This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Lowell C. Rose, Jean-Claude Couture, Patricia Gandara, Andrew Porter, Arnold Adair, Alec M. Gallup, BetsAnn Smith, Adrienne Perry, Peter Veronesi, and Perry A. Zirkel.
(2000). Testing and Assessment in Science Education: Looking Past the Scoreboard, Clearing House. Discusses different views and understandings of science assessment among stakeholders (policy makers, psychometricians, school administrators, parents, teachers, and students). Looks at science testing and assessment from the 1950s to the late 1990s. Considers high stakes testing. Argues that more authentic and appropriate forms of assessment, outlined in the National Science Education Standards, should gain acceptance by teachers and the public. Descriptors: Educational Testing, Science Education, Science Instruction, Secondary Education
(2000). Coaching for a Reading Test? Yes, It Is Possible and Necessary, Reading Improvement. Considers how the topic of accountability and high-stakes testing has become more critical given the heightened visibility and importance of tests and test results. Notes that trends indicate that scrutiny of public schools and assessment will increase and that students need and deserve to have the best information available regarding effective test taking skills. Descriptors: Accountability, Curriculum Design, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests
(2010). Repeat GED[R] Tests Examinees: Who Persists and Who Passes? GED Testing Service [R]Research Studies, 2010-2, GED Testing Service. Like most high-stakes testing programs, the GED[R] testing program allows examinees who do not pass on the first attempt to retake the GED Tests. Studies and reports have described GED Tests candidates' characteristics and testing performance, but no study has targeted repeat examinees. A series of questions related to repeat examinees remains unanswered: Do repeat examinees have the same characteristics as examinees who pass the GED Tests on the first try? What are repeat examinees' retesting behaviors? What relationship do testing center policies have to a repeat examinee's decision about retesting? The goal of this study is to provide an accurate description of characteristics and testing histories of repeat GED Tests examinees and to examine relationships of individual characteristics and testing center policies with examinees' test performance. Testing and passing rates by GED Tests examinees' social and demographic characteristics are disclosed. The study employs multilevel analyses to disaggregate relationships of individual factors and testing center policies with examinees' decisions about retesting and their passing status. Overall, about half of GED Tests examinees who did not pass the GED Tests on their first attempt retested. Thirty-two percent of all first-time non-passers retested and passed. Among repeat examinees in the current study, nearly 60 percent of them eventually passed the GED Tests through persistent effort. Fifty-four percent of repeat examinees retested in Mathematics, and 49 percent retested in Language Arts, Writing. Status as a young candidate, a white candidate, having completed higher than fifth grade, having a higher first-attempt score, having a goal to enter a two-year college, or taking the Official GED Practice Tests was associated with a higher chance of retesting. At the testing center level, both requiring GED Tests completion in one day and allowing testing in one content area at a time reduced the probability of retesting. The probability of passing also increased for young, white males with English as a primary language, who had a higher first-attempt score, who completed higher than fifth grade, and who had a goal to enter a two-year college. At the testing center level, requiring a retesting fee, requiring GED Tests to be completed in one day, and allowing testing in one content area at a time were negatively associated with the chance of passing for repeat examinees. Completion of GED Tests before scoring increased a repeat examinee's probability of passing the GED Tests. The longer repeat examinees waited before retesting, the higher their chances for passing the GED Tests. Implications of these and other findings from the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered in this report. Appended are: (1) Descriptive Statistics for Candidates Who Did Not Pass on Their First Attempt, by Retesting Status: 2006; (2) Distribution of GED Tests Candidates Who Did Not Pass on the First Attempt, by Reasons for Testing and Retest Status: 2006; (3) Descriptive Statistics for Repeat Examinees, by Passing Status: 2006; (4) Fully Conditional HGLM Results for the Likelihood of Retesting (Population Average Model): 2006; and (5) Fully Conditional HGLM Results for Likelihood of Passing the GED Tests (Population Average Model): 2006. [More] Descriptors: High School Equivalency Programs, Equivalency Tests, Failure, Repetition
(2000). Teachers' Work in the Global Culture of Performance, Alberta Journal of Educational Research. The "new ruthless economy of globalization" has spawned a culture of performance in education characterized by increased demand for accountability through high stakes testing, and decreased funding. Effects include loss of teacher autonomy, focus on teaching to the test, proliferation of commercial cramming schools, increased external control over educational systems, and reduced emphasis on critical thinking. (Contains 59 references.) Descriptors: Academic Standards, Educational Assessment, Educational Policy, Educational Practices
