This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Erik W. Robelen, Sue Dymoke, Paul Parkison, Asa G. Hilliard, Elaine Allensworth, Wayne E. Wright, Brian A. Jacob, Mark Goldberg, Julie A. Gorlewski, and Eve Tuck.
(2000). Excellence in Education versus High-Stakes Standardized Testing, Journal of Teacher Education. High-stakes standardized testing cannot be considered a reform tool for increasing student achievement. Teaching quality is critical in student achievement. Teachers can become powerful agents in raising students' academic achievement levels, regardless of common barriers (e.g., poverty and bilingualism). The extreme focus on high-stakes testing destroys opportunities to support valid staff development to make all teachers powerful. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Academic Standards, Accountability, Elementary Secondary Education
(2009). Achieving Quality and Equity through Inclusive Education in an Era of High-Stakes Testing, Prospects: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education. While great progress has been made by the international community to promote inclusive education for all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender or disability, many countries still continue to marginalize and exclude students in educational systems across the globe. High-stakes assessments in market-driven economies have increased exclusionary practices. Using international databases and research studies, this paper provides evidence of the poor performance of high-stakes assessment policies, particularly in the United States. The authors analyse and compare the key assumptions and consequences of a market-based system of education with those of a system that is based upon the principles of inclusive education through a school-community model and examples from Europe and Latin America. These models demonstrate that the twin goals of quality and equity can be achieved within a system that addresses educational policy and practices more broadly than market-based reforms. Conclusions call for policy-makers to respond to the discrimination and exclusion of various populations around the world by considering the impact of current educational models and the potential they have to support genuinely inclusive education for everyone. [More] Descriptors: Inclusive Schools, Foreign Countries, High Stakes Tests, Educational Policy
(2005). Losing Students to High-Stakes Testing, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review. Compared to 2004 issues concerning the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), this year's issues in play are even more complex. First, much more media attention has been paid to testing, in particular to the No Child Left Behind Act and its required Adequate Yearly Progress on state tests. Second, objections to various aspects of testing have increased dramatically, questioning everything from the tests themselves to lack of funding for federal mandates. Third, many cities and states, even parents in some cases, have found interesting, creative ways to circumvent the tests or their results. Finally, the US Department of Education compromised on some NCLB requirements and is pressured to back down even more. In this article, the author presents in detail the same questions posed of last year. The author also suggests that narrow ideology must yield to rigorous but attainable standards, multiple forms of assessment, and best practices. [More] Descriptors: Educational Policy, Federal Legislation, High Stakes Tests, Testing Programs
(2005). Voices from the Classroom: A Statewide Survey of Experienced Third-Grade English Language Learner Teachers on the Impact of Language and High-Stakes Testing Policies in Arizona, Language Policy Research Unit. This survey of third-grade teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Arizona regarding school language and accountability policies–Proposition 203 (a voter-initiative that restricts the use of bilingual education programs in Arizona schools), the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and Arizona LEARNS (the state's high-stakes testing and accountability program)–reveals that (a) these policies have mostly resulted in confusion in schools throughout the state, (b) that there is little evidence that such policies have led to improvements in the education of ELL students, and (c) that these policies may be causing more harm than good. The majority of teachers surveyed reported that Sheltered (or Structured) English Immersion (SEI)–the state's mandated method for teaching ELLs since the passing of Proposition 203–is too restrictive and that this approach, as it is being implemented in Arizona, is inadequate for meeting the language and academic needs of ELL students. Furthermore, teachers reported that English-only high-stakes testing is driving instruction for ELL students which fails to take into account students' current levels of English language proficiency and previous opportunities to learn grade-level academic content. Teachers reported that recent changes in language and accountability policies and the strong pressure to teach-to-the-test and raise ELL student scores–despite the students' lack of proficiency in the language of the test–have decreased the morale and career satisfaction of teachers, and have led to high teacher turnover in schools with large ELL student populations. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Grade 3, Elementary School Teachers
