This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Laura S. Hamilton, Virginia Kohl, Bobby J. Franklin, John Hoback, PEPNet 2, Susan Biemesderfer, Karen Embry Mayo, Baton Rouge. Louisiana State Dept. of Education, Paul Wayne DeVillier, and Harris L. Zwerling.
(2003). Teachers' Responses to High-Stakes Testing and the Validity of Gains: A Pilot Study. CSE Report. Previous studies of the validity of gains on high-stakes tests have compared trends in scores on a high-stakes test to trends on a lower-stakes test, such as NAEP. However, generalizability of gains is likely to be incomplete even when gains are meaningful because of differences in the inferences the two tests are designed to support. Therefore, this simple approach is useful only when the disparity in trends on the two tests is very large. A more sensitive but difficult approach requires identifying the specific aspects of performance that increase by varying amounts and comparing these to the specific inferences users base on the score increases. A key to this approach may be identifying the aspects of performance that teachers focus on in their attempts to raise scores. This report presents the results of a pilot study evaluating several types of survey questions designed to elicit from teachers detailed information on their instructional responses to testing. The types of responses explored are those that previous CRESST work (Koretz, McCaffrey, & Hamilton, 2001) suggested are important for validating score gains. Of the formats used, the most promising appears to be questions, the prompts for which are actual test items, including both items from the high-stakes test for which the teachers are preparing and other tests. [More] Descriptors: Educational Assessment, Evaluation Research, High Stakes Tests, Test Validity
(2002). On Probation and under Pressure: How One Fourth-Grade Class Managed High-Stakes Testing, Childhood Education. Describes personal and professional pressures a first-year teacher faced when confronted with mandated standards in student academic achievement for at-risk students. Focuses on the teacher's efforts to: (1) examine student needs, including addressing test anxiety; (2) adapting classroom methods, including uses of practice testing; and (3) integrating student experiences into innovative teaching methods. Discusses test results and future concerns. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Academic Standards, Classroom Techniques, Educational Testing
(2006). Roots & Wings. Proceedings of the PEPNet 2006 Biennial Conference (Louisville, Kentucky, April 4-8, 2006). During April 2006, educators, students, service providers and professionals from across the nation and the world gathered together at the fifth biennial PEPNet Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, to share concepts, ideas, research, technologies and successful practices that have helped individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing establish strong roots and grow strong wings. The purposes of this conference were to bring challenging issues and promising solutions together in a collaborative atmosphere, to establish solid networks that enhance one-on-one service delivery to clients and students who are deaf and hard of hearing, and to put solid workable strategies in the hands of professionals, students and clients alike. The PEPNet 2006 conference offered sessions that were of interest to disability support services staff, administrators, counselors, students, interpreters, tutors, and faculty members. The conference featured sessions that offered practical, replicable strategies for providing services to students who are deaf or hard of hearing and who are attending postsecondary educational or training programs. This publication offers the reader a small sample of the information that was exchanged during the conference. This publication contains the following papers: (1) If It's Not One Thing, It's Another: Supporting Individuals with Hearing and Vision Loss (Heidi Adams and Diane Jones); (2) Creating a Winning Team: Working Together to Foster Student Success in College (Robb Adams and Ellie Rosenfield); (3) STSN, Your Speech-to-Text Services Network: Working Together for Quality Services (Jo Alexander, Glenna Bain, Jennie Bourgeois, Judy Colwell, Sharon Downs, Pamela Francis, Patricia K. Graves, Phil Hyssong, Denise Kavin, Marcia Kolvitz, Valorie Smith-Pethybridge, and Lauren Whitman); (4) What the Boss Needs to Know: Running a Good Speech-to-Text Program (Jo Alexander, Jennie Bourgeois, Kim Thiessen, and Laurie Watts-Candland); (5) Circles of Learning: Communities of Excellence (Catherine Andersen, Jane Dillehay, Jane Nickerson, Kubby Rashid, Tracey Salaway, and Judy Termini); (6) Administrative Issues: Sign Language Interpreters in the College Setting (Maureen Brady and Beth Pincus); (7) English Access Forum: High Stakes Testing, Reading/Writing Accommodations, Implications for Programs and Services (Alton Brant, Katherine J. Bruni, Noel Gregg, and Jo Anne Simon); (8) "ROOT"ing