This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Genevieve de Gaillande, Val Klenowski, Daniela J. Jager, C. Frederick Risinger, Caron Sharp, Jill M. Gradwell, Yigal Attali, Donna M. Harris, Brent Bridgeman, and Erin Peters Burton.
(2012). Voices from the Front Lines: Exemplary Science Teachers on Education Reform, School Science and Mathematics. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the experiences that nationally award-winning, exemplary science teachers have had over their career and examine the alignment of their responses with calls for K-12 science education reform from a selection of prominent commissioned government reports since 1980. From an assessment of the alignment of exemplary teachers, calls for reform have had a limited effect and highlight the weakness of using national reports as a wide-scale, nationalized approach to science education reform. Findings are focused on seven different areas of teacher development: classroom issues, teaching scientific inquiry, use of technology, preservice experiences, professional development of in-service teachers, vertical articulation, and science education reform over time. Among other issues, the teachers indicated one of the biggest barriers to inquiry teaching is the pressure to conform to high-stakes testing and the lack of examples of inquiry teaching during teacher education experiences. [More] Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Articulation (Education), Science Teachers
(2012). Postscript: Urban Schools, Accountability, and Equity–Insights regarding NCLB and Reform, Education and Urban Society. As the postscript for this special issue of Education and Urban Society, this article considers the struggles urban schools report confronting as they implement standards-based reform and high stakes testing and discusses the implications these challenge have for future accountability policy aimed at promoting educational equity. Among the issues for future policy to consider with Race to the Top and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act include the need for adequate resources to develop capacity among school personnel to aid with instructional reform. However, there are three factors that may derail the future effectiveness of accountability policy in urban schools. First, the ongoing federal deficit may limit the availability of resources needed to improve teacher practice. Second, the use of teacher evaluation may cause a narrow focus on tested subjects. Third, the limiting beliefs of teachers may restrict the organizational change within urban schools. [More] Descriptors: Urban Schools, Equal Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Organizational Change
(2012). The Importance of Read-Aloud and Dialogue in an Era of Narrowed Curriculum: An Examination of Literature Discussions in a Second-Grade Classroom, Literacy Research and Instruction. This research focuses on read-aloud discussions in the classroom of an exemplary second-grade teacher, Mae Graham, during an academic year. We found the classroom environment Mae created, along with her instructional moves, fostered engagement and student-initiated talk. Our analysis affirms the importance of teachers' language in building positive classroom environments (Allington & Johnston, 2001; Johnston, 2004; Pressley, Allington, Wharton-McDonald, Block, & Morrow, 2001), and contributes to research on literature discussion by emphasizing the power of dialogue in providing space for students to meaningfully use language; understand and engage with literature; develop and share ideas, opinions and feelings; and, develop an appreciation for multiple perspectives. We argue that read-aloud and dialogue should be a priority in an era of high-stakes testing and narrowed curriculum. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Classroom Environment, Literature Reviews, Grade 2
(2012). Accountability Policy, School Organization, and Classroom Practice: Partial Recoupling and Educational Opportunity, Education and Urban Society. In this article, the author examines the links between high stakes testing policies, school organization processes, and instructional practice using data from a study of K-5 and K-8 schools in Chicago. He argues that although the policy environment penetrates the classroom, this penetration is partial–stronger on some aspects of instruction than others–and its impact unpredictable. He highlights four organizational patterns in the schools he studied that have implications for the link between accountability policy and instruction. These patterns include the stronger influence of accountability policy on content as opposed to pedagogy, the centrality of teaching colleagues in teachers' advice-seeking networks, the predominance of didactic as opposed to interactive forms of instruction, and the differential responses to accountability policy and unequal distribution of resources across schools. After outlining these patterns, he discusses their implications for understanding the links between accountability policy, instruction, and educational equity. [More] Descriptors: Accountability, Educational Policy, Educational Practices, Instruction
(2012). Identifying Personal and Contextual Factors that Contribute to Attrition Rates for Texas Public School Teachers, Education Policy Analysis Archives. Teacher attrition is a significant problem facing schools, with a large percentage of teachers leaving the profession within their first few years. Given the need to retain high-quality teachers, research is needed to identify those teachers with higher retention rates. Using survival analyses and a large state dataset, researchers examined teacher data to identify those teacher and school variables associated with attrition. Unique to this study was the investigation of testing era (basic competency vs. higher standards based), school districts' yearly ratings based on state-mandated testing, and charter school status. Analyses revealed that teacher attrition was greater during the high stakes-testing era, at low-performing schools, and for charter schools; however, beginning teacher age, gender, and school level moderated several attrition rates. Implications for public policy are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Public School Teachers, Teacher Persistence, Faculty Mobility, Public Policy
