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ER&D Local Site Coordinator
Kathy Rumph
Updated
11.17.2011
February 2012
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Course Descriptions
Foundations of Effective Teaching I-
Organizing the Classroom Environment for Teaching and Learning
This course presents a synthesis of research on the fundamental aspects of teaching and learning, covering starting-the-school-year topics of room arrangement and rules & procedures; effective group management practices; interactive direct instruction; time on task; teacher praise; and homework practices. The presented research identifies specific, core teacher behaviors, often performed unconsciously, that support good teaching. It helps teachers become aware of the complexities of teaching, reflect on their own practice, and move their use of effective strategies to the conscious level.
Instructional Foundations of Effective Strategies that Work for All Disciplines
This course provides practical application of instructional strategies identified in the research on effective instruction and proven to support student learning. The focus is on cognitive strategies that encourage critical thinking and helps to transfer the acquired skills resulting in the learner moving from novice to expert. Course participants will learn to evaluate curriculum materials across content areas, organize content for learning, develop and/or evaluate scoring guides for student tasks. These strategies are applicable for K-12 classrooms. Each session will require reading and participation in activities.
Managing Anti-Social Behavior
The anti-social actions of a small but 
powerful percentage of students in school not only put their own academic success at risk but threaten the learning environment for the rest of the class. This course presents research on emotional and behavioral problems of students who consistently act out. Participants will learn strategies to reduce and/or prevent the occurrence of disruptive or dangerous outbreaks. This course is intended to provide educators with instructional tools to change practice and promote student achievement. This course will offer a non-threatening, non-judgmental learning environment, providing opportunities for thoughtful discussion about teaching and learning with colleagues and researchers. The course blends theory and practice into meaningful strategies that promote social skills development and academic progress.
Reading Comprehension for Grades K-8
This course focuses on the research and exemplary practices that help students acquire strong reading comprehension skills, providing participants with a synthesis of the research base on reading comprehension instruction and vocabulary development. Participants examine, discuss, and evaluate the appropriate application of instructional strategies from explicit to implicit teaching of comprehension skills. Strategies are presented for increasing student comprehension of both narrative and expository texts-including content area textbooks. Approaches are presented to help students monitor comprehension and apply appropriate "fix-up" strategies when comprehension is not achieved. Practice in using these instructional strategies and examples of student work are included throughout the course, along with techniques to keep all students actively involved in learning.
School, Family & Community-
Supporting Student Learning
The research evidence is clear: parent and family 
involvement is critical to student achievement. Benefits outweigh the challenges in implementing effective parent and family involvement. Learn how to collaborate and involve them to become partners in education of children, schools, families and communities. The primary function of this course is to help school staff understand how they can assist parents to better support their children as learners. Topics explored include:
1) Using effective communication strategies to develop learning partnerships with families
2) Designing more productive homework assignments to involve families
3) Explaining classroom work and grading systems to parents
4) Developing school wide parent involvement plans
Some hours include the time spent in the classrooms implementing the strategies as well as the independent readings and reflections.
Thinking Math I for Grades K-8
This course is designed to help teachers and school systems improve math achievement by building on what is known about how student learn math. Research-based information teachers can use when making instructional decisions as as well as a set of professional development units that help teachers explore with their peers the recommended approaches will be included. Mathematical topics and units that will be presented are Patterns & Relationships, Counting, Problem Classification, Situational Stories, Manipulatives, Recording, Instructional Lessons, Questioning, Planning for Instruction, Estimation, and Management. Each session will require reading and participation in activities.
Thinking Math II for Grades K-8
This course, second part of Thinking Math I, presents research-based strategies for teaching and learning multiplication, division, and beginning proportional reasoning. Primary teachers and paraprofessionals can see how children in the earliest grades can build a foundation of understanding as they begin to deal with problems that typically are reserved for later years. Teachers of older student learn how to promote understanding of basic mathematical properties and laws that will be used when student study algebra. The course also shows a connection between several of the practices suggested by Thinking Math I and the study of higher mathematics.