AAA Scholarship Foundation

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What is Scholarship Stacking and Why Are We Against It

January 11, 2018 by admin

Scholarship stacking is the unregulated practice of allowing students to receive multiple tax credit scholarships from different scholarship organizations so that the resulting benefit to the student is greater than the maximum scholarship value set by law.

The Arizona Department of Revenue has confirmed to us that they believe the intention of Arizona legislators in including a maximum scholarship limit for the Arizona Low-Income Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program was to “save” taxpayer money by setting the cost of educating a student in the Program to something less than the cost of educating the same student in a public school (the 2017-2018 maximum value of a scholarship is $6,600 for students in grades 9 – 12 and $5,300 for students in grades k – 8).

This intent is not unusual. Legislative supporters of tax credit scholarship programs in the other states have successfully used the same argument to pass similar laws – they save taxpayer money. Unfortunately, the Arizona law was written in a way that leaves the administration of these scholarship limits open to interpretation.

It is our belief that scholarship stacking puts this successful and effective Program (and the tens of thousands of students who benefit from it) at risk unnecessarily by allowing those who oppose it to point to stacking as a waste of taxpayer dollars. Subsequently, it is our policy to interpret the law in the same spirit that the Arizona Department of Revenue has told us it was passed – the maximum scholarship value in the law is the maximum per student per year.

It is our mission to provide access to students with economic disadvantages to the best educational setting for their learning needs and we believe that the best way to do that it to strengthen the program – not weaken it. To that end, we encourage the Arizona legislature to raise the annual scholarship value per student, allow it to be used for required books and fees at eligible schools (along with tuition as it is today) and to either regulate the practice of scholarship stacking or prohibit it altogether.

The future of this Program – and all the students who rely on it – is bright. Let’s keep that light shining for them and for the great state of Arizona!

Filed Under: Blog

CRA Information for Bank Contributors

December 6, 2016 by admin

For banks there is an added benefit to participating in the tax credit scholarship program through the AAA Scholarship Foundation, as examiners at the bank regulatory agencies have approved dollars transferred to fund scholarships through this program to qualify for positive consideration under the CRA investment test.

Each of our financial institutions that has enrolled in the tax credit scholarship program, and has been examined, has received positive consideration under the CRA investment test. This qualified investment would be considered as a “charitable contribution.” The regulation states that a “qualified investment is not disqualified because an institution receives favorable treatment for it (for example, as a tax deduction or credit)…”

In addition, bank contributions can be allocated to the bank’s specific assessment area(s) to insure that the bank’s investment is serving their geographic footprint.

Since the community development purpose of this program is to serve low-income children (only those that qualify for the national free or reduced lunch program), below are the demographics of the children served (this information is updated every quarter):

Average Family Size: 4

Average Family Income: $23,559*

Single Parent Home: 60%

*This income needs to be compared to the area median income (“AMI”) of the specific county to determine whether it’s at or below 30% (extremely low), 50% (low) or 80% (moderate) of the AMI to insure qualifying as a CRA investment.

For additional information please contact Kerri Vaughan, Managing Director • AAA Scholarship Foundation • www.aaascholarships.org • Cell: 786-367-0823   • Office: 888-707-2465 ext 730 • kerri@aaascholarships.org

Click here for a printable version of this document.

Filed Under: Blog

Georgia Income-Based Scholarships

February 26, 2016 by admin

Georgia Income-based Scholarship

Georgia ScholarshipFor more than 15 years, the AAA Scholarship Foundation staff has been working in the school choice movement to help eligible low-income students afford to attend the schools that best fit their learning needs. Our belief always has been, and will continue to be that “access to quality education should not be dependent on a family’s zip code.” AAA is a customer-service driven, student-focused organization. We work to maximize the dollars available for scholarships by keeping our overhead low and focusing our efforts on our core mission, helping students succeed.

