Example research essay topic: T H Academic Achievement - 1,733 words

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... structure that limits the authority of universities. (Peabody Journal of Education) The governance of state-level politics goes well beyond the powers implied by legislative actions and is manifest in the nature of current certification standards. The state bureaucracy also influences program design, course offerings, and ultimately student enrollments. (Peabody Journal of Education) To provide continuing professional development of in service principals, some school districts are subsidizing training for principals. (Peabody Journal of Education) Sometimes principals are given stipends to cover the tuition costs of courses. (Peabody Journal of Education) Training must be provided at the district level, for example at a state academy, such as the Florida Academy for School Leaders, or at colleges and universities. (Peabody Journal of Education) This academy was created to provide in service training for school managers and to upgrade the quality of management at all levels of the public school system in the state. (Peabody Journal of Education) By law, Florida principals are required to renew their certificates every 5 years, complete the equivalent of six semester hours, or obtain 120 service points. (Peabody Journal of Education) One service point equals one contact hour of training. Principals are offered courses that allow them to update their skills in evaluating the curriculum, coaching teachers, and teacher evaluation. (Peabody Journal of Education) Teacher Component: Southwest Florida Teacher Education Center (SWFTEC). This consortium of three districts includes Glades, Hendry and Lee Counties. (T H E Journal) Teacher education programs are planned by the SWFTEC Council to meet annual goals for each county and are available to all teachers in the three counties. (T H E Journal) Individual sessions and strands for teachers (totaling at least 10 hours of instruction on a discipline) offered on a district wide level. (T H E Journal) School-base focus on school goals and conducts programs in the school setting whenever feasible. (T H E Journal) The school is the basic unit of change, and local schools have primary responsibility for scheduling and planning staff development programs. (T H E Journal) Employees are allowed to be flexible in planning for their own needs through other institutions, agencies, etc. , when appropriate. (T H E Journal) Various individualized programs are available through the SDC. (T H E Journal) Administrator component provides professional development experiences for administrators in areas related to instructional leadership and organizational development. (T H E Journal) Support Personnel Component: This component provides professional development experiences for non-managerial staff to support district and jobsite objectives, and to improve work performance. (T H E Journal) School Advisory Council Component By August 1993, each school selected a School Advisory Council (SAC) to develop a School Improvement Plan. (T H E Journal) Council members include all stockholder groups: teachers, administrators, support personnel, students, parents and community citizens. (T H E Journal) This training component supports their work. (T H E Journal) All groups employed by the School District of Lee County and all teachers in the SWFTEC Consortium are afforded multiple opportunities for professional growth. (T H E Journal) Three in service days are provided in Lee County's school calendar; in service days in other consortium districts may vary. (T H E Journal) In service points earned may be used to renew teaching and administrative certifications. (T H E Journal) In service programs for support personnel may be required where certifications or site supervisor requirements are involved. (T H E Journal) Incentives are provided to encourage professional development. Additionally, there is a leadership development plan for certified employees seeking promotion to administrative positions. (T H E Journal) Hours earned in selected in-service sessions, scheduled during off-duty time and for which no stipends are paid, may be used to earn release time on designated teacher-duty days. (T H E Journal) This option is only available to certified instructional personnel.

Trainers submit attendance rosters following the last day of their program. (T H E Journal) School In-service Representatives are responsible for assuring this occurs. (T H E Journal) One week prior to each flexible in-service day, principals get reports showing the number of eligible hours earned by each teacher. (T H E Journal) The principal then authorizes the off-day and updates the record of hours used in the flex-time program. (T H E Journal) School principals, guidance counselors and especially school psychologists need to deal every day with at-risk behaviors in school such as poor grades, tardiness, truancy, dropping out, rebellion, etc. At-risk behaviors comprising lack of obedience, avoiding family activities, consistent arguing, non-communication, and mental health behaviors often consisting of depression, sexual abuse, eating disorders, pregnancy, suicide ideation, chemical abuse, isolation, gang memberships, is what school psychologists can handle. Whatever the definition, whatever the behaviors, and whatever the setting, clearly, a feeling of urgency exists: but, to blame the schools, the families, and, especially, the students, themselves, does a great disservice to those entities, and, is representative of a denial of extensive proportions. In dealing with the notion of high-risk, we need to address the aforementioned shadows of education and realize, that the whole context in which schools and education have traditionally done business, has, indeed, changed. Having made this realization, we will be in a much better position to acknowledge high-risk in terms of definition, context, cause and effect, diagnosis, and finally, treatment. Thus, the school psychologist is not constricted to one school, or, to school settings, in general.