(2000). Doing High-Stakes Assessment Right, School Administrator. High-stakes testing's goals are to improve student learning of worthwhile academic content and narrow achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged populations. Students are supposed to work harder and teachers are supposed to work more efficiently and effectively. Curriculum design and target-setting are key elements. Descriptors: Academic Standards, Accountability, Curriculum Design, Educational Benefits
(2000). In the Aftermath of the Storm: English Learners in the Post-227 Era, Bilingual Research Journal. Numerous simultaneous educational reforms and limited data prevent drawing conclusions about the independent effects of California's Proposition 227, a 2-year-old English Only initiative. Achievement scores show little benefit for English learners. Observational data indicate that implementation of high stakes testing has encouraged teaching that rewards rote learning and undermines long-term success of limited English learners. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingual Teachers, Educational Change, Elementary Education
(2000). The 32nd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes toward the Public Schools, Phi Delta Kappan. The 2000 poll shows substantial public satisfaction with public schools; willingness to improve the existing system; eroding support for high-stakes testing and for private- and religious-school choice; insufficient financial support as schools' biggest problem; and parents as having greater influence than teachers over student performance. Descriptors: Accountability, Charter Schools, Educational Improvement, Educational Quality
(2010). Navigating the Turbulent Seas of Education Reform for English Language Learners: How Leadership Affects Teacher Quality and Educational Opportunity, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this case study was to provide insight into the challenges educational leaders face in their efforts to improve teaching and learning for English language learners within a context of increased testing and accountability. I examine the assumptions underpinning leadership practices to understand how teacher quality and student learning is being interpreted, assessed, and addressed in an under-resourced, low performing school serving predominantly Spanish speaking students. Overall this study analyzes how school leadership impacts teacher quality reform and furthers our understanding of what it takes to expand educational opportunity for English language learners. This study was guided by four primary research questions: (1) How do administrators and teachers make sense of increasing pressures to enhance teacher quality and improve student learning? (2) How do they believe they can expand opportunities to achieve for economically impoverished and linguistically diverse learners? (3) What assumptions underpin the policies and practices they implement? (4) Finally, how do these assumptions play out in the everyday practices of administrators and teachers at Nieberg Elementary? Over a period of six months, I conducted formal and informal interviews, observations and document analysis to understand how administrators and teachers believe they can increase opportunities to achieve for English language learners. The theoretical lenses of Amartya Sen (1999) and Paulo Freire (1970) framed the analysis of this study and provided insight into the political, social, economic, and cultural context that is shaping contemporary education reform and influencing policies, programs, and practices in today's classrooms. The Principal of Nieberg Elementary believes that she can improve learning and increase students' opportunities to achieve by: (a) focusing on developing English language competency; (b) replacing bilingual teachers with English only teachers; (c) implementing a standardized and rigidly implemented curriculum; and d) asserting greater administrative authority over administrators and teachers in the building. The findings of this study reveal that these approaches to improving teaching and learning arose within the pressure cooker context of high stakes testing and mandated achievement; and thus, limited the real opportunity ELL students had to achieve. The findings of this study reveal the logic and limits of focusing on achievement alone to expand educational opportunity for English language learners. For one, this case study reveals the pressure that educators feel to move Spanish-speaking children into English language competency quickly so that they can pass mandated achievement tests. This effort to force faster learning, however, resulted in very little achievement and a lot of frustration for administrators, teachers and children. The administrators and teachers at Nieberg feel that they, like their students, are being forced to fail in a context of education reform that does not address or honor the learning process and educational needs of children who do not speak English. [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 Change, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Leadership
(2000). Quantity Matters: Annual Instructional Time in an Urban School System, Educational Administration Quarterly. Instructional-time analyses illustrate how school management, social/cultural welfare programs, high-stakes testing, system policies, and "organizational efficiencies" combine to cripple enormous blocks of annual instructional time in Chicago Public Schools. Administrators should rethink allocated time and schedule tests, special events, and renovations more carefully. (Contains 94 references.) Descriptors: Administrative Problems, Educational Policy, Efficiency, Elementary Secondary Education