In 2010, the AAA Scholarship Foundation started administering tax credit scholarships in Georgia specifically for low and middle income families with higher accountability requirements than required by law. In order to prove their eligibility, households must complete AAA’s online application and provide supporting documentation. Each household must meet both the state and AAA’s requirements. The application for this scholarship is available as soon as March 2016.

Despite efforts, elementary education throughout the United States has plateaued in the past several years instead of progressing. Average reading and math scores are not steadily increasing the way they have in the past, and Georgia specifically has been performing below the rest of the nation when it comes to reading and math proficiency. With the help of AAA Scholarships, we believe that parents know their children best and we trust they can decide on the best school choice to benefit their kids.

For AAA Scholarship Foundation, making academic achievement accessible for low-income families is our goal and we do this by passionately advocating for the under-served, under-represented and academically disadvantaged members of our communities.

For more information on how our scholarship foundation is helping low-income families and those with children experiencing learning disabilities, or physical disabilities in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Nevada, visit our website.

Filed Under: Blog

A Spotlight on the Salgado Brothers

January 29, 2016 by admin

UnknownSchool plays a necessary and crucial role in the lives of each and every child. What and how children learn has a major impact on their future success and, even more importantly, their happiness. However, deciding what school a child should attend and how to pay for said school is not always an easy process. With every young student facing different obstacles and challenges, it is not always a given that public school will be the best choice. Many children need a more challenging atmosphere, different stimulation, alternate learning opportunities, or a different social setting in order to effectively learn. Finding and providing the right learning environment for children is half the battle, and one that can make all the difference.

While many parents would move mountains to ensure their child’s future success and would do whatever it takes to create a positive academic and social experience, not all can afford to do so. However, the AAA Scholarship Foundation strives to give all parents and children another option.

The AAA Scholarship Foundation generally provides students financial aid to pursue other options. This foundation has taken countless struggling students and given them the opportunity that every child deserves; an opportunity to feel comfortable in their learning environment and to find individual success.

Amongst the foundation’s many success stories are brothers Alexander and Sebastian Salgado who are thriving at their new school, Brunswick Christian Academy. Both boys originally attended a local public school that, despite good accolades, wasn’t meeting their individual, social and academic needs.

Alexander, the older of the two boys, experienced bullying that caused his school performance and happiness to suffer. His brother, Sebastian, faced his own physical and mental struggles that caused anxiety, tantrums, and other major issues in and out of school. Determined to improve the quality of life and education for both boys, parents, Sheila and Fermin, applied for and received the AAA Scholarships necessary to send their children to BCA. The individual attention and educational environment that the academy provides has altered the path of both boys immeasurably, and they are both thriving.

The impact that the AAA Scholarship Foundation has had on the Salgado family is just one example of what the organization has done and continues to do for children in need of an alternative learning environment. The scholarship provided Alexander with the opportunity to find his passions, look forward to school, and enjoy the learning process. Similarly, it has paved the way for Sebastian to improve behaviorally, socially, and academically. Sheila and Fermin can now watch their children embark on a path that might not have been possible without the aid of a scholarship from AAA. They can now see their sons reach their full potential and achieving their goals.

The AAA Scholarship Foundation has given families like the Salgados opportunities that will go beyond kindergarten and grade school. This organization provides the stepping-stones for children to learn effectively enjoy their time at school, and to build any lives they might want. Together with its donors, the AAA Scholarship Foundation has found a way to give children the futures they deserve.

Filed Under: Blog

Keeping Children Motivated Through the School Year

January 18, 2016 by admin

kids at school-saidaonlineIt’s that time again. The excitement of winter break and the holiday season is over, and your kids are back in school. How can they possibly sit still for six hours of the day to learn equations and pronouns when they so fondly remember last week when they were free to roam and play with their friends throughout the day. It is hard enough for adults to get back into the swing of things, and for kids it is no different, if not harder.

Parents and caregivers can play a big role in assisting their kids to get motivated through the semester. Teaching kids how to stay encouraged now will benefit them in the future when they become more independent and have to learn to self-motivate. Students who are unmotivated or inattentive are less likely to benefit from their curriculum. The following five tips can help you get your kid back into a positive school routine.

  1. Don’t limit learning to the classroom: What your child learns within the classroom is crucial to his/her intellectual progress, however simply asking about the things they learn at school and showing enthusiasm for school topics at home can generate a positive attitude toward learning.
  1. Celebrate all achievements: Positive reinforcement can inspire kids to want to learn and challenge themselves. Every triumph, no matter how small should be acknowledged. Achievements can mean anything from finishing a homework assignment to getting an A on a test and all can be rewarded with small special treats.
  1. Get Involved: Putting aside some time, even with a busy schedule, can be beneficial to a child’s commitment to work and the importance they put toward school. Helping him/her to organize papers and assignments or assisting with homework can take some stress off a kid’s shoulders, ensuring they aren’t overwhelmed.
  1. Be kind, yet firm: When you feel yourself becoming frustrated, recognize that your student likely is as well. Try giving your child a break to do something physical to work off the negative energy while recharging. Then settle right back in for more school work.
  1. It’s not your fault: Remember, a lack of motivation is not your fault so do not take it personally. Instead get to know your child well enough to figure out what drives him/her, and from there you can work on inspiring them.

Keeping kids motivated during the second half of the year is a difficult task, especially for younger kids. As a caregiver, being aware of this is the first step toward creating a better attitude about learning. With your help, your child will keep on track and continue a successful school year.

Filed Under: Blog

“But When Will I Ever Use This?” An Open Letter to Teachers, Students and Parents

December 22, 2015 by admin

Students-in-classroomIt’s an age old question. Students of all ages have been taught (against their will) seemingly “useless” information for generations and have always struggled to relate to most subjects outside the classroom. This is an innate problem with today’s education system in the sense that a lack of relevance causes students to simply learn facts and regurgitate them without ever grasping a full understanding of the topics. But what needs to change in order to make subjects like Algebra, Chemistry and Physics more relevant in students’ lives? The truth of the matter is that change can (and should) really come from all fronts. If students, teachers and parents alike make a conscious effort to make lessons more relevant and engaging, we can create a culture in which students are passionate about learning even the driest of subjects because they know how it relates to them and how it can benefit them in the future.

 

Educator Robin Roberson defines relevance as the perception that something is both interesting and worth knowing. This is one of the most vital steps in education, but can also serve as a tough obstacle for many teachers in classrooms full of unmotivated students. That being said, educators everywhere should be on the front lines of the movement to make school relevant. It creates an environment where students expect to know how the subject will relate to their lives rather than assuming they don’t relate at all from the beginning. Thankfully, there are tested tools and activities that can be employed to aid in the creation of this environment. Two motivational tools to pique student interests are large pieces of the relevance puzzle and can reach a variety of students: utility value and relatedness.

 

Utility value is a tool that is academic by nature and latches on to the future goals of your students. Know a student who wants to be an engineer one day? Physics may be a dry, uninteresting subject to the average student, but to a student with career goals in engineering, physics will be both inherently interesting and used tremendously over the next several years. Point this out to students that have expressed interest in certain career paths, and make sure they know that it’s great to be interested in certain subjects (even when the average student dreads them). Tell them how each lesson would apply to the engineering field and how they would use the knowledge throughout their career. It transforms the information to very interesting and worth knowing. Utility value takes students that already have a knack for something and turns that knack into a passion.

 

We know what you’re thinking: if every student could just know what their future goals are and state their interests, your job would be infinitely easier. For those students who aren’t meeting you halfway, there’s the relatedness tool. Showing your students you can relate to them is an inherent need in education, as it helps to form a trusting relationship between you and your students. If they know you keep them in mind throughout your lesson plans, they feel like the information is more catered to them and, in turn, they are more likely to listen and engage in what you have to say. Find out what non-academic interests your students have and find ways to relate to them through your teaching. This involves finding ways in which your subject relates to the non-academic world, which is really the bread and butter of relevance in education.

