This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include David W. Fielding, Derick M. Kiger, Alan Sheinker, Scott F. Marion, Ren Zizhao, James H. McMillan, Martha L. Stocking, Nancy Watson, Craig N. Mills, and George F. Madaus.
(1988). The Distortion of Teaching and Testing: High-Stakes Testing and Instruction, Peabody Journal of Education. A "high-stakes" test can directly and powerfully influence how teachers teach and students learn. Six principles that describe the negative consequences of measurement-driven instruction are discussed, and the effect of these consequences on student and teacher behavior, as well as the test itself, is outlined. Descriptors: Accountability, Curriculum Development, Educational Environment, Educational Testing
(1998). Reactions To: What Are the High Stakes for You and Your Students? How Do They Affect Your Teaching? High-Stakes Testing for Me and My Students, Mathematics Education Dialogues. Discusses the effects of high-stakes tests in Michigan and how these tests affect the teaching of mathematics in classrooms. Descriptors: Educational Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Mathematics Instruction
(1997). Using Staff Values To Develop Assessment Principles for High-Stakes Testing, ERS Spectrum. Summarizes a study to determine the extent that staff members in a midwestern school district agreed with certain "ideal" student assessment principles and to discover how well the district's assessment practices reflected principles that staff members viewed as important. District staff supported the assessment principles outlined in "Principles for Student Assessment Systems," but indicated that the district's current assessment system did not reflect these principles. Descriptors: Attitudes, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, School Personnel
(1996). High Stakes Testing in an Urban School District: Survivors of the Class of 1995 from Grade Eight to Graduation. State-mandated testing programs have been in place in New Jersey since the 1976-77 school year. In 1989, the current test was replaced with two new testing programs, the Eighth Grade Early Warning Test (EWT) and the Eleventh Grade High School Proficiency Test (HSPT11). This paper follows the Trenton (New Jersey) Central High School Class of 1995, the first to graduate under HSPT11 standards, to provide baseline information for further studies and to help evaluate the EWT as a warning of academic failure. In the spring of 1991 there were 732 regularly enrolled eighth graders were took the EWT. In the eleventh grade, 410 regularly enrolled students were tested. Of these, 266 had taken the EWT in 1991, and 182 of them passed the HSPT11. The school graduated 295 seniors in 1995, and of these 295, only 237 were among the 732 tested in eighth grade in 1991. Results show that 466 (63.7%) left the district before taking the HSPT11. Results do show a direct link between success on the EWT and the ability to pass the HSPT11, but they also indicate that it may not be appropriate to draw such comparisons, since most students who took the EWT did not make it to graduation in Trenton and probably not even in the state of New Jersey. (Contains five figures and seven tables.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Diagnostic Tests, Dropouts, Educational Mobility
(1994). Indicator Systems for School and Teacher Evaluation: Fire-Fighting It Is!. In 1979, Gene Glass suggested that it might not be possible to evaluate schools nor to create widely applicable research findings, but that the complexity of education was such that merely "fire-fighting," establishing monitoring systems to alert about educational events, was the best approach. In the United Kingdom, monitoring systems are running in one form or another in over 1,000 schools. Two such systems, the A-Level Information System (ALIS) and the Year 11 Information System (YELLIS), are discussed. Both rest on tests and questionnaires administered in schools and the system of curriculum-embedded high stakes authentic testing used in the United Kingdom. Experience with these systems suggests that an external examination system is a fundamental requirements of fair and effective schooling. Without it, neither equity nor effectiveness can be assessed adequately. The external examination system of the United Kingdom is an example of the type of complex system that is likely to lead to the development of self-reliant institutions fed by high quality statistics. Such a system is grounded in a research ethos rather than an evaluative stance. Five figures and two tables illustrate the discussion. (Contains 15 references.) [More] Descriptors: Educational Assessment, Educational Improvement, Educational Research, Elementary Secondary Education
(1999). Teachers' Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices: Phase I and II. Teacher assessment and grading practices were studied in a two-phase investigation in the seven school districts that make up the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium in Virginia. The first report summarizes the findings from Phase 1 of the study, which focused on teacher responses to closed-end, written survey questions. In Phase 1, 921 elementary, 597 middle, and 850 high school teachers were surveyed. They were asked about their grading and classroom assessment practices for a "typical" first semester class. Elementary school teachers indicated that academic factors clearly are most important in determining grades, but that related factors, such as improvement, effort, ability level, and class participation also make a significant