Service Delivery: Interpreters Find Their Wings in the World of VRS (Debra Brenner, Katherine J. Bruni, Annette Leonard, Jane Nunes, and Bambi Riehl); (9) More Than Words on the Screen (Cindy Camp and Bill Stark); (10) Online Resources Available From the 2005 NTID Instructional Technology Symposium (E. William Clymer, Denise Kavin, and James J. DeCaro); (11) Universal Instructional Design: Enhancing Understanding of the Benefits for Students with Hearing Loss (Roberta J. Cordano and Mari Magler); (12) Public…Speaking?: Charting the Road Less Traveled (Cheryl D. Davis, Elisa Maroney, and Emily Plec); (13) Positive Connections: Working Together to Prepare Well in Advance (Sarah E. Eiland); (14) Diverse Students, Diverse Stories: Perspectives on Postsecondary Access Issues from Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Jennifer Buckley, Brock Hansen, Cynthia Patterson, Gary Talley, Kim Thornsberry, Andy Firth, and Cassie Manuel); (15) Transition Services: Proven Strategies for Preparing Transition-Aged Youth Who Are DeafBlind for Post-School Life (Cynthia L. Ingraham); (16) Addressing the Needs of Students Labeled as Deaf and Low-Functioning or "At Risk" (Theresa Johnson and Cathy McLeod); (17) PEN-International: Facilitating Deaf Education for Deaf Men and Women Around the World (Denise Kavin, E. William Clymer, and James J. DeCaro); (18) Perspectives on Errors in Deaf College Students' Texts: Correction at the Roots (Susan K. Keenan and Kathryn L. Schmitz); (19) Educating Deaf Students: Is Literacy the Issue? (Marc Marschark); (20) Postsecondary Education Abroad: Optimizing the International Postsecondary Experience for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students (Sharaine Rawlinson Roberts and Marcia Kolvitz); (21) Increasing Campus Sensitivity: Building Deaf Awareness through Media and Meetings (Ellie Rosenfield and Jan Strine); (22) The Future Starts with You–Accommodation and Students with Hearing Loss (Debra Russell and Robin Demko); (23) From Roots of One to the Wings of the Team (Lisa Seaman); (24) Postsecondary Education Programs Network of Japan (Mayumi Shirasawa); and (25) Combining Interpreting and Captioning to Make College Classrooms Accessible: Techniques and Technology (Valorie Smith-Pethybridge). Individual papers contain references, footnotes, and tables. [Funding for this publication was provided by the Postsecondary Education Consortium at the University of Tennessee, College of Education, Center on Deafness.] [More] Descriptors: Conferences (Gatherings), Visual Impairments, Blindness, Hearing Impairments
(1997). High-Stakes Testing: Worth the Price?, Journal of School Leadership. In this study, over 100 teachers completed open-ended surveys on how they prepare students for the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills and the test's effects on students, teachers, and schools. High-stakes testing has become the object rather than the measure of teaching and learning, negatively affecting curriculum, teacher decision making, instruction, student learning, school climate, and student motivation. (19 references) Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Educational Environment, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests
(2001). The Roles of a Visual Literacy Component in Middle School Language Arts Curricula: A Case Study with At-Risk Students and Their Teachers. As a co-author of the GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) grant proposal to the Department of Education in 1999, the primary author (Kohl) of this paper is in her third year of working at Franklin Middle School, which largely serves at-risk minority students through the University of South Florida (USF), which is the grant recipient. The paper first describes Franklin Middle School and its educational community and gives the purposes of the visual literacy component in the language arts curriculum in a school with students whose literacy skills are not first-rate. It lists the books and articles used to provide a rationale for the visual literacy component, stating that the potential for utilizing films to unite thematic houses can be seen, as can the utilization of films as literature. The second author (Dressler) discusses student and teacher responses to the visual literacy component in the language arts curriculum. The third author (Hoback) describes his students' use of film. They first read S. E. Hinton's "The Outsiders," then watched Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders" and worked on an assignment which examined the film's deviations from the book's text. The paper's primary author concludes that overall the visual literacy insertion was a successful introduction to both film rhetoric and media devices while simultaneously meeting the Sunshine State Standards and preparing students for high-stakes testing. (Contains 10 references.) [More] Descriptors: Case Studies, Classroom Techniques, Critical Viewing, Films
