This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Jo-Ida Hansen, Lisa A. Dieker, Lori Czop Assaf, Jay P. Greene, Rosemary E. Sutton, Ronald W. Solorzano, Aaron Michael Woody, Karen Walker, Connelly, and Marlow Ediger.
(2004). Teachers' Assessment Practices in a High-Stakes Testing Environment, Teacher Education and Practice. This study investigated teachers' assessment practices in a high-stakes testing environment. Questionnaires were administered to 168 practicing teachers earning a master's degree in education. In-depth interviews were conducted with five of these teachers. The results showed that teachers reported using more traditional, close-ended assessments and felt best prepared to administer these assessments when compared to alternative methods. The results further indicated that these types of items required the lowest levels of cognitive processing. The state test was described as having an extensive influence on teachers' assessment and instructional practices. Teachers designed their classroom assessments to mimic the high-stakes test. In terms of relationships among demographic variables and assessment practices, elementary teachers reported using alternative assessment more frequently than did high school teachers. Math teachers reported using traditional forms of assessment less frequently and felt less prepared to develop and administer traditional assessments compared to other teachers. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Graduate Study, Cognitive Processes, Evaluation Methods
(2008). High-Stakes Testing in Higher Education and Employment: Appraising the Evidence for Validity and Fairness, American Psychologist. The authors review criticisms commonly leveled against cognitively loaded tests used for employment and higher education admissions decisions, with a focus on large-scale databases and meta-analytic evidence. They conclude that (a) tests of developed abilities are generally valid for their intended uses in predicting a wide variety of aspects of short-term and long-term academic and job performance, (b) validity is not an artifact of socioeconomic status, (c) coaching is not a major determinant of test performance, (d) tests do not generally exhibit bias by underpredicting the performance of minority group members, and (e) test-taking motivational mechanisms are not major determinants of test performance in these high-stakes settings. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Higher Education, College Entrance Examinations, Occupational Tests
(2008). Professional Identity of a Reading Teacher: Responding to High-Stakes Testing Pressures, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. This case study explores the professional identity of one reading specialist, Marsha, who struggled with testing pressures at her urban elementary school in the U.S. It offers an in-depth look at how Marsha's instructional decisions and practices in a pull-out reading program aimed at helping English Language Learners (ELL) shifted when she was faced with tensions between her own professional beliefs and knowledge about effective reading instruction and district based pressures to help her students pass the "test." Unlike other studies, instead of viewing teachers as autonomous agents who make simplistic instructional decisions in response to testing pressures, this article illuminates the complexities and contextual tensions some reading teachers must navigate in an era of high stakes accountability. Ethnographic and grounded theory methodologies were used for this study. Findings suggest that Marsha struggled over her commitment to help her students pass the test and at the same time grappled with how to stay true to her own professional identity. This tension pushed Marsha to change her literacy practices gleaned from years of experience for a test focused literacy curriculum. Implications from this study suggest that testing pressures not only affect teachers' instruction and responsiveness to students' learning needs but can compromise a teacher's professional identity and can influence teachers' responsibility and ethical sense of what they should do for their students and who they need to be as teachers. [More] Descriptors: Grounded Theory, Second Language Learning, Reading Instruction, Reading Teachers
(2002). Effects of Funding Incentives on Special Education Enrollment. Civic Report. This study examined the effects on special education enrollment of state funding systems and high stakes testing. The study evaluated special and general education enrollment for each of the school years 1991-92 through 2000-01. Data were also collected on high stakes testing in each state and on funding systems, including the common bounty system under which schools receive state funding based on the size of their special education funding, thus rewarding schools for placing students in special education unnecessarily. The study found that state funding systems have a dramatic effect on special education enrollment rate. It estimates that, in states with the traditional bounty system, over the last decade the rate of special education enrollment grew 1.24 percentage points more than it would have if these states had lump-sum funding systems. The traditional bounty system accounts for 62% of these states total increase in special education funding and approximately 390,000 extra students placed in special education. In contrast, high stakes testing appeared to have no significant effect on special education enrollment. Suggestions for addressing this problem include federal funding of private school scholarships for students with disabilities, portability of federal funding by parents of such students, and giving higher financial priority to disabilities with objective diagnostic standards. (Contains 19 references.) [More] Descriptors: Categorical Aid, Disabilities, Disability Identification, Elementary Secondary Education