contribution. The variety of responses shows large differences in how teachers emphasize different factors. Approximately 20% of grades given were "A"s. Results for secondary school teachers show little variation between grade levels or subject matter. As with elementary school teachers, academic performance was the most important grading factor, but effort, homework, and extra credit also entered into grading. Phase 2 of the study focuses on interviews with 28 teachers. The analysis of interview data indicates that there is tension between two sources of influence on teacher decision-making concerning assessment and grading practices. One source is teacher beliefs and values and another is external pressures and constraints. These pressures include parent demands and informing parents of student progress, school division policies, skills needed by students once they graduate, practical constraints and state-mandated high-stakes multiple-choice testing. The state test seems to have become a significant influence on teacher decision making. An appendix to Phase I contains the teacher surveys. (Contains 20 tables and 60 references.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Educational Practices, Elementary Secondary Education, Grades (Scholastic)
(1996). Standard Setting for a Test of Pharmacy Practice Knowledge: Application in High-Stakes Testing, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Three approaches to setting the evaluation standards for testing pharmacy practice knowledge of pharmaceutical students are discussed and compared: relative standards; absolute standards; and a compromise approach using various sources of evaluation information. The application of the different approaches to a 120-item assessment previously developed are reported. It is concluded that a multifaceted approach is needed on high-stakes tests. Descriptors: Allied Health Occupations Education, Evaluation Criteria, High Stakes Tests, Higher Education
(1998). Reactions To: Should High-Stakes Tests Drive Mathematics Curriculum and Instruction? High Stakes Testing from the Chinese Perspective, Mathematics Education Dialogues. Discusses the positive and negative influences of high-stakes tests on mathematics curriculum and instruction in China. Suggests that educators should improve the design of the test questions, change the methods of testing, and reduce negative influences as much as possible. Descriptors: Educational Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education, Foreign Countries, High Stakes Tests
(1999). Issues and Consequences for State-Level Minimum Competency Testing Programs. State Assessment Series. Wyoming Report 1. This report reviews the current status, empirical findings, theoretical issues, and practical considerations related to state-level minimum competency testing programs. It finds that, although two-thirds of current testing programs now use direct writing prompts to assess writing achievement, essentially all programs rely on multiple choice tests to measure knowledge in the other subject areas. It also concludes that empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of minimum competency testing programs is mixed. It reports improved achievement in basic reading and mathematics skills, especially when curriculum focuses on the same basic skill items found on the tests. However, the report also finds evidence of unintended negative effects of minimum competency testing programs, including lack of transfer to higher order skills, increased dropout rates (especially for minority and low achieving students), a narrowing of the curriculum to test content, corruptibility of high stakes tests, and testing time as time taken from teaching. Overall, the report finds a conflict between minimum competency and standards-based assessment systems since competency testing essentially contradicts current mandates for having students learn rigorous content standards. It recommends against mandating a state-level minimum competency program. (Contains 28 references.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, Disabilities, Educational Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education
(1995). Practical Issues in Large-Scale High-Stakes Computerized Adaptive Testing. Computerized adaptive testing (CAT), while well-grounded in psychometric theory, has had few large-scale applications for high-stakes, secure tests in the past. This is now changing as the cost of computing has declined rapidly. As is always true where theory is translated into practice, many practical issues arise. This paper discusses a number of such issues and outlines potential problems and potential solutions. The purpose is to encourage further development of solutions to these and other practical issues facing measurement professionals involved in CAT implementation. Practical issues explored include: (1) establishing test designs through simulation studies; (2) selecting the first item; (3) choosing the stopping rule; (4) scoring adaptive tests; (5) incorporating the test plan; (6) administering items belonging to sets; (7) facilitating item ordering; (8) controlling item exposure; (9) controlling item overlap; (10) providing item review; (11) dealing with item omissions; (12) allowing for incomplete tests; (13) establishing comparability; (14) developing CAT pools; (15) maintaining CAT pools; (16) developing and prototyping new item types; (17) complying with disclosure requirements; and (18) accommodating low-volume tests. (Contains 19 references.) [More] Descriptors: Adaptive Testing, Computer Assisted Testing, High Stakes Tests, Item Banks