(2001). Building on What We Have Learned: A National Dialogue on Standards-Based Education. Three nonprofit organizations support a dialogue on standards-based educational reform. North Central Regional Education Laboratory, Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, and the Berkana Institute offer Web sites and a toll-free number to those who want to comment on this type of reform. In surveys, a clear majority of parents feel that testing to identify students who need help and to publish school's scores for comparison are appropriate uses of standards tests. However, even more parents are against using the score on one test as the criterion for promotion to the next grade or for graduation. In high-stakes assessment, teacher's jobs and students' promotion are at risk. Teachers have to be apprised of the contents of the tests given in order to even attempt to teach to the test. Another major concern is equity. African American, Hispanic, and Native American students tend to perform at lower academic levels than whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders on most standardized measures of achievement. High-stakes testing policies may increase education inequity between whites and minorities or between affluent and impoverished students, perhaps increasing dropout rates. Possibly standards scores will prod schools to target resources where they are needed most. Potential topics to address, suggested questions, and recommendations from research literature are offered, along with a glossary and suggested reading. An appendix traces the history of this type of reform from 1983. [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education, Standardized Tests
(2002). Stories from the Shadows: High-Stakes Testing and Teacher Preparation, Language Arts. Describes how a group of Texas teacher educators use story to examine their teaching decisions in the face of a test-driven curriculum. Notes that their stories reflect their responses to pressures to create curriculum that imitates the test rather than remaining learner-centered. Descriptors: Curriculum Development, Elementary Secondary Education, High Stakes Tests, Standardized Tests
(1999). The Development and Impact of High Stakes Testing. This paper reviews recent developments in the growth of testing as a requirement for high school graduation for K-12 public school systems throughout the United States. It then examines performance patterns on such tests by focusing on results for students indifferent racial and ethnic groups in several states. The multiple meanings of the movement to require students to pass formal statewide tests in order to receive a high school diploma are considered. Twenty-two states currently have such requirements, and an additional five states are developing examinations that will be required for high school graduation. There is little consensus about the impact of high stakes testing on students, teachers, schools, and the general public's perception of education. Without considering the ultimate impact of such tests, this paper reviews the immediate impact by examining the test scores of students from different racial and ethnic groups in Texas, New York, and Minnesota. For each state, the history of state graduation testing, current regulations about exemptions from the tests, racial and ethnic group performance differences, and legal challenges to high school graduation tests are reviewed. If the motivational consequences of high school graduation tests are not positive or at least not uniformly positive cross racial, ethnic, and social class lines, as some research has suggested, then these tests may have the potential to exacerbate further substantial inequities in schooling outcomes. Whatever the interpretation one prefers to place on the high stakes testing movement, there are things that can be done to improve the use of such tests. These center around research into test construction and test use to ensure equal opportunity. (Contains 17 references.) [More] Descriptors: Disadvantaged Youth, Equal Education, Ethnicity, Graduation Requirements
(2001). Lessons in Teacher Education Reform: A Comparative Analysis of Teacher Education in the United Kingdom and the United States. This report examines similarities and differences between teacher preparation systems in the United States and the United Kingdom. The first section discusses initiatives to renew and reform teacher education, highlighting four interrelated factors that provide insight into the reasons for conflicting demands for change (public expectations about education, the politicizing of teacher education, differing views about implementing change, and differing philosophies about teacher preparation). The second section discusses implementation of reform, highlighting government and educational policy. The third section describes teacher education's response to implementing reform. For example, educators in both countries are addressing reform issues from institutional and national perspectives. The fourth section describes similarities and differences in teacher education in the two countries. The countries are similar in the declining support for higher education, perceived loss of academic freedom, increased demand for teachers, distaste for high stakes testing and monitoring, and lack of recognition for improvement. The countries differ in school reform, centralization, funding and resources, and focused criticism. The fifth section examines trends for the future. Appended is a presentation by the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, delivered at the 2000 annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. (Contains 45 references.) [More] Descriptors: Change Strategies, Educational Change, Educational Policy, Educational Quality
