This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include William Hayes, Rebecca Luce-Kapler, David L. Stader, Robert Neely, Randy Elliot Bennett, William J. Pittz, Ann ranston-Gingras, Don Klinger, Walter Heinecke, and Carl K. Chafin.
(2001). High-Stakes Testing: Is It Fair To Test Students?, Our Children. Discusses whether it is fair to students when major educational decisions are made based on the results of a single high-stakes test, focusing on: multiple assessment measures, teaching to the test, testing disadvantaged children, and state standards and testing. Two sidebars present the PTA's position on the issue and how to learn more about testing. Descriptors: Academic Standards, Disadvantaged Youth, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests
(2001). The Role of Policy Assumptions in Validating High-stakes Testing Programs. L. Cronbach has made the point that for validity arguments to be convincing to diverse audiences, they need to be based on assumptions that are credible to these audiences. The interpretations and uses of high stakes test scores rely on a number of policy assumptions about what should be taught in schools, and more specifically, about the content standards and performance standards that should be applied to students and schools. For example, a high school graduation test can be developed as a test of minimal competence for the world of work or as a measure of proficiency in the skills needed in college. The assumptions built into the assessment need to be subjected to scrutiny and criticism if a strong case is to be made for the validity of the proposed interpretation. Stakeholder views are a critical part of the evaluation of the policy assumptions implicit in any testing program. The point is made that much of the current practice in the validation of high stakes testing programs, including high school graduation tests, is seriously flawed because only a part of the interpretive argument is evaluated. (Contains 1 table and 42 references.) [More] Descriptors: Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education, Graduation Requirements, High Stakes Tests
(2005). Uneasy Writing: The Defining Moments of High-Stakes Literacy Testing, Assessing Writing. The authors report on an exploratory study that investigated Grade 10 students' responses to a large-scale, high-stakes literacy test, the results of which determine high school graduation in Ontario, Canada. Through focus-group and individual interviews, the authors found that students perceived the test as evaluating their English skills rather than their cross-curricular literacy as is the stated purpose by the test administrators. Furthermore, the test contributed to students' narrow definition of writing. Rather than promoting writing as a powerful tool for thinking and expressing ideas, students understood writing to be a fill-in-the-blanks response to particular genres. The authors conclude by pointing out the power of such tests to define unintended learning in schools. [More] Descriptors: Writing Processes, Foreign Countries, Grade 10, High Stakes Tests
(2001). Body of Evidence: An Alternative to High Stakes Testing?. This report describes the Body of Evidence approach taken in Wyoming to implement standards-based graduation. The Body of Evidence plan calls for more than a single test to justify issuing a high school diploma. Graduation requirement rules, known as Chapter 31 rules, establish the requirements for a diploma. The body of evidence is to be designated at the local level. It should answer two questions: (1) whether the student knows enough to graduate; and (2) whether the evidence can support the answer to the first question. The Wyoming State Department of Education has listed four possible approaches to designing a body of evidence system: (1) course-based; (2) course-based and common assessment; (3) district-based; and (4) multi-district approaches. Assessments used may be conjunctive (scores on all measures above the criterion point, compensatory (scores on some measures offset lower scores on others), disjunctive (proficiency on only one measure required), and mixed-model. School districts must develop an evaluation system that meets criteria of alignment, consistency, fairness, standard setting, and comparability. The body of evidence plan should create opportunities for students to demonstrate competence in ways congruent with individual learning styles. The greatest impact from the new plan may be on teachers, who will not necessarily have the time to develop meaningful and multiple assessments. [More] Descriptors: Alternative Assessment, Graduation Requirements, High School Students, High Schools
(2005). Reading Education Policy: A Collection of Articles from the International Reading Association, International Reading Association (NJ3). This collection of articles delivers the knowledge and insights one needs to understand policymaking at many levels, by reviewing viewpoints in categories: (1) Policy-driven research; (2) Policy communications research; and (3) Critical policy research. Educators can use this book to learn how to analyze policy issues, engage in policymaking with greater understanding, and question reading policy, policymaking, and research on policy. The book contains the following articles: (1) "Introduction" (Patrick Shannon); (2) "Reading Policies: Ideologies and Strategies for Political Engagement" (Jacqueline Edmondson); (3) "Policy Studies" (John T. Guthrie); (4) "The Current State of Quantitative Research" (Michael L. Kamil); (5) "When Less May Be More: A 2-Year Longitudinal Evaluation of a Volunteer Tutoring Program Requiring Minimal Training" (Scott Baker, Russell Gersten, Thomas Keating); (6) "The National Reading Panel Report" (James W. Cunningham); (7) "Books Aloud: A Campaign to Put Books in Children's Hands" (Susan B. Neuman, Donna C. Celano); (8) "Looking Inside Classrooms: Reflecting on the 'How' as Well as the 'What' in Effective Reading Instruction" (Barbara M. Taylor, Debra S. Peterson, P. David Pearson, Michael C. Rodriguez); (9) "Taking Seriously the Idea of Reform: One High School's Efforts to Make Reading More Responsive to All Students" (William G. Brozo, Charles H. Hargis); (10) "Behind Test Scores: What Struggling Readers Really Need" (Sheila W. Valencia, Marsha Riddle Buly); (11) "Literacy Research in the Next Millennium: From Paradigms to Pragmatism and Practicality" (Deborah R. Dillon, David G. O'Brien, Elizabeth E. Heilman; (12) "Can Teachers and Policy Makers Learn to Talk to One Another? (Cathy A. Toll); (13) "Barriers to Literacy for Language-Minority Learners: An Argument for Change in the Literacy Education Profession" (Rachel A. Grant, Shelley D. Wong); (14) "What Can We Expect From a National Assessment in Reading?" (Robert E. Shafer); (15) "High Stakes Testing in Reading: Today in Texas, Tomorrow? (James V. Hoffman, Lori Czop Assaf, Scott G. Paris); (16) "The International Reading Association Responds to a Highly Charged Policy Environment" (Cathy M. Roller); (17) "The Voices of Researchers: Conflict and Consensus in Reading Research and Policy" (Claude Goldenberg); (18) "Educators Influencing Legislators: Commentary and the Kentucky Case" (Shirley C. Raines); (19) "Asking Different Questions: Critical Analyses and Reading Research (Jacqueline Edmondson); (20) "The Use of Commercial Reading Materials in American Elementary Schools" (Patrick Shannon); (21) "Other Countries' Literacies: What U.S. Educators Can Learn from Mexican Schools" (Patrick H. Smith, Robert T. Jimenez, Natalia Martinez-Leon); (22) "The Train Has Left: The No Child Left Behind Act Leaves Black and Latino Literacy Learners Waiting at the Station" (Deirdre Glenn Paul); (23) "Beyond Remediation: Ideological Literacies of Learning in Developmental Classrooms" (Eric J. Weiner); (24) "Hog Farms in Pennsylvania" (Patrick Shannon); (25) "Literacy and the Other: A Sociological Approach to Literacy Research and Policy in Multilingual Societies" (Allan Luke); and (26) "Conclusion: The Policy Culture of Reading Education and Research: Places We Might Go" (Jacqueline Edmondson). [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Statistical Analysis, Reading Materials, Reading Research
(1999). Using New Technology To Improve Assessment, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. Discusses the ways new technology, in partnership with advances in cognitive and measurement science, will transform large-scale educational assessment. Focuses on high-stakes assessment, especially testing for educational admission. Descriptors: Admission (School), Educational Technology, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests
(1999). Assessment Policy and Political Spectacle, Teachers College Record. Examines assessment policy in Arizona over a decade, using interview, observation, and archival data. Policy shifted from basic skills and standardized testing to progressive reform by performance testing to high-stakes standardized testing using state standards. The Arizona Student Assessment Program is described, discussing the Academic Summit to write new state standards, legislation and regulations, tests, and forms of accountability. Descriptors: Academic Standards, Educational Legislation, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education
(2001). Racial Profiling and Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: How Zero Tolerance Policies and High Stakes Testing Subvert Academic Excellence and Racial Equity. Research Report [and] Executive Summary. This report analyzes current public education policies, procedures, and practices that compound racial inequities by profiling students of color. Such practices divert resources away from proven solutions that advance academic excellence. Bias in high-stakes testing serves to increase student achievement gaps. Zero-tolerance and maximum-security schools have discipline policies that commonly push youth of color out of school at rates disproportionate to their white counterparts. Recommendations include providing equal and universal access to quality teachers of diverse backgrounds and races, using small schools and reducing class size, eliminating exit exams, repealing zero-tolerance policies, refocusing priorities so schools and districts can receive equitable resources, and using racial-equity report cards as a means of educational policy assessment. This guide includes four essays: (1) "Horace Had It Right: The Stakes Are Still High for Students of Color" (Linda Mizell); (2) "Zero Tolerance and School Security Measures: A Failed Experiment" (Russell J. Skiba and Peter E. Leone); (3) "Apartheid in American Education: How Opportunity Is Rationed to Children of Color in the United States" (Linda Darling-Hammond); and (4) "Small Schools: An Anti-Racist Intervention in Urban America" (Michelle Fine and Linda C. Powell). Appendix I lists resources, and Appendix II provides authors' biographies. [More] Descriptors: Discipline, Elementary Secondary Education, Equal Education, High Stakes Tests
(1998). Farewell, Curriculum: Confessions of an Assessment Convert, Phi Delta Kappan. The author began his education career committed to curriculum, not measurement. After years of using teacher-made and standardized tests as instructional afterthoughts, he recognized the superiority of criterion-referenced testing and the influence of high-stakes testing on instruction. He then became involved with developing such tests on a statewide level, realizing that carefully crafted, instructionally illuminated tests can substantially benefit classroom performance. Descriptors: Behavioral Objectives, Criterion Referenced Tests, Educational Objectives, Educational Testing
(2004). Using Student Performance Data Humanely: The Danger of Losing Perspective on Teaching and Learning and the Value of Test Scores, School Administrator. For as long as there have been standardized tests that provide "objective" data about student performance, there has been an understandable, though often misguided, inclination to use that data to judge the performance of schools, teachers and students. Paralleling the rise of high-stakes statewide achievement testing in recent years, that practice has taken on an even greater importance as school leaders, the news media, parents and the community at large have become believers in the power of test data. In this era of accountability the pressures on principals and teachers to improve the scores of their students are overwhelming and at times debilitating. The fear of being identified publicly as a "poor performing" or "underperforming" school is real. This article discusses the fear that teachers and administrators feel gives insight on how to keep the correct perspective in this era of accountability. [More] Descriptors: Standardized Tests, Teacher Attitudes, Administrator Attitudes, High Stakes Tests
(2004). Are We Still a Nation at Risk Two Decades Later?, Rowman & Littlefield Education. For the past twenty years, federal and state education departments and school districts have been engaged in efforts that have touched every phase of public education. People have seen the emergence of the standards movement, "high-stake" testing, and an emphasis on school accountability. Requirements for those entering the teaching profession have become more stringent in order to provide "highly qualified" teachers. School personnel on all levels must deal with constantly changing requirements, often without the financial support necessary. High school graduation requirements have been changed, especially in the areas of technology, math, and science. The ideas of school choice, charter schools, and school vouchers are being experimented with in many forms. These changes have all been accelerated with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act signed in 2002. This book is a study of the 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" and its impact on public education. Hayes analyzes the impact of this reform and suggests future priorities for public education in the United States. After a preface, this book is organized into the following seventeen chapters: (1) The Beginning; (2) The Commission; (3) The Report; (4) The Others; (5) The Critics; (6) The Standards; (7) The Tests; (8) The Teachers; (9) The Administrators; (10) The Boards; (11) The Parents; (12) The Students; (13) The Money; (14) The Choice; (15) The Law; (16) The Present; and (17) The Future. An index is also included. [More] Descriptors: Federal Legislation, Teaching (Occupation), School Personnel, Financial Support
(1999). This Issue: The Politics of Participation in School Reform, Theory into Practice. Introduces a theme issue on the politics of participation in school reform, examining types of participation and participatory reforms and noting the simultaneous top-down, often punitive reform movement involving high stakes student testing, emphasis on standards, school ranking by test scores, and adoption of packaged reforms. Discusses longstanding differences among reformers and the promise of current participatory reform efforts. Descriptors: Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education, Participative Decision Making, Politics of Education
(2002). High Stakes: Children, Testing, and Failure in American Schools. A Year in the Life of One Rural School and Its Children. This book connects the educational conditions created by high-stakes testing to the students and teachers who are influenced or victimized by the currents driving this movement. The authors left their positions as teacher-educators and taught grades 3 and 4 for 1 year as regular teachers in one of America's most impoverished schools. Redbud Elementary School (a pseudonym) in rural Louisiana has 611 students. Almost all qualify for free or reduced meals, most are African American, and many live in extreme poverty with a single parent/relative. The school serves grades preK-4; is badly in need of repair; and lacks even the most basic amenities, such as a library or hot water. The teachers, mostly White, are among the lowest paid in the nation. Louisiana is currently one of three states that mandate grade repetition for elementary and middle school students who fail high-stakes achievement tests, although other states are headed in that direction. The story of the 2000-2001 school year at Redbud presents the voices of children, teachers, and politicians to portray an underfunded, struggling school working hard to educate its children in a time of accountability mania and high-stakes pressure. Three major issues are addressed: the grinding effects of acute poverty on all aspects of life; negative consequences of the continuing drive for accountability in the schools; and the unreasonable demands placed on teachers, which stifle their creativity and enthusiasm and drive them from the profession. Other issues include the growth of for-profit ventures that feed off the accountability movement and their alliances with policymakers, and the need to hold politicians and policymakers accountable for the conditions of schools and schooling. Extensive recommendations are presented. (Contains 110 references and an index.) Descriptors: Accountability, Black Education, Disadvantaged Schools, Educational Environment
