This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Sherry Dismuke, Mark F. Goldberg, Megan Behrent, Thomas DeVere Wolsey, Peggy Whitby, Karen Kreider Yoder, Beverly A. Baker, Chinwe Ikpeze, Cheryl Bratten, and Audrey Amrein-Beardsley.
(2011). High-Stakes Testing and the Moral Decisions of Leaders, Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. As a charter school faces continued poor performance and the need to show drastic improvement in its data, school leaders are faced with a moral dilemma. To help the schools testing data, leaders consider being selective with whom they test. They consider whether they can help the short-term outcomes of the school while risking later consequences for the school and its students. This case exposes the dilemma of leaders trying to keep the doors of the school open while being pulled to do the right thing for the students they currently serve. [More] Descriptors: Charter Schools, Testing, High Stakes Tests, Moral Issues
(2009). Transformative Multiliteracies Pedagogy: School-Based Strategies for Closing the Achievement Gap, Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners. Despite ongoing concern about the underachievement of low-income and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, there has been little focus on the kinds of pedagogy required to reverse this underachievement. Pedagogical approaches have been increasingly transmission-oriented, focusing on preparing students for high-stakes testing. Such approaches ignore the socioeconomic and sociopolitical roots of underachievement as well as research highlighting literacy engagement as a strong predictor of literacy achievement. The Transformative Multiliteracies Pedagogy frameworks presented here locate CLD students' underachievement within societal power relations and highlight the negotiation of identity between teachers and students as a central means of creating contexts of empowerment. Heuristic tools educators can use to critically assess their own practice and to articulate potentially productive pedagogical directions are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Classroom Techniques, Underachievement, High Stakes Tests, Teacher Student Relationship
(2009). No Child Left behind: Giving Voice to Teachers of Young Children, Journal of Educational Research & Policy Studies. No Child left Behind (NCLB), now being considered for reauthorization, may be one of the most significant education policies ever enacted by the federal government. The purpose of this inquiry was to understand the lived experiences of K-3 teachers since NCLB was signed into law in 2002. The data source was focus group interviews with 39 K-3 teachers, from seven school districts in four states. Data were analyzed inductively; verification strategies were employed. The findings suggest that participants felt the intent of NCLB was admirable, but that the law was not achieving its intended goal. Teachers noted the positive impact of increased resources for teaching reading. They raised concerns related to meeting the needs of young children given curricular mandates, and the negative effects of high-stakes testing. While they deemed accountability to be important, they felt restricted control over their actions in their own classrooms created an unfair condition for accountability. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Focus Groups, Academic Achievement, Accountability
(2009). High-School Teachers' Attempts to Promote Self-Regulated Learning: "I May Learn from You, yet How Do I Do It?", Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education. This study examined how urban high-school students responded to increased academic expectations. The intervention included increased expectations for reading and writing, collaboration, and the completion of multi-day assignments. Twenty-four students (8 lower, 8 average, and 8 higher performers) from 4 classrooms were interviewed across a 9-week period to evaluate their reactions to the increased expectations. While students approached lessons with learning versus performance orientations, they were unsuccessful because they could not transfer classroom successes to their outside of school studying efforts. Their difficulties were related to a lack of strategies, a failure to manage distractions, or an inability to monitor studying behaviors. Discussion focuses on the difficulties among students based on performance levels and on the challenges of increasing academic expectations within a climate of high-stakes testing. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, High School Students, Independent Study, Urban Schools
(2009). The Unintended, Pernicious Consequences of "Staying the Course" on the United States' No Child Left Behind Policy, International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership. The phrase "no child left behind" has become a familiar expression in American education circles and in popular culture. The sentiment implied by these four words is noble. However, the effects of the top-down implementation of the high-stakes testing provisions of the law have been anything but salutary for public school children, teachers, and administrators. This claim is supported by data describing many of the ways in which well-intentioned but desperate educators, from the statehouse to the schoolhouse, have been driven to game the system in ironic defense of the children, teachers, and administrators least equipped to defend themselves. It is argued herein that, instead of reauthorizing the stronger accountability tenet of NCLB, it might do very well to let it fade away. [More] [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Academic Achievement, High Stakes Tests, Attendance
(2009). Reclaiming Our Freedom to Teach: Education Reform in the Obama Era, Harvard Educational Review. High school teacher Megan Behrent reflects on the impact of Obama's election on the students in her high school classroom. Obliged to temper her students' joyful exuberance on the morning of November 5, 2008, Behrent found that the election fervor highlighted for her the ways that schooling under NCLB has constrained both educators and students, taking away teachers' freedom to teach and students' freedom to learn. In this essay, she examines the many ways in which the high-stakes testing industry punishes public school students and teachers, continually disenfranchising those who struggle to learn without adequate resources. While Obama's election may bring hope to learners of all ages, Behrent advises skepticism toward the changes education secretary Arne Duncan might bring, and she calls on teachers, families, and unions to collaborate in demanding the freedom to nurture true learning. [More] Descriptors: Secondary School Teachers, Teacher Student Relationship, Presidents, African Americans