(2002). Conversations from the Commissions: Reflective Teaching in the Panic of High-Stakes Testing, English Education. Notes that within the past five years, the national standards movement has prompted many states to turn to the use of test scores to hold students and teachers accountable to higher standards in academic achievement. Discusses the unintended consequences: pervasive emotional pressure, reductionist views of literacy, conflicted views of teaching and learning, and stratification of schools and districts. Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Academic Standards, Accountability, English Instruction
(2003). High-Stakes Testing–Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test: A True Measure of Acquired Skills or a Political Ruse?. This discussion of high stakes tests explores criticisms commonly made of the use of these tests and suggests some additional reasons educators and the public should not rely on high stakes tests as the single source of data about student achievement. The United States has no national educational policy on standards of knowledge. Each state is left to develop an individual curriculum, yet at the same time each state has to be accountable and show positive results to politicians at state and national levels to keep revenue flowing. National goals and standards have been proposed, but revenue has not come forth to make these goals a reality. It is easy to think that the numbers produced by standardized tests can answer accountability questions, but there are many reasons standardized tests should not be the single basis for educational decisions. This paper suggests four reasons beyond the commonly mentioned why high-stakes tests should not be used for a single purpose: (1) high-stakes tests reduce a childs rich and complex life to a collection of scores, percentiles, and grades; (2) such tests judge children without providing suggestions for improvement; (3) answers on high-stakes tests are final, without opportunities for revision; and (4) high-stakes tests discriminate against some students because of cultural backgrounds and individual learning styles. (Contains 37 endnotes.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Cultural Differences, Culture Fair Tests, Elementary Secondary Education
(2003). The Performance Levels and Associated Cut Scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Mathematics and Reading Tests: A Critical Analysis. In the context of controversy over the use of high stakes testing, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) asked for an evaluation of the performance levels and cut score of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) mathematics and reading tests. While awaiting technical documentation from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the PSEA began an evaluation of its own. Ten Pennsylvania school districts were asked to participate in the study, and four agreed to do so. Part 1 of this report discusses the technical information provided by the PDE to the public and before the State Board of Education and that provided in response to the PSEA Right To Know requirements. It assess the adequacy of the cut score process. Part 2 contains the study jointly conducted by PSEA and the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) of the relationship between PSSA performance levels and performance on commercial standardized tests. This study was conducted to provide a gauge of the external validity of the cut scores. The final section contains conclusions and recommendations. Instead of selecting the more fully documented and carefully executed (bookmark) method for establishing cut scores, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education averages the cut scores established using two methods, a bookmark and a borderline group method, and then increased the cut scores by a quarter standard error. This data manipulation resulted in tens of thousands of students falling into lower performance categories. For all six PSSA tests, the cut scores approved by the state, when compared to the bookmark study cut scores, decrease the number of students achieving proficient or better by more than 25,000. The PDE cut scores increase the number of students failing by more than 42,000. Findings show that many students failing the PSSAs do quite well on other commercial tests. It is also noted that below-basic PSSA performers averaged slightly higher Scholastic Assessment Test scores than those classified as basic by the PSSA, providing more evidence that the failure cut score at grade 11 requires re-examination. An appendix contains a request for test information, and the other three contain data tables. (Contains 20 graphs, 3 tables, and 21 references.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Accountability, Cutting Scores, Elementary Secondary Education
(2001). GEE 21 (Graduation Exit Examination for the 21st Century) Grade 10 English Language Arts [and] Mathematics [Sample Questions]. Louisiana is transforming public education with the "Reaching for Results" reform initiative. "Reaching for Results" includes higher standards for what students should know and be able to do, school and district accountability, increased resources for schools and students, and a new testing program, including the Graduation Exit Exam for the 21st Century (GEE 21). The goal of the GEE 21 is to ensure that students graduate from high school with some basic skills and knowledge in English, math, science, and social studies. The GEE 21 replaces the old GEE, which has been in place since 1989. On the GEE 21, instead of receiving "pass" or "fail" scores, students will receive an achievement level ranging from a top level of "Advanced" to a failing level of "Unsatisfactory." Students who are in the 10th grade in Spring 2001 must pass the English and math tests to graduate. This booklet contains GEE 21 Math and English sample test questions. In the booklet, the questions are arranged from least difficult (Approaching Basic) to most difficult (Advanced). The booklet is divided into the following sections: GEE 21 Achievement Levels; Sample Math Test Items; Sample English Language Arts Test Items; High-Stakes Testing Questions and Answers; and Test-Taking Tips. [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, Accountability, Educational Change, English Instruction
(2005). A Comparison of Two Procedures for Constrained Adaptive Test Construction. Research Report. ETS RR-04-39, ETS Research Report Series. The relatively new shadow test approach (STA) to computerized adaptive testing (CAT) proposed by Wim van der Linden is a potentially attractive alternative to the weighted deviation algorithm (WDA) implemented at ETS. However, it has not been evaluated under testing conditions representative of current ETS testing programs. Of interest was whether STA would, under typical high-stakes on-demand testing situations, produce tests of comparable or better psychometric quality as those produced by the current weighted deviation algorithm. Based on simulated data, we found that the STA performed as well or slightly better than the WDA on two of the three commonly accepted testing objectives: measurement and content. The WDA appeared to perform slightly better than the STA when the issue is security or item exposure control. The paper provides a review of the rationale that led to the specific testing objectives employed, an outline of the test construction steps common to the two procedures investigated, and a description of the specific models and algorithms employed by both procedures. Detailed description of the simulation study conducted and the results obtained from both of the procedures for one of the pools are also provided. Results are summarized and further research needs in particular areas discussed. [More] Descriptors: Test Construction, Computer Assisted Testing, Simulation, Evaluation Methods
(2001). Grade Level Retention Rates in Louisiana Public Schools: 1997-98 to 2000-01. This paper reports on the number and percentage of students repeating grades in Louisiana public schools in the years of 1997-1998 to 2000-2001. The findings are grouped by grade, economic status, education classification, gender, and ethnicity. Grade retention trends and the impact of high stakes testing policy on student retention are discussed. Data were obtained from Louisiana's statewide student enrollment database Student Information System. From 1997-1998 to 1999-2000, K-12 retention rates in Louisiana public schools rose from 7.5% (53,358) to 8.3% (57,361). The rate climbed to 10.7% (73,740) in 2000-2001 when the LEAP 21 test became a promotional standard for fourth and eighth graders. In 2000-2001, the number of students retained more than tripled in grades 4 and 8. In 1999-2000, grade 9 students were retained at the highest rate, followed by grades 1, 7, and 10. Poverty was strongly associated with grade retention, and students in special education programs were retained at a higher rate than students in a regular education program. Special education students receiving free lunch were most likely to be retained. African American students were retained at a higher rate than students in other ethnic groups, and male students were more likely to be retained than female students. [More] Descriptors: Age Differences, Educational Trends, Elementary School Students, Elementary Secondary Education