(2011). Urban Youth and School Pushout: Gateways, Get-aways, and the GED. Critical Youth Studies, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Recent efforts to reform urban high schools have been marked by the pursuit of ever-increasing accountability policies, most notably through the use of high-stakes standardized testing, mayoral control, and secondary school exit exams. "Urban Youth and School Pushout" excavates the unintended consequences of such policies on secondary school completion by focusing specifically on the use and over-use of the GED credential. Building on a tradition of critical theory and political economy of education, author Eve Tuck offers a provocative analysis of how accountability tacitly and explicitly pushes out under-performing students from the system. By drawing on participatory action research, as well as the work of indigenous scholars and theories, this theoretically and empirically rich book illustrates urban public schooling as a dialectic of humiliating ironies and dangerous dignities. Focusing on the experiences of youth who have been pushed out of their schools under the auspices of obtaining a GED, Tuck reveals new insights on how urban youth view accountability schooling, value the GED, and yearn for multiple, meaningful routes to graduation. The table of contents contains the following: (1) Introduction; (2) Accountability Policies and School Push-Out; (3) Humiliating Ironies and Dangerous Dignities; (4) Repatriating the GED; (5) Repurposing Schooling; and (6) Educational Renewal Appendix A References Index. [More] Descriptors: Urban Schools, High Schools, Urban Youth, Dropouts
(2002). High Stakes Testing and Its Impact on Rural Schools, Rural Educator. The movement to standardization and high-stakes testing has been driven by ideological and political concerns and has adversely affected teaching/learning, democratic discourse, and educational equity. Rural schools are hit harder because of geographic isolation and insufficient staff and resources. Testing used for purposes other than measuring student gains and diagnosing their needs to improve instruction must stop. (Contains 22 references.) Descriptors: Accountability, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education, Geographic Isolation
(2004). To Catch a Cheat, Education Next. This article describes the results of a three-year investigation into cheating by school personnel. The goals of this research were to measure the prevalence of cheating by teachers and administrators and to analyze the factors that predict cheating. Using data on test scores and student records from the Chicago Public Schools, the authors developed a statistical algorithm to identify classrooms where cheating was suspected. This method depends on two hallmarks of potential cheating: unexpected fluctuations in students' test scores and unusual patterns of answers for students within a classroom. The results of this study demonstrate the value of statistical analysis to school districts interested in catching cheaters or deterring future cheating. While evidence of cheating is sometimes used to impugn high-stakes testing programs, the results actually show that explicit cheating by school personnel is not likely to be a serious enough problem by itself to call into question high-stakes testing, both because the most egregious forms of cheating are relatively rare and, more important, because cheating could be virtually eliminated at a relatively low cost through the implementation of proper safeguards, such as those used by the Educational Testing Service on the SAT or GRE exams. [More] Descriptors: Testing Programs, Student Records, Statistical Analysis, School Personnel
(2005). Voices from the Classroom: A Statewide Survey of Experienced Third-Grade English Language Learner Teachers on the Impact of Language and High-Stakes Testing Policies in Arizona. Executive Summary, Education Policy Research Unit. This survey of third-grade teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Arizona regarding school language and accountability policies–Proposition 203 (a voter-initiative that restricts the use of bilingual education programs in Arizona schools), the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and Arizona LEARNS (the state's high-stakes testing and accountability program)–reveals that (a) these policies have mostly resulted in confusion in schools throughout the state, (b) that there is little evidence that such policies have led to improvements in the education of ELL students, and (c) that these policies may be causing more harm than good. The majority of teachers surveyed reported that Sheltered (or Structured) English Immersion (SEI)–the state's mandated method for teaching ELLs since the passing of Proposition 203–is too restrictive and that this approach, as it is being implemented in Arizona, is inadequate for meeting the language and academic needs of ELL students. Furthermore, teachers reported that English-only high-stakes testing is driving instruction for ELL students which fails to take into account students' current levels of English language proficiency and previous opportunities to learn grade-level academic content. Teachers reported that recent changes in language and accountability policies and the strong pressure to teach-to-the-test and raise ELL student scores–despite the students' lack of proficiency in the language of the test–have decreased the morale and career satisfaction of teachers, and have led to high teacher turnover in schools with large ELL student populations. [More] Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Grade 3, Elementary School Teachers
