This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include J. Ruth Nelson, Kaye Pepper, Mindy L. Kornhaber, Melinda Miller, Heidi Triezenberg, Michael Sharpe, Michele McNeil, Debra Lindsey Prince, David R. Johnson, and Maureen Hawes.
(2006). Arts Integration in an Era of Accountability, Arts Education Policy Review. During the past twenty years, the accountability movement and its attendant testing have raised fears in the arts education community that schools will feel pressure to divert instructional time and resources toward tested areas of the curriculum, such as reading and math (Eisner 2000). This paper presents the results of studies on the impact of high-stakes testing on the arts. The authors conclude that arts education policymakers need to continue to stress the unique qualities of receiving a strong education in the arts. Although integrating the arts with other subjects can be a positive learning experience in both the arts and other areas of the curriculum, integration that places arts as secondary to "academic" tested subjects does not serve the children's needs for a rigorous, well-balanced educational experience. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Accountability, Art Education
(2012). Non-Traditional Preservice Teachers and Their Mathematics Efficacy Beliefs, School Science and Mathematics. In Florida, recent legislative changes have granted community colleges the ability to offer baccalaureate degrees in education, frequently to non-traditional students. Based on information obtained from the literature covering preservice teachers' math knowledge, teachers' efficacy beliefs about math, and high-stakes mathematics testing, a study examined a population of preservice teachers in a new Florida teacher preparation program. The research investigated relationships surrounding non-traditional preservice teachers' characteristics such as: ages, high-stakes math failures, lower division mathematics history, and math methods course performance, in relation to their efficacy beliefs about mathematics. Results revealed that preservice teachers' ages, lower division mathematics history, and math methods course performance, did have a significant relationship with their math efficacy beliefs, as measured by the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI); the variable of high-stakes math failures did not. Additionally, a multiple regression model including the aforementioned variables did predict preservice teachers' MTEBI scores, but did not generalize to the greater population. The findings from this study can assist new teacher preparation programs in isolating variables that identify preservice teachers who are at risk for poor mathematical attitudes; can posit avenues for fostering positive math beliefs in preservice teachers; and can recommend further research in this area. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teachers, Methods Courses, Teacher Education Curriculum, Student Teacher Attitudes
(2006). Teaching to the Test…Not! Balancing Best Practice and Testing Requirements in Writing, Reading Teacher. High-stakes testing and accountability in the United States cloak the real purpose of assessment–diagnosing learning to inform instruction. Standardized testing drives curricula in many states. Teachers may feel pressured to "teach to the test," although they know it is not best practice. The authors discuss how using several evidence-based approaches to writing instruction–writing workshop and the writing process, 6 + 1 Traits, and modes of writing–can accomplish two goals: providing high-quality instruction, and preparing students for success in standardized writing tests. They stress that assessment is a component of instruction, not an end unto itself, and that the goal of instruction is to produce lifelong learners, not test takers. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Standardized Tests, Test Use
(2006). Preparing and Training Superintendents for the Mission of Executive Management, International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation. Superintendent preparation and training has remained substantially unaltered for a half century. State certification requirements drive the content and activities for preparation programs housed in higher education institutions. State agencies never participated in superintendent preparation beyond awarding certification to post master's educators completing an "approved" course of study. However, high stakes testing and accountability pressures are now causing a few states to reconsider traditional paths to superintendent certification. Illinois and Washington have "opened" the superintendency to individuals without educational, managerial, executive, or higher education backgrounds. What the effects of these attempts "to" provide local school districts with "superintendent choice" is unclear at this time. [More] Descriptors: Superintendents, Leadership Training, Administrator Education, Management Development
(2012). For the Record: What Education Policy Could Be, Kappa Delta Pi Record. A review of education reform policies reveals a shift from an input guarantee approach aimed at providing funds to level the playing field for all students to an output guarantee approach based on the expectation of achieving standardized results regardless of inputs. The shift reflects a belief that where a child starts his or her cognitive, social, and moral development has no bearing on where he or she might finish. The No Child Left Behind Act, Common Core State Standards Initiative, national high-stakes standardized testing, teacher and administrator pay for performance based on test results, the proliferation of charter schools, and publically funded vouchers for private schools are all outgrowths of a policy philosophy built on the standardization of knowledge and performance outputs. Although little empirical evidence exists to demonstrate that output guarantee approaches result in positive lifelong benefits to children, these mandates continue to pelt public education with growing frequency. This commentary questions the current policy environment and contributes holistic ideas to the current reform conversation. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Charter Schools, Teaching Methods, Standardized Tests
