 10 states.C.Students are offered a form of distance learning.D.Students receive educational vouchers to study in select schools.

Q: Which of these is an accurate feature of virtual schools?A.They are too expensive to operate and most students cannot afford them.B.They promote a high level of social interaction and help in developing essential communication skills.C.They provide learning over long distances by means of television, the internet, and other technologies.D.They offer short-term focused learning programs, but do not offer the entire school curriculum.

Q: Jean and Stephen were concerned about the quality of education that their son, Galen, was receiving in the neighborhood school. They believed it would not be sufficient to impart religious and moral values to their son. Hence, they chose to homeschool Galen for the rest of his educational career. This religion-based motivation on the part of Galen's parents to homeschool him is a characteristic of:A.zealots.B.ideologues.C.pedagogues.D.reformers.

Q: Elaine was homeschooled for most of her life before heading to college at a state university. Based on what is known of homeschooled students in college, we can conclude that Elaine is most likely to:A.be well-thought-of by many of her professors because professors describe homeschooled students as more self-directed and willing to take risks.B.have a lower GPA than most students who were not homeschooled.C.come to school prepared to socialize with diverse students representing many backgrounds and viewpoints.D.experience little difficulty in her science and history classes, even though most of her learning in these courses was influenced by religion.

Q: For-profit schools are a good idea because they will:A.support weak teachers and guarantee job security to every employee.B.strengthen the tenure system.C.provide greater academic freedom to teachers.D.offer focused programs and investor oversight will lead to academic success.

Q: Silver Springs middle school was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a green ribbon school. The school earned this distinction for:A.improving comparative test scores and promoting better communication between teachers and students family members.B.providing better infrastructure and greater access to technology to students to enhance learning.C.promoting environmental and sustainable education, offering healthier environments with clean air and water, and promoting outdoor activities.D.providing a good education to economically disadvantaged students at affordable prices.

Q: Value added refers to:A.assessing and rewarding the value a teacher adds to a students education.B.giving due credit to a teachers experience and degrees.C.providing cash incentives for students to perform better in exams.D.adding value to a students test scores by recognizing their efforts in front of their peers.

Q: According to a survey, by the nonprofit Education Sector, most teachers:A.support educational reform and change.B.support a system that rewards longevity.C.feel that student test scores are the best measure of competence of a teacher.D.feel that most older teachers or teachers with graduate credits are more skilled than younger teachers.

Q: Influential teacher organizations are cautiously supportive of a merit pay plan. Provided that certain conditions are met, they would be more likely to support it. Which of the following is one of those conditions?A.The plan should be objective and based solely on student test scores.B.Local teachers should be involved in planning.C.Senior tenured teachers must be excluded from the merit pay plan.D.The plan should be fair and also penalize teachers in under-resourced schools.

Q: Often, it seems as though the society has unrealistic expectations from schools. What do you feel are the missions that society expects schools to fulfill? Do you think that schools can actually accomplish all that the society expects? Why or why not? Provide specific examples to support your positions.

Q: In America, who are "the keepers of the culture and creators of the curriculum" that decide what will be taught and what will be omitted? What do you think drives their decisions? What sort of cultural messages do these choices send?

Q: Full-service schools:A.have become increasingly common.B.have been strongly opposed by educator and community advocate, Geoffrey Canada.C.remain open most of the day and 11 months a year.D.are parochial schools that emphasize religious instruction.

Q: Alexis is a teacher who feels strongly about the importance of preparing students to live in a democracy. She tries her best to teach civic learning to students, at par with other academic subjects. Alexis's ideas conform with those of:A.social democratic reconstructionists.B.socio-economic reconstructionists.C.economic reconstructionists.D.liberal non-conformists.

Q: Economic reconstructionists believe that:A.most teachers are wrong in holding a darker view of the societys ills.B.schools are teaching poorer classes to question authority.C.schools are tools of oppression.D.schools are teaching students how to reform economic realities.

Q: As an economic reconstructionist, Paulo Freire claimed that:A.to improve the society we should primarily focus on educating the rich.B.there is no distinction between schools and education.C.schools often miseducate and oppress the poor.D.schools provide true education that liberates an individual.

Q: When students, parents, and teachers were asked to rate goals of schooling in a study by John Goodlad:A.all of them rated social and civic goals as most important.B.students and parents rated personal goals highest; teachers rated academic goals highest.C.vocational, personal, academic, social, and civic goals were all rated "very important."D.students gave the highest rating to goals in the intellectual area.

Q: Imagine a school where teachers do not have daily contact with one another and act independently, the school administration does not give due importance to effective communication with the students families about the schools goals and expectations. They are vague about the goals of the school and focus on maintaining the status quo. This represents a failure of which element of the "five-factor theory of effective schools"?A.Strong leadershipB.A clear school missionC.Monitoring school progressD.High expectations

Q: Some studies on school size have determined that:A.students in smaller schools are more likely to resort to violence.B.larger schools are more effective than smaller schools because they have better resources and students learn more.C.larger schools are more effective than smaller schools because their students routinely outperform their peers in smaller schools.D.students in smaller schools are more likely to pass their courses, and to attend college.

Q: The current reform efforts in education can be traced back to:A.No Child Left Behind.B.Goals 2000.C.A Nation at Risk.D.The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools.