This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Victoria Hunt, Amy Lowman Blanton, Brian D. Schultz, Erin Elizabeth Krupa, Lourdes Arguelles, Howard D. Coleman, Celia Oyler, Frances Lawrenz, Alfie Kohn, and Ava McCall.
(2013). An Analysis of Teacher Perspectives on the Mississippi Alternate Assessment of Extended Curriculum Framework, ProQuest LLC. For more than a decade, federal legislation has been characterized by increasing standards of accountability for learning for all students. With the passage of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004, schools are now accountable for special education students, even students with severe cognitive disabilities, in every aspect of education, including increased student achievement through access to the general education curriculum. Moreover, IDEIA (2004) mandated that students with severe cognitive disabilities participate in high-stakes accountability testing through individual state-developed alternate assessment measures. This study investigated whether Mississippi's special education teachers perceived the Mississippi Alternate Assessment of Educational Curriculum Framework (MAAECF) as providing an accurate assessment of performance for students with severe cognitive disabilities. The study also examined the extent and ways that the MAAECF is used in curricular and instructional decisions for students identified as having severe cognitive disabilities in Mississippi schools. Finally, this study investigated teacher perspective of the MAAECF and the extent to which training, support, feedback, and student interaction might have impacted the accuracy, usefulness, and quality of the MAAECF. A quantitative research design was used for this study. A researcher-developed survey, the Alternate Assessment Rating Scale (AARS), was provided to participants in the six southern counties of the Mississippi gulf coast. The results from the AARS provided quantitative data that were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests to provide insight into the researcher's questions. This study revealed that Mississippi special education teachers perceive the following of the MAAECF: not providing an accurate assessment of performance for their students with severe cognitive disabilities; that they infrequently use the data from the MAAECF in making curricular and instructional decisions; the quality of training programs is believed to be of good quality; that in regard to accuracy in measuring student performance, the student interaction component made the greater difference; that regards to usefulness of the results of the MAAECF, the support component of the MAAECF made the most difference; that with regard to the quality of administering the MAAECF, feedback and support made the most difference and that overall, Mississippi special education teachers from various counties on the gulf coast perceived the use of the MAAECF as being beneficial despite not accurately depicting their student's abilities. [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: Alternative Assessment, Special Education Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Severe Disabilities
(2011). Evaluating the Impact of Professional Development and Curricular Implementation on Student Mathematics Achievement: A Mixed Methods Study, ProQuest LLC. In this era of high-stakes testing and accountability, curricula are viewed as catalysts to improve high school students' mathematics performances and a critical question is whether single subject or integrated curricula produce stronger student outcomes. This study was designed to investigate the effects of an integrated reform-based curriculum, "Core-Plus," on student learning on statewide End of Course exams (EOC-Algebra I and II) and to contextualize these outcomes in a state-funded professional development program with the elements of a summer program, follow-up workshops, and monthly site based support with instructional coaches. The study was also designed to compare and contrast major subgroups: teachers using "Core-Plus" who did or did not participate in different elements of the professional development. In addition, the study was designed to gather evidence on the variations among these groups on key implementation indices, and to use hierarchical linear modeling to investigate the role of these factors in predicting student outcomes. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to account for the nesting of students within teachers within schools to investigate the impact of integrated mathematics and subject-specific curricular materials on student achievement across students in North Carolina. The sample was then restricted to students of teachers who participated in the state-funded professional development to relate teacher characteristics to student outcomes. The sample was further restricted to teachers who participated in different components of the professional development to analyze how curricular implementation effects student achievement and to examine factors that influenced decisions teachers made when implementing "Core-Plus." Findings from this study indicate that North Carolina students enrolled in integrated mathematics outperformed subject-specific students on the Algebra I End-of-Course exam, which was highly aligned with content in "Core-Plus" textbook, and performed no differently on the Algebra II exam, which was not aligned with the "Core-Plus" materials. There were favorable findings on the use of integrated mathematics in high minority, high need schools. Consistently prior achievement, student grade level and race, and classroom attendance were related to student achievement, as well as teacher content knowledge, most notably for teachers of "Core-Plus." This study documented large variance in teachers' implementation of "Core-Plus" based upon the professional development they received and their experiences using the materials with students. Factors that related to their implementation of the curriculum and related instructional practices included their beliefs about how students best learn mathematics, their trust of the curriculum, and systemic factors including mandatory state assessments, access to materials and technology resources, scheduling, and student transition to reform mathematics. Teachers enrolled in the summer workshops more faithfully implemented content from the textbook, but instructional coaches were an important component to facilitating change in teachers' instructional practices. Results from this study demonstrate that teachers using "Core-Plus" need professional development designed to strengthen their mathematical content knowledge and reform-based instructional practices. Findings suggest encouraging results for the use of integrated mathematics with typically underserved student populations and among teachers who were provided with sustainable support following an authentic workshop experience. [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: Mathematics Achievement, Integrated Curriculum, Educational Change, Curriculum Implementation
(2006). We Make This Road as We Walk Together: Sharing Teacher Authority in a Social Action Curriculum Project, Curriculum Inquiry. This article investigates issues of teacher authority and student initiations in a classroom-based social action curriculum project. A teacher (the first author of this article) and his fifth-grade, African-American students conceptualized, designed, and carried out a seven-month-long integrated curriculum and campaign to lobby for a sorely needed new school building in their public-housing neighborhood. (A new school had been promised to the community six years earlier by the board of education.) In the current era of high-stakes testing, teachers are often forced to use prescriptive curricula and are certainly not advised to follow student interests or concerns, especially those teaching children living in poverty. The teacher in this study, however, opted for a curriculum designed to not only teach ideas of democracy, but to also practice direct democratic action. Throughout the article we study the particular instructional and pedagogical practices of the teacher. By analyzing the affordances of the curriculum in relation to democratic participation, we show how the curriculum engaged students in the practices of problem posing, problem solving, and decision making. Throughout the article we explore how authority for classroom process and knowledge were shared by teacher and students, and focus on opportunities the students had to direct the project and classroom curriculum. [More] Descriptors: Social Action, Teacher Attitudes, Student Interests, Class Activities
(2006). Supporting Exemplary Social Studies Teaching in Elementary Schools, Social Studies. Finding examples of exemplary social studies teaching in elementary schools is often challenging due to teachers' responsibilities for teaching many different subjects, their preparation as subject-matter generalists, the sixty-year prevalence of teacher-centered social studies instruction, and the institutional pressure to "cover" the curriculum while maintaining classroom control. Additionally, with the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, teachers must prepare their students for high-stakes testing in reading and mathematics, while simultaneously meeting curriculum standards in subjects other than social studies. Becoming an exemplary social studies teacher has never been more difficult. This article offers background on challenges to expert teaching in social studies and recommended practices for social studies teaching, then focuses on portraying four elementary teachers who have proved to be exemplary instructors of Wisconsin studies across disciplines such as history, geography, and economics. It also illustrates the factors that have supported the four teachers' professional growth and suggests ways to achieve exemplary teaching. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, High Stakes Tests, Elementary Schools, Social Studies
(2006). Emotional Mastery and Performance Knowledge: A Dialogue between Education and the New Sciences. The Claremont Letter. Volume 1, Issue 3, Claremont Graduate University (NJ1). It is well known among scholars and practitioners that stress and anxiety responses are genuine scientifically measurable reactions to a perceived stressor. It is also common knowledge that high levels of stress and anxiety have a multitude of negative psycho-physiological effects. These effects can contribute to the development of depression and other mental disorders. They can also severely inhibit cognitive functioning and thus academic performance. A cursory review of the research literature on test anxiety defines this form of anxiety as one resulting in negative intellectual, emotional, and physical responses to the perception of being evaluated. Higher than normal levels of test anxiety are becoming commonplace in our schools and seem directly attributable to the prevailing culture of high stakes testing and standardized education, a culture that has compounded the multiple social, demographic, and pedagogical problems that have beset our schooling system for decades. This issue of "The Claremont Letter" describes how the Claremont Graduate University addresses the challenges that face adolescent students in its schools. [More] Descriptors: Mental Disorders, Depression (Psychology), Stress Variables, Test Anxiety
(2006). Testing vs. Teaching: The Perceived Impact of Assessment Demands on Middle Grades Instructional Practices, RMLE Online: Research in Middle Level Education. As a result of the pressures of educational reform and high-stakes assessment, some schools run the risk of foregoing active, student-centered learning activities for building test-taking skills and the memorization of discrete facts (Gredler, 1999; Jackson & Davis, 2000). Coupled with the additional pressure to fulfill the expectations of "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB), educators may feel the need to abandon the tenets of the middle school philosophy for more teacher-centered instructional approaches. Since the enactment of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in 1990, schools and teachers have been accountable for the achievement of students and implementation of the state's assessment standards. Using the responses of 216 educators from 17 middle schools in Northern Kentucky, this descriptive study explores middle grade teachers' perceptions of how high-stakes testing and state accountability standards influence instructional strategies utilized in the classroom. Results indicate that though teachers acknowledge the importance of including active and student-centered strategies on a consistent basis, the state tests seem to drive the curriculum and warrant more teacher-focused instructional methods–lecture, worksheets, and whole-class discussion. In addition, recommendations are offered to improve instructional practice, enhance middle grades teacher preparation programs, and guide future research. [More] Descriptors: Educational Strategies, Federal Legislation, Educational Philosophy, High Stakes Tests
(2006). "When Students Have Power": Student Engagement, Student Voice, and the Possibilities for School Reform around "Dropping out" of School, International Journal of Leadership in Education. It is no coincidence, that disengagement from school by young adolescents has intensified at precisely the same time as there has been a hardening of educational policy regimes that have made schools less hospitable places for students and teachers. There can be little doubt from research evidence that as conditions conducive of learning in schools deteriorate through emphasis on accountability, standards, measurement, and high stakes testing, that increasing numbers of students of colour, from urban, working class, and minority backgrounds are making active choices that school is not for them. When students feel that their lives, experiences, cultures, and aspirations are ignored, trivialized, or denigrated, they develop a hostility to the institution of schooling. They feel that schooling is simply not worth the emotional and psychological investment necessary to warrant their serious involvement. This paper argues that producing the circumstances necessary to turn this situation around requires invoking a radically different kind of ethos and educational leadership–one that encourages and promotes the speaking into existence of authentic forms of student voice. [More] Descriptors: Working Class, School Restructuring, Educational Change, Educational Policy
(2006). Collaborative Evaluation Communities in Urban Schools: A Model of Evaluation Capacity Building for STEM Education, New Directions for Evaluation. Building the evaluation capacity of K-12 schools is clearly an important goal for the field of evaluation, especially in the current educational environment, which is dominated by issues of accountability and high-stakes testing. The focus on student achievement has forced schools to become more data-driven as they attempt to analyze test scores and make decisions about how students can improve scores the next year. To some extent, schools have become overwhelmed with data. State, district, and school- and classroom-level assessments have all led to more data than schools can reasonably manage. There is a need for schools to develop evaluation capacity to manage and use the multitude of data. As schools build evaluation infrastructure, administrators and teachers need support to develop evaluation knowledge and skills as well as increase their ability to conduct program evaluation. This article describes a new model of evaluation capacity building (ECB), one that advances notions of evaluation capacity building in STEM education and encourages new ways of thinking about ECB by linking concepts of organizational capacity building with the individual capacity building of K-8 teachers and graduate students. The project uses an immersion approach to develop the evaluation capacity of urban schools and of STEM graduate students. [More] Descriptors: Urban Schools, Graduate Students, Program Evaluation, Evaluation Methods
(2006). Testing Gone Amok: Leave No Teacher Candidate behind, Teacher Education Quarterly. Teacher preparation, now acknowledged for its impact on K-12 student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Darling-Hammond, Berry, & Thoreson, 2000), needs to be part of the discussions about ways to address emerging issues with testing and accountability. What then do teacher educators who work with those preparing to teach do to guide their students about their responsibilities with regard to high-stakes tests? How do they help teacher candidates learn to balance externally driven mandates with their own understanding of effective instruction? Given that the ability of teacher educators to work with the present is dependent on their knowledge and appreciation of the past, the author describes how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) evolved and how its development has impacted current common views about reading instruction. She then presents ideas and strategies to share with teacher candidates to help them work successfully with directives for accountability with high-stakes testing in reading. She uses reading as the centerpiece of her discussion because of its importance in testing and instruction and her own set of experiences in the field. [More] [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Testing, High Stakes Tests
(2013). Examining the Role of the Principal: Case Study of a High-Poverty, High-Performing Rural Elementary School, ProQuest LLC. Since the inception of high-stakes standardized testing, schools have been labeled as either succeeding or failing based on student standardized assessment performance. If students perform adequately, the building principal receives acknowledgement for being an effective instructional leader. Conversely, if students perform poorly, the principal is held responsible. In either case, the principal receives credit because he/she is the instructional leader. As the instructional leader, the principal is responsible for insuring that processes and structures implemented promote adequate performance on standardized assessments. Unfortunately, principals who lead high-poverty schools have not experienced as much success with student standardized assessment performance as their counterparts who lead low-poverty schools. However, there are high-poverty schools that have a history of high student performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the principal in a high- poverty, high-performing rural elementary school. Specifically, this research explored the principal's leadership style as perceived by the principal and the faculty/staff. Additionally, this study investigated the processes and structures the principal implemented during his leadership. A case-study methodology was used to collect data for this research. Standardized assessment information, interviews, personal observations, and public and school documents provided the data for this research. Using multiple sources of data was significant to understanding the leadership, structures, and processes at the school. Through face-to-face, semi-structured, open-ended interviews with 26 participants, the principal's leadership style was characterized as servant/transformational. In addition, the voices of the faculty and staff spoke volumes about the processes and structures the principal implemented to improve teaching and learning at the school. Specifically, the principal put structures and processes in place that fostered faculty leadership and ownership, in addition to supporting academic and social growth of the students and the faculty. The results of this study are intended to inform others of the leadership style, processes, and structures that exist in a high-poverty, high-performing rural elementary school. [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: Principals, Administrator Role, Poverty, Disadvantaged Schools
(2006). Teacher Study Groups: In Search of Teaching Freedom, New Educator. By looking at teacher collaborative structures in an urban public elementary school, this article demonstrates how, in the face of top-down school decisions under the pressures of high-stakes testing and assessment-driven curriculum, teachers can find the power and freedom for creative and effective pedagogy to flourish. We describe how teachers at PS165 created the spaces for working together and how these spaces brought new opportunities for (a) problematizing and prioritizing the issues they faced in classrooms, (b) reinventing and expanding their sense of self as individuals in the collaboration, (c) growing beyond their personal space and engaging intellectually in public forums, (d) shifting their ways of seeing teaching, and (e) ensuring sustainability of the ways of engaging in professional development through mentoring and taking ownership of the structures for collaboration. We include personal stories and/or reflections of six teachers and their experiences with study groups and theorize on the potential elements of a professional development model for other schools to build on and for the teaching profession to reflect upon. [More] Descriptors: Teaching (Occupation), Academic Freedom, High Stakes Tests, Cooperation
(2006). Maintaining High Teacher Morale, Principal. In public education's current environment of high-stakes testing and accountability, principals are constantly engaged in an effort to balance messages to their teachers to achieve ever-higher levels of student learning with appreciation for what they do. As a result, it is not surprising that staff morale is an issue in some schools. The satisfaction intrinsic in watching lightbulbs go on in students' eyes plays a major role in keeping teachers motivated. They want to work in schools where they have the time and opportunity to work with other professionals–and where they feel supported and appreciated by their principals. By nurturing an environment in which teachers and students can focus on learning–and by providing the types of organizational support teachers say they need–principals can balance their support for both high levels of student learning and high staff morale. This article discusses what principals can do to create an environment in which teachers feel productive, supported, and appreciated. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Morale, Public Education, Academic Achievement, High Achievement
(2011). Latina Teachers in Los Angeles: Navigating Race/Ethnic and Class Boundaries in Multiracial Schools, ProQuest LLC. This is the first major study of the professional lives and workplace experiences of Latina teachers who work in urban, multiracial schools. While there is a plethora of research on Latina immigrant women working in factories, the informal economy and low skill-jobs in the U.S., the work experiences of college-educated Latina professionals, with a few exceptions, have been ignored. Today, Latina women are the fastest growing (non-white) racial/ethnic group entering the teaching profession. This dissertation focuses on the experiences and perceptions of Latina teachers, most of whom are the daughters of Mexican immigrant working-class parents. The study examines Latina teachers' pathways into the profession, their interracial relations and interactions with co-teachers, staff and parents, and intra-class boundaries with parents and students in their workplaces. This study relies on two multiracial elementary schools in two school districts in Los Angeles County; one in the San Gabriel Valley and one in Compton. The research design research relies on multiple qualitative methods. This included 50 in-depth interviews with teachers, over 400 hours of fieldwork conducted in the teachers' homes and school settings, and focus groups with 28 parents. The data reveals that while Latina teachers' reasons for entering the occupation are linked to gender and racial-ethnic identities, their career choices are fundamentally driven by working class constraints in their families of origin. Once in the profession, Latina teachers develop a missionary zeal motivation to help Latino students and families, but these processes work out differently in each of the research sites, as contrasting regional racial hierarchies emerge in the schools. The comparative study design contrasts Latina teachers at Garvey Unified, a predominantly working-class Latino and Chinese community in Rosemead, with Latina teachers in Compton, a formerly African American community that is now predominantly Latino. The research shows that Latina teachers distance themselves from Blacks in Compton, while Latina teachers in Rosemead see proximity to Asian American students, and community resources provided by Asian immigrants as an opportunity for themselves and Latino students. The research also reveals that while Latino cultural practices are unwelcome in many institutional work settings, this is not the case in these multiracial schools. At these urban multiracial schools, Latina teachers serve as cultural bridges between the educational institution, a white mainstream organization, and working class Latino communities and families. This allows Latina teachers to facilitate the incorporation of Latino immigrants and the mobility patterns of Latino children. Latina teachers in both of the school sites encourage one another to actively incorporate aspects of Latino ethnic culture in their teaching and classrooms to help Latino children and parents integrate into American society. High stakes testing, however, results in racial tension among teachers and parents at the school sites, hampering their efforts. These research findings have significance for the sociological fields of race, immigration, work and occupations and education. [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: Immigrants, Schools, African American Community, Race
(2013). Motivating and Inhibiting Factors in Assistant Principals' Decisions to Pursue the Principalship, ProQuest LLC. Educational literature provides evidence that there are numerous steps school districts must consider in order to recruit and grow qualified individuals for the position of the campus principal. However, it also indicates that there are a number of factors that contribute to the decision-making process that future leaders take in order to decide to apply for the position of the principal. The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine what factors inhibit or encourage assistant principals to pursue the principalship. The researcher utilized a survey to evaluate factors that motivate or inhibit assistant principals' decision to aspire for the principalship. Although surveyed school districts have indicated that have had difficulty filling principalship at all levels (Whitaker, 2001), the number of individuals holding administrative licenses or endorsements exceeds the number of vacant positions each year. The recruitment and retention of qualified and certified administrators is one of the greatest challenges confronting school divisions in Virginia and across the nation (Paola & Moran, 2001). The pressures of high stakes standardized testing coupled with v countless leadership and management tasks have contributed to increased instability in school administration (Hargreaves, 2005; Richardson, 2009). Analysis of quantitative data identified inhibiting and motivating factors in an assistant principal's decisions to pursue the principalship. Four inhibiting factors that were identified were distance from positive impact, roles and responsibilities, external forces, and personal impact. Three motivating factors that were identified were influence on change, challenge, and influence on personal life. Participants indicated that their biggest concerns in pursuing the principalship were the impact it would have on their personal lives and the stress that comes along with the job. The ability to impact change was a factor that participants scored as one of their highest motivators for pursuing the principalship. [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: Assistant Principals, Motivation, Barriers, Principals
(2006). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. 10th Anniversary Edition, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. In this 10th anniversary edition of an Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) best seller, the author reflects on his revolutionary ideas in the context of today's emphasis on school accountability and high-stakes testing. The author relates how his innovative approach–where teachers learn to work with students, rather than do things to them–has withstood the test of time and helped educators create positive learning environments that prevent discipline problems from occurring. Using examples of real teachers dealing with common behavior problems, the author explains: (1) why classroom management approaches that rely on rewards and punishments actually prolong behavior problems; (2) how to turn misbehavior into teaching opportunities; and (3) why changing one's curriculum can solve discipline problems. Following an introduction, this book presents the following chapters: (1) The Nature of Children; (2) Blaming the Kids; (3) Bribes and Threats; (4) Punishment Lite: "Consequences"; (5) How Not to Get Control of the Classroom; (6) A Classroom of Their Choosing; (7) The Classroom as Community; and (8) Solving Problems Together. This book concludes with two appendices: (1) Ten Questions; and (2) Assertive Discipline: A Glossary. Also included are a list of references; an afterword; and information about the author. [For the 1996 edition of this book, see ED401029.] [More] Descriptors: Rewards, High Stakes Tests, Discipline, Discipline Problems