(2010). A Validation Study of the Grade Six Reading Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Using the Test of Reading Comprehension-Fourth Edition and the STAR Reading Test as Criterion Measures, ProQuest LLC. With the increase of high-stakes testing and the subsequent consequences it is essential that educators understand the validity and the inferences based on the scores produced by these tests. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the underlying constructs of the grade six reading TAKS, the Test of Reading Comprehension-fourth edition (TORC-4), and the STAR Reading Test in order to make better-informed decisions about individual student's reading abilities. With the high-stakes TAKS affecting program decisions, placement decisions, and ultimately the granting of a high school diploma, educators must be assured that the data upon which critical decisions are made is as accurate and as applicable as possible. A non-experimental research design was used to test the hypotheses of this study. A non-experimental research design was deemed appropriate for this study because the data are archival and no variable was manipulated. A convenience sample of two intermediate schools from a large suburban southeast Texas school district was selected from among the four intermediate schools within the district. An exploratory factor analysis using M "PLUS" was performed on the grade six reading TAKS, which resulted in identifying four factors: basic understanding, literary elements, analysis, and critical thinking. These identified four factors are the underlying constructs of the TAKS reading comprehension assessment. Additionally, this study conducted correlational tests to examine the relationship between the grade six reading TAKS and the TORC-4 Test as well as the relationship between the grade six reading TAKS and the STAR Reading Test. The underlying constructs of the reading TAKS significantly correlated with both the TORC-4 and the STAR Reading Test. This study also determined if a difference exists between students who scored at the commended level versus students who scored less (non-commended) on the TAKS, the TORC-4, and the STAR Reading Test separately. An independent samples "t"-test was utilized to explore if there were any significant differences between groups (i.e., commended vs. non-commended) on their performance on the TORC-4. A second independent samples "t"-test was used to determine if there were any significant differences between groups on their performance on the STAR Reading Test. There was a statistically significant difference on both the TORC-4 and the STAR Reading Test between the two performance levels: commended and non-commended. [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 Validity, High Stakes Tests, Standardized Tests, Reading Tests
(2000). Perspective: Crash Test, Teacher Magazine. Though high-stakes testing is one of the worst school reform ideas circulating today, states are increasingly making them the focus of school improvement strategies, assuming that the threat of severe penalty pressures students and teachers to improve performance. The paper explains why this theory is flawed, noting that many building blocks crucial to standards based reform are largely ignored. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Academic Standards, Educational Improvement, Elementary Secondary Education
(2000). Schools and the Law: Legal Trouble Spots and How To Avoid Them, American School Board Journal. To reduce liability risks, there are no substitutes for knowing law and policies, consulting with an attorney beforehand, providing adequate staff training, and documenting efforts. School law hot spots include negligence, religion, discipline policies, sexual harassment, magnet school diversity policies, and high-stakes testing. Descriptors: Court Litigation, Discipline, Diversity (Student), Elementary Secondary Education
(2000). Literacy in the Information Age, Phi Delta Kappan. Describes United States literacy characteristics, based on April 2000 reports from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Discusses Angoff methods for evaluating validity of high-stakes testing programs in Massachusetts and Virginia. Descriptors: Comparative Education, Education Work Relationship, Elementary Secondary Education, Evaluation Methods
(2000). Rethinking "High Stakes": Lessons from the United States and England and Wales, Teachers College Record. Some of the six themes about high stakes testing, based on English, Welsh, and American research, include: not all stakes are perceived as equally high; pressure to respond to tests comes from more than formal stakes; external pressure is useful for changing content taught; and external pressure is less effective in changing instructional strategy than content taught. Descriptors: Educational Policy, Educational Testing, Elementary Secondary Education, Evaluation Methods
(2000). Tests on Trial, Phi Delta Kappan. A protracted class-action suit against California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing (by 15 minority individuals and 3 organizations) proved a major loss for plaintiff educators. The Ninth Circuit's ruling follows the trend of high-stakes testing decisions favoring the government, despite revised Office of Civil Rights guidelines. Descriptors: Basic Skills, Court Litigation, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests