This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include David J. Francis, Amy Boudosquie, Janice Williams Baldwin, Marguerite Clarke, Stuart S. Yeh, Sharon Kalinowski, James A. Banks, Cherry A. McGee Banks, Elizabeth A. Mahon, and Mehmet Ali Tut.
(2006). Can Rapid Assessment Moderate the Consequences of High-Stakes Testing?, Education and Urban Society. Critics of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) suggest that the effects of state-mandated testing are primarily negative, causing teachers to narrow the curriculum and drill students on tested material. However, the implementation of assessment programs that provide rapid diagnostic information about student progress may allow teachers to prepare students for state-mandated tests while preserving a balanced curriculum. This study investigated teachers' instructional decision-making processes in a Texas school district that implemented an assessment program that provides rapid feedback to teachers regarding student progress throughout the school year. The study suggests how the implementation of rapid assessment systems can foster balanced instruction and positive use of test results, resulting in positive effects of state-mandated testing on teaching and learning. Funding to implement this type of rapid assessment system may improve the probability that the No Child Left Behind Act will have a positive impact on public education. [More] Descriptors: Program Effectiveness, Federal Legislation, Test Results, Testing
(2004). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. 5th Edition, Update, Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley. With this collection of chapters by leading scholars and researchers in the field, the reader can develop the knowledge and skills needed to maximize the opportunities that diversity offers while minimizing its challenges. The reader will explore current and emerging research, concepts, debates, and teaching strategies for educating students from different cultural, racial, ethnic, language, gender, social class, and religious groups. This book is organized into the following six parts and 17 chapters. Part I, Issues and Concepts, contains the first group of chapters: (1) Multicultural Education: Characteristics and Goals (James Banks), with Feature: Introduction to High-Stakes Testing; and High Stakes: Testing for Tracking, Promotion and Graduation–National Research Council's Committee on Appropriate Test Use (Jay P. Heubert, Ed. and Robert M. Hauser, Ed.); (2) Culture in Society and in Educational Practices (Frederick Erickson); and (3) Race, Class, Gender, and Disability in the Classroom (Carl A. Grant and Christine E. Sleeter). Part II, Social Class and Religion, contains the next two chapters: (4) Social Class and Educational Equality (Caroline Hodges Persell); and (5) Christian Nation or Pluralistic Culture: Religion in American Life (Charles H. Lippy). Part III, Gender, then presents: (6) Gender Bias: From Colonial America to Today's Classrooms (David Sadker and Myra Sadker); (7) Classrooms for Diversity: Rethinking Curriculum and Pedagogy (Mary Kay Thompson Tetreault); and (8) Transforming the Curriculum: Teaching about Women of Color (Johnnella E. Butler). Part IV, Race, Ethnicity, and Language, contains: (9) Educational Equality for Students of Color (Geneva Gay); (10) Approaches to Multicultural Curriculum Reform (James A. Banks); (11) The Colorblind Perspective in School: Causes and Consequences (Janet Ward Schofield); and (12) Language Diversity and Education (Carlos J. Ovando). Part V, Exceptionality, then offers: (13) Educational Equality for Students with Disabilities (William L. Heward, Rodney A. Cavanaugh, and Sara C. Ernsbarger); (14) School Inclusion and Multicultural Issues in Special Education (Luanna H. Meyer, Jill Bevan-Brown, Beth Harry, and Mara Sapon-Shevin); and (15) Recruiting and Retaining Gifted Students from Diverse Ethnic, Cultural, and Language Groups (Donna Y. Ford). Part VI, School Reform, presents the final two chapters: (16) School Reform and Student Learning: A Multicultural Perspective (Sonia Nieto); and (17) Communities, Families, and Educators Working Together for School Improvement (Cherry A. McGee Banks). [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, High Stakes Tests, Test Use, Social Class
(2005). High-Stakes Testing and Mathematics Performance of Fourth Graders in North Cyprus, Journal of Educational Research. The authors attempted to determine the effects of a high-stakes standardized testing-driven instructional approach on mathematical performance. The authors developed a multiple-choice mathematics performance test for 1,006 Grade 4 students in 28 North Cyprus schools. Analysis revealed that students who spent more time on test-taking skills performed better, especially in routine mathematics items, than did students who spent less time on test-taking skills. There was no difference observed in test results from nonroutine story problems. However, analysis did indicate that spending too much time on test-taking skills led to memorizing procedures and cuing on surface attributes of a problem.Key words: high-stakes standardized tests, routine and nonroutine mathematics items, test-taking skills Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Grade 4, Test Results, Standardized Tests