(2004). The High-Stakes Test Mess, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review. Tests are a natural part of education, from the quizzes, essays, and classroom tests that teachers have traditionally administered to the high-stakes tests that states use to make decisions about graduation, promotion, and school funding and governance. In this article, the author stresses the need to learn the unintended consequences of high-stakes testing, including reliability of the actual tests, nonrandom human error, and fudging dropout figures. The pros and cons of the state approach of using high-stakes testing to increase student achievement are examined. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Standardized Tests, Federal Legislation
(2016). What about Writing? A National Exploratory Study of Writing Instruction in Teacher Preparation Programs, Literacy Research and Instruction. This small scale, exploratory study reveals how writing instruction is taught to preservice teachers across the United States in university-based preservice teacher education programs based on online survey results from 63 teacher educators in literacy from 50 institutions. Despite the growing writing demands and high stakes writing sample testing in K-12 classrooms, our survey of literacy teacher educators indicated that teacher preparation programs rarely offer stand-alone writing instruction methods courses. Evidence suggests that writing methods are frequently embedded in reading methods courses. Equally concerning, data indicate a lack of confidence among many teacher educators regarding teaching writing methods. This study highlights the need for greater attention to writing in teacher preparation programs and adds to the conversation of why these issues continue to plague higher education. [More] Descriptors: Writing Instruction, Preservice Teachers, Preservice Teacher Education, Online Surveys
(2009). Classroom Assessment: Some Propositions for Superintendents, AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice. This article offers superintendents five assessment propositions for their consideration, each of which would likely provoke spirited and productive discussions at district administrative councils or at school staff meetings. These propositions are: (1) Teachers should anchor lessons and activities to specific outcomes (e.g., expectations, objectives, learning targets); (2) Classroom-level summative grades should essentially reflect the level of student mastery of the learning domain; (3) Smart classroom-level assessment plans will generally include both high-quality, traditional tests and performance assessments (i.e., alternative assessments); (4) Use of quality classroom assessment practices will increase student engagement and foster better attitudes about school; and (5) Current high stakes testing policies (most courtesy of the original iteration of NCLB) are generally not aligned with best classroom assessment practice, and may be responsible for negative unintended consequences. [More] Descriptors: Alternative Assessment, Superintendents, Change Strategies, Educational Strategies
(2013). Utilization of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to Reduce Test Anxiety in High Stakes Testing, ProQuest LLC. There are many reasons a person may fail a high stakes test such as the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN¬Æ). Sleep deprivation, illness, life stressors, knowledge deficit, and test anxiety are some of the common explanations. A student with test anxiety may feel threatened by this evaluation process. This reaction causes the students to become self-absorbed with altered cognitive abilities such as reduced ability: to concentrate, to remember, and/or to retrieve information, thus lowering the students' performance. This research study explored the correlation among factors such as stress, test anxiety, and student expectations that may be predictive of success or failure in passing the NCLEX-RN¬Æ exam. This study also compared the methods of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to Guided Imagery regarding the reduction of test anxiety and success in passing the NCLEX-RN¬Æ exam. Emotional Freedom Techniques, a form of energy psychology, works by having an individual concentrate on a specific psychological issue while simultaneously tapping on specific meridian points. Guided Imagery, a well-respected form of meditation, utilizes directed and focused thought and imaginations. The participants of this quantitative study were nursing students enrolled in a NCLEX Review course at a university in the Midwest. Randomized groups received two treatment sessions. The students completed the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), Westside Test Anxiety Scale, Stress Vulnerability Questionnaire, Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale (SUDS), and had their blood pressure taken before and after treatments. The students also completed the SA-45 Symptom Assessment (SA-45(TM)), a Personal Profile Data Sheet, and three Student Perception Surveys. The results of the study showed scoring below an 80% on the HESI Exit Exam and obtaining a lower score on a retake of the HESI Exit Exam was associated with the pass rate of the NCLEX-RN¬Æ exam. There was a statistical significant difference in the SUDS rating recorded pre-treatment versus post-treatment which indicated the treatment lowered distress levels in both groups. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a statistical significant decrease in Group 1 (Guided Imagery) after the second treatment. The diastolic blood pressure showed a statistical significant decrease after the second treatment in Group 2 (EFT). There was a statistical significant difference in the Westside Test Anxiety incapacity (memory) subscale before treatments and after treatments in Group 2 (EFT). On Student Perception Survey 3, at the end of the study, Group 2 (EFT) reported a decrease in test anxiety while Group 1 (Guided Imagery) conveyed a slight increase. Both groups reported they thought the treatment were effective. Emotional Freedom Techniques did reduce test anxiety in high stakes testing. [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: Test Anxiety, High Stakes Tests, Stress Management, Stress Variables