 

There are several examples that we pull from in this infographic, but always look for creative ways to relate to your individual students. Do your biology students not understand why they need to dissect a frog? Point out the similarities between the anatomies of frogs and humans. While we can’t dissect humans, frogs are very similar, and this is one of the best ways to get an in-person glance at our physiology. If they ever have a surgery, they can think back to what they learned in the dissection lesson and ask smart questions to educate themselves on the goings-on in their bodies. Have a student in your English class that struggles to see the purpose of developing their writing composition skills? Put it in a real world scenario for them. While they may not end up as a journalist or lawyer, chances are they may need to file an insurance claim at some point in the future. If they can’t string two well thought out sentences together, they may not get the resolve in their case that they deserve.

In order for the relatedness tool to really work, you have to get to know your students and their interests. Two activities that Roberson has employed over the years have helped immensely in relating to her students and promoting engaging and interesting lessons with them. The first is an in depth class introduction session at the beginning of each term. She uses this as a time for her students to share a few things about themselves, where she can learn what their interests are (both academic and non-academic) as well as any goals they have for the future that can be used to relate with them in future lessons. She also uses this as an opportunity to tell her students about herself, helping to establish herself as an approachable presence in and out of the classroom. The second tool is utilized alongside assigned reading assignments throughout the duration of her class. Students are assigned to specific readings to be completed before each class, and are assigned to write a one to two page reflection paper on each reading. In these compositions, they are to draw parallels between the assigned passage and a personal experience that they have had in the past. This helps her students to understand the passage more deeply and form relevant connections between the subject matter and their everyday lives. She reads each reflection before the next class session and uses some of the anecdotes in class discussions, helping to even further deepen her students’ understanding of the subject matter and keep a congruent, conversational tone in the classroom.

It is definitely apparent that teachers can do a lot to keep their students interested in the subject matter they are presenting to them. While teachers can bend over backwards in efforts to increase classroom engagement, students and parents must take the initiative as well for the culture we seek to fully come to fruition. Students and their parents know student interests more than anyone else. Make sure that students are being vocal about their interests in and out of the classroom to their teachers. Continually ask how a lesson can be applied to real world scenarios. Keep pushing teachers to draw parallels for students, and they’ll keep pushing students to grasp them and fully understand why they should pay attention. It won’t work if it’s just the teachers putting in all the effort to reach their students. The culture of academic engagement comes from a series of moving and working parts in which each party is actively pursuing a relevant learning experience. No matter who you are, it starts with you. Put forth the effort and begin to see the change happening.

Filed Under: Blog

Communicating with Your Kids’ Teachers

December 15, 2015 by admin

Father helping son with his schoolwork

Several studies show that a consistently open line of communication between a student’s parents and their teachers can greatly benefit their learning experience and overall academic success.  A large percentage (nearly 80%) of parents consider themselves to be very involved with their child’s education. This is to be somewhat expected in the age of technology we live in today with school websites and email correspondence making it easier than ever to get in touch with teachers. Some experts feel that we are underutilizing the tools we have, however, given the level of communication we have access to. Results are showing that it’s not so much about the quantity of communication you have with teachers, but more about the quality. These 3 practices will help you more effectively communicate with your kid’s teachers to help achieve the best results for your child’s success.