(2007). The Opportunity Gap Achievement and Inequality in Education. Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series, Harvard Education Press. "The Opportunity Gap" aims to shift attention from the current overwhelming emphasis on schools in discussions of the achievement gap to more fundamental questions about social and educational opportunity. The achievement gap looms large in the current era of high-stakes testing and accountability. Yet questions persist: Has the accountability movement-and attendant discussions on the achievement gap-focused attention on the true sources of educational failure in American schools? Do we need to look beyond classrooms and schools for credible accounts of disparities in educational outcomes? The essays in this book reintroduce the overlooked central issue in educational inequity: the lack of opportunity that many social groups face in our common quest for educational attainment. In a series of wide-ranging and carefully nuanced essays, "The Opportunity Gap" casts much-needed light on the vexed relationship between society and education-and on the crucial, persistent role that education plays in addressing social ills. This volume is divided into three parts. Part One: "Social Structures, Institutions, and Education" introduces the following chapters: (1) Poverty and Education (Raewyn Connell); (2) "Improve the Women": Mass Schooling, Female Literacy, and Worldwide Social Change (Robert A. Levine, Sarah E. Levine, and Beatrice Schnell-Anzola); and (3) Cognitive Skill and Economic Inequality: Findings from the National Adult Literacy Survey (Stephen W. Raudenbush and Rafa M. Kasim). Part Two: "The Interactions among Schools, Students, and Communities" continues with: (4) The Politics of Culture: Understanding Local Political Resistance to Detracking in Racially Mixed Schools (Amy Stuart Wells and Irene Serna); (5) Structuring Failure and Success: Understanding the Variability in Latino School Engagement (Gilberto Q. Conchas); and (6) Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education (Ray C. Rist). Following an introduction, Part Three: "Expanding Opportunities, Fostering Achievement" provides: (7) The Algebra Project: Organizing in the Spirit of Ella (Robert Parris Moses, Mieko Kamii, Susan McAllister Swap, and Jeff Howard); (8) Citizenship for All in the Literate Community: An Ethnography of Young Children with Significant Disabilities in Inclusive Early Childhood Settings (Christopher Kliewer, Linda May Fitzgerald, Jodi Meyer-Mork, Patresa Hartman, Pat English-Sand, and Donna Raschke); and (9) Lessons from Students on Creating a Chance to Dream (Sonia Nieto). [More] Descriptors: Achievement Gap, Educational Opportunities, High Stakes Tests, Accountability
(2006). Effects of Accommodations on High-Stakes Testing for Students with Reading Disabilities, Exceptional Children. The interaction hypothesis proposes that valid test accommodations benefit only those with disabilities. To evaluate this hypothesis, Grade 3 students with word decoding difficulties identified with dyslexia and average decoders were randomly assigned to take the same version of the Texas reading accountability assessment under accommodated and standard administrations. The accommodated administration was given in 2 sessions with oral reading of proper nouns and comprehension stems. Only students with decoding problems benefited from the accommodations, showing a significant increase in average performance and a 7-fold increase in the odds of passing the test. These results supported the interaction hypothesis, showing that accommodations designed for a clearly defined academic disability can enhance performance on a high-stakes assessment. [More] Descriptors: Grade 3, Reading Difficulties, Interaction, Oral Reading
(2000). High Stakes Testing and High School Completion. NBETPP Statements, Volume 1, Number 3. This report examines how high stakes assessments affect dropout and high school completion rates. The focus is on five suggestive lines of evidence about this relationship. This evidence is drawn in part from studies done at Boston College or by researchers for the National Board on Educational Testing and Public Policy. The conclusion drawn is that high stakes testing programs are linked to decreased rates of high school completion. The evidence is mainly correlational, but it is suggestive enough to warrant further research to clarify the role of high stakes testing in decisions to drop out of school. The first evidence is from the era of minimum competency testing (MCT). There was no MCT in half of the 10 states with the lowest dropout rates, and the states with the highest dropout rates had MCT programs with standards set at least in part by the state. A second piece of evidence shows that in schools with proportionately more students of low socioeconomic status that used high stakes minimum competency tests, early dropout rates, between 8th and 10th grades, were 4 to 6 percentage points higher than in schools that were similar except for the high stakes test requirement. The third piece of evidence comes from high school graduation testing and dropouts in Florida. A more complex relationship is suggested by the fact that only for students with moderately good grades was a significant increase in dropping out associated with failure of the high school graduation test. A fourth line of evidence comes from the evolution of high stakes testing in Texas, where findings suggest that some high school sophomores dropped out of school because of the requirement of satisfactory performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. A final point is the relationship among high stakes testing, grade retention, and dropout rates. Research has generally suggested that grade retention makes students more likely to drop out. Interaction with graduation test requirements may result in increased numbers of dropouts. (Contains 14 endnotes.) [More] Descriptors: Dropout Rate, Dropouts, High School Graduates, High Schools
