This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Mary Klehm, Linda C. Fedor, David Hursh, Edward Davis, Matthew Body, Kay Brimijoin, Pedro A. Noguera, Stuart S. Yeh, Steven Jay Gross, and Johnnie Hugh Coats.
(2013). Impact of Science Tutoring on African Americans' Science Scores on the High School Students' Graduation Examination, ProQuest LLC. This study investigated the relationship between an after-school tutorial program for African American high school students at a Title I school and scores on the science portion of the High School Graduation Examination (HSGE). Passing the examination was required for graduation. The target high school is 99% African American and the passing rate of the target high school was 42%–lower than the state average of 76%. The purpose of the study was to identify (a) the relationship between a science tutorial program and scores on the science portion of the HSGE, (b) the predictors of tutoring need by analyzing the relationship between biology grades and scores on the science portion of the HSGE, and (c) the findings between biology grades and scores on the science portion of the HSGE by analyzing the relationship between tutorial attendance and HSGE scores. The study was based on Piaget's cognitive constructivism, which implied the potential benefits of tutorials on high-stakes testing. This study used a 1-group pretest-posttest, quantitative methodology. Results showed a significant relationship between tutoring and scores on the biology portion of the HSGE. Results found no significant relationship between the tutorial attendance and the scores on the biology portion of the HSGE or between the biology grades and scores on the biology portion of the HSGE before tutoring. It has implications for positive social change by providing educational stakeholders with empirically-based guidance in determining the potential benefit of tutorial intervention strategies on high school graduation examination scores. [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: African American Students, High School Students, After School Programs, Scores
(2013). Online Publishing and Authentic Audience to Improve Student Writing, ProQuest LLC. The city and school system in this research project is identified with a pseudonym as City X. This doctoral project, "Online publishing and authentic audience to improve student writing", is designed as one element of a district wide initiative to improve student writing literacy in the City X Public School district. In City X, as in many schools, students are graduating from high school and entering higher education and the workforce with inadequate writing skills (NAEP, 2008; Lambert, 2009; Massachusetts D.E.S.E., 2011). Colleges are finding that students often need remediation in this area before they can proceed with freshman level work. In addition, City X High School high stakes testing scores paint a bleak picture with high percentages of students scoring below the proficiency level, falling within the failure or needs improvement categories. Therefore, it is important to determine why City X students struggle with writing and explore what instructional practices may hold promise in developing students as proficient writers. The problem of practice that was researched is the use of technology, online publishing, and authentic audience as tools to engage students to become more proficient writers. This practice-based research project sought to understand student perspectives about their writing assignments written for an authentic audience of Internet readers as well as those assignments written for a teacher and a grade. This research used extensive data collection in the form of observations, interviews, and student surveys to develop a hypothesis about the use of the Internet and publishing to an authentic audience of peers, and the effects on student writing attitudes and level of proficiency. [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: Writing Skills, Writing Improvement, Electronic Publishing, Internet
(2005). Limiting the Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing, Education Policy Analysis Archives. Interviews with 61 teachers and administrators in 4 Minnesota school districts suggest that, in their judgment, Minnesota's state-mandated tests were well-aligned with curricular priorities and teachers' instructional goals, emphasizing critical thinking as well as competencies needed to pass the Basic Standards exit exam, and avoiding the type of recall item that would require drill and memorization. This result, in combination with a survey showing that 85 percent of Minnesota teachers support the exit exam, suggests that Minnesota has been unusually successful in designing a high stakes testing system that has garnered teacher support. The success of Minnesota's model suggests that unintended narrowing of the curriculum due to high stakes testing may be avoided if pressure on teachers to narrow the curriculum is reduced through well-designed, well-aligned exams. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Test Construction, Interviews
(2013). The Eighth Grade CRCT as a Predictive Measure of Student Success on the Ninth Grade EOCT, ProQuest LLC. Student performance on high stakes testing in secondary education has contributed to the need for students' testing potential to be identified before entering high school. There is evidence to suggest that a greater understanding of how earlier test scores predict later test scores will help educators and school officials increase student performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the need for educational officials to improve ninth grade success rates and graduation rates. Rescher's coherence theory of critical reasoning and post positivism were the theoretical frameworks used to examine the relationship between student performance on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in Language Arts and Mathematics administered in 8th grade and student performance on the End-of-Course Tests (EOCT) in Mathematics and Language Arts administered in 9th grade. A nonexperimental, correlational, ex post facto design was used to examine these performance data. Data were gathered from school annals by selecting a convenience sample of 338 ninth graders from the 2011-2012 academic-year whose CRCT and EOCT scores were available. Test scores from the same student were examined using Pearson's r, which for Mathematics was 0.642 and 0.701 for Language Arts. The results indicated that student performance on the EOCT was moderately to strongly correlated with performance on the CRCT. It is recommended that schools institute academic interventions in the 9th grade to assist students who performed poorly on the CRCT in the 8th grade. Positive implications for social change include improved student performance on standardized assessments and improved graduation rates for schools. [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: Criterion Referenced Tests, Grade 8, Secondary School Students, Prediction
