The Impact of State-mandated, High-stakes Testing on Fifth Grade Science Teachers' Instructional Practices

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 222 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (82 download)

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Book Synopsis The Impact of State-mandated, High-stakes Testing on Fifth Grade Science Teachers' Instructional Practices by : Terri Richardson Hebert

Download or read book The Impact of State-mandated, High-stakes Testing on Fifth Grade Science Teachers' Instructional Practices written by Terri Richardson Hebert and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The appropriate methods utilized by school districts across the United States to measure student academic achievement has found an established place within the headlines of state and national newspapers, professional journals, and political offices. However, we seldom reach out to those in the classroom and engage in a meaningful dialogue about the pros and cons of high stakes, state mandated testing. Therefore, this study is designed to investigate the impact of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test upon three fifth grade science teachers' instructional practices. The participating school, nestled within a large East Texas school district, was selected because of their high test scores, as well as their creative approach to teaching. The selected teachers were chosen primarily for their recognized abilities within a science classroom, specifically as they work to reach a diverse group of students at varying levels of ability and instill within them the ability to master necessary scientific concepts found on the state-mandated, high-stakes test. Using the portraiture methodology for this qualitative study (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997), data were collected that provide a rich texture of the fifth grade classes within the elementary school setting. Through close observations, formal and informal interviews, and attention to the teachers' reflective work, the woven tapestry emerged in conjunction with the voices of the teachers.

The Oxford Handbook of Assessment Policy and Practice in Music Education

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190248149
Total Pages : 848 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Assessment Policy and Practice in Music Education by : Timothy Brophy

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Assessment Policy and Practice in Music Education written by Timothy Brophy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-02 with total page 848 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the music classroom, instructors who hope to receive aid are required to provide data on their classroom programs. Due to the lack of reliable, valid large-scale assessments of student achievement in music, however, music educators in schools that accept funds face a considerable challenge in finding a way to measure student learning in their classrooms. From Australia to Taiwan to the Netherlands, music teachers experience similar struggles in the quest for a definitive assessment resource that can be used by both music educators and researchers. In this two-volume Handbook, contributors from across the globe come together to provide an authority on the assessment, measurement, and evaluation of student learning in music. The Handbook's first volume emphasizes international and theoretical perspectives on music education assessment in the major world regions. This volume also looks at technical aspects of measurement in music, and outlines situations where theoretical foundations can be applied to the development of tests in music. The Handbook's second volume offers a series of practical and US-focused approaches to music education assessment. Chapters address assessment in different types of US classrooms; how to assess specific skills or requirements; and how assessment can be used in tertiary and music teacher education classrooms. Together, both volumes of The Oxford Handbook of Assessment in Music Education pave the way forward for music educators and researchers in the field.

The Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing

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Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1461715474
Total Pages : 189 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (617 download)

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Book Synopsis The Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing by : Gail M. Jones

Download or read book The Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing written by Gail M. Jones and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2003-04-09 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To better understand how high-stakes accountability has influenced teaching and learning, this book takes an in-depth look at the myriad consequences that high-stakes tests hold for students, teachers, administrators, and the public. By focusing on these tests and spending large amounts of time on test preparation and driving teachers to teach low-level, rote memorization, schools are essentially wiping out non-tested subjects such as science, social studies, physical education, and the arts. Although testing is promoted as a strategy for improving education for all, research shows that testing has differential effects on students with special needs, minority students, students living in poverty, and those for whom English is a second language. The Unintended Consequences of High Stakes Testing unpacks the assumptions and philosophical foundations on which testing policies are based. The authors' arguments are grounded in extensive interviews and research. Through an examination of research, these authors show that high-stakes testing promotes students' dependence on extrinsic motivation at the cost of intrinsic motivation and the associated love of learning—which has tangible impacts on their education and lives. Features: -Examines how high stakes testing from the perspectives of teachers, students, and adminstrators. -Considers how testing impacts the curriculum including tested subjects such as reading, writing, and mathematics as well as non-tested subjects such as science, social studies, physical education, and the arts. -Documents how teachers and administrators engage in test preparation and discusses ethical and unethical test preparation practices. -Reviews the evolution of testing through history and how it mpacts the curriculum. -Examines the differential effects of testing on students with special needs, minority students, students living in poverty, and those for whom English is a second language.

Tep Vol 20-N2

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Publisher : R&L Education
ISBN 13 : 1475819293
Total Pages : 108 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (758 download)

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Book Synopsis Tep Vol 20-N2 by : Teacher Education and Practice

Download or read book Tep Vol 20-N2 written by Teacher Education and Practice and published by R&L Education. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teacher Education and Practice, a peer-refereed journal, is dedicated to the encouragement and the dissemination of research and scholarship related to professional education. The journal is concerned, in the broadest sense, with teacher preparation, practice and policy issues related to the teaching profession, as well as being concerned with learning in the school setting. The journal also serves as a forum for the exchange of diverse ideas and points of view within these purposes. As a forum, the journal offers a public space in which to critically examine current discourse and practice as well as engage in generative dialogue. Alternative forms of inquiry and representation are invited, and authors from a variety of backgrounds and diverse perspectives are encouraged to contribute. Teacher Education & Practice is published by Rowman & Littlefield.

The Unintended Consequences of High-stakes Testing

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Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780742526273
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (262 download)

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Book Synopsis The Unintended Consequences of High-stakes Testing by : M. Gail Jones

Download or read book The Unintended Consequences of High-stakes Testing written by M. Gail Jones and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2003 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To understand how high-stakes accountability has influenced teaching and learning, this book looks at the consequences that high-stakes tests hold for students, teachers, administrators, and the public, and demonstrates the negative effects of such testing on nontested subjects, minority students, and students with special needs.

Educators' Perceptions of the Impact of High-stakes Testing on Instructional Practices in Mathematics

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 117 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (131 download)

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Book Synopsis Educators' Perceptions of the Impact of High-stakes Testing on Instructional Practices in Mathematics by : Gail Carroll Peck

Download or read book Educators' Perceptions of the Impact of High-stakes Testing on Instructional Practices in Mathematics written by Gail Carroll Peck and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High-stakes testing remains one of the most controversial aspects of No Child Left Behind legislation. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of teachers regarding the impact of high-stakes testing on instructional practices in the area of mathematics. A secondary purpose was to explore the relationship between personal beliefs and instructional practices. For the purpose of this study, the standardized test utilized was Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), which significantly differed from most high-stakes tests in that it is a diagnostic growth measure. Forty first and second grade teachers completed two surveys utilizing a forced choice format, one indicating personal beliefs and one indicating actual practices. Participants also completed a Likert scale survey to identify perceptions specifically related to mathematics instruction, student engagement, and assessment. Teachers also responded to interview probes. Common threads emerged in the reviewed literature. The majority of researchers identified narrowing of the curriculum, loss of teacher efficacy, increased teacher and student stress, and a move back to a traditional 'skill and drill' methodology as the major consequences of high-stakes testing. Results obtained in this study supported previous research. Three themes emerged in this study: a) change occurred in actual practice more significantly in instructional practice than student engagement practices, b) the impact was not as negative as teachers perceived, and c) teachers had a significant emotional response to the culture of high-stakes testing.

The Impact of High-stakes Standar[d]ized Testing on the Use of Inquiry-based Methods in Secondary Science Instruction

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 112 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (436 download)

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Book Synopsis The Impact of High-stakes Standar[d]ized Testing on the Use of Inquiry-based Methods in Secondary Science Instruction by : Patricia M. Mueller

Download or read book The Impact of High-stakes Standar[d]ized Testing on the Use of Inquiry-based Methods in Secondary Science Instruction written by Patricia M. Mueller and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Although educational researchers, leading science educators and the current national standards in science education all promote inquiry, there is confusion and misunderstanding about the essential features of inquiry-based science education. In addition to a misunderstanding of what constitutes inquiry, the emphasis by states to improve standardized test results mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) further shift the focus away from inquiry-based science instruction. This thesis explores inquiry-based science instruction and the many roadblocks, including high-stakes testing, which impede the implementation of inquiry-based teaching practices in America's public school classrooms."--leaf 3.

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education

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Publisher : Rand Corporation
ISBN 13 : 0833033980
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education by : Laura S. Hamilton

Download or read book Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education written by Laura S. Hamilton and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2002-07-31 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Test-based accountability systems that attach high stakes to standardized test results have raised a number of issues on educational assessment and accountability. Do these high-stakes tests measure student achievement accurately? How can policymakers and educators attach the right consequences to the results of these tests? And what kinds of tradeoffs do these testing policies introduce? This book responds to the growing emphasis on high-stakes testing and offers recommendations for more-effective test-based accountability systems.

The Influence of High Stakes Testing on Elementary Classroom Instruction

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 127 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis The Influence of High Stakes Testing on Elementary Classroom Instruction by : James E. Finkeldei

Download or read book The Influence of High Stakes Testing on Elementary Classroom Instruction written by James E. Finkeldei and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Policymakers from both political parties and the general public see standardized tests as easily quantifiable measures of school quality and student learning. They assume these high stakes tests will motivate teachers and students to try harder and that the results will be used systematically to benefit all students. Since schools operate with a finite amount of resources, any time or money they dedicate to passing the test is time and money they cannot spend on educating all students. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the new high stakes testing environment and the new state assessments have influenced elementary teachers' approach to preparing students for standardized tests. Campbell's law was used to examine whether the utilization of educational and instructional triage was an inevitable result of high stakes testing. Study participants included nineteen experienced third through fifth grade teachers in a suburban district in a small, Midwestern town. The research indicated that education and instructional triage was occurring, although there was more instructional triage then educational. Teachers are resigned to high stakes testing, therefore assessments drive their instruction, and they define student success by their score on the test. High stakes testing has led to increased accountability and data driven instruction, however low stakes testing also creates these benefits without the undue pressure. Future research is needed in light of the passage of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Dissertation Abstracts International

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 734 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Dissertation Abstracts International by :

Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 734 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Leading Educational Change

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Publisher : Teachers College Press
ISBN 13 : 080777264X
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Leading Educational Change by : Helen Janc Malone

Download or read book Leading Educational Change written by Helen Janc Malone and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “You won’t find a better book on whole-system change that covers so much ground in such an accessible form than Leading Educational Change!” —From the Foreword by Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus, OISE, University of Toronto “This book tackles critical issues and conundrums about how to create productive educational systems by a group of exceptionally knowledgeable thought leaders from the U.S. and around the world. Both policymakers and practitioners will benefit from these valuable insights.” —Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, author of The Flat World and Education “A well-edited and fascinating anthology with a wide variety of prescriptions, from the powerful to the improbable.” —Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Advisor, Pearson “This book provides exactly what we need at this moment in the education enterprise: clear-eyed and far-reaching analyses from our brightest minds on the problems and potential solutions to delivering better educators and education amid a vastly changing, globally competitive, and interconnected 21st century.” —Gregory A. Patterson, Managing Editor, Phi Delta Kappan Magazine This collection features original essays from international superstars in the field of educational change. Each “think piece” draws on the latest knowledge from research, policy, and practice to provide important insights for creating systemic, meaningful reform. The authors directly address contemporary challenges, misconceptions, and failed strategies, while also offering solutions, ideas, and guiding questions for examination. Unique in its breadth of ideas and diversity of voices, Leading Educational Change is must-reading for education decision makers on all levels, frontline practitioners, and everyone involved with children and adolescent learning. Together with the online companion Instructor’s Guide, this is also a perfect text for educational leadership and policy courses. Contributors: Mel Ainscow, Stephen E. Anderson, Rukmini Banerji, Gabriel Cámara, Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro, Madhav Chavan, Amanda Datnow, Sherry L. Deckman, Lorna Earl, Patrick Griffin, Silvina Gvirtz, Andy Hargreaves, Alma Harris, Jonathan D. Jansen, Elena Lenskaya, Ann Lieberman, Helen Janc Malone, Barry McGaw, Pak Tee Ng, Pasi Sahlberg, Andreas Schleicher, Dennis Shirley, James P. Spillane, Louise Stoll, Esteban Torre, Yong Zhao Helen Janc Malone, Ed.D., is an educational researcher dedicated to connecting research, policy, and practice in support of student learning and positive development. Her work centers on educational change, whole-system reform, expanded learning, and K–16 pathways.

The Paradoxes of High Stakes Testing

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Publisher : IAP
ISBN 13 : 1607529831
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (75 download)

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Book Synopsis The Paradoxes of High Stakes Testing by : Michael Russell

Download or read book The Paradoxes of High Stakes Testing written by Michael Russell and published by IAP. This book was released on 2009-02-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a nation, we spend more than $1 billion a year on federally mandated educational tests that 30 million students must take each year. The country spends an additional $1.2 billion on test preparation materials designed to help students pass these tests. While test mandates were put in place with good intentions, increasingly educational leaders and policy makers are questioning these test based reform efforts. Some question whether these programs are doing more harm than good. Others call for the development of more and better tests. Given the vast amount of resources our nation pours into testing, is it time we pay closer attention to these testing programs? Is it time we hold the testing industry and policy makers accountable for the tests they make and use? Is it time we invest resources to develop new ways of testing our students? The Paradoxes of High-Stakes Testing explores these and other questions, as it helps parents, teachers, educational leaders, and policy makers better understand the complexities of educational policies that use tests as a lever for improving the quality of education. The book explores: >> how testing is used to enable teachers and schools to be more effective and improve student learning, >> why testing is so ingrained in the American psyche and why policy makers rely on testing policies to reform our educational system, >> what we can learn from a long history of test-based reform efforts that have occurred over centuries and across continents, >> what effects testing has on teaching and learning in our schools when it is used to solve political, social, or economic problems. Most importantly, the book describes several ways in which testing can be improved to provide more accurate and more useful measures of student learning. Many of these improvements capitalize on technology to provide teachers with more detailed, diagnostic information about student learning and measure skills that some leaders argue are essential for the 21st century work force. Exploring what is within reach is critical because current testing policies are hindering these improvements. Finally, given that testing is and will continue to be an integral part of our educational system, the book concludes that, like other sectors of our society, educational testing must be more closely monitored to ensure that high quality tests are used to measure student achievement and to minimize the negative effects that testing has on students, schools, and our society. Given the opportunity our nation has to rethink and redesign its testing policies, The Paradoxes of High-Stakes Testing presents a clear strategy to maximize the positive effects of educational testing.

Stop High-stakes Testing

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780742559370
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (593 download)

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Book Synopsis Stop High-stakes Testing by : Dale D. Johnson

Download or read book Stop High-stakes Testing written by Dale D. Johnson and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stop High-Stakes Testing: An Appeal to America's Conscience is a compelling indictment of the use of high-stakes assessments with punitive consequences in our public schools. The authors trace the history of the policy and document the inequities for children of poverty that undergird high-stakes testing practices. Lack of dental and medical care, environmental violence, insufficient school funding, racism, and classism--all factors that contribute to this dire situation--are discussed in depth. The authors make a convincing case for discontinuing the unjust testing that has been forced on our nation's public school children.

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!

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Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN 13 : 0679890084
Total Pages : 57 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (798 download)

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Book Synopsis Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by : Jack Prelutsky

Download or read book Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! written by Jack Prelutsky and published by Knopf Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 1998-04-20 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Started by Dr. Seuss, finished by Jack Prelutsky, and illustrated by Lane Smith, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! is a joyous ode to individuality starring unsinkable teacher Miss Bonkers and the quirky Diffendoofer School (which must prove it has taught its students how to think--or have them sent to dreary Flobbertown). Included is an introduction by Dr. Seuss's longtime editor explaining how the book came to be and reproductions of Dr. Seuss's original pencil sketches and hand-printed notes for the book—a true find for all Seuss collectors! Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith pay homage to the Good Doctor in their own distinctive ways, the result of which is the union of three one-of-a-kind voices in a brand-new, completely original book that is greater than the sum of its parts. For all of us who will never forget our school days and that special teacher, here is a book to give and to get.

High Stakes

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309524954
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis High Stakes by : Committee on Appropriate Test Use

Download or read book High Stakes written by Committee on Appropriate Test Use and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-12-30 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone is in favor of "high education standards" and "fair testing" of student achievement, but there is little agreement as to what these terms actually mean. High Stakes looks at how testing affects critical decisions for American students. As more and more tests are introduced into the country's schools, it becomes increasingly important to know how those tests are used--and misused--in assessing children's performance and achievements. High Stakes focuses on how testing is used in schools to make decisions about tracking and placement, promotion and retention, and awarding or withholding high school diplomas. This book sorts out the controversies that emerge when a test score can open or close gates on a student's educational pathway. The expert panel: Proposes how to judge the appropriateness of a test. Explores how to make tests reliable, valid, and fair. Puts forward strategies and practices to promote proper test use. Recommends how decisionmakers in education should--and should not--use test results. The book discusses common misuses of testing, their political and social context, what happens when test issues are taken to court, special student populations, social promotion, and more. High Stakes will be of interest to anyone concerned about the long-term implications for individual students of picking up that Number 2 pencil: policymakers, education administrators, test designers, teachers, and parents.

The Effects of High-stakes Testing on Curriculum, Students, and Teachers in Grades Six Through Eight

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (19 download)

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Book Synopsis The Effects of High-stakes Testing on Curriculum, Students, and Teachers in Grades Six Through Eight by : Morgan G. Butler

Download or read book The Effects of High-stakes Testing on Curriculum, Students, and Teachers in Grades Six Through Eight written by Morgan G. Butler and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High-stakes testing is not a new term in the world of education. In fact, high-stakes testing is a staple in the education system in many countries, a factor that affects school systems, teachers, students, politicians, and parents (Minarechova, 2012, p. 82). This mixed-methods study explored how high-stakes testing is affecting students, teachers, and curriculum in grades six through eight in two low socioeconomic schools. With the growing importance for the United States' education system to keep up with other countries, testing and assessment are at the forefront of many conversations. Although high-stakes testing certainly serves a significant purpose in schools across the United States, there are also several unintended consequences of this rigorous testing system inspired by NCLB.

The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135624208
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (356 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test by : William A. Firestone

Download or read book The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test written by William A. Firestone and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-04-12 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Testing is one of the most controversial of all state and federal educational policies. The effects of testing are quite ambiguous. The same test may lead to different consequences in different circumstances, and teachers may use very different strategies to prepare students for tests. Although most experts agree that mandatory testing leads to teaching to the test, they disagree about whether it leads to meaningless drill, wasted time, de-professionalizing teachers, and demotivating students, or to more challenging and thoughtful curricula, more engaging teaching, increased student motivation, and increased accountability. To help sort through this ambiguity and provide a firmer basis for decisions, The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test: Standards, Assessment, and Educational Reform offers a hard look at the effects of state testing, and thoroughly examines the ambiguity of test preparation and how test preparation practices are influenced by what teachers know and the leadership coming from the school and district. Drawing on data from a three-year study of New Jersey's testing policy in elementary mathematics and science, it helps to explain the variety of ways that teachers modify their teaching in response to state tests, raises important questions, and offers useful guidance on how state policymakers and local and district school administrators can implement policies that will improve educational equity and performance for all students. It also offers an in-depth analysis of classroom practices that should inform teachers and teacher educators whose goal is to meaningfully implement conceptually based teaching practices. This comprehensive look at the statewide variation in testing practice features: *a data-based, non-ideological treatment of how testing affects teachers, in a field characterized by ideologically driven beliefs and by anecdotes; *an extensive and well-integrated combination of qualitative and quantitative data sources that provide a statewide overview, as well as an in-depth analysis of teachers and classrooms; *a careful analysis of the variety of forms of teaching to the test; and *a multilevel exploration of how a variety of personal and leadership factors can influence teaching to the test. This is an important book for researchers, professionals, and students in educational testing, educational policy, educational administration, mathematics and science education, educational reform, and the politics and sociology of education. It will also prove useful for state policymakers, school and district leaders, and teacher educators and curriculum specialists who are making decisions about how to design and respond to new testing systems.