This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Kenneth H. Brinson, Stephanie Van Hover, Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, David C. Berliner, Gene V. Glass, Margaret Spellings, Lawrence Baines, William Irwin, Jennifer Jellison Holme, and David Hicks.
(2011). Participatory Formative Assessment in an Environment of High-Stakes Testing: An Autoethnography, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this study was to describe my experiences as a campus principal in facilitating the use of participatory formative assessment (PFA) in an environment of accountability and high-stakes testing. The methodology I employed was autoethnography (Chang, 2008; Ellis, 2004; Reed-Danahay, 1997; Stinson, 2009). I kept journals over a period of two years and recorded my perceptions as I journeyed on the path of PFA implementation. My journal entries are shared throughout this report as a way to keep my story more authentic and personalized. I also added some of my original artwork and biographical artifacts to further place myself at the center of this study. My research also included conversations with students and teachers as well as samples of PFA adapted or developed by teachers. The findings show that given enough time and support, teachers were able to use and adapt PFA strategies and tools to involve students in their learning. Through these adaptations, other strategies and tools emerged, including reflection and journaling, progress monitoring, rubrics, small group instruction, and student feedback. Also, PFA benefited students in their learning; they were able to articulate the PFA processes, and they learned more about the content and themselves. Many students also gained confidence in their abilities. On the other hand, as the statewide achievement tests approached, teachers put reflection tools and strategies on hold in order to cover the remaining curriculum and practice skills and objectives that might appear on the test. The pressure felt by teachers prior to the upcoming tests was unwittingly passed on to the students. The students stated that their teachers were stressed, rushing through curriculum, spending time with "drill and kill" worksheets. Teachers seemed to recognize that PFA enhanced student achievement. However, it was important for me as principal to allow time for planning, discussion, and sharing to implement effectively. Also, I needed to listen to teachers' concerns that PFA was one more thing added to their plates. I realized that any new initiative would be stressful for the teachers, but I also knew that we needed to continue the discussion and sharing, and celebrate the little accomplishments, or the teachers would cease to use the reflection folders. I am acutely aware of how hard our teachers work, and the crushing pressure of high-stakes testing and accountability. Teachers want to ensure that students learn, but our system forces teachers to move through content on a more superficial level and at a rapid pace. As a result, teachers often feel they must abandon successful instructional and assessment strategies because they already feel that they are moving too slowly. They fear that if too much time is taken on frequent formative assessments, they will not be able to finish teaching the skills they are required to teach. PFA can be supported by encouraging those who are successful to share strategies and tools with others and to arrange classroom visits or panel discussions so teachers can see that there are people who are successfully using PFA. This report also includes suggestions for principals interested in implementing PFA on their campuses, as well as recommendations for future research. [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: High Stakes Tests, Accountability, Program Effectiveness, Achievement Tests
(2007). Learning from the World: Achieving More by Doing Less, Phi Delta Kappan. At this moment, in school districts throughout the United States, initiatives are being launched to extend the school day, increase homework, integrate technology, and require more high-stakes testing. The assumption underlying these initiatives is that more and more–more time in school, more homework, more technology, and more high-stakes testing–will produce smarter, better-prepared students who, in turn, will help guide the nation through the tumultuous and uncertain 21st century. To realize the ideal of an educated, productive citizenry, however, many countries around the world are employing radically different approaches. Instead of executing a strategy of more and more, some countries have decided to educate their young people by doing less. In this article, the author discusses four areas where the policy and practice in high-achieving countries run counter to current practice and policy in the U.S., namely: (1) time spent at school; (2) homework; (3) technology; and (4) schools as agents of social change. Instead of spending much efforts at reform, the author argues that perhaps it is time for the U.S. to learn from the world, to stop thinking in terms of more and more, and consider what might be achieved by doing less. [More] Descriptors: Homework, Educational Change, Extended School Year, Comparative Education