 

Be Proactive

If a student has problems in the classroom (whether behavioral or academic), many parents don’t hear about it until it’s already considered a “problem.” A bit of proactivity from the parental front can do wonders in the day to day performance of your child’s learning experience and foresee a potential issue before it becomes a disruption in the classroom. Weekly email correspondence with teachers can help you stay on top of your child’s education and understand your child’s specific needs outside the classroom to set them up for success. A consistently open line of communication with teachers lets you know where your child is struggling, where they are excelling, and what actions you can take to aid both your child and their teacher in class. Seek out progress reports (both in academics and conduct) so you know where your child stands and what their strengths and weaknesses are. A full understanding of your child’s schooling situation and performance is a vital step in creating an environment in which your child strives to achieve academic excellence.

 

Recognize Success

One common problem with parent-teacher communication is that parents often only hear about the negatives when it comes to their child’s classroom performance. Be sure to seek out positive feedback from teachers, and hold it in the same regard as negative feedback. Negative feedback is imperative because it allows you to work on correcting the problem with your child outside the classroom, but positive feedback is just as vitally important as it gives you the opportunity to celebrate success with your child. Discussions about school should not be reserved exclusively for when problems arise. Rather, a full well rounded approach to discussing the good, the bad and the ugly of school stimuli and performance. Praising your child for academic success also provides them incentive for consistent academic achievement.

 

Be Receptive

When a student is consistently struggling, it is important to listen to the teacher’s perspective on the problem. Teachers spend consistent time with your child, and the way your student performs in school is a huge part of their life. Be sure not to shut your teacher out of the equation by writing off what they have to say. They have a different perspective on and relationship with your child than you do, and it is crucial to hear every side of the problem when problems arise, either with academics or conduct. Collaborating with teachers on effective solutions is often the most surefire way to help your child find success and happiness in the classroom.

All in all, the main focus here is to take an active role in your child’s education. Teachers are always available to answer questions you may have. Keep in regular contact with them, attend conferences, and do anything you can to get involved in your child’s learning experience. The more integral a role you play in their school life, the more engaged their thought processes and feelings about school will be. Parents play as vital a role in their child’s academic success as teachers do. Both parents and teachers working together for a student’s success is the best way to achieve it.  

Filed Under: Blog

Hitting the Hay: Is Your Sleep Schedule Affecting Your Everyday Life?

November 23, 2015 by admin

sleep_banner_freeThe constant struggle to get enough sleep has been a battle that students and adults alike have been fighting for generations. Now more than ever, students are finding themselves stretching their days and shrinking their nights in order to keep up with the academic, extracurricular, familial and social obligations bestowed upon teens in today’s world. Ironic, in the sense that the hours taken away from sleep to adhere to these responsibilities is actually negatively impacting each of these areas, along with a slew of other facets of their physical and mental well being. One study found that as little as 15% of high school students get 8 hours or more on school nights. Research shows that teenagers should be sleeping at least 8 to 10 hours a night to achieve a healthy level of deep sleep and be fully functional throughout the day. How does your child’s sleep schedule line up with that recommendation?

Sleep deprivation can be cause for serious concern when it comes to the health and success of our students. Teens that don’t get enough sleep find serious dips in their learning, listening, concentration and problem solving abilities, and simple memory functions such as names, dates and numbers fall by the wayside easily. Sleep deprivation can lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior, cause mood swings, and bring about an increase in risky behavior. Driving while sleep deprived is also very dangerous; about 100,000 car crashes a year are caused by tired drivers, resulting in about 1,500 deaths.

Many physical issues can arise as a result of sleep deprivation as well. Sleep is used as the time to regroup and rebuild your cells, and has a hand in healing and repairing parts of your body on a daily basis. Going extended periods of time without sleep can increase one’s risk for heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Risks for obesity go up as your impulse control and metabolism plummet, acne breakouts are far more common, and hormone imbalances through puberty are prevalent when teens spend too little time sleeping.

So what, then, should we do? Students are going to remain busy. Lives of teenagers are going to stay hectic. 24 measly hours in a day are never going to feel like enough.

The biggest solution found by researchers is to simply prioritize sleeping in your life. Be mindful of your sleep schedules and patterns throughout your everyday life and try to adjust your daily choices according to what your body needs. Get your body clock ticking regularly again by eating meals at consistent times, and try to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day as well (yes, even on the weekend; “catching up” on sleep can cause your sleep schedule to fall out of balance if you’re not careful. It’s better to get a few more hours throughout the week than to throw your body out of whack every weekend). Try to kick caffeine for a week or two and see how your body reacts when bed time comes around, and always avoid caffeine after around 3 pm. Try replacing your caffeine intake with a daily dose of exercise; studies show that just 30 minutes of exercise daily can boost endorphin levels enough to give you energy throughout the day and settle down for a good night’s rest every evening. Make your bedroom your sleep sanctuary. Don’t eat, watch television, or do homework in bed. Make your bedroom for sleep and sleep alone, and your body will be conditioned to that routine.

The two biggest factors contributing to a healthy sleeping routine are mindfulness and consistency. If you can stay consistently mindful (and mindfully consistent) when it comes to your daily dose of rest, you’re well on your way to a healthier, more energized, more functional and more well rested you. Get sleeping!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: schedule, school, sleep

The Breaking Point: When, Why and How to Take a Step Back

November 13, 2015 by admin

Lehi, Utah, USA --- Caucasian teenager studying in classroom --- Image by © Mike Kemp/Blend Images/Corbis

We’ve all undoubtedly been there before: eyelids heavy, consciousness fluttering, mind racing and head swimming with countless factoids and anecdotes in a last-ditch effort to retain as much relevant information as it takes to pass the exam looming just over the horizon.   Although the art of cramming is used and accepted by students everywhere, a stockpile of evidence points to the fact that working tirelessly without taking a breather is not only less productive, it’s counterintuitive to productivity altogether. Memory retention drops, critical understanding of concepts dwindle, and overall motivation for learning and completion of tasks falls by the wayside if you don’t give yourself some time to take a step back. So when’s the best time to take a breather, and how can you make the most of your breaks?

Studies show that working in 90 minute bursts and cycling in a routine break can boost your productivity greatly. During this cycle, your brain mirrors activity trends similar to those you experience while sleeping. Over this cycle, your brain will flow through differing states of alertness, and taking a break at the 90 minute mark will give your brain a chance to refresh and reset the cycle of alertness and productivity. Take care not to make your break too long, but long enough to really refresh yourself. Research indicates that a 15-35 minute break (if taken mindfully) will greatly increase your ability to be productive during each 90 minute stint.

There are several effective ways you can capitalize on your breaks to increase the impact they have on your ability to work. One of the most useful things you can do during down time is to make it active. Physical motion helps to break up the mundane very effectively, and actually getting up and leaving your workspace can help to separate your mind from it temporarily and hit the reset button. Whether it’s going for a walk around the building or doing pushups or jumping jacks in the office (a little unorthodox, we know), find something physical to get your mind wandering and blood flowing.

When you’ve been zoned in to a project or study session, you start to feel a bit disconnected from the outside world. Use your time away from your desk as an opportunity to reconnect somehow, either by chatting with someone in person or on the phone, catching up on social media, or sending a few texts. This break from isolation will be refreshing and help you to stay motivated to dive back into what you’ve already spent time accomplishing.

On the flip side, you could zone in further and take some quality “me” time during your breaks. Take some time in a quiet place for meditation and deep breathing exercises. Reflect upon your day’s work and center yourself to continue the work you still have to do. Know yoga? Get posing. These mindful movements and exercises can greatly impact your mindset and give you a clean slate to hack away at the rest of your work.

In any case, the evidence is clear: breaks help you to increase your productivity. Reward yourself with the 20 or so minutes of down time after working hard for 90. It’s good for your work, your brain, and your overall well being. Start taking routine breathers while working on your next big project and see the results for yourself.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: break, studying, work

Learning Effectively: A How-To Guide

October 15, 2015 by admin

African American student studying while sitting in the library.