(2012). Opportunities or Constraints? Where Is the Space for Culturally Responsive Poetry Teaching within High-Stakes Testing Regimes at 16+ in Aotearoa New Zealand and England?, English Teaching: Practice and Critique. This paper argues that recent changes to two national high-stakes tests for English–the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) in Aoteaora New Zealand and the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in England–have shifted the assessment emphasis further away from poetry than previously and have significantly constrained the defined space for the genre within examination specifications at 16+. In investigating the impact of these assessment changes, the paper considers opportunities that sample groups of teachers and their students in two culturally diverse cities have to engage with poetry in examination level classrooms and the constraints they experience. The research aims to inform international debates about poetry's position in culturally diverse classroom contexts and the implications of this positioning for teachers' professional knowledge and poetry pedagogy, as they prepare their students for high-stakes examinations. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, High Stakes Tests, Foreign Countries, Poetry
(2012). Using Standards and High-Stakes Testing for Students: Exploiting Power with Critical Pedagogy. Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education. Volume 425, Peter Lang New York. This book overturns the typical conception of standards, empowering educators by providing concrete examples of how top-down models of assessment can be embraced and used in ways that are consistent with critical pedagogies. Although standards, as broad frameworks for setting learning targets, are not necessarily problematic, when they are operationalized as high-stakes assessments, test-based pedagogies emerge and frequently dominate the curriculum, leaving little room for critical pedagogies. In addition, critics maintain that high-stakes assessments perpetuate current class structures by maintaining skill gaps and controlling ideology, particularly beliefs in individualism, meritocracy, and what counts as knowledge. This book offers readers a deepened awareness of how educators can alleviate the effects of standardization, especially for students in poor and working-class communities. As teachers negotiate their roles in this time of increasing regulation and standardization, it is essential to maintain and model a critical stance toward curriculum and instruction. Educators know why this approach is vital: This book illustrates how to make it happen. Contents include: (1) Foreword (Wayne Au); (2) Introduction (Julie A. Gorlewski, Brad J. Porfilio, and David A. Gorlewski); (3) Academic Labor as Alienated Labor: Resisting Standardized Testing (Joshua Garrison); (4) Teachers as Professionals: Owning Instructional Means and Negotiating Curricular Ends (Ted Purinton); (5) Speaking Empowerment to Crisis: Unmasking Accountability through Critical Discourse (P. L. Thomas); (7) Teaching through the Test: Building Life Changing Academic Achievement and Critical Capacity (Victor H. Diaz); (8) Just What Is Response to Intervention and What's It Doing in a Nice Field Like Education? A Critical Race Theory Examination of Response to Intervention (Nicholas Daniel Hartlep and Antonio L. Ellis); (9) The Yoga in Schools Movement: Using Standards for Educating the Whole Child and Making Space for Teacher Self-Care (Andrea Hyde); (10) Students with Learning Disabilities Writing in an Inclusion Classroom (Patricia Jacobs and Danling Fu); (11) "Standardized" Play and Creativity for Young Children? The Climate of Increased Standardization and Accountability in Early Childhood Classrooms (Lindsey Russo); (12) Occupying the Space for Change: The Effects of Neo-liberalism in a Public School in Metro Buffalo (Shawgi Tell); (13) The Race to Somewhere: Experiential Education as an Argument for Not Teaching to the Test (Rosemary A. Millham); (14) Making Writing Matter: Creating Spaces for Students in the Research Process (Katie Greene and Peggy Albers); (15) Traditional Language Arts Viewed through a Media Lens: Helping Secondary Students Develop Critical Literacy with Media Literacy Education (Kathy Garland and Marion Mayer); (16) Teaching from the Test: Using High-Stakes Assessments to Enhance Student Learning (Julie A. Gorlewski); (17) Standardizing Effective Pedagogical Practices (David A. Gorlewski); and (18) A Counternarrative of Subversion and Resistance: Hijacking NCATE to Promote Equity and Social Justice in a College of Education (Lauren P. Hoffman and Brad J. Porfilio). [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, High Stakes Tests, Resistance (Psychology), Standardized Tests
(2009). Louisiana's Career Diploma Stirs Concern on Standards: Creation of Alternative Path Stirs Worry about Standards, Education Week. At a time when many states are ratcheting up their high school graduation requirements, critics say Louisiana's new "career diploma" appears to represent a lowering of standards and expectations for students who are not headed to a four-year college. But some state education leaders who had misgivings with the legislative effort this year to mandate the new diploma say they have been working hard to make sure that–within the constraints of the law–it holds real value for graduates. In fact, the state board of elementary and secondary education was ultimately handed considerable discretion to hash out some important details. State officials say the board is expected to complete its work on the diploma this month. Proponents of the legislation, which won unanimous backing in the state Senate and a large majority in the House, say the new diploma is intended to stem the state's dropout rate. However, some observers say the career-diploma law creates a loophole in the state's high-stakes testing program. Louisiana has long required all students to pass tests in both reading and mathematics in the 4th and 8th grades to advance to the next grade. The new law says that 8th graders who wish to pursue the career diploma and are 15 or older need a passing score in only one of those subjects. Paul G. Pastorek, the state schools chief, said that he, too, was concerned about that legislative provision, but is comfortable with how the state board has responded. [More] Descriptors: Public Schools, Testing Programs, Elementary Secondary Education, Dropout Rate
(2009). Political Economy and the NCLB Regime: Accountability, Standards, and High-Stakes Testing, Educational Forum. Focus and institutional policy under the No Child Left Behind Act [NCLB] (U.S. Department of Education 2001) has prioritized the individualistic, market-driven agenda. The NCLB regime has gained hegemony over the political space of public education, and the value and effectiveness of the educational process has become subject to the fetishism of standardized test scores. Utilizing the political economy of the sign described by Jean Baudrillard (1981), the political economy of the NCLB regime and the development of test score fetishism is presented. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Standardized Tests, High Stakes Tests, Scores
(2002). Leadership Styles and High-Stakes Testing: Principals Make a Difference, Education and Urban Society. Offers a typology of a spectrum of school leadership styles across four matched pairs of schools within the same high-stakes testing environment, examining the role leadership played over a decade in framing how schools would respond to the testing environment. Principals' philosophies about their staff and roles as leaders reflected teachers' approaches to instructional changes and schools' long-term achievement gains. Descriptors: Administrator Role, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Leadership Styles
(2009). Transformative Pedagogy: From High Stake Testing to Culturally Responsive Mathematic Applications, Online Submission. Mathematics curriculums and pedagogy do not cater to minority students. This paper will concentrate on Latina/o students with the understanding of the battle of all minorities and the poor with insensitive curriculums and un-culturalized schooling. With the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) law, schools must perform according to standards and levels of achievement for fear of heavy sanctions and humiliating criticisms from the community and media. We must move away from extreme amounts of pressure we place on teachers and students starting at the third grade level all the way to high school graduation. Instead, we must reform the current accountability and test driven curriculum fad to a curriculum, in particular mathematics, which is culturally sensitive to students of all races, ethnicities, creeds, and gender. This paper will introduce the transformation from accountability to culturally responsive mathematics pedagogy. A brief literature review will set up the basis for a curriculum reformation. Reasons for transformative math pedagogy will be followed by a framework of intervention of engineering, place of the teacher, and ethnomathematics. Further discussions in the paper will allow for topics of further research and implications. [More] Descriptors: Sanctions, Federal Legislation, Graduation, Grade 3
(2004). Ending Social Promotion: Dropout Rates in Chicago after Implementation of the Eighth-Grade Promotion Gate. Charting Reform in Chicago Series, Consortium on Chicago School Research. The potentially contradictory effects of high-stakes testing on dropout rates both through rising retention rates and improving achievement, further complicate the question of the effects of high-stakes testing-based retention on dropping out. There are no studies that have tracked students over a number of years to determine the effects of this kind of promotion gate on the likelihood that students will eventually drop out. This study fills the gap in knowledge about the consequences of the promotion gate on dropout rates by comparing dropout rates in Chicago before and after implementation of the eighth-grade gate. The report is organized around five central questions: (1) What happened to dropout rates after implementation of the eighth-grade promotion gate? (2) Did retention at the gate affect students' likelihood of dropping out? (3) Did retention at the gate lead students to drop out an earlier age than they would have without the gate? (4) Did simultaneous improvements in student achievement lead more students to stay in school? and (5) Were dropout trends different for subgroups of students: by race, gender, exclusion from testing, or age at which students encountered the promotion gate? Appended is: Statistical Models and Outcomes. [More] Descriptors: Social Promotion, Dropouts, High Stakes Tests, Dropout Rate