(2012). Video Production and Classroom Instruction: Bridging the Academies and the Realities of Practice in Teacher Education, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education. In these times of high-stakes testing, pressure to meet annual yearly progress goals, and standards-driven classroom curriculums, today's teachers face many obstacles that interfere with their ability to teach with and about television and video. If graduate study for teacher educators was designed in ways that reflect the realities of their practice, would they come to value video production as an integrated component in their practice? This study presents five guiding design principles and examines teacher-learners action research reflections to identify what impact the principles had on teacher practice. Results of this study speak not only to the efficacy of the five design principles and the power of bridging the culture of the academies and the realities of practice for teacher education but to strategies for teaching teachers to integrate a range of technology tools in their practice. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Education Programs, Inservice Teacher Education, Education Courses, Technology Integration
(2012). Raising the Stakes: The Challenges for Teacher Assessment, Australian Educational Researcher. These are changing times in Australia for teachers and their students, with the introduction of a national curriculum and standards driven reform. While countries in Europe such as England, and in Asia such as Singapore, are changing policy to use assessment in the support of and improvement of learning it appears that we in Australia are moving towards creating policy that will raise the assessment stakes for the putative purposes of transparency, accountability and fairness. What can be learnt from countries that have had years of high stakes testing? How can Australia avoid the mistakes of past curriculum and assessment reform efforts? And how can Australian teachers build their capacity to maximise their use of the learning power of assessment? These are the questions that are addressed in this article, with reference to innovative research from global networks that have maintained the assessment focus on learning rather than accountability practices. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Evaluation, High Stakes Tests, Accountability, Educational Change
(2012). Statewide Low-Stakes Tests and a Teaching to the Test Effect? An Analysis of Teacher Survey Data from Two German States, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. Governments worldwide are changing their educational policies to improve student performance. Some of these reforms involve the introduction of high-stakes testing, which often creates negative effects such as "teaching to the test". This article deals with the use of low-stakes testing in the German states of Hesse and Bremen, and analyses whether statewide low-stakes testing produces comparable results to the use of high-stakes tests from the perspective of teachers. Moreover, it seeks to identify the factors responsible for the observable teaching to the test effect, above and beyond the use of statewide exams. The data come from surveys carried out in the framework of a longitudinal study funded by the German Research Foundation. Hesse and Bremen introduced statewide exit exams in several subjects in 2007 and 2008 as low-stakes tests. Our quasi-experimental study has been evaluating these implementations since 2007. [More] Descriptors: Testing, Exit Examinations, Measurement, Teaching Methods
(2012). Choosing a Life One Has Reason to Value: The Role of the Arts in Fostering Capability Development in Four Small Urban High Schools, Cambridge Journal of Education. A holistic education linked to creativity, innovation, critical thinking and local/global citizenship is increasingly marginalized in the United States as schools continue to struggle with the impact of high-stakes testing regimes. In particular, urban youths' access to an education that furthers their ability to choose lives they have reason to value, are circumscribed. Current discussions around the skills and capabilities necessary for youth to graduate and be equipped for meaningful lives beyond high school are aligned with research on the benefits of arts education. This mixed-methods exploratory study uses aspects of Sen and Nussbaum's capability approach to frame and examine a range of capabilities fostered through student engagement with arts education opportunities, what we refer to as arts pathways, inside of five small arts-focused high schools in New York City, US. [More] Descriptors: Art Education, Small Schools, Urban Schools, High Schools
(2015). Do You Really Want to Know? Elementary Music Personnel and Potential in Utah, Arts Education Policy Review. This is the second of two articles reporting the results of a study by the author regarding the status of elementary music education in the state of Utah. This article focuses on the qualifications of Utah's elementary music teachers (music certified, elementary classroom certified, artists-in-residence, volunteers, and paraprofessionals) and the conditions under which they teach. Interactions among teacher qualifications and teaching status are explored. Paraprofessionals play a significant role in Utah's elementary music programs. While over 90¬ percent of elementary schools in the United States provide regular music instruction taught by certified music specialists, less than 10¬ percent of Utah's elementary population receives such instruction. Nearly half of the elementary students in the state receive no designated music instruction beyond that provided by their regular elementary classroom teacher. The influence of school funding, No Child Left Behind and other accountability measures, high-stakes testing, urban/rural populations, and leadership are highlighted. Policy considerations are discussed. [For the first article, see EJ1080080.] [More] Descriptors: Music Teachers, Elementary School Teachers, Music Education, Qualifications