(2009). Teaching a Cognitive Behavioral Strategy to Manage Emotions Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in an Educational Setting, Intervention in School and Clinic. The academic and social challenges facing public schools are enormous. For example, the pressure to meet the demands of the current high-stakes testing environment and reach adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals has arguably never been greater (Luna & Turner, 2001; Sanders, 2003). The energy devoted to academics has supplanted the little time spent on the social, behavioral, and emotional needs of students. Yet, the need to create classroom environments that are safe for all students persists. This article presents a classroom mental health program that can be integrated with an academic curriculum and is designed both to address the emotional and behavioral problems of students and, more important, to give them the tools necessary to be able to prevent and manage them. [More] Descriptors: Behavior Modification, Cognitive Restructuring, Coping, Timeout
(2011). "School Is So Boring": High-Stakes Testing and Boredom at an Urban Middle School, Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education. Existing evidence suggests that high stakes exams result in little increased learning among students. Yet, given the federal mandates for greater accountability, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and Race to the Top policies, and the "pervasive testing culture," the use of high-stakes tests is presently an accepted practice. The importance ascribed to standardized tests within public education has significant impact on pedagogical practices. High-stakes testing has altered instruction such that in many classrooms more time is spent on test preparation at the expense of engaging and varied learning activities. In this article, the author documents the effect of high-stakes test preparation on middle school students' boredom. Presented and discussed herein are the findings of an ethnographic study that followed a group of 30 urban, Latina/o, middle school students over the course of their middle school experience and documented, among other things, the ground-level impact the push toward "greater accountability" in public education had on the students. The analysis of the data is based on the understanding that the phenomenon of boredom is associated with schooling. While many studies document that boredom is regularly experienced by students, there is a need for investigations that focus on the interplay between classroom dynamics and curriculum that give rise to boredom. Consequently, the findings discussed herein have the potential to contribute to the scholarship on schooling, curriculum, pedagogy, and boredom. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Urban Schools, Middle School Students, Test Preparation
(2010). Playing with the Stakes: A Consideration of an Aspect of the Social Context of a Gatekeeping Writing Assessment, Assessing Writing. In high-stakes writing assessments, rater training in the use of a rating scale does not eliminate variability in grade attribution. This realisation has been accompanied by research that explores possible sources of rater variability, such as rater background or rating scale type. However, there has been little consideration thus far of variability in rater behaviour that may be brought about by the socio-political context of the testing situation. In addition, studies of rater behaviour are undertaken in either research conditions or authentic high-stakes testing conditions, but never both. This report is a "stakes study" in the context of a writing test for teacher certification in Quebec. The research objective was to see if raters grade differently when the consequences to test takers are changed but if all else remains the same (text, rater, rating scale and rater training). Scores given by the raters in the "high-stakes" (authentic testing) and "low-stakes" (research) conditions were compared. Raters were also questioned immediately after their final grading session to allow them to discuss any perceived differences in their rating behaviour in the two conditions. It was hypothesised that raters might be more severe in their grading if there were no stakes involved for the test takers. This case study, while exploratory and small in scale, demonstrates the potential in including the social context as a factor in future research on variability in rater scoring behaviour. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Writing Evaluation, Writing Tests, Testing
(2009). Using eKidtools Software Tools to Provide Behavior Support in General Education Settings, TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus. Students are coming to schools with increasingly diverse academic, social, and emotional needs. Meeting each child's social and behavioral needs can be challenging and overwhelming, especially in the era of high-stakes testing. No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA) mandate the provision of behavior intervention plans and the use of evidenced-based best practices to teach appropriate behavior to students with learning and behavior problems. This article describes how an innovative software program, eKidTools, was used to design intervention programs that addressed the social and emotional needs of students with disabilities who exhibited challenging behaviors in general education classrooms. Three case studies are provided in which eKidtools software tools were used to increase target behaviors. [More] Descriptors: Behavior Problems, Intervention, General Education, Disabilities
(2009). Differentiating Instruction to Help All Students Meet Standards. Second Edition. Focus On, Educational Research Service. To paraphrase a quote by Thomas Jefferson, "there is nothing so unfair as the equal treatment of unequal children." Teachers cannot use a one-size-fits-all model of instruction to successfully reach all children. This "Focus On"–an update of our popular 2004 edition–is designed to help teachers assess and improve their own instruction by focusing on the skills educators need to meet the challenge of differentiating instruction effectively. Accountability, high-stakes testing, and increasing diversity present teachers with greater challenges than ever before. This "Focus On" will encourage the discussion and understanding needed to meet the challenge of differentiating instruction effectively. [More] Descriptors: Individualized Instruction, Teaching Skills, Educational Planning, Instructional Effectiveness