This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Carla C. Dearman, Sophie C. Degener, Douglas Wurst, Janet Graetz, William L. Stein, Richard Meyer, Sharon Walpole, Filip Lievens, Carolyn O'Mahony, and John E. Dalton.
(2005). Art Supports Reading Comprehension, School Arts: The Art Education Magazine for Teachers. State-mandated, high-stakes testing is the primary means by which schools are judged. Whether this is a fair and accurate way of judging the performance of schools may remain in debate for a long time. Some school districts have gone so far as reducing or eliminating "special" classes–in particular art and music. Art teachers can help prepare their students for these tests and do this in a way that doesn't water down their art curriculum. In other words, they teach their art curriculum as they infuse content and skill from the tested subject. The art problems presented in this article are designed to support the learning of several reading-comprehension strategies. Descriptors: Teacher Role, Reading Comprehension, High Stakes Tests, Art Teachers
(2005). Assessment: How Well Does Assessment Inform Our Reading Instruction?, Reading Teacher. Today, the word "assessment" is apt to conjure up unpleasant thoughts of the often acrimonious controversy involving high-stakes testing. As important as that debate may be, the authors of this article argue that there is an issue of far greater consequence facing reading educators. To what extent is the instruction they provide informed by the results of assessments? In this column, they will contrast what they believe has long been the norm for assessments with a promising trend spurred by recent U.S. federal initiatives such as Reading First. The authors contend that there is great potential for "peaceful coexistence" between policymakers and teachers when assessments are chosen and used to plan effective instruction. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Student Evaluation, Reading Instruction, Teaching Methods
(2005). "Judgement Day Is Coming!": Young People and the Examination Process in Scotland, Improving Schools. There is mounting evidence to suggest that the examination process is assuming greater importance in young people's lives. Economic change has intensified demand for academic qualifications. An emphasis on viewing young people in terms of outcomes related to future identity and their success or failure within this context involves substantial pressure on pupil self esteem as a result of performance in high-stakes testing. Yet little is known about young people's views about the examination process and what success or failure means from the perspective of pupils. This article draws on findings from a study focusing on the significance of exam taking from the perspective of pupils, parents and teachers living in Scotland. Drawing on interviews with pupils, teachers and a survey of parents in two Scottish high schools, we begin to explore the exam process and its impact upon the lives of young people, their families and school communities. [More] Descriptors: Self Esteem, High Stakes Tests, Young Adults, Economic Change
(2005). Organizational Health and Student Achievement in Tennessee Middle Level Schools, NASSP Bulletin. Although the successful middle level school was designed to address both the affective and cognitive development of young adolescents (NMSA 2003), academic achievement is the outcome of paramount importance in the current political context of accountability, high-stakes testing, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In their efforts to reform, many middle level schools have implemented programmatic components like the teaming of teachers, advisory periods, and exploratory curricula. Few have truly explored the relationship between these structural changes and a school's organizational health. This mixed-methods study focuses on three dimensions of organizational health (teacher affiliation, resource support, and academic emphasis) and their relationship to academic performance. Findings indicate a positive relationship between a school's academic emphasis and students' academic performance. In an effort to more fully explore this finding, qualitative data are presented. [More] Descriptors: Cognitive Development, Early Adolescents, Academic Achievement, Accountability
(2002). The Effects of High-Stakes Testing on Elementary School Art, Music, and Physical Education, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Investigated the impact of high stakes testing on Virginia's elementary school art, music, and physical education (AMPE). Principal surveys indicated wide variation in the time allocated for AMPE taught by specialists, and few schools changed the amount of time allocated from the previous year. Overall, time allocated to AMPE did not seem to relate to success or failure on the Virginia Standards of Learning tests. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Academic Standards, Art Education, Elementary Education