(2013). The Relationship between the Level of Implementation of Scientifically Based Reading Instructional Practices in K-3 and Grade 3 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Reading Achievement in Northeastern Pennsylvania, ProQuest LLC. In 2000, the National Reading Panel (NRP) identified scientifically based reading instructional practices in the five key areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency vocabulary, and comprehension. The purpose of this study was to determine the strength of the relationship between the degree of implementation of scientifically based reading instruction in K-3 and Grade 3 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Reading achievement in school districts in Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA). Research indicates that throughout the past decade, these same instructional practices were found to be effective. As educators in K-3 worked to prepare students for high-stakes testing in reading, the degree of implementation of these instructional practices were being examined. In this quantitative study, 132 K-3 classroom teachers in 20 schools completed the Revised Teacher's Implementation of Scientifically Based Reading Instruction (TISBRI) survey to determine the school-wide level of implementation of scientifically based reading instruction. Teacher experience within each school was also studied. The results of the survey were compared to the 2012 Grade 3 PSSA Reading mean scale score for each school. Inferential statistics determined that no correlation existed between the level of implementation of scientifically based reading strategies and Grade 3 PSSA Reading achievement. There was a correlation between years of teaching experience and level of implementation of scientifically based reading strategies. The study also concluded that scientifically based fluency instruction correlated to scientifically based reading instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. [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: Reading Instruction, Testing Programs, Reading Tests, Evidence Based Practice
(2013). The New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership) and the Work of Reclaiming a Progressive Alternative in Educational Administration from PreK-20, International Journal of Progressive Education. Facing repressive accountability regimes and high-stakes testing in the US and beyond, university and practitioner educators around the world decided to take action. Inspired by the democratic administration movement of the 1930's and 1940's and current scholarship in ethics, we started a movement called the New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership). Our mission is to create an action-oriented partnership, dedicated to inquiry into the nature and practice of democratic, ethical educational leadership through sustained processes of open dialogue, right to voice, community inclusion, and responsible participation toward the common good. New DEEL leaders include faculty, students, staff, parents, administrators and community members. Since our inception in 2004, we have grown to include colleagues from over thirty universities as well as numerous school districts in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Hong Kong, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Jamaica. Results from our work include scholarship, new graduate programs, 6 successful international conferences, and support for emerging Progressive leaders in the K-12 system and in higher education. Our article will illustrate the difference our international movement is making in the lives of students, families, practitioners, and university faculty as we strive to reclaim a Progressive alternative in our field of educational administration. We are presenting a descriptive account of our recent history along with an agenda for future development. We think our example will be useful in an era when Progressive Education is under direct attack in most of the world's developed economies. [More] Descriptors: Accountability, High Stakes Tests, Ethics, Instructional Leadership
(2013). An Examination of a Teacher's Use of Authentic Assessment in an Urban Middle School Setting, ProQuest LLC. Today in urban education, schools are forced to keep up and compete with students nationally with high-stake testing. Standardized tests are often bias in nature and often do not measure the true ability of a student. Casas (2003) believes that all children can learn but they may learn differently. Therefore, using authentic assessments is an alternative way to measure what students know. Conventional testing also distorts educational goals. On the other hand, authentic assessment can foster good education practices and enhance the learning process (DePascale, 2011; Kohn, 2000). The question remains, how can urban middle school teachers combine authentic and standardized assessment to improve student learning? Rule (2006) states that authentic assessment should be used simultaneously with required curriculum. It enhances development for students while redefining the curriculum. Kohn (2000) agrees that there are alternative ways of testing and assessing students. Authentic assessment brings change to curriculum and instruction. It provides stakeholders which may include parents, students, administrators, and community members with evidence of learning. Students' performance can be demonstrated using an observable product (Conklin, 2010; Conklin & Frei, 2011; Kohn, 2000). Consequently, the purpose of this research is to assess how one teacher in an urban middle school located in a mid-western city combined authentic and standardized measures of assessment to support student achievement. It is hoped that this study will shed light on how to promote student learning using alternative assessments. Qualitative methodology will be employed to address the research question. Data will be collected through documents, observations, and interviews. [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: Performance Based Assessment, Urban Schools, Middle School Teachers, Middle School Students