As September comes to a close and makes way for October, it’s safe to say that the 2015-2016 school year is, by now, in full swing. The excitement and spike in motivation to buckle down that tends to come with the start of a new year is most likely starting to wear off, and study habits are already starting to slip as extracurricular activities and heavy workloads weigh on the minds of students and parents alike. This phenomenon (let’s call it the “Mid-Quarter Slump”) is a very real experience for many students, and is a strong inhibitor to the learning opportunities of those who don’t bounce back from it.

 

What exactly is it that causes students to fall into the mid-quarter slump, and what can we do to combat it? Simon Oxenham of Big Think provides the compelling argument that we’re never taught how to truly learn in our early educational years, and believes that a large contributing factor for a loss of motivation could be that our lack of technique in the learning process makes it less stimulating and more difficult. An article published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest discusses ten different learning techniques along with the researched effectiveness of each one. We’ll briefly cover some of the ten that you may not have heard of, starting with the least effective and summing up with the most effective ways of learning.

 

The techniques with the lowest effectiveness ratings were highlighting, the keywords mnemonic, rereading, imagery use for text learning, and summarization. Despite proving largely ineffective for long-term information retention, these are some of the most common practices taught and used in the education system today. The Keyword Mnemonic links phrases and their meanings to the sounds of the words themselves, and while it serves a purpose for memorization, it lacks the substance to convert knowledge into application and often doesn’t carry on into long term knowledge. Imagery use is a technique in which students mentally associate images with the text they are absorbing. While this can be effective for young students, the focus in older students tends to become more on forming the relationships with the images than the information itself. Summarization is shown as ineffective primarily because it does not help students retain for information-based tests, such as multiple choice. However, it has proven to be effective for essays and tests in which the student is not prompted with a possible correct answer.

 

Ranking in the middle range of effectiveness were elaborative interrogation, self-explanation, and interleaved practice. Elaborative Interrogation was seen as having moderate effectiveness because of its ability to prod students to critically think and ask why information is true and what conclusions can therefore be drawn from it. It is most effective, however, when the learner has prior knowledge of the subject, so this technique may not be best for a brand new subject to the student. Self-explanation involves the student explaining their thought processes in coming to their reached conclusion. This helps the student fully grasp the subject matter and their thinking, but ranks only as moderate because it can prove to be very time consuming. Last on the moderate scale is Interleaved Practice. This technique involves changing the subject matter being studied fairly frequently to keep the student from growing bored of or getting “burnt out” on any particular subject. In theory this seems as if it would be effective, but there is not much research to indicate it is a highly useful technique.

 

The techniques that scored the highest levels of effectiveness were practice testing and distributed practice. Practice Testing can be a number of different things, ranging from actual practice tests distributed by a teacher to making flashcards to study prior to a test. Testing provides a high-stress, high-stakes environment for students, and practice tests allow them to test their knowledge prior to the event in a much lower stress situation. This has proven to enhance their opportunity for learning and information retention greatly, as well as increase their test scores overall. Distributed Practice is the act of spacing out learning and studying into periodic sections based on how long you wish to retain the information. Studies show that only 10-20% of time studying is required in relation to the length of time one wishes to retain information. Therefore, if students study in a more spaced out and less time-intensive fashion, they are more likely to retain the information day to day.

 

Ironically, most students tend to stray away from both of these highly effective techniques and run in to problems. The method of procrastination and cramming in the days and hours leading up to a test (the exact opposite of distributed practice) will almost always lead them to “winging it” on the test, and they will have never had the opportunity to do a practice test beforehand. This perpetuates the stress that often surrounds testing and elevates the stressful culture of schooling that most students often feel in general.

 

Learning styles vary widely from student to student, but these proven techniques, when implemented (along with other techniques that work for you) will help you keep the Mid Quarter Slump at bay and ensure that you learn effectively!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: learning, school, studying

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