Student Achievement Factors

Align instructions to  learning standards.  Instructions for an assignment should always be clearly aligned to the learning target and task for mastering a learning standard. We can best know that our students have met the learning standard if we use a measurable learning target. Likewise, we should align our feedback strategies to the learning task to help our students master a learning target.   Include formative assessment.  Students must be able to understand quality work and be able to asses the quality of their own work. Give your students examples of quality work so they have something they can compare their work to and can identify their learning gaps themselves. This helps to show where students need improvement. Students become more motivated about learning and confident in their abilities. Provide consistent feedback.  Students whose teachers have used formative assessment with them significantly improve...

1. Make the most of your study time Don’t just panic, bury your head in a heap of books and hope for the best. Get organised. Make a schedule and work out how much time you need for each subject. Study a little each day and give your brain a break every 45 minutes. Avoid cramming the night before – it’s not the way to guarantee a good mark. 2. Don’t just study solo  Why not form a study group with friends ? It’ll provide you with variety and moral support, plus it’s motivating to have people around you who are working towards the same goals. 3. Deal with your stress Exam stress is perfectly normal – in fact, a little bit of stress can be a positive motivator. However, too much of it can negatively affect your performance. So take regular breaks, exercise daily, and spend time relaxing with friends. If you begin to feel frustrated or overwhelmed, step away from the books for a while. 4. Ask for help Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers for help – the...

Study frequently Studying hard for only a few hours the night before the test isn't going to help ensure perfect scores. If you really want to ace those exams, study old and new material every day, or at least several times a week. This will make test-taking a breeze. Take study breaks. When you study, make sure you take a 5-10 minute break after every 30 minutes of study. This will help keep your brain from getting overloaded and give it more time to absorb the information . On study breaks, try not to fill your brain with more information, even if that information is more about your favourite celebrity's latest concert rather than Winston Churchill's foreign policy. Study according to your learning style You may know that different people have different learning styles. Some people are visual learners, some people prefer sound, some need physical motion, and so on. Know how you learn best and work that into how you study. For example, if you learn better ...

Arranging Your Classroom Before you set out to arrange your classroom , consider asking yourself the following questions: What information do my students need to know?  They need to know the date, assignment, classroom procedures, etc. What will inspire my students every day?  Quotes, posters, classroom awards, everyday heroes, etc.8 What education artifacts do they need?  Word walls, literacy resources, purposeful posters and bulletin boards, etc. How do I need to structure the desks?  Teacher-focused activities means desks will be in rows or small clusters facing the front of the classroom, while student-focused activities means desks will be put into groups or semicircles so students can easily collaborate with one another. Do any of my students have specific medical needs?  A food allergy, wheelchair, etc. What furniture is available?  Desks, tables, bookcases, shelves, etc. The answers to these questions will help guide you to structur...

Cooperation and Relevance Creating a cooperative learning environment has both a positive social and educational impact on each participating student. Cooperation is a critical skill that has far-reaching effects and can help your students in the classroom, as well as in their day-to-day lives. Cooperation helps students explore and celebrate the diversity among them, overcome their differences, learn by actively listening, work as a team, develop stronger interpersonal skills, relate to their peers, create new friendships, improve their social interactions, gain additional feedback from their peers, and exchange new ideas. All of these benefits contribute to a better, more comprehensive learning environment . Successful learning environments also require that learning objectives be relevant to your students and their lives outside of the classroom. Without the ability to explore how information applies to daily life, your students are less likely to engage in their lessons ...

1. Methods of learning: Effective learning depends upon the methods of study also. There are certain methods which save the energy and time of the learner. These are called ‘economic methods of learning’. They are: a. Part v/s whole method: Smaller and shorter lessons may be learnt at a stretch-called whole method. If the material is too lengthy, it must be divided into parts, so that it will be easy for learning. After reading in parts the learnt material should be connected or associated with each other. b. Spaced v/s un-spaced method: Learning continuously without gap leads to interference in memory called inhibition. Hence, it is always advisable to keep small interval between each reading. c. Recitation v/s repetition: Just repetition of lessons becomes rote learning in which chances of forgetting are more. In recitation the learner will check the weak points which may be forgotten and put more emphasis on those points. This process will help to overcome missing...

1. Motivation: It is the most important factor influencing the learner. If the learner has no motivation to learn, any amount of force will be futile. More the motivation better will be the learning . In addition to motivation, the learner should have a definite goal. It will direct the individual appropriately and help him to achieve the goal. 2. Readiness and will power: This is just like motivation. If the learner is ready to learn , he will develop motivation to learn. Along with readiness a strong willpower is also essential to overcome hurdles and problems. Readiness will help to develop a positive attitude in learner. 3. Ability of the learner: This refers to the level of intelligence, creativity, aptitude and such other abilities necessary for learning. Intelligence enables the learner to learn better and understand things and relationship between them. It includes both general and specific intelligence related to specific area of learning. 4. Level of aspirati...

1. Intellectual factor: The term refers to the individual mental level. Success in school is generally closely related to level of the intellect. Pupils with low intelligence often encounter serious difficulty in mastering schoolwork. Sometimes pupils do not learn because of special intellectual disabilities. A low score in one subject and his scores in other subjects indicate the possible presence of a special deficiency. Psychology reveals to use that an individual possess different kinds to intelligence. Knowledge of the nature of the pupil’s intellect is of considerable value in the guidance and the diagnosis of disability. 2. Learning factors: Factors owing to lack of mastery of what has been taught, faulty methods of work or study, and narrowness of experimental background may affect the learning process of any pupil. If the school proceeds too rapidly and does not constantly check up on the extent to which the pupil is mastering what is being taught, the pupil accumulat...

Students might have difficulty learning for a number of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with innate intelligence. If you are cognizant of these reasons, then you will know what you can do to help your students succeed in class. Getting to know your students as individuals will help you to learn which factors might affect their learning . Motivation Of all of the factors that can affect how people learn, motivation might be the most important. Someone who is motivated to learn a particular task or bit of information generally succeeds, even if she has to work long and hard to do so. When teaching a concept, always consider how the material is relevant to your students' lives, because when individuals see the reason for learning, their motivation increases. Provide feedback on students' learning to help them maintain their motivation. Intellectual Ability Intellectual ability also affects learning . For example, some people have an easier time remembe...

The majority of empirical research dealing with the quality of education measures achievement in relation to students‟ performances in their studies and to test results – which are, of course, the most frequent indicators of the effectiveness and quality of the teachers and of the school. Currently, the most frequent method for measuring teacher quality and school achievement is the value-added model (VAM). Besides noting the difference between a student`s performance between two given points in time, the model also takes into account the socio-economic status (SES) of the individual and the school, together with their respective compositions; that is, it tries to filter out those factors that cannot be influenced by the school. In educational achievement tests the resultant outcome can also be termed „added value‟. There is a broad consensus in the literature that any measurement of teacher and school achievement cannot be limited to merely student performance, especially if the...