(2007). High-Stakes Testing: How Are Social Studies Teachers Responding?, Social Education. Although largely left out of the No Child Left Behind legislation, social studies remains a frequently tested subject on state-level standardized exams. As of 2004, 23 states conducted standards-based social studies tests, 10 of which could be considered high stakes. Where social studies will fit into the national testing picture is uncertain, but the reality of state-level testing for teachers and students is unlikely to change in the near future. What school observers "think" could or should or may happen with high-stakes testing is interesting, but research on the lived experiences of social studies teachers and their students may be more revealing. Interviews with teachers, observations of their practices, and analysis of the kinds of tasks they create, offer insights into and evidence for the autonomy and creativity teachers exhibit. All teachers are, in some sense, "reacting" to the social studies tests their state policymakers mandate. Yet, in doing so, they are also "acting" in ways that are more than defensive. Some observers conclude that teachers react defensively, by slavishly enacting changes in their content, instruction, and assessments that mirror the presumed dictates of their state exams. While some teachers are tailoring content, instruction, and assessments to state exams in this era of high-stakes testing, ambitious teachers continue to create opportunities for powerful teaching and learning. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Testing, High Stakes Tests, Social Studies
(2007). How Listening to Students Can Help Schools to Improve, Theory Into Practice. In this article, findings from a study of 150 10th-grade students attending 10 Boston public high schools are presented. Data obtained from surveys and interviews with the students in the study are used to illuminate how student perspectives on their school experiences can be used to strengthen reform efforts. Themes such as teacher-student relationships, the impact of high stakes testing, concerns about discipline and safety, and student goals and motivation are explored. Implications for how such a research strategy can be used to assist efforts to improve urban high school are proffered to policy makers and school district leaders. [More] Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Grade 10, High Schools, Student Surveys
(2007). Assessing No Child Left Behind and the Rise of Neoliberal Education Policies, American Educational Research Journal. No Child Left Behind and other education reforms promoting high-stakes testing, accountability, and competitive markets continue to receive wide support from politicians and public figures. This support, the author suggests, has been achieved by situating education within neoliberal policies that argue that such reforms are necessary within an increasingly globalized economy, will increase academic achievement, and will close the achievement gap. However, the author offers preliminary data suggesting that the reforms are not achieving their stated goals. Consequently, educators need to question whether neoliberal approaches to education should replace the previously dominant social democratic approaches. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Academic Achievement, High Stakes Tests, Educational Change
(2013). Relationship between Student Purpose in Life and Performance on New Mexico Standards Based Assessment, ProQuest LLC. Many investigators have explored the relationship between success on high stakes testing and student motivation; however, little research has been done to discover the relationship between low academic achievement and student motivation. At the time of this publication, low academic achievement in a school in New Mexico had led to failed Adequate Yearly Progress for 5 years. Furthermore, local evidence suggested that students had little concern for improving their test scores or understanding the implications for higher academic achievement. This climate of student apathy, along the possibility of further restructuring and closing the school, underscored the need for research on motivation and academic achievement. The quantitative design included Pearson correlations to show the relationships among the Purpose in Life (PIL) test based on Frankl's will to meaning theory, the Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) Instrument, and standardized tests and grade point averages (GPA). Statistical analysis showed no correlation between the PIL and GPA ( p = 0.20), weak correlations between the PIL with reading scores (p = 0.20), and a moderate negative correlation between the PIL and math scores (p = 0.01). These findings can be used to inform secondary school educators about the lack of a relationship between the PIL and student achievement and suggest that caution be applied when using the PIL as a means of predicting student success. The research findings could help direct teachers to seek more accurate predictors of student achievement, recognize that a low PIL score may not translate into low standardized test scores, and reconsider the role that the PIL may play in creating academic achievement and a positive academic climate. [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: Low Achievement, Student Motivation, Standards, Educational Assessment