(2008). Leaving No Child Behind Yet Allowing None Too Far Ahead: Ensuring (In)Equity in Mathematics Education Through the Science of Measurement and Instruction, Teachers College Record. Background/Context: For the past century, mathematics education in the United States has been effective at producing outcomes mirroring society's historical inequities. The enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 was intended to address these differential educational outcomes. Given the scope of this legislation's impact on the way in which states, districts, and schools evaluate mathematics learning and conceptualize reforms in the teaching of mathematics, it is critical to examine the possible effects this may have on how mathematical proficiency is determined and distributed. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This inquiry raises questions about the manner in which the No Child Left Behind Act aims to improve mathematics education through an increased reliance on "objective" science. Specifically, the argument put forth here is that the policies of the No Child Left Behind Act leverage and intensify the "dividing practices" instituted in the early 20th century as a means of justifying the differential stratification of students in schools, thereby making equitable educational outcomes less likely than not. The questions guiding this inquiry are: How did these dividing practices first develop? What are the taken-for-granted assumptions under which they operate? How might technologies related to these practices, given renewed status due to the requirements of the NCLB Act, impact mathematics education? Research Design: This inquiry takes the format of an analytic essay, drawing on both a historical perspective of efforts to improve education in the United States through a reliance on scientific methods, and an examination of recent evidence as to how the No Child Left Behind legislation's policies are bring implemented in relation to the assessment and teaching of mathematics. Conclusions/Recommendations: Although the intent of the No Child Left Behind legislation is to identify schools in which students are not being educated well and to compel improvement, its approach to doing so is built on a model from which long-standing disparities were constructed in the first place. The use of high-stakes standardized testing and direct instruction (DI) methods of teaching–both likely effects of the policies of the NCLB Act–reify the idea that mathematics is something to be put into students' heads, apart from their lived experiences and daily lives. This approach to mathematics education provides a rationale for students' (continued) stratification within an "objective" system of standardized testing and instruction. When considering reforms that aim to reduce inequities in educational outcomes, particularly in mathematics, forms of assessment and instruction must be developed and promoted that get away from the divisiveness of the traditional truth games and move toward a focus on students making sense of mathematics in ways that are meaningful, flexible, and connected to their sense of self. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Education, Federal Legislation, Educational Objectives, Outcomes of Education
(2002). Rethinking Professional Issues in Special Education. Contemporary Studies in Social and Policy Issues in Education: The David C. Anchin Center Series. Sixteen papers, developed as part of a 10-year study of substantive and methodological aspects of teacher education in special education at the University of South Florida, address professional issues in special education. The papers are: (1) "To Improve or Reconstruct Special Education: Issues Facing the Field" (James L. Paul and Ann Cranston-Gingras); (2) "The Demographics of Special Education" (Harold Hodgkinson); (3) "Interventions and Children with Special Needs" (James J. Gallagher); (4) "High-Stakes Testing and the Distortion of Care" (Nel Noddings); (5) "From the Old to the New Paradigm of Disability and Families: Research To Enhance Family Quality of Life Outcomes" (Ann P. Turnbull and H. R. Turnbull); (6) "Addressing Home, School, and Community Violence for Children with Disabilities" (Zena H. Rudo); (7) "Informing Professional Issues in Special Education through Disability Studies" (Ann Cranston-Gingras and Crystal Roberts Ladwig); (8) "The Teacher Variable: Who Makes Special Education Special?" (James L. Paul and Patricia A. Parrish); (9) "The Reflective Self: Becoming a Special Educator" (Patricia Fagan and Ella L. Taylor); (10) "Preparing African American Male Teachers for Urban Special Education Environments" (Brenda L. Townsend and Karen M. Harris); (11) "Collaborative Professional Development Partnerships" (Karen L. Colucci and others); (12) "The Use of Educational Technology and Assistive Devices in Special Education" (Barbara L. Loeding); (13) "The Utilization of Distance Learning and Technology for Teaching Children with Disabilities" (Michael W. Churton); (14) "Charter Schools and Their Impact on Special Education" (Myrrha Pammer and others); (15) "Reading the History of Special Education" (Sherman Dorn); and (16) "Ethics and Special Education" (James L. Paul and others). Individual papers contain references. Descriptors: College School Cooperation, Decision Making, Disabilities, Educational Assessment