Chapter 16 - Schools and Achievement Flashcards
Constructivist Approach
A learner-centered approach that emphasizes the importance of individuals actively constructing their knowledge and understanding, with guidance from the teacher.
Direct Instruction Approach
A teacher-centered approach characterized by teacher direction and control, mastery of academic material, high expectations for students’ progress, and maximum time spent on learning tasks.
Child-Centered Kindergarten
Education that involves the whole child by considering both the child’s physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development and the child’s needs, interests, and learning styles.
Montessori approach
An educational philosophy in which children are given considerable freedom and spontaneity in choosing activities and are allowed to move from one activity to another as they desire.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Education that focuses on the typical developmental patterns of children (age-appropriateness) and the uniqueness of each child (individual-appropriateness). Such practice contrasts with developmentally inappropriate practice, which relies on abstract paper-and-pencil activities presented to large groups of young children.
Project Head Start
Compensatory education designed to provide children from low-income families the opportunity to acquire the skills and experiences important for school success.
Top-Dog Phenomenon
Moving from being the oldest, big-gest, and most powerful students in elementary school to being the youngest, smallest, and least powerful students in middle or junior high school.
Learning Disabilities
Disabilities involving understanding or using spoken or written language. The difficulty can appear in listening, thinking, reading, writing, spelling, or mathematics. To be classified as a learning disability, the problem must not be primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disorders; or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
Dyslexia
A category of learning disabilities involving a severe impairment in the ability to read and spell.
Dysgraphia
A learning disability that involves difficulty in handwriting.
Dyscalculia
Also known as developmental arithmetic disorder; a learning disability that involves difficulty in math computation.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
A disability in which children consistently show one or more of the following characteristics: (1) inattention, (2) hyperactivity, and (3) impulsivity.
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Serious, persistent problems that involve relationships, aggression, depression, fears associated with personal or school matters, as well as other inappropriate socioemotional characteristics.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)
Also called pervasive developmental disorders, they range from the severe disorder labeled autistic disorder to the milder disorder called Asperger syndrome. Children with these disorders are characterized by problems in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors
Autistic Disorder
A severe developmental autism spectrum disorder that has its onset in the first three years of life and includes deficiencies in social relation-ships; abnormalities in communication; and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior.
