According to the National Association for Gifted Children, Giftedness is:
A.identified by an intelligence quotient (IQ) score of 160 or higher.
B.identified by an intelligence quotient (IQ) score of 140 or higher.
C.based upon the presence of distinct elements of giftedness.
D.based upon the presence of wisdom in an individual
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.
The birthplace of Western philosophy is _____.
A.ancient Egypt
B.ancient Greece
C.ancient China
D.ancient India
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.
When schools move away from traditional autocratic teaching styles, students embrace
“Habits of Goodness”. To develop these habits teachers should:
A.develop the list of rules together with their students and ensure that rules are few and
fair.
B.ask students to unquestioningly obey the teacher at all times.
C.communicate to students that even though they don”t understand the reasons for
every rule, rules are very important to follow.
D.ensure that the students learn to remain quiet in the classroom, do not misbehave, and
learn obedience.
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.
In the context of tracking, students are sorted based on _____.
A.ability
B.appearance
C.past achievement
D.religion
Gina teaches at the middle grade. Joey is her student. She has noticed that Joey comes
to school wearing the same clothes every day: a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. He wears
this outfit even on days when it is very cold outside. Recently, Joey seems to be more
withdrawn, he keeps to himself and avoids eye contact largely ignoring his friends.
Based on Gina’s observations, she should:
A.leave the matter alone. After all, everyone knows how “teens” can be!
B.do nothing right now, but continue to observe to confirm any concerns she may have.
C.immediately file a report with her principal or counselor, since Joey could be
suffering from abuse or neglect.
D.do nothing, since what Joey wears or does is really none of her business as long as he
does not disrupt the class.
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.
Identify an accurate statement related to the changing understanding of intelligence.
A.Technological advances and computer programs allow a precise assessment of
intelligence.
B.The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is considered a fixed and unchanging measure of
intellect.
C.The understanding of intelligence is broadening beyond traditional language and
logical-mathematical factors.
D.Cultural values do not influence what is considered as intelligence.
Multicultural educators that follow the approach called “teaching the culturally
different” primarily advocate:
A.creating close links between school and home so that minority children can succeed
academically.
B.teaching single-group studies such as Black Studies, Hispanic Studies, or Women’s
Studies programs.
C.developing new eyes through which policy makers can initiate change in education.
D.mobilizing students to actively address and find ways to remedy social problems.
After becoming “board certified,” a teacher _____.
A.can be assured of a promotion and hike in pay
B.might be given additional pay
C.is given less responsibility for school-wide instruction
D.is legally entitled to receive a minimum 20 percent raise
As gatekeepers, teachers must:
A.counsel weak students.
B.determine which student will talk when.
C.determine the grade for each student.
D.assemble same-ability, homogeneous classes.
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.
Commercialism promotes _____.
A.self-esteem
B.self-gratification
C.self-belief
D.self-gratulation
As a teacher, Richard wants his students to think rationally and rigorously. He feels that
he should prepare his brightest students for future leadership and responsibility, while
providing vocational training to the rest of the students. Richard’s approach to education
is indicative of _____.
A.progressivism
B.perennialism
C.existentialism
D.constructivism
Identify a reason why teacher education students are considered less talented than other
college majors.
A.Education majors are less likely to score in the top 25 percent on the SATs.
B.Teachers attain scores similar to writers, engineers, and physicians on their SATs.
C.Most of the students who go into teaching are academically strong.
D.Honesty, social consciousness, and creativity are highly valued.
Mastery learning is based on the premise that:
A.learning is a social processstudents learn through interaction with others.
B.learning should be relevant to students’ livesby solving real-world problems.
C.all students can learnif given the right tools and the opportunity to work at their own
pace.
D.learning is doingstudents learn through hands-on experiences.
Least-restrictive environment refers to:
A.ensuring appropriate segregation of children with disabilities in each school, and in
every state.
B.allowing students with disabilities to be educated by their parents at home.
C.creating an atmosphere in which students with disabilities are not inappropriately
segregated.
D.providing students with disabilities with specially trained teachers, assistive
technologies, and access to other appropriate resources.
Lower order questions:
A.are used in teaching students in lower grades.
B.ask for problem solving, creative, or open-ended thinking.
C.ask for evaluations, comparisons, and causal relationships.
D.can be answered through memory and recall.
Aaron is a young man in his early twenties. He just returned home after serving in the
U.S. Army for 3 years. Now he hopes to go to college at his state university to become
an engineer. Which of the following federal acts would help Aaron to do so?