(2003). Co-Teaching at the Secondary Level: Unique Issues, Current Trends, and Suggestions for Success, High School Journal. This paper provides readers with an overview of the unique issues present in secondary classrooms and their impact on the practice of collaborative teaching between general and special educators. The authors focus on the changes that are occurring in secondary classrooms related to varied structures (such as block scheduling), higher standards, high stakes testing, a more diverse society, and how co-teaching can better address these issues. Readers are provided with practical strategies to enhance the effectiveness of teachers working together as well as tips to avoid the potential pitfalls when teaming at the secondary level. [More] Descriptors: Block Scheduling, Teacher Collaboration, Special Education Teachers, Team Teaching
(2006). Using Assessment Information to Inform Teaching and Learning, Education 3-13. The ways in which teachers and head teachers integrate external summative testing and formative assessment practices were explored by means of a questionnaire survey and a small number of case studies. A clear distinction was found between end of key stage tests and optional tests in the extent to which they could be used directly to support teaching and learning. Within the current context of high-stakes external testing, it was found that, although qualitative information from formal tests was proving useful at school and class level, potential benefits for individual pupils were not being fully realised. [More] Descriptors: Formative Evaluation, Testing, Case Studies, Questionnaires
(1999). High-Stakes Assessments in Reading: A Position Statement of the International Reading Association. Discusses what the term "High-Stakes Testing" means; concerns about high-stakes testing; whether testing is an important part of good educational design; why using tests for high-stakes decisions causes problems; whether test scores improve when high-stakes assessment is mandated; and ways to help states monitor student success in the curriculum. Offers recommendations for teachers, researchers, parents, and policy makers. Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Politics of Education, Reading Improvement
(2004). Teaching under High-Stakes Testing: Dilemmas and Decisions of a Teacher Educator, Journal of Teacher Education. In this article, the author reports on the curricular changes and testing focus that have occurred in her teaching since PRAXIS II: Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) tests were mandated in Ohio, where she teaches at an urban, open admissions, commuter university. Classroom dilemmas are analyzed as they relate to changes in assessments, curriculum content, and instructional strategies when teaching educational psychology to preservice teachers. The benefits and costs of the increased importance of educational psychology in the teacher education program and the advantages and disadvantages of trying to ensure that the students do well on someone else's examination are also discussed. The author's experiences are compared with published reports on teachers' reactions to high-stakes testing, and the author considers how the context in which she teaches and her personal teaching biography influenced her decisions. [More] Descriptors: Educational Strategies, Testing, Teacher Education Programs, Preservice Teachers
(2003). Technology, Collaboration, and Better Practice: The Future of Assessment in Education and Counseling. The purpose of this chapter is to capture what the future holds for assessment in education and counseling. The author reviews the impact of technology, high-stakes testing, and testing accommodations. Concludes that since the use of tests and assessment in educational institutions will continue to expand, enhanced training in the use of tests and assessments for educators, and the development of standards and guidelines, need to go hand in hand with the expanded use to promote ethical and responsible test use. (Contains 13 references.) [More] Descriptors: Counseling, Educational Assessment, Educational Testing, Futures (of Society)
(2010). Optimal Testing Environment. Research Brief, Principals' Partnership. Even though it often feels like standardized testing is a relatively recent phenomena, it has been around at least since the 1800s, when in China, those that wanted a government job were required to take a test on their expertise of Confucian philosophy and poetry. During the Industrial Revolution, standardized tests were a quick way to test large numbers of people. During WWI, Army servicemen were given aptitude tests to determine where their talents could be best utilized. In the 1930s, the SAT was designed and in the 1950s, its cousin, the ACT, was launched (Fletcher, 2009). In 2001, with the passage of "No Child Left Behind," high stakes standardized testing in schools became a regular part of the educational landscape. This approach reflects the world outside of school where people are required to take standardized tests for things like driver's and professional licenses, job skills and promotions. Regardless of whether or not one agrees with mandated testing, it is a reality. Students, teachers and school districts are held accountable for the tests' results. The initial effects of standardized testing were to compare students with their peers and determine how much curriculum students had learned so that the instructional program could be improved. Today the results are often being used to make decisions about students' grade promotion and high school graduation. [More] Descriptors: Aptitude Tests, Testing, Standardized Tests, Graduation