(2014). A Quantitative Comparative Analysis of Ninth Grade Academies and Graduation Rates in Texas High Schools, ProQuest LLC. Students face many challenges in the transition to high school. From pressures of high-stakes testing for graduation to transitioning to the high school environment, many diversions can delay or even stop a student's path to graduation. Ninth-grade students are at a pivotal point in their educational careers, and a successful transition to high school can increase their chances of reaching graduation. Placement of a ninth-grade student in a traditional high school setting or that of a singular grade facility provides different avenues for success. Regardless of the specific grade configuration of a school, these students need support to make the journey to graduation a success. Researching the effectiveness of different grade configurations (e.g., 4-year high school vs. a single grade facility for ninth graders) could provide information on which configuration leads to improved graduation rates. This study analyzed different grade configurations to address the specific needs of transitioning students and determine the effects of type of high school on graduation rates. The analyses of the two grade configuration included 30 traditional 4-year public high schools and 30 separate public ninth-grade facilities. Findings may assist educational decision makers to develop support systems for ninth-grade students. The purpose of the study was to determine whether a relationship exists between grade configuration for ninth-grade students and their success in graduating from high school. Thus, this study sought to determine which grade configuration is most effective in contributing to students successfully graduating from high school. This comparative research study evaluated statistical differences between the graduation and dropout rates of students in traditional 4-year public high schools and that of students in public ninth-grade academies in Texas. Using a correlational research design enabled the researcher to determine relationships among the variables. This study provided an analysis of whether a statistically significant relationship exists between the two high school grade configurations and the successful completion of high school graduation. [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: Grade 9, High School Students, Student Needs, Graduation Rate
(2010). Cheating in the First, Second, and Third Degree: Educators' Responses to High-Stakes Testing, Education Policy Analysis Archives. Educators are under tremendous pressure to ensure that their students perform well on tests. Unfortunately, this pressure has caused some educators to cheat. The purpose of this study was to investigate the types of, and degrees to which, a sample of teachers in Arizona were aware of, or had themselves engaged in test-related cheating practices as a function of the high-stakes testing policies of No Child Left Behind. A near census sample of teachers was surveyed, with valid responses obtained from about 5 percent, totaling just over 3,000 teachers. In addition, one small convenience sample of teachers was interviewed, and another participated in a focus group. Data revealed that cheating occurs and that educators can be quite clever when doing so. But how one defines cheating makes it difficult to quantify the frequency with which educators engage in such practices. Our analysis thus required us to think about a taxonomy of cheating based on the definitions of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree offenses in the field of law. These categories were analyzed to help educators better define, and be more aware of others' and their own cheating practices, in an attempt to inform local testing policies and procedures. [More] Descriptors: Cheating, Federal Legislation, Focus Groups, Testing
(2006). Keeping Scores: Audited Self-Monitoring of High-Stakes Testing Environments, Journal of School Public Relations. To address a public relations problem faced by a large urban public school district in Texas, we conducted action research that resulted in an audited self-monitoring system for high-stakes testing environments. The system monitors violations of testing protocols while identifying and disseminating best practices to improve the education of students in the district. The system provides the district with a systematic and empirically based means of answering media and other public allegation of wrongdoing. We employ a series of concept models to describe the process of developing the monitoring system. We also discuss implications for social justice. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Testing, Cheating, Best Practices
(2005). High Stakes: Testing Irregularity, Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. With the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a stronger emphasis has been placed on state testing and accountability at the state and local levels. The news media continues to report testing irregularities as professional and community pressures are levied on educators to increase test scores. Test scores have been tied to community affluence, real estate values, encouraging job growth, and state and federal monies. The purpose of this case study is to foster discussion concerning testing regulations and procedures. A beginning second year teacher trying to make extra money opts to teach summer school. The state mandated standardized End-of-Grade test was administered for the third time at the end of the summer school session for all students in attendance. The young teacher finds a used red test book after the testing sessions are over and keeps it. In the subsequent school year, he tutors students with the test booklet he found at the summer school site and uses the questions as warm-ups for the entire class. It is not his intention to circumvent testing procedures and policies. [More] Descriptors: Summer Schools, Federal Legislation, Testing, Ethics
(2014). Examining High-Stakes Testing–Forum. "Education Next" Talks with Joshua P. Starr and Margaret Spellings, Education Next. More than 40 states plan to assess student performance with new tests tied to the Common Core State Standards. In summer 2013, results from Common Core-aligned tests in New York showed a steep decline in outcomes. Common Core advocates hailed the scores as an honest accounting of school and student performance, while others worried that they reflected problems with the tests, inadequate support for educators, or a lack of alignment between what schools are teaching and what's being tested. In this forum, Joshua Starr, superintendent of schools in high-performing Montgomery County, Maryland, makes the case for a three-year hiatus from high-stakes accountability testing while new standards and tests are implemented ("A Testing Moratorium Is Necessary"). Accountability proponent Margaret Spellings, U.S. secretary of education from 2005 to 2009 and now president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, defends the testing regime as a critical source of information, for educators as well as the public, and argues for holding the line ("Assessments Are Vital for Healthy Schools"). [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, State Standards, Academic Standards, Scores
(2012). High-Stakes Decisions: The Legal Landscape of High School Exit Exams and the Implications for Schools and Leaders, Journal of School Leadership. High school exit exam requirements are affecting a growing number of U.S. students–particularly low-income students and students of color. This article examines the policy and legal landscape of exit testing policy to shed light on some of the key issues facing local school leaders charged with implementing these policies. The article first analyzes federal and state court cases related to exit testing and examines the conditions under which courts have permitted and bounded their use. It then discuses the broader legal and legislative environment that has affected leaders' ability to respond to exit testing requirements. The article concludes with implications of high-stakes exit testing and policy considerations for local leaders as well as state policymakers. [More] Descriptors: Exit Examinations, Testing, Low Income Groups, Court Litigation
(2007). Beginning Teachers Thinking Historically? Negotiating the Context of Virginia's High-Stakes Tests, International Journal of Social Education. In this article, the authors explore the effects of Virginia's high stakes history tests on beginning teachers' "notions of historical thinking," and briefly consider the literature on historical thinking, high-stakes testing, and beginning teachers. Data sources for this study included interviews, observations, and classroom documents of seven beginning high school history teachers who work in the high-stakes testing environment of Virginia. The interviews and observations revealed that when thinking about, talking about, and implementing instruction, the teachers appeared concerned with implementing a variety of instructional approaches in order to engage their students and to fill a block period. Explicit discussions of or references to historical thinking did not appear in their responses, but references to "critical thinking" did. When asked to describe resources used in the class, teachers did refer to historical sources, but most often as a means to interest or engage their students, to add another element of variety to instruction, or to teach "critical thinking" skills. Implications of these findings are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Testing, High Stakes Tests, Critical Thinking, Beginning Teachers
(2010). High-Stakes Testing, High School Graduation, and Limited English Proficient Students: A Case Study, American Secondary Education. The educational accountability systems of both the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and the state of Florida (as of 1999) were modeled after Texas' system, despite its flaws. NCLB reaches for all students to achieve academic proficiency and designates students with limited English proficiency (LEP) as an important subgroup. As we work with NCLB, the situation in Florida can be illustrative for other states. This case study examines circumstances for LEP students in Florida's system to inform educators and policymakers nationwide. More specifically, the purpose of this case study was to examine (a) Florida's high-stakes testing requirements for LEP students; (b) trends in reported LEP students' grade 10 test scores; (c) options for LEP students who do not pass the high-stakes test; and (d) Florida's drop-out rate, especially for LEP students. Investigations revealed that the Florida Department of Education: (a) Follows the U.S. Department of Education's (USDOE) directive in reporting the scores of LEP students for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for NCLB, which can inflate aggregated test scores of LEP students, thereby also inflating aggregated scores of standard curriculum students; (b) Maintains state policies that encourage LEP students to drop out of high school; and (c) Allows policies that can results in a deflation of the reported drop-out rate. The importance of results for other states and educational agencies is discussed. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Graduation, High School Students, Limited English Speaking
(2010). Grade Retention: Elementary Teacher Perceptions for Students with and without Disabilities, ProQuest LLC. In this era of education accountability, teachers are looking closely at grade level requirements and assessment of student performance. Grade retention is being considered for both students with and without disabilities if they are not meeting end of the year achievement benchmarks. Although research has shown that retention is not the best alternative for struggling students, many teachers recommend retention because there are not any other viable alternatives (Lincove & Painter, 2006). The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher attitudes toward grade retention and if teacher practices differ when recommending retention of students with or without disabilities. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) Are there differences in elementary teacher decision making process regarding retention for students with and without disabilities?; (2) What factors influence elementary teachers' decision making process about retaining students with or without disabilities?; and (3) How does student performance on state testing affect elementary teachers' decision making process about retaining students with or without disabilities? This mixed methods study utilized a paper and pencil questionnaire using a Likert scale, as well as two open ended questions and a checklist. A total of N = 9 teacher interviews were also conducted. The quantitative data compiled from the questionnaire for N = 74 teachers were analyzed by using a paired t-test and descriptive statistics. The qualitative data were gathered from the interview responses and open ended questions to compile themes. The findings of this study indicate that teachers are considering a multitude of factors when considering grade retention for their struggling students. Academic performance was the factor that teachers (77%) indicated the most frequently when considering retention for both students with and without disabilities. Although teachers felt pressure and accountability from high stakes testing, they felt test results should be one of many factors considered in the retention decision. After a review of the findings in this study it is recommended that district administrators continue to consider various interventions for struggling students and provide professional development for teachers on how to implement them. Future research is recommended in the area of interventions for struggling students and supporting students with disabilities on 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 Results, Student Evaluation, Grade Repetition, Disabilities
(2010). High Stakes Testing, Bilingual Education and Language Endangerment: A Yup'ik Example, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. A growing body of research documents how educational policies and accountability systems can open or close "ideological and implementational spaces" for bilingual education, shaping the language planning efforts of Indigenous communities. Using collaborative research, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers investigated the intersection of policy, schooling, and language maintenance/shift within a school district serving 22 Yup'ik villages in Alaska. This article demonstrates how, as multiple communities are witnessing emerging signs of a language shift to English, high stakes testing practices accompanying No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation are simultaneously weakening support for bilingual programs in village schools. Yet the article also illuminates the ways in which Yup'ik educators are acting as local language planners, negotiating language maintenance/shift/revitalization, and testing regimes in contested school spaces. Authors discuss the urgent need for, and the promise within, spaces for locally directed language investigation and language planning in national contexts of educational standardization and high stakes assessments. [More] Descriptors: Language Maintenance, Language Planning, Educational Policy, Federal Legislation
(2014). The Ability of Early Reading Measures Administered in First Grade to Predict Fourth Grade Reading Comprehension for Puerto Rican Students in English Immersion, ProQuest LLC. The present study examined the relationship between children's early literacy-related abilities and their reading achievement in late elementary school in the context of a Puerto Rican community in Massachusetts. The researcher examined four years of student achievement test data from the public elementary schools of Holyoke, Massachusetts. The city's particular sociologic history makes it an interesting and fruitful case for investigating issues around language, culture, and test performance that, while uniquely expressed in Holyoke, share aspects in common with many locales across the United States. The researcher sought to determine the extent to which literacy assessments administered to Hispanic children in Holyoke under Reading First grants and NCLB's high-stakes testing requirements measured the constructs they intended to measure, the value of the testing in terms of its ability to predict the students' performances on the state language arts exam in the fourth grade, and the way that children's English language proficiency may have influenced the measures' predictive ability as well as the students' progress in acquiring age-appropriate literacy abilities. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to assess the construct validity of literacy-related subtests for this sample. Finally, structural equation modeling was utilized to identify and test a model quantifying the relationships between subjects' home language, early decoding ability, reading fluency rate and reading comprehension scores. Results suggest that although students whose home language is Spanish perform more poorly that those whose home language is English on both first and fourth grade reading tests, there was no group difference found in the degree to which the early literacy measures predicted their fourth-grade reading comprehension. A single factor comprised of a variety of first grade reading measures was able to account for 56% of the variance of the students' performance on a reading comprehension state exam in the fourth grade. [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: Puerto Ricans, Reading Tests, Grade 1, Grade 4