(2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Intervention Mathematics Class for Low Achieving Middle School Students in Northwest Georgia, ProQuest LLC. High-stakes testing has become crucial in public education, requiring students to meet increasingly higher standards, regardless of their ability levels. This causal-comparative study sought to determine the effectiveness of an intervention mathematics course in the middle school setting for at-risk, sixth grade students. The Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) math scores of 143 at-risk students enrolled in a remediation mathematics course were compared to scores from a control population of 143 at-risk students who did not participate in the class. Math scores from the 2008 administration of the CRCT test were used as covariates, and comparisons were made using the 2009 math CRCT scores for students in the intervention class against scores from students not taking the class. Results showed that there were no significant gains in the scores of students who took the remediation class, regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic status. However, statistically significant results were seen for the female population who took the class. These results imply that an extra math remediation class in addition to a regularly scheduled math class did not improve student performance on this particular high stakes test. Thus, alternative treatment formats may be considered, and more research in this field is recommended. [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: Program Effectiveness, Intervention, Mathematics Instruction, Middle School Students
(2005). Differentiation and High-Stakes Testing: An Oxymoron?, Theory Into Practice. Is meeting diverse learning needs through differentiation incompatible with the high-stakes testing that is now a way of life for many teachers and students across the nation? Recognizing that testing is here to stay for the foreseeable future, this article considers ways to bring differentiation and high-stakes testing together for the benefit of all learners. The article begins with a review of the importance of attending to individual learning needs, and then discusses conflicts that arise when attention to learner needs collides with attention to high stakes tests. The article defines key skills demonstrated by teachers who effectively differentiate curriculum and instruction, and shares data illustrating one teacher's success in enhancing student performance on high stakes tests. The author suggests actions that educators may take to facilitate differentiation when accountability mandates threaten to undermine the personal nature of education. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Student Diversity, Student Needs
(2013). Teacher Attitudes: The Effects of Teacher Beliefs on Teaching Practices and Achievement of Students with Disabilities, ProQuest LLC. Many students with disabilities are not meeting proficiency in the general education setting and achievement scores disaggregated by disability status show that students with disabilities are often not meeting adequate yearly progress targets established by states. A survey was developed to collect data from 218 general and special educators at the middle school level to describe and analyze trends in teacher attitudes and practices that may be affecting the educational experience and achievement of many students with disabilities. The results of these analyses provide information regarding the attitudes of teachers toward the ability of SWD and the fairness and validity of high-stakes testing. Significant differences were found between general and special education teachers' expectations for students with disabilities to benefit from inclusive instruction. Teacher attitude toward the ability of students with disabilities to benefit from inclusive instruction, teacher classification, and the amount of teacher training were all found to be predictors of the use of evidence-based practice. The attitude of teachers toward the ability of students with disabilities to learn and achieve higher level thinking was found to predict proficient achievement scores for students with disabilities on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) achievement test. Finally, differences were found in teacher attitudes toward the ability of students with disabilities to learn and achieve higher level thinking and teacher use of evidence-based practice by content domain. [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: Teacher Attitudes, Disabilities, Surveys, General Education
(2013). "Catalyst Data": Perverse Systemic Effects of Audit and Accountability in Australian Schooling, Journal of Education Policy. This paper examines the perverse effects of the new accountability regime central to the Labor government's national reform agenda in schooling. The focus is on National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results that now act as "catalyst data" and are pivotal to school and system accountability. We offer a case study, with two embedded units of analysis, in which NAPLAN has become high stakes testing for systems. The first involves the relationships between the federal government and three States (Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland) in negotiating performance targets on NAPLAN for reward payments in respect of a national agreement to improve literacy and numeracy. We show how Victoria used 2009 data as baseline, set ambitious targets and failed to meet them, while Queensland set much less ambitious targets, met them and was rewarded. New South Wales created targets that combined literacy and numeracy scores, obfuscating the evidence, and met their targets. The second focuses specifically on Queensland and the ramifications of the poor performance of the State on the 2008 NAPLAN. This resulted in a review commissioned by the Premier, a Report on how to improve performance, and the introduction of Teaching and Learning Audits and State-wide targets for improvement on NAPLAN. This unit of analysis focuses on the perverse effects of this highly politicized agenda. This paper shows how States seek to protect their "reputational capital" and as such, "game" the system. The data for the analysis draw upon interviews with relevant senior policy-makers and on analysis of relevant documents and media coverage. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Credibility, Accountability, Audits (Verification)