(2000). High Stakes Testing and Student Achievement. The effects of high stakes testing may be critical in the lives of public school students and may have many consequences for schools and teachers. There are no easy answers in measuring student achievement and in holding teachers accountable for learner progress. High stakes testing also involves responsibilities on the part of the principal who must involve teachers in quality in-service education programs to offer the best in student education. Parents too have a vital part to play in the current high stakes testing movement, and they should learn what the test means and how to prepare their child. Motivation in test taking is a real problem. Student anxiety is one of the factors that must be considered. When the stakes are low, more energy might be available for test taking. Much research and development will be needed to resolve questions about high stakes tests. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Elementary Secondary Education, Faculty Development, High Stakes Tests
(2004). "Assistencialism" and the Politics of High-Stakes Testing, Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education. In this article I argue that the current high-stakes testing accountability model is an assistencialist model, derived from deficit thinking paradigms. Such models, like the No Child Left Behind Act, sanction low performance with serious consequences for students and educators. Drawing from Freire, I propose an anti-assistencialist accountability model based on local community culture and needs that would include critical, problem-posing education, dialogue as a means toward raising social consciousness, and appropriate assessments according to local community needs. I further argue that such an accountability model can be implemented through cultural immersion programs that include three levels of immersion, (1) classroom culture, (2) local community culture, and (3) trans/cultural, or transnational exposure. [More] Descriptors: High Stakes Tests, Accountability, Models, Federal Legislation
(2002). Hi Stakes Testing Polarization or Accountability. High stakes testing is associated with controversy and dialogue in this era of calls for accountability on the part of educators, and the controversy has been strengthened by the national testing plans included in the Leave No Child Behind Act (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001). A look at the literature on high stakes testing and some of the legal positions that have been taken shows that the high stakes testing movement involves reductionism, mechanism, and reversion to the basics in measuring student achievement. Well-intended attempts to assess student achievement have often led to overemphasis on minutiae or basics rather than the understanding of larger issues and more complex questions. It is possible that the United States should explore the two-ladder system of education in Europe in which students can choose a vocational education track, with the possibility of entering the college track at a later date. This would provide opportunities for gainful employment at an early age and motivate youth not ready for a college bound route. (Contains 10 references.) [More] Descriptors: Accountability, Achievement Tests, College Bound Students, Court Litigation
(2008). High Stakes Testing: Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners, Review of Educational Research. This article discusses the issues and implications of high stakes tests on English language learners (ELLs). As ELLs are being included in all high stakes assessments tied to accountability efforts (e.g., No Child Left Behind), it is crucial that issues related to the tests be critically evaluated relative to their use. In this case, academic achievement tests are analyzed relative to their norming samples and validity to determine their usefulness to ELLs. Also, commonly used language proficiency tests are examined relative to definitions of proficiency, technical quality, alignment with criteria for language classification and reclassification, and their academic predictive validity. Based on the synthesis of the literature, the author concludes that high stakes tests as currently constructed are inappropriate for ELLs, and most disturbing is their continued use for high stakes decisions that have adverse consequences. The author provides recommendations for addressing the issues related to high stakes tests and ELLs. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Predictive Validity, Second Language Learning, High Stakes Tests
(2010). Educational Leaders as Catalyst for Connecting School and Community: Uncovering Leadership Strategies for Forging School, Family, and Community Partnerships, ProQuest LLC. Understanding the development of community within schools, while critical, has always been problematic. The recent focus on high-stakes standardized testing has only exacerbated this phenomenon and further promoted the dehumanization of students in our schools. An urgent need in research today is to study what strategies are most effective in developing relationships between the school and the home. This qualitative case study examined how one "highly-impacted" elementary school is finding success in developing community relationships. This study seeks to understand the practical approaches utilized to cultivate connections between the school and its participants and constituents. The intent of the study was also to uncover how strategies are employed to overcome the obstacles that preclude such connections. The findings of the study illuminate how a school community can overcome the obstacles that get in the way of creating meaningful connections with all school constituents. This research has the potential to lend valuable insight into policies and practices educational leaders use to sustain connected learning communities, thereby enhancing the engagement and learning of all school stakeholders. [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: Educational Policy, Educational Practices, School Community Relationship, Partnerships in Education