(2005). High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act, Education Policy Research Unit. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), standardized test scores are the indicator used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student achievement. Each state is responsible for constructing an accountability system, attaching consequences–or stakes–for student performance. The theory of action implied by this accountability program is that the pressure of high-stakes testing will increase student achievement. But this study finds that pressure created by high-stakes testing has had almost no important influence on student academic performance. To measure the impact of high-stakes testing pressure on achievement and to account for the differences in testing pressure among the states, researchers created the Pressure Rating Index (PRI). The PRI was used in two ways. Correlations between the PRI and National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) results from 1990 to 2003 in 25 states were analyzed and the PRI was used in replications of previous research. These analyses revealed that: (1) States with greater proportions of minority students implement accountability systems that exert greater pressure. This suggests that any problems associated with high-stakes testing will disproportionately affect America's minority students; (2) High-stakes testing pressure is negatively associated with the likelihood that eighth and tenth graders will move into 12th grade. Study results suggest that increases in testing pressure are related to larger numbers of students being held back or dropping out of school; (3) Increased testing pressure produced no gains in NAEP reading scores at the fourth- or eighth-grade levels; and (4) Prior increases in testing pressure were weakly linked to subsequent increases in NAEP math achievement at the fourth-grade level. This finding emerged for all ethnic subgroups, and it did not exist prior to 1996. While the authors believe a causal link exists between earlier pressure increases and later fourth-grade math achievement increases, they also point out that math in the primary grades is far more standardized across the country than the math curriculum in middle school and, therefore, drilling students and teaching to the test could have played a role in this increase. This interpretation is supported by the lack of evidence that earlier pressure increases produced later achievement increases for eighth-grade math achievement or for fourth- and eighth-grade reading achievement. The authors conclude that there is no convincing evidence that the pressure associated with high-stakes testing leads to any important benefits for students' achievement. They call for a moratorium on policies that force the public education system to rely on high-stakes testing. (Contains 39 tables, 9 figures, and 68 notes and references.) [For the appendixes to this report, see ED531537. For the executive summary, see ED531535.] [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Standardized Tests, Academic Achievement, Federal Legislation
(2014). Opportunity to Learn: The Role of Prompting Cognitive Shifts in Understanding and Addressing Educational Inequities, ProQuest LLC. This dissertation examines how district- and school-level leaders' understanding of achievement gaps influences the work of leadership in addressing educational inequities and broadening students' opportunity to learn. While the reporting of disaggregated data by student subgroup confirms that achievement gaps exist, reports from high-stakes testing fail to provide district- and school-level leaders with the diagnostic data needed to identify key factors inhibiting student performance. Yet, identifying and understanding factors hindering student performance is critical knowledge for leaders to cultivate as they work to address elements within their school or district that may need to change if student learning is to improve. Results from this single case study in a diverse urban district illuminate how district- and school-level leaders can challenge and support their community as they work collectively to confront and address issues related to disparities in student performance. Drawing on previous research, which introduced the cognitive shift as a unit of analysis for studying the work of leadership, this study identifies shifts in thinking that district- and school-level leaders attempted to prompt in others, as well as the framing strategies district- and school-level leaders used in their attempts to prompt identified shifts in thinking. The study found that district- and school-level leaders attempted to prompt a common set of cognitive shifts using a range of framing strategies. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between leaders' use of a particular of framing strategy and their level of leadership (i.e., district or school), with common patterns of strategy use unique to each level of leadership. Additionally, distinct patterns of strategy use also emerged for the leaders of the district's top performing schools which differed from the patterns of strategy use that emerged for the leaders of the district's lower performing schools. These findings suggest that certain framing strategies may be more effective than others. [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: Achievement Gap, Prompting, Equal Education, Case Studies