(2012). What I Learned at NCSS 2011, Social Education. The author started writing a "What I Learned…" column back in 2007. However, in the 2011 edition, he wants want to make a few comments about the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual meeting, a couple of the general sessions, and an NCSS initiative that he is proud to support. The author mentions that Secretary Arne Duncan decried how social studies was being neglected because of the impact of high-stakes testing on teachers and schools. The author wants to commend NCSS and its leadership for establishing the "First Timer Scholarship" program. It supports teachers who have never been to an NCSS Annual Conference and pays for a year's NCSS membership. Now, what did the author learn at NCSS 2011 about using the Internet and Web 2.0 resources to teach social studies? The author attended 9 sessions that dealt with technology in the classroom and shares some of these programs and resources in this paper. [More] Descriptors: Social Studies, Teacher Associations, Conferences (Gatherings), Educational Technology
(2012). Using Simulations to Teach Middle Grades U.S. History in an Age of Accountability, RMLE Online: Research in Middle Level Education. In this year-long qualitative study we explore the case of two eighth grade U.S. History teachers who use simulations on a regular basis to teach heterogeneously-grouped students in a high-stakes testing environment. We describe the purposes the teachers espoused for implementing simulations and provide detailed portraits of three types of simulations used: role-play, game, and trial. We argue that because the ambitious teachers know their discipline well, see the potential of all their students, and feel that learning rather than testing should drive instructional decision-making, they are able to engage and challenge their students with historical simulations. This study adds to the sparse field of simulation research and to the emerging literature on ambitious history teaching. It also shows educators what is pedagogically possible in teaching history. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Grade 8, Accountability, Simulation
(2012). School Leadership: Lessons from the Lived Experiences of Urban Teachers, Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research. The detrimental effects of high-stakes testing and accountability mandates are experienced disproportionately in high-poverty urban schools, which African American and Hispanic students are more likely to attend. However, the literature does not fully address how teachers experience the inequitable working and learning conditions in these contexts. A critical race theory lens was used in interviewing 12 African American teachers from urban districts in Georgia, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania to privilege descriptions of their lived experiences in such schools. Teachers' views of their profession were explored using narrative analysis. Results indicated that accountability mandates and leadership support influenced teachers' perceptions regarding (a) the qualities of a good teacher, (b) colleague descriptions of their jobs, and (c) plans for the future. These findings and implications for practice, policy and future study are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, High Stakes Tests, Teacher Effectiveness, Accountability
(2012). Writing for a Built-in Audience: Writing Groups in the Middle School Classroom, Voices from the Middle. In this era of high-stakes testing and densely packed state standards, it is too easy for writing to become a meaningless process, useful only for school. Many strategies can help to get all students writing, but this author set out to find a strategy to help students see the power of writing and to know that their voices matter. Writing groups are what finally made writing a meaningful experience for all students in this classroom. Through research and experimentation, the author learned structures to make this special kind of group work effective and saw how writing groups transformed students' ideas of writing and the writing process. Writing groups gave students access to an authentic and meaningful audience for their writing. Reflecting on how to give helpful comments promoted a deeper understanding of the role and power of revision. [More] Descriptors: Audiences, Writing Processes, Middle Schools, Writing Assignments
(2012). Comparison of Human and Machine Scoring of Essays: Differences by Gender, Ethnicity, and Country, Applied Measurement in Education. Essay scores generated by machine and by human raters are generally comparable; that is, they can produce scores with similar means and standard deviations, and machine scores generally correlate as highly with human scores as scores from one human correlate with scores from another human. Although human and machine essay scores are highly related on average, this does not eliminate the possibility that machine and human scores may differ significantly for certain gender, ethnic, or country groups. Such differences were explored with essay data from two large-scale high-stakes testing programs: the Test of English as a Foreign Language and the Graduate Record Examination. Human and machine scores were very similar across most subgroups, but there were some notable exceptions. Policies were developed so that any differences between humans and machines would have a minimal impact on final reported scores. [More] Descriptors: Scoring, Essay Tests, College Entrance Examinations, High Stakes Tests