(2006). High-Stakes Testing and English Language Learners: Questions of Validity, Bilingual Research Journal. The purpose of this study was to understand relationships between English proficiency and academic performance for a group of English language learners (ELLs) from 4 elementary schools. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to examine scores from the Language Assessment Scales, the Woodcock-Munoz Language Survey, and the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Findings showed that English proficiency was significantly related to English academic achievement, even for ELL students who had been in U.S. schools for 3 years or longer. Furthermore, the 5th-grade ELL cohort had greater increases in reading and writing scores compared to all Colorado 5th graders. This led to a slight closing of the achievement gap. Lastly, Spanish achievement, especially when combined with English proficiency, predicted English achievement. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Grade 5, English (Second Language), Limited English Speaking
(2004). Undergraduate and Graduate Preparation in Educational Research Methods, Mid-Western Educational Researcher. The advent of high stakes state testing in K-12 education and The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, with its focus on "scientifically-based research" (SBR), has opened new challenges for both undergraduate and graduate preparation programs in education. This address will report on how we are currently preparing our undergraduate and graduate students in educational research methods and then offer specific recommendations that would allow our graduates to better understand and use the information generated by these new public policies. [More] Descriptors: Graduate Students, Educational Research, Federal Legislation, Research Methodology
(2007). Strategic Compromise: A Student Teacher's Design of Kindergarten Mathematics Instruction in a High-Stakes Testing Climate, Journal of Teacher Education. This report describes one preservice teacher's development of mathematics instruction during her student-teaching internship in a kindergarten classroom at a low-performing, urban elementary school. A framework of social strategies was used to describe the student teacher's use of strategic compromise as a way to deal with competing pressures and goals related to kindergarten mathematics instruction at her placement school. As she designed her mathematics instruction, she found ways of adapting to the school climate that allowed room for her own interests and goals, while also accepting some modifications to those interests and goals. The student teacher's resulting mixed instructional practice has implications for and raises questions about the preparation of teachers in the current high-stakes accountability climate in the United States. [More] Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Kindergarten, Interests, Student Teachers
(2009). To Leave or Not to Leave? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of the Impact of Failing High School Exit Exam. CEE DP 107, Centre for the Economics of Education (NJ1). This paper presents new empirical evidence on whether failing the high school exit exam increases the chance of exiting from high school "prior to high school completion". More importantly, the author discusses the potentially different impacts of failing the High School Exit Exams (HSEE) on students with limited English proficiency, racial minorities and low-income students. This paper also intends to quantify the magnitude to which different testing subjects might affect student dropouts that previous studies have not addressed. The author takes advantage of a new longitudinal data set from the State of New Jersey that captures the most recent changes (i.e. higher standards) in the exit exam. In particular, following Martorell (2004), the author exploits the discontinuity in the likelihood of exiting around the cutoff score of HSEE, and compares the exit probability of the students who barely pass or barely fail the test. Barely-failers will provide the counterfactual outcome for barely-passers since the treatment status will be "as good as randomly assigned" in a neighborhood of the treatment threshold (van der Klaauw, 2002). The author demonstrates that students who barely failed the initial HSEE are more likely to exit high school early than students who barely passed. The difference in dropout probability among those who fail narrowly and those who pass narrowly is larger for racial minority students, economically disadvantaged students and for math tests relative to English tests. The estimates for the first test amount to a large proportion of the raw probabilities of drop out after initial failure of the exam, especially for math. The results are robust when using different functional forms to predict the discontinuity as well as to test the discontinuity in a small neighborhood around the cut-off score. The author's analyses investigate the propensity to drop out for students around the pass/fail cutoff in HSEE. The difference in dropout propensity between the two groups can possibly be due to the psychological effect of failing (a "discouragement effect"), misunderstanding or not being informed of the retest opportunities, or withdrawal because of the high perceived cost of studying for the retests. While there is no causal evidence on the potential benefits of raising educational standards by HSEE, the identified dropouts found in this study suggest that high stakes testing has a potential tradeoff. Schools and policy makers should consider providing counseling services for students who fail initially and better inform these students, especially minority students, about the availability of retest opportunities as well as reduce the stigma of failing HSEE (Cornell et al., 2006). Data construction and variable description are appended. (Contains 8 tables, 2 figures and 48 footnotes.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the Campaign for Educational Equity Student Research Grant, the Spencer Research Training Grant and the Policy and Research Fellowship at Teachers College, Columbia University.] [More] Descriptors: Exit Examinations, Academic Failure, High School Students, Dropouts