A.National Defense Education Act
B.Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
C.Elementary and Secondary Education Act
D.Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The most widespread form of substance abuse is _____.
A.alcohol
B.marijuana
C.heroin
D.cocaine
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Supreme Court _____.
A.asserted that de jure segregation was necessary to preserve the American way of life
B.focused on efforts to eradicate de facto segregation only in the South
C.attacked de facto segregation stemming from racially imbalanced neighborhoods
D.opposed all efforts to eradicate de jure segregation in the North and in the South
Members of which demographic group are at the greatest risk of committing suicide?
A.African Americans
B.White Americans
C.Hispanic Americans
D.Native Americans
Marie, a middle-grade teacher, believes that all children can learn if given the right
support. However, Tina, her coworker, thinks that it is a waste of time and effort to
work with students from certain racial and ethnic groups. Which of the following
theories suggests that the academic performance of the students from these groups is
likely to suffer due to Tina’s attitude?
A.The deficit theory
B.The expectation theory
C.The multiple intelligence theory
D.The cultural difference theory
The Abbott cases in New Jersey contributed to a new line of litigation focusing on
_____.
A.financial input
B.educational outcome
C.economic resource
D.student demography
The state with perhaps the purest example of adequate education approach is _____.
A.New York
B.California
C.Maryland
D.Virginia
Describe four types of teacher reaction and feedback. Which is used most often? Which
is used least often?
What is your opinion about the voucher system? Do you feel Friedman’s ideas about
vouchers work as well in practice as he might have theoretically conceived?
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Is the federal government’s role in education a help or a hindrance? Is there too much
influence from the federal government, or not enough? Support your opinions.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
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.
To what extent do you think teachers are born or made? Is it really possible to be a
“natural born teacher”? Can a good teacher really be made? Be sure to include specific
examples and analysis in your discussion.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
How does second-generation segregation affect the education of African American
students? Describe the Kerner Commission findings on race. How did these findings
affect national efforts to increase the quality of education for African Americans?
What are some of the questions that employers are not allowed to ask during the course
of a job interview? If you were to be asked one or more of these inappropriate questions
during an interview for a position that you truly wanted, how would you handle the
situation? In your opinion, what would be an appropriate way to answer such questions
without jeopardizing your chances of being selected?
How has the American cultural perception of Arab Americans changed over time? How
large and internally diverse is the Arab American population in the U.S.? What might be
done to continue combating common misconceptions about this group?
What is your educational philosophy, and how do you think it will shape your teaching
style? Be sure to provide specific examples to support your discussion.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Imagine that you are on a committee charged with rewarding good teachers and
removing poorly performing ones. The subject of merit pay arises and you are asked to
discuss the idea with your committee members. How, exactly, does merit pay work?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of pay for performance? If you were asked
to provide your professional recommendations about merit pay to the committee, what
would your position be and why? Be sure to support your position with analysis and
examples where appropriate.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
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?
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Create a lesson that a progressivist teacher would teach to his or her students. What
would be some of the key characteristics of such a lesson? Be sure to provide specific
examples.
Which of Gardner’s “five minds” do you believe would be most beneficial for
application now to teaching curriculums in today’s schools (excluding the “disciplined
mind”)? Which would you prioritize as least important? Explain your position, using
analysis and providing specific examples to support your position.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
In this chapter, the authors argue that cultural differences can influence how students
from different nations perform on international tests. Discuss how cultural differences
might impact performance on such tests. Be sure to provide specific examples to
support your arguments.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Imagine you are welcoming a substitute teacher into your classroom. How will you
prepare him or her for working with your diverse population of students? What does
he/she need to be aware of? How do you explain the students’ ethnic diversity without
stereotyping them? How do you explain to the substitute teacher the best way to reach
out to the students and still respect their cultural diversity?
Answer:
Answers will vary.
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.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Discuss what you believe John Goodlad meant when he said that “the emotional tone of
the classroom is neither harsh and punitive nor warm and joyful; it might be described
most accurately as flat.” To what extent do you feel his statement mirrored your
experiences as a student? What steps can teachers take to change the emotional tone of
their classrooms while still remaining professional? Be sure to support your positions
with specific examples.
Discuss how policymakers could be persuaded to include teachers in the educational
policy process. Be sure to cite examples in your discussion.
Answer:
Answers will vary.