(2006). The Importance of Making the Well-Being of Children in Poverty a Priority, Early Childhood Education Journal. Hurricane Katrina exposed to the world the side of America that is often ignored or forgotten–the side of America where people live in poverty and struggle to meet their most basic needs. This article focuses primarily on children in Mississippi and highlights the effect that poverty has on children's well-being at an early age and future academic success. It also provides evidence for the importance of funding high-quality pre-k programs and parental training to ensure they begin the process of preparing their children for success, not only in Mississippi but in the other states that are leaving their children behind. Finally, with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind in 2007, recommendations are made for refocusing the premise of the law from accountability and high stakes testing to meeting the needs of all children so they can truly be successful in school. [More] Descriptors: Well Being, Children, Poverty, Weather
(2012). An Instrument to Assess Beliefs about Standardized Testing: Measuring the Influence of Epistemology on the Endorsement of Standardized Testing, Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology. This article describes the development of an instrument to assess beliefs about standardized testing in schools, a topic of much heated debate. The Beliefs About Standardized Testing scale was developed to measure the extent to which individuals support high-stakes standardized testing. The 9-item scale comprises three subscales which measure beliefs about objectivity and knowledge, the utility of tests as a criterion for retaining students, and the use of tests in rewarding teachers. The scale's factorial structure and internal consistency were assessed in Study 1 (N = 142). The scale's utility in predicting responses to items from the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll was demonstrated in Study 2 (N = 161). Results provided evidence of the reliability and validity of the scale scores and its subscale scores. Respondents' acceptance of the notion that objective and unbiased knowledge is possible and desirable was associated with a greater likelihood of endorsing standardized testing. Effective dialogue about standardized testing should consider how differences in worldviews can shape individuals' beliefs about standardized testing. [More] Descriptors: Testing, Measures (Individuals), Standardized Tests, Epistemology
(2006). Differing Expectations in the Assessment of the Speaking Skills of ESOL Learners, Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal. This is a study of the assessment of the speaking skills of adult learners of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). It is prompted by a concern that participants can have differing expectations of what nature of speech event a speaking test actually is. This concern was identified during the administration and analysis of assessments carried out as part of a study into adult ESOL pedagogy in the UK. The paper employs the notions of "knowledge schema" and "frame" in discourse to draw together areas of interest in testing: whether the speaking assessment should be viewed as an interview or as a conversation; divergent interpretations of the test event by learners; and variation in interlocutor behaviour. Implications for testing the speaking skills of adult ESOL learners are discussed; these are pertinent at a time of large-scale high-stakes testing of learners who are migrants to English speaking countries. [More] Descriptors: Oral Language, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Adult Students
(2006). Relationships Matter, Educational Leadership. An era of high-stakes testing and accountability may be producing classroom conditions that undermine student learning. When teachers must focus their energies on preparing students for the test, they have less time to get to know students personally or make them feel valued, respected, and supported. The author reviews research showing that strong teacher-student relationships are crucial to student academic achievement at all grade levels. Students need to know that teachers care. Research shows that caring teachers hold students to high expectations but also give them the support they need to reach those expectations. The author provides suggestions for both classroom and schoolwide strategies that build strong student-teacher relationships. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Educational Policy, Teacher Student Relationship, Academic Achievement
(2006). "Teach to the Test"? Just Say No. Issue Brief, Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement. Every spring, education-related newspaper and magazine stories raise the alarm that schools are "teaching to the test." Scores of articles and editorials paint a disheartening picture of frustrated teachers forced to abandon good instructional practices for a relentless stream of worksheets based on boring, repetitive test-preparation materials. Although the phrase–and the concern–are hardly new, many observers blame the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act for escalating teaching to the test from a problem into an epidemic. The law "virtually transformed the concept of education," according to a recent editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, "turning teaching and learning into a mere exercise in prepping students to test well." In light of this controversy, this issue brief examines the following questions: (1) What do we really know about "teaching to the test"? (2) Does high stakes testing always force educators to "dumb down" instruction to focus on rote skills and memorization? (3) Do schools that spend a lot of time on test preparation instruction actually perform better on standardized tests? The author, who himself teaches at a high poverty secondary school, concludes the article by pointing out that it is also possible for educators to make better choices about how and when to teach to the test than alarmist media articles would seem to suggest. He argues that it is time to overturn the common assumption that teaching to the test is the "only" option schools have when faced with high-stakes testing. (Contains 34 endnotes.) [This issue brief was produced by The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, and Learning Point Associates.] [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Teaching Methods, Testing, Standardized Tests
(2006). Setting Up Camp at the Great Instructional Divide: Educating Beginning History Teachers, Journal of Teacher Education. This article sketches out a comprehensive approach for preparing history teachers. It argues that grounding in historical content knowledge is necessary for success in the classroom, but such grounding is not enough to ensure that success. For beginning teachers, the problem is not merely acquiring content knowledge but acquiring it in ways that facilitate teaching subjects to young people of varied backgrounds and abilities. In short, teachers need to understand content in the context of teaching, meaning prospective history teachers must have a robust understanding of history's details, ways in which historians acquire and structure those details, and how teachers can make the subject accessible and worth knowing for students. This approach demands that teachers also know how their students understand history and the assumptions they make about historical events and developments. Finally, prospective teachers need to know how to offer content-rich, engaging instruction within a standards-based, high-stakes testing context. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Education, Beginning Teachers, History Instruction, Pedagogical Content Knowledge
(2004). What We Know and Need to Know about the Consequences of High-Stakes Testing for Students with Disabilities, Exceptional Children. Many positive and negative consequences of high-stakes testing for students with disabilities are alleged. Yet, there is little evidence on actual consequences. Both anecdotal and empirical evidence were reviewed with regard to increased participation in assessment, raised expectations, provision of appropriate assessment accommodations, alignment of individualized education programs (IEPs) to standards and assessments, improved access to general education, improved instruction, changes in promotion and grade advancement decisions, graduation and diploma options, test stress, and improved educational outcomes. Data needed to make judgments about intended and unintended consequences of high-stokes testing are also analyzed. Descriptors: Outcomes of Education, Educational Objectives, Testing, Individualized Instruction
(2006). Stakes High for States in Fall Votes, Education Week. This article reports how the stakes are getting higher for the various states as the 2006 state elections are approaching this fall. This article also discusses how the future of education policy will be heavily influenced by the votes cast in the November elections. Even with the heightened federal role under the No Child Left Behind Act, state lawmakers, governors, and state superintendents still are central in deciding how much money schools get, how to get well-qualified teachers into the classroom, and what students must do to graduate. It is at the state level where policies aimed at educational improvement–whether high-stakes testing, universal preschool, or new forms of school choice–are most often conceived, advanced, and duplicated. This article also explains why the success and failure of education ideas are hinged on who will be the elected governor. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, High Stakes Tests, Elections, School Choice
(2006). Impact of a State Performance Assessment Program in Reading and Writing, Educational Research and Evaluation. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) and the Maryland Learning Outcomes (MLOs) in a number of areas including teacher, principal, and student beliefs, classroom practices, and student learning in reading and writing. A statewide sample of 90 elementary and middle schools in Maryland participated in the study. Questionnaires were administered to principals, teachers, and students. Additionally, classroom instruction and assessment materials were collected from teachers, and student performance on MSPAP over 5 years was obtained. Results indicated that principals and teachers tended to be supportive of MSPAP, reading and writing classroom practices were somewhat aligned with the goals of MSPAP, and greater performance gains in reading and writing tended to occur in schools that reported increased use of reform-oriented instruction. The methodology and interpretive outcomes in the study contribute to the growing literature base on the effects of high stakes testing. [More] Descriptors: State Programs, Writing Evaluation, Reading Tests, High Stakes Tests
(2012). Performativity as Pretence: A Study of Testing Practices in a Compulsory School in Sweden, Ethnography and Education. Our aim in this article is to analyse the impact of the standardised test on classroom practices in grade 5 in a compulsory school in western Sweden. In our analysis, the use of the concept of the pedagogical device (Bernstein 1996) provides a framework for understanding how high-stakes, standardised testing regulates classroom discourse and teachers' and students' classroom behaviours. The study was conducted during 2006-2007 as part of a larger ethnographic inquiry. The results reveal how the demands of the test impact upon the daily work in the classroom. In the neo-liberal approach to governance, standardised tests have become an important measure of quality. School practices run the risk of being viewed as valuable, only relative to the performance of teachers and students at the individual level. This view shifts the focus from a discussion about a societal responsibility to ensure that all children have equitable access to education, to a debate centred on the individual's responsibility to perform. The analysis reveals that the test was not carried out as intended. However, both teacher and the students respond to the test situation and the results "as if" it had been and "as if" the test really mattered. [More] Descriptors: Testing, Foreign Countries, Grade 5, Standardized Tests