(2009). Assessment and Innovation in Education. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 24, OECD Publishing (NJ1). Do some forms of student (and school) assessment hinder the introduction of innovative educational practices and the development of innovation skills in education systems? This report focuses on the impact of high-stake summative assessment on innovation and argues that it is possible to reconcile high-stakes assessments and examinations through innovative approaches to testing. While necessary, assessment based on high-stake examinations often acts as an incentive to teach or study "to the test". It may thus limit risk-taking by teachers, students and parents, for instance. The problem may be amplified if a system of accountability and incentives uses the results of these examinations and tests to assess teachers and schools. What should be done to ensure that the systems used to assess education systems do not stifle the risk-taking inherent to innovation–and that they foster innovation skills in students? This study proposes three main ways of combining assessment and innovation: 1) developing a wide range of performance measurements for both students and schools; 2) rethinking the alignment of standards and assessment; 3) measuring the impact of assessments on teaching and learning. One way of influencing teaching and learning might be to modify high-stake testing. Systems will adapt to this, and both teaching and learning will focus on acquiring the right skills. Rather than testing the content of learning, standards could relate to cognitive skills such as problem-solving, communicating and reasoning–with test/examination developers adapting those skills to subjects such as mathematics, science or literary analysis. Similarly, more use might be made of innovative assessment methods based on information and communication technologies, inasmuch as these may feature simulation or interactivity, for instance, at a reasonable cost. Focusing the assessment on cognitive processes rather than content would leave more scope for teachers to put in place innovative teaching/learning strategies. This does, however, assume a high standard of professionalism in teachers and an adequate system of continuing training and knowledge management. As a single type of assessment cannot fully capture student learning, one effective strategy might also be to multiply the number of measurements and thus relieve the pressure on students and teachers to perform well in a single, high-visibility, high-stake test. At the same time, this larger number of measurements could provide the necessary input for systems based on accountability, diagnosis and assessment of the effectiveness of innovative practice. Finally, assessing the technical standard of tests and examinations is an integral part of their development, but it is less common to address the impact they have on teaching/learning or the validity of how their results are used. Since assessment is an integral part of the education process, it is just as important to assess tests and examinations as it is other educational practices in order to achieve improvements and innovation in educational assessment, but also in educational practice. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Educational Assessment, Educational Innovation, Summative Evaluation
(2006). No Child Left Behind: High-Stakes Testing and Teacher Burnout in Urban Elementary Schools, Online Submission. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 calls for 100% proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014. The mandate thus transforms reading and mathematics into high-stakes subject areas. This quantitative cross-sectional study examined legislated testing mandates in relation to burnout subscales, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Second through fifth grade high-stakes reading and mathematics teachers and low-stakes art, music, and physical education teachers working in an urban elementary school district completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey and a demographic survey. Results showed a significant difference in emotional exhaustion among high-stakes versus low-stakes subject area teachers across grade levels and school labels. Since burnout impedes job performance, results suggest the achievement gap may widen because of the very legislation instituted to close it. Appended are: (1) Demographic Survey Instrument; (2) Maslach Burnout Inventory and Permission to Use; (3) Script for Research Assistants Administering Survey; (4) Informed Consent to Conduct Research; and (5) University of Phoenix Informed Consent Agreement. (Contains 19 tables and 2 figures.) [Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Phoenix.] [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Teacher Burnout, Urban Schools, Mathematics Education
(2013). An Investigation of Later Academic Achievement between Groups of Students Based on Their Category of DIAL-R Score When Entering Kindergarten, ProQuest LLC. The era of "high stakes" testing in older grades has contributed to higher achievement expectations in the preschool years. Early childhood is a significant period in the development of the whole child. The skills children build in kindergarten are fundamental to learning success. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in later academic achievement between groups of students based on their categories of Developmental Indicators Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) score when entering kindergarten. This study investigated whether there were statistically significant differences in later academic performance through twelfth grade between groups of private school students based on a pre-kindergarten readiness assessment (DIAL-R). The sample consisted of 265 math students and 263 reading students who attended a private school, located in middle Tennessee, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Questions one and two investigated, using repeated-measures analysis of variance, if there were a significant difference in "TerraNova" mathematics and reading scores of second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students based on their scores of "Potential Problem," "OK," or "Potential Advanced" on the DIAL-R in kindergarten. A between-subjects effect in mathematics was found to be significant. In addition, a between-subjects effect in reading was found to be significant. This suggests a significant difference between the mean "TerraNova" mathematics and reading scores of students categorized as "OK" versus "Potential Advanced" on the DIAL-R in kindergarten. The results for the PLAN mathematics and reading ANOVAs indicated a significant category effect. These results suggest that there is a significant difference in PLAN mathematics and reading scores of tenth grade students based on their group of "OK" or "Potential Advanced" on the DIAL-R in kindergarten. The mathematics and reading results for the ACT ANOVAs indicated a significant category effect. These findings suggest that there is a significant difference in ACT mathematics and reading scores of twelfth grade students based on their group of "OK" or "Potential Advanced" on the DIAL-R in kindergarten. This study strongly suggests DIAL-R is useful as a diagnostic tool in identifying later academic performance in mathematics and reading between groups of private school students. [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: Academic Achievement, Kindergarten, Young Children, Educational Assessment
(2011). From the Battlefront of the Texas History Wars: Contending with "American Exceptionalism", Multicultural Education. It was in late May of 2010 that the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) took their final vote on the curriculum standards that will have an impact on what millions of students in Texas as well as dozens of other states will learn about history and social studies for the next 10 years. These "Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills" (TEKS) standards serve as a foundation for textbooks, teaching, and high-stakes standardized testing as mandated by the federal "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law. Nine of the 15 members of SBOE voted as a bloc to overtly impose a decidedly Christian conservative bias on the TEKS curriculum standards for the history of Texas, the history of the nation, and the history of the world. Throughout this long process the local and national media focused well-deserved attention on the SBOE pronouncements, including the concepts and historical figures that the Board members sought to include and exclude, drawing from these an abundance of reports, interviews, and comedy news shows. Yet, unlike all of these media reporters, the author experienced this entire process from the inside. He served on the state standards writing committee for U.S. history, and from the eye of the storm he could see the inner workings of a system that although ostensibly open and honest was riddled with manipulation and pressure for them to conform to SBOE's version of history. The author contends that students should be told the entire truth of the nation's travails as well as its triumphs, its perils as well as its promise. Only then can they be prepared to confront the global challenges of tomorrow. Teaching students the bogus myth of "American exceptionalism" will not prepare them for the future. Throughout this convoluted political process the author has made several significant discoveries. Foremost among them is that those who want to white-wash America's history to fit their own notions of patriotism are no more patriotic than those who see America's warts and wounds, and love her still. [More] [More] Descriptors: Educational Policy, Information Technology, Public Service, Educational Change
(2007). Poverty, School Size and Charter Designation as Predictors of Student Achievement on a Statewide High-Stakes Testing Program, AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice. Over the past five years the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has used the results of the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) to rate public school performance on the School Accountability Report (SAR). The public often considers the school ratings as indicative of the school's quality. There appears to be a lack of quantitative research that examines the relationship between poverty, school size, and charter designation and Colorado middle school (CSAP) achievement. The first purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between poverty, school size, and charter designation on Colorado middle school (N=357) CSAP achievement in both 2001 and 2004. A second purpose was to investigate whether there was a change in middle school CSAP achievement between 2001 and 2004. Finally, the study investigated whether changes from 2001 to 2004 in individual school's CSAP performance could be predicted from poverty, school size, and charter designation. The researcher used existing data on the percent of students on free and reduced meals, school size, and charter designation collected by the Colorado Department of Education in 2001 and 2004; thus, the study can be described as ex-post-facto. After four years of implementation of the CSAP, this study found that the scores have not improved significantly and the correlation with poverty was very large and negative in both years. The use of the CSAP in Colorado to mandate school improvement seems to be missing the mark. The use of testing data in Colorado and across the country should help inform educators and the public about the challenges faced in raising student achievement, and guide best practices to overcome the obstacles of student achievement. [More] Descriptors: Testing Programs, Poverty, Academic Achievement, School Size