This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Amanda K. Kibler, David C. Gibson, Scott Marsh, Rachelle S. Savitz, Sarah Anderson Ridder, J. Michael Spector, Christine Brigid Malsbary, Elena Andrei, Jonathan San Diego, and Louis J. Kruger.
(2016). The Legacy Continues: "The Test" and Denying Access to a Challenging Mathematics Education for Historically Marginalized Students, Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College. Research is needed to understand the impact of high-stakes testing on teachers' practices and consequently on their students, particularly at schools that serve large numbers of low-income students and students of color. In this research study, we examined how a state's annual high-stakes test and administrative mandates influenced the assessment practices of mathematics teachers at a highly diverse urban high school. Among the most compelling findings was that students at Chavez High (a pseudonym) were labeled based upon their test performance, that this label tended to persist at the school, and that instructional decisions were made based upon these labels. This practice of attaching a label to students based upon their performance on the high-stakes test constructed some students as less capable than others in mathematics. Such practices contribute to the historic legacy in the U.S. of denying poor students and students of color access to a challenging education in mathematics. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Mathematics Teachers, Urban Schools, High Schools
(2016). Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment for 21st Century Learning, Educational Technology & Society. This paper is based on the deliberations of the Assessment Working Group at EDUsummIT 2015 in Bangkok, Thailand. All of the members of Thematic Working Group 5 (TWG5) have contributed to this synthesis of potentials, concerns and issues with regard to the role of technology in assessment as, for and of learning in the 21st century. The group decided to focus primarily on formative assessment rather than summative assessment and high stakes testing. Formative assessments and feedback provide an important opportunity to support and enhance student learning. Recognizing shifts in education towards blended and online learning with problem-based and inquiry-based approaches led to considerations of technologies that could effectively support formative assessment and informative feedback to 21st century learners. The paper concludes with a summary of conclusions and recommendations of the working group to be taken up in subsequent efforts. [More] Descriptors: Formative Evaluation, Foreign Countries, Summative Evaluation, Feedback (Response)
(2016). Not Just Talk, but a "Dance"! How Kindergarten Teachers Opened and Closed Spaces for Teacher-Child Authentic Dialogue, Early Childhood Education Journal. Although authentic dialogue between teachers and young children is vital to the learning process, increasingly diverse student populations and a focus on high-stakes testing, challenge teachers' approaches to such conversations. This study examined the verbal and nonverbal interactions between five teachers and young children using child-taken photographs to promote conversation. Analysis exposed how the teachers' nonverbal and verbal responsiveness opened and closed conversational spaces for the children to describe their home contexts. This teacher-child dance illuminates the necessary and effective pursuit of attending to both verbal and nonverbal communication in authentic dialogue and suggests a teacher choreograph that, when attended to, is positioned for effective and efficient use within the increasingly diverse and time-pressured classroom. [More] Descriptors: Kindergarten, Preschool Teachers, Teacher Student Relationship, Classroom Communication
(2016). In-Service Teachers' Perspectives on Adolescent ELL Writing Instruction, TESOL Journal. As writing has assumed increasing importance in discussions of pedagogy for diverse classrooms, attention to the contexts in which secondary teachers develop and implement writing instruction for adolescent English language learners (ELLs) is of great importance. Drawing on ecological language learning theories and situated teacher learning theory (van Lier, 2003; Borko, 2004), the authors present findings from participants in a focus group (N = 10) and follow-up interviews (N = 6) conducted with a set of secondary English language arts and English as a second language (ESL) teachers. Within overlapping institutional/professional and pedagogical contexts, teachers identified teacher expertise, high-stakes testing, classroom assessment and grading, placement and tracking, and disciplinary disconnects as the ecological factors most influential in their instructional choices related to ELL writers. Implications of these findings for research and teacher education are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Inservice Teacher Education, Teacher Attitudes, Writing Instruction, English Language Learners
(2016). The Washback of the TOEFL iBT in Vietnam, Australian Journal of Teacher Education. Washback, or the influence of testing on teaching and learning, has received considerable attention in language testing research over the past twenty years. It is widely argued that testing, particularly high-stakes testing, exerts a powerful influence, whether intended or unintended, positive or negative, on both teachers and learners. This article investigates the washback effects of a high-stakes English language proficiency test, the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT), in Vietnam. Vietnam, a developing country whose educational philosophies differ from those underpinning the TOEFL iBT, provided a unique context to explore the test's washback. In the course of this study, four teachers were observed and teaching materials were collected from educational institutions in Vietnam. The study revealed that the TOEFL iBT influenced both what the teachers taught and how they taught but its effects were mediated by the use of test preparation materials. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Language Tests, Language Proficiency, English (Second Language)
(2016). Intersections of Accountability and Special Education: The Social Justice Implications of Policy and Practice, Teachers College Record. High-stakes testing accountability has wreaked havoc on America's public schools. Since the passage of NCLB in 2001, virtually every public school student has experienced the pressures of preparing for, practicing, and taking standardized state exams, the results of which have had significant consequences for their schools, teachers, and themselves. These test-based pressures have altered educational practices in significant ways for all students, but especially for students with disabilities. The goal of this chapter is to briefly describe the educational climate for students with disabilities, focusing on emergent federal policies that have had the contradictory effect of expanding and narrowing learning opportunities for students. This chapter provides the backdrop for the volume by introducing the reader to the general characteristics of our special education population, discussing the past and current federal policies guiding their education, and offering implications for policy and practice. [More] Descriptors: Accountability, Special Education, Social Justice, Educational Policy
(2016). The Refusal: Teachers Making Policy in NYC, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE). Drawing on empirical sources, I argue that teachers' actions to remove district-mandated testing from their classrooms are a form of teacher policy-making. Analysis of interviews with teacher activists and records of teachers' activism meetings show that teachers perceive belonging, trust, and community as critical to their efforts to provide equitable learning conditions for recent arrival immigrant, bilingual youth. Teachers explained that racialized neoliberalism, as it is instantiated through high-stakes testing, harms young people and creates problematic conditions for learning. Teachers opt out of testing action demonstrates what teachers believed was necessary to opt into, thus, I argue teachers' policy-making sheds light on the constructs necessary to center in education policy. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Response, Compliance (Legal), Classroom Environment
(2016). The Emperor's Perfect Map: Leadership by Numbers, Australian Educational Researcher. This paper establishes that system-generated data profiles are influencing the work of principals in three Queensland state schools. Drawing upon Foucault's notions of governance, as well as research emphasising performative cultures and the importance placed upon numbers and data in education, this paper uses the tale of the Emperor's map as a metaphor to explore the way principals' work is being influenced by specific sets of data compiled by the department. These data profiles are representative of external accountabilities and high stakes testing regimes, as seen in systems that have adopted neoliberal policies which attempt to quantify the work being undertaken in schools. The paper demonstrates that principals are being constructed in part by discourses from a system that emphasises these system-generated performance data as a driver for school improvement. [More] Descriptors: Leadership, Governance, Figurative Language, Principals
(2016). The Role of the Arts in School Reform, Arts Education Policy Review. In a national climate of high-stakes testing, there is an ever-increasing need for policy that ensures high-quality arts education for all children. At the same time that arts education in K-12 schools is being diminished or eliminated, there is an ever-increasing body of research linking participation in the arts to various aspects of cognitive and social development. The Madison Violin Project, a partnership between a low-performing, low-socioeconomic status elementary school and a school of music, provides a model for effecting change through the arts. Implications are drawn from this model for elementary students, pre-service teachers, and arts education policy. [More] Descriptors: Art Education, Music Education, Educational Change, Disadvantaged Schools
(2013). Heightened Test Anxiety among Young Children: Elementary School Students' Anxious Responses to High-Stakes Testing, Psychology in the Schools. This study explored differences in test anxiety on high-stakes standardized achievement testing and low-stakes testing among elementary school children. This is the first study to directly examine differences in young students' reported test anxiety between No Child Left Behind (NCLB) achievement testing and classroom testing. Three hundred thirty-five students in Grades 3 through 5 participated in the study. Students completed assessments of test anxiety following NCLB testing and typical classroom testing. Students reported significantly more overall test anxiety in relation to high-stakes testing versus classroom testing on two measures of test anxiety, effect sizes "r" = -0.21 and "r" = -0.10. Students also reported significantly more cognitive ("r" = -0.20) and physiological ("r" = -0.24) symptoms of test anxiety in relation to high-stakes testing. This study adds to the test anxiety literature by demonstrating that students experience heightened anxiety in response to NCLB testing. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Test Anxiety, Effect Size, Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
(2016). Leading with Intent: Cultivating Community Conversation to Create Shared Understanding, School Effectiveness and School Improvement. School improvement is a central focus for school leaders. Whilst measures such as high-stakes testing and other government accountability agendas have at times marred the discourse of school improvement, how schools develop their capacity to ultimately improve the core business of student learning remains important. As an extensive area of scholarship, much has been written to support leaders in improving learning and teaching in their school. Indeed, studies demonstrate the value of establishing schoolwide goals and expectations and the importance of using evidence to improve teaching practice. This article presents qualitative data from 4 independent schools in the state of New South Wales (NSW) Australia which suggest that whilst the concept of school improvement is not new, the capacity of schools to embrace some key concepts found in this area of study is limited. The article proposes that through cultivating conversations within their communities, schools can foster shared understanding and enhance their capacity for improvement. [More] Descriptors: Educational Improvement, School Effectiveness, Evidence Based Practice, Leaders
(2016). Using the Inquiry Process to Motivate and Engage All (Including Struggling) Readers, Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. With increasingly rigorous standards and mounting high stakes testing, it seems harder than ever to motivate and engage struggling readers. In this article the authors provide an overview of the inquiry learning process, which details how providing students with choice and opportunities to collaborate with peers can keep students invested in their own learning and progress. Within the framework of standards and/or a unit of study, students are coached toward choosing a personally meaningful research question in which they are given freedom to explore the answer through a variety of self-selected texts. Inquiry learning can be woven into already existing units of study or can be used to create an entirely new classroom project. The authors walk readers through the inquiry process with a teacher vignette that provides a step-by-step plan that can be implemented in any classroom. [More] Descriptors: Inquiry, Reading Motivation, Motivation Techniques, Reading Difficulties
(2016). Making the Term "Validity" Useful, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Daniel Koretz is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research focuses on educational assessment and policy, particularly the effects of high-stakes testing on educational practice and the validity of score gains. He is the author of "Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us" (Harvard University Press, 2008). Koretz comments here that he finds it distressing after generations of work and countless articles and chapters, that those in the field still cannot agree on what validity means. As someone who has worked for three decades to persuade people of the need to devote more focus to the evaluation of impact, Koretz argues he would find it helpful if more colleagues would use simple language that people outside of the field understand when making the argument for "impact" in order to make the term "validity" useful. [More] Descriptors: Test Validity, Definitions, Evidence, Relevance (Education)
(2007). Coping with the Stress of High Stakes Testing, Journal of Applied School Psychology. High stakes testing puts considerable pressure on schools, teachers, and students to achieve at high levels. Therefore, how schools and individuals cope with this major source of stress may have important implications for the success of high stakes testing. This article reviews relevant theory and research on stress as they relate to public schools and high stakes testing. Particular attention is given to the negative consequences of stress when the external pressure exceeds the ability of the school or individual to cope with the pressure. The article also reviews strategies that can be used by schools, teachers, and students to cope with stress. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Coping, Stress Variables
(2010). The Relationship of No Child Left Behind Mandates on Elementary Teacher Instructional Practices, Test Preparation, Professional Development, and School Climate, ProQuest LLC. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) calls for 100 percent proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014. The Act was supported overwhelming by both political parties and signified a major overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Using a questionnaire, this study examined teachers' perceptions regarding NCLB and the four variables: instructional practices, testing practices, professional development, and school climate. A total of 102 teacher questionnaires were distributed at a regularly scheduled faculty meeting. This study also examined teacher perceptions of NCLB, instructional practices, test preparation, professional development, and school climate within a high-stakes testing environment and a non-high-stakes testing environment. Further, this study examined the difference between teacher perceptions regarding the four variables, based on perceived school climate, in a high-stakes testing environment and non-high-stakes testing environment. The data yielded from this study was subjected to quantitative analysis. Mean scores and standard deviations were calculated for all the teacher responses for all variables in this study. Independent t tests were performed to analyze the results to determine if the mean values differed significantly on the four variables with respect to gender, tenure status, and high-stakes and non-high-stakes testing environments. Mean values were analyzed, produced significant results, and resulted in additional analyses of the items for each of the significant variables. A correlation analysis was calculated to determine relationships between and among all variables. School climate was the mediating variable and was included in the original analysis. The findings indicate that both teachers in high-stakes testing environments and teachers in non-high-stakes testing environments spend a significant amount of time on test preparation activities. Specifically, high-stakes teachers spend more time on test preparation activities. There may be environments in which test preparation is necessary for schools to be successful. The findings also indicate that professional development significantly affects the school climate of a building. Teachers who are more positive toward professional development are more likely to identify the school climate as focused on test preparation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Legislation, Testing, High Stakes Tests