This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Daniel M. Koretz, Doug Christensen, Robert M. Hauser, Wendy McColskey, Don R. Morris, Solon J. Simmons, Alexandria National School Boards Association, Gerald Giraud, Margaret Hadderman, and Christine Coombe.
(2000). Standards: The Policy Environment. ERIC Digest, Number 138. This digest offers a snapshot of the standards movement: its origins, the definitions of standards and which ones matter, its successes at the district and state levels, the backlash against the movement, and possible policy directions. While a broad coalition of constituencies has embraced standards-based reform as a means of improving public schools' accountability, preparing a globally competitive work force, and decreasing the achievement gap among various racial ethnic groups, equally vocal groups are arguing that the tough standards movement is flunking too many students and detracting from classroom learning. Critics say the standards movement has been "reduced to a single policy–high stakes testing" linking one set of standardized tests scores to promotion, high-school graduation, and even educator salaries and tenure decisions. Moreover, states pushing for higher standards must provide massive funding for the remedial, tutoring, and professional-development programs needed to enhance students' success. As of early 1999, only 11 states offered such funding. Drawing on pioneering districts' initial successes, educators are advised to make learning (not testing) the goal, provide special assistance for disadvantaged students, set realistic failure rates, invest in wide-ranging reforms, make retention a last resort, capitalize on publicity, and concentrate on urban high schools. (Contains 14 references.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, Accountability, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education
(2000). The Challenge of Educating English Language Learners in Rural Areas. Rural school districts are experiencing an influx of language minority students. Rural communities generally have little experience with people from other cultures and have fewer resources and bilingual people. At the district level, leaders who view the influx of immigrants in a positive light are more likely to prepare a well thought out plan for serving their English Language Learners (ELLs). An example shows the steps taken in a rural Virginia district to implement a well-researched program that set the district on the right path for years to come. Although the district provides structure and guidance, it is the school principal who ensures that programs are properly implemented and maintained. Schools that are successfully helping their ELLs have principals with positive attitudes towards their new population. Successful principals arrange training sessions for all staff on cultural awareness, schedule ongoing training sessions for mainstream teachers on English-as-second-language (ESL) strategies, actively recruit ethnically diverse teachers and staff, encourage collaboration between mainstream and ESL teachers, support extended-day opportunities for ELLs, purchase classroom and library resources that broaden student understanding of different cultures, and reach out to parents using their native language. The increased emphasis on standards and high-stakes testing and related questions about fair treatment of ELLs can support rural district efforts to obtain additional funding. The Department of Education provides free technical assistance, and there are often community resources and volunteers that can be tapped. [More] Descriptors: Administrator Role, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Isolation, Educational Change
(2005). The Effect of Item Response Time Patterns on Ability Estimates in High Stakes Computer Adaptive Testing, Online Submission. This study examines the effect of item response time across 30 items on ability estimates in a high stakes computer adaptive graduate admissions examination. Examinees were categorized according to 4 item response time patterns, and the categories are compared in terms of ability estimates. Significant differences between response time patterns were observed. Highest ability estimates were associated with a response time pattern that was consistent across items, while lowest ability estimates were associated with long response times on items early in the test and short response times late in the test. These results suggest that teaching examinees to manage time effectively can maximize ability estimates. An alternative interpretation is that more able examinees require less time to respond to items. [More] Descriptors: Reaction Time, Test Items, Time Management, Adaptive Testing
(2000). Estandares: El medio ambiente de las politicas (Standards: The Policy Environment). ERIC Digest. This digest in Spanish offers a snapshot of the standards movement: its origins, the definitions of standards and which ones matter, its successes at the district and state levels, the backlash against the movement, and possible policy directions. While a broad coalition of constituencies has embraced standards-based reform as a means of improving public schools' accountability, preparing a globally competitive work force, and decreasing the achievement gap among various racial ethnic groups, equally vocal groups are arguing that the tough standards movement is flunking too many students and detracting from classroom learning. Critics say the standards movement has been "reduced to a single policy–high stakes testing" linking one set of standardized tests scores to promotion, high-school graduation, and even educator salaries and tenure decision. Moreover, states pushing for higher standards must provide massive funding for the remedial, tutoring, and professional-development programs needed to enhance students' success. As of early 1999, only 11 states offered such funding. Drawing on pioneering districts' initial successes, educators are advised to make learning (not testing) the goal, provide special assistance for disadvantaged students, set realistic failure rates, invest in wide-ranging reforms, make retention a last resort, capitalize on publicity, and concentrate on urban high schools. (Contains 14 references.) [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, Accountability, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education