School psychologists bring a psychological perspective to bear on the problems of educators and clients educators serve; moreover, I might add, they may bring a psychological perspective on the community, district, state and national problems, associated with high-risk students. Of course, this was not always the case; historically, school psychologists were wrapped cocoons of testing for differences between measured intelligence and academic achievement, and, worked mainly with the special education population. But this has changed, especially nowadays in Florida. It is required that school psychologists in Florida need to provide comprehensive, not fragmented, services for all children, and, this is a critical factor, resulting in more work with families, more work with community agencies, and more work with communities, as a whole, and therefore, often, centrally located for optimal delivery of services. These qualities are pivotal in working with the high-risk population, whose exigencies, often, transcend the school and the family. Thus, I believe that the school psychologist, whose roles include, but are not limited to, assessment, consultation, training, research and professional development, is in the best position, and, I must say, quintessential in treating high-risk students.

The University of North Floridas school counseling program is embedded in a university and college committed to K- 12 school district partnerships for educational reform. (Counselor Education and Supervision) The School counseling track focuses on preparing counselors to meet the academic, emotional, and social needs of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. (Counselor Education and Supervision) Special emphasis is placed upon knowledge bases and internship experiences that prepare school counselors to contextualize their competencies in cultural, family, and urban community settings where low-income and minority students have been least well served. (Counselor Education and Supervision) The UNF School Counseling Track will prepare school counselors to positively impact the learning of K- 12 students by serving as advocates, educational leaders, team members, counselors, and consultants to maximize opportunities for students to succeed academically. (Counselor Education and Supervision) Specifically, school counseling candidates will learn to: understand and apply aggregated and disaggregated student information to develop a data driven guidance program based on the unique needs of their school; develop in students a commitment to achievement and provide conditions that enable students to accomplish their goals; help students with educational planning, career development, and the use of specific information such as labor market trends to facilitate understanding of the interrelationship between academic achievement and future opportunities; become proficient in staff development for teachers and parents in critical areas such as student motivation, learning styles, and school improvement plans; serve as leaders and steward of equity and achievement efforts and be able to identify and address institutional and environmental barriers impeding students progress; become managers of resources and partnership builders, enlisting the support of parents, agencies, and community members; and act as counselors and consultants to help provide an emotionally and physically safe environment so that all students can concentrate on academic achievement. (Counselor Education and Supervision) In the present day Florida a principal has to be able to meet vital goals of assisting teachers to guide pupils to achieve objectives at which ever level is required be it national, state, district, and / or individual classroom level. It should definitely be the principals responsibility to encourage teachers to help pupils achieve optimally. The principal has a vital leadership role to assist each student to learn as much as possible. Staff development and other means of teacher in service education are musts to guide students individually to attain as much as possible. Meeting needs of pupils are necessary if optimal learner achievement is to be in the offing. Bibliography: Promoting Effective School Leadership: A Change-Oriented Model for the Preparation of Principals.

Journal article by Linda S. Behar-H orenstein; PJE. Peabody Journal of Education, Vol. 70, 1995 Florida School District Teams Technology with Training. Journal article by Harriett C. Bohannon, Valerie G. Spriggs; T H E Journal, Vol. 22, 1995 Online System Simplifies Early Childhood Assessment for Florida School District.

Journal article by Marlyn Black; T H E Journal, Vol. 30, 2002 The Professional Development School without Walls: A Partnership between a University and Two School Districts, Journal article by Karen Co lucci, Betty C. Epanchin; Remedial and Special Education, Vol. 23, 2002 Accountability with a Kicker: Observations on the Florida A+ Accountability Plan. Journal article by Dan Gold haber, Jane Hannaway; Phi Delta Kappa, Vol. 85, 2004 Selection of School Counselor Candidates: Future Directions at Two Universities. Journal article by Charles Hanson, Carolyn B. Stone; Counselor Education and Supervision, Vol. 41, 2002 Florida School District Teams Technology with Training. Journal article by Harriett C.

Bohannon, Valerie G. Spriggs; T H E Journal, Vol. 22, 1995 The Application of a 360 -Degree Feedback Managerial Development Program in Higher Education: The Florida Model. Journal article by Terry Armstrong, Shelly Y. Blake, Chris Piotrowski; Education, Vol. 120, 2000 Relationships among the Professional Practices and Demographic Characteristics of School Psychologists.

Journal article by J. Elizabeth Chest Grier, Michael J. Curtis, Sawyer A. Hunter; School Psychology Review, Vol. 31, 2002

Research essay sample on T H Academic Achievement