(2005). Planning for Social Studies Learning Throughout the Day, Week and Year, Social Studies and the Young Learner. Social studies is about preparing our children to be active participants in the social, economic and political worlds of adults in the future. It is also about making children aware that they can influence the choices that people around them make and that their current decisions have consequences too. Their responsiveness to issues that are important to them can make their worlds better now and in the future. With the addition of enforced test preparation and oversight, students now have fewer opportunities to spend "quality time" with their teacher, exploring connections between ideas and building networks of knowledge about their world. Teachers are feeling pressured to narrow or even eliminate social studies in their classroom. In this article, the author focuses on lesson planning because it allows teachers to make the best use of their time with students, especially under today's pressures of "high-stakes" testing. [More] Descriptors: Lesson Plans, Social Studies, Critical Thinking, Classroom Techniques
(2005). Stereotype Threat in African-American High School Students: An Initial Investigation, Current Issues in Education. "Stereotype threat" refers to the risk associated with confirming a negative stereotype based on group membership. We examined this effect in a sample of African-American high school students. Stereotype threat was manipulated by presenting a visual spatial reasoning test as (a) diagnostic of mathematical ability or (b) a culture and gender fair test of mathematical reasoning. Support was found for the general effect, and while tests of the effect of the manipulation on anxiety and perceptions of ability and expectancies for success were statistically inconclusive, the data trended in the predicted direction. Implications related to the high-stakes testing of African-American students are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Group Membership, Stereotypes, High Stakes Tests, High School Students
(2005). Extended Learning Time and Student Accountability: Assessing Outcomes and Options for Elementary and Middle Grades, Educational Administration Quarterly. This article considers the relative impacts of student accountability policies and extended learning programs on the achievement gains of elementary and middle grade students. It shares qualitative and quantitative analyses of an extended learning time initiative implemented in conjunction with a high-stakes testing and retention policy. The influences of the extended learning initiative on students, teachers, and school organizations are described, and the achievement effects associated with the initiative are compared to those associated with the retention policy. Findings are interpreted in light of demands made by the No Child Left Behind Act and the concerns of policy makers and administrators as to how best to employ incentives, sanctions, and/or supplemental supports to promote student and school achievement. In closing, researchers are invited to pursue work that uncovers the specific effects of these strategies among particular students and learning contexts. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, School Holding Power, Achievement Gains, Sanctions
(2005). Formative Assessment. In today's climate of high-stakes testing and accountability, educators are challenged to continuously monitor student progress to ensure achievement. This article details how formative assessment helps educators meet this challenge and to ensure achievement. Formative assessment can influence learning and support achievement, allowing teachers and students to chart a flexible course for learning. District-wide, standards-aligned formative assessment allows educators to benchmark student proficiency at the beginning of the year and then track performance during the year through interval testing. The first and most essential steps in creating a formative assessment program are goal setting and design. There are three unique ways to design a formative assessment program: (1) Scope and Sequence[TM] Formative Assessment Design; (2) Uniform[TM] Formative Assessment Design; (3) Hybrid[TM] Formative Assessment Design. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Formative Evaluation, Student Evaluation, High Stakes Tests
(2005). The Best Defense is a Good Offense. Keep the Focus on Knowledge Generation and Communication, Learning & Leading with Technology. Helping students become information seekers, synthesizers, analyzers, evaluators, innovative thinkers, problem solvers, decision makers, producers of knowledge, communicators, and collaborators is one way to create an environment that minimizes cheating, plagiarism, and copyright violations. In such an environment, you may also be able to take advantage of the tools digital natives regularly use, such as instant messaging, chat, and cell phones. As much as possible, eliminate testing of basic facts and skills and focus on helping students find and use the right tool or information source for the task at hand. You may not be able to eliminate high stakes testing, but if the school environment is focused on teaching for understanding, students should do well on any kind of test. [More] [More] Descriptors: Access to Information, Copyrights, Problem Solving, Internet
(2005). Situational Judgment Tests and Their Predictiveness of College Students' Success: The Influence of Faking, Educational and Psychological Measurement. There is increasing interest in using situational judgment tests (SJTs) to supplement traditional student admission procedures. An important unexplored issue is whether students can intentionally distort or fake their responses on SJTs. This study examined the fakability of an SJT of college students' performance. Two hundred ninety-three psychology students completed a cognitive test, a personality measure, and an SJT. Only for the SJT, the students were assigned to either an honest or a fake condition. The scores of students in the fake condition were significantly higher than those of students in the honest condition (d = .89). Furthermore, faking had a negative effect on the criterion-related validity (there was a significant drop from r = .33 to r = .09) and the incremental validity of the SJT over cognitive ability and personality. These results are discussed in terms of the use of SJTs in high-stakes testing programs. [More] Descriptors: Predictor Variables, Psychometrics, Scores, Personality Measures
(2005). The Changing Face of Education: Teachers Cope with Challenges through Collaboration and Reflective Study, Reading Teacher. In these times of legislative mandates for accountability and high-stakes testing, meeting the needs of diverse learners has never been more urgent. If change is to occur in classrooms across the United States, the change forces will be the administrators and teachers in each school. Educators must now choose a plan of action to address student diversity, and change the way schools conduct business. This article presents a three-pronged outline for coping with the changing face of education: (1) educators and the process of change; (2) educators finding the time to study together; and (3) educators reflectively reviewing student work in study teams and adjusting research-based instructional practices to improve both teaching and learning. [More] Descriptors: Stress Management, Coping, Reflective Teaching, Teacher Collaboration
(2005). Case Studies in Co-Teaching in the Content Areas: Successes, Failures, and Challenges, Intervention in School and Clinic. This article presents recent findings from several long-term qualitative investigations of co-teaching in science and social studies content-area classes, in which collaborating teachers and students with and without disabilities were observed and interviewed regarding effective practices and challenges associated with inclusion. In some sites, collaborating teachers were provided with research-based effective strategies and materials for including students with disabilities in specific activities. Results were equivocal in that in some cases, collaboration was extremely effective and conducive for promoting success for students with disabilities in inclusive classes. In others, challenges remained that presented barriers for successful collaboration and inclusion for students with disabilities. Important mediating variables were identified as academic content knowledge, high-stakes testing, and co-teacher compatibility. Findings are discussed with respect to both successes and remaining challenges. [More] Descriptors: Investigations, Disabilities, Cooperation, High Stakes Tests
(2005). Taking a Stand: Strategies for Activism, Young Children. Many early childhood educators feel they must implement programs that conflict with their understanding of best practice. Some teachers are saddened and some even decide to leave schools in which administrators are not open to dialogue, challenge, and reflection. But there is hope in taking action. This article is about action and activism because it is time for teachers and supporters of public education to respond when imposed curriculum and high-stakes testing (when a test score alone is used to make an important education decision about a child, like being promoted to the next grade) do not reflect what educators know about development, learning, and teaching. The author advocates activists to act in partnership with others and discusses ways to do so. [More] Descriptors: Activism, Advocacy, Public Education, Early Childhood Education
(2005). Alignment, High Stakes, and the Inflation of Test Scores. CSE Report 655, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST). There are many reasons to align tests with curricular standards, but this alignment is not sufficient to protect against score inflation. This report explains the relationship between alignment and score inflation by clarifying what is meant by inappropriate test preparation. It provides a concrete, hypothetical example that illustrates a process by which scores become inflated and follows this with more complete discussion of the mechanisms of score inflation and their link to teachers' responses to high-stakes testing. Policymakers embarking on an effort to create a more effective system less prone to the drawbacks of simple test-based accountability cannot rely solely on alignment and should consider several additional steps: redesigning external tests in other ways to minimize inflation, setting attainable performance targets, relying on multiple measures, and reestablishing a role for professional judgment. Developing more effective alternatives will take us beyond what is well established and will require innovation, experimentation, and rigorous evaluation. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Attitudes, High Stakes Tests, Accountability, Scores