(2000). Alternative Assessment Acquisition in the United Arab Emirates. Until very recently, assessment in the Arabian Gulf focused primarily on high stakes testing. However, with the increased popularity of multiple-measure assessment, institutions in the region are adopting alternative forms of assessment. This paper provides a rationale for alternative assessment in the English-as-a-Foreign/Second-Language (EFL/ESL) setting. More specifically, a literature review of assessment research is provided and an evaluation of assessment reform at two government tertiary institutions is described. Alternative assessments generally meet the following criteria: focus is on documenting student growth over time rather than on comparing students with one another; emphasis is on students' strengths–what they know and what they can do with the language–rather than on their weaknesses; consideration is given to learning styles, language proficiencies, cultural and educational backgrounds, and grade levels of students; authenticity is prized because it is based on activities that represent actual progress toward instructional goals and reflect tasks typical of classrooms and real-life settings. Specific sections address the emergence of alternative assessment, traditional versus alternative assessment, assessment in the Arabian Gulf, and alternative assessment in the United Arab Emirates. It is concluded that alternative assessment is a superior learning and teaching tool, and that its growing use in the Arabian Gulf region is a positive development. (Contains 2 figures and 11 references.) [More] Descriptors: Alternative Assessment, Educational Assessment, English (Second Language), Evaluation Methods
(2000). Race-Ethnicity, Social Background, and Grade Retention. CDE Working Paper. This paper reviews the policy context of school retention and shows that age-grade retardation has been common and growing in American schools from the 1970s-90s. The paper focuses on the period from 1972-98 and on grade retardation at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and 17 years. By age 9 years, the odds of grade-retardation among African American and Hispanic youth are 50 percent larger than they are among white youth, but these differentials are almost entirely explained by social and economic deprivation among minority youth, along with unfavorable geographic location. Because rates of age-grade retardation have increased at the same time that social background conditions have become more favorable to rapid progress through school, the observed trend toward more age-grade retardation substantially understates growth in the practice of holding students back in school. While there is presently little evidence of direct racial-ethnic discrimination in progress through the elementary and secondary grades, the recent movement toward high stakes testing for promotion could magnify racial-ethic differentials in retention. (Contains 45 references.) [More] Descriptors: Age Differences, Black Students, Educational Policy, Elementary Secondary Education
(2002). The Vision: SERVE's Magazine. Volume 1, Number 2, 2002, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. This issue of the SERVE magazine discusses using assessment and accountability to improve student learning. Articles include: (1) Can High-Stakes State Testing Be Improved? (Wendy McColskey and Nancy McMunn); (2) Standards of Classroom Practice: Defining a Vision of Quality in the Classroom (Nancy McMunn and Wendy McColskey); (3) Taking a Close Look at the Quality of Teachers' Assignments and Student Work (Lindsay Clare Matsumara); (4) The Southern States Seminar: A Regional Strategy for Success (Rebecca Rhoden Ogletree); (5) Florida Approves New Grading Rule for School Accountability System (Joel Overton); (6) South Carolina Addresses African-American Student Achievement (Cindy McIntee); (7) New Testing Requirements (Jeff Gagne); and (8) Using Research to Construct Quality Classroom Practices: Part I, Laying the Foundation (Susan Martelli and Barbara Davis). (Individual articles contain references.) [This magazine was produced by SERVE, The Regional Educational Laboratory for the Southeast, associated with the School of Education, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.] [More] Descriptors: Testing, Periodicals, Academic Achievement, Accountability
(2003). Untangling Our Predicaments: Inquiring into Methods Courses, English Education. Although he may not have spoken quite as eloquently as the Bard of Avon, Ernie Page, the author's methods instructor at Penn State, once said that teaching English was less a subject and more a predicament. He was alluding to the many complexities and range of subject matter that constitute teaching the English language arts. In the 30 years since the author first heard those words, teaching in general and, more specifically, teaching language arts at any level has taken on much greater complexity. English classrooms now focus more purposefully on sociocultural, sociohistorical, and sociopolitical concerns, even as greater responsibility has been ascribed to those classrooms via the hegemonic predominance of high stakes standardized testing. And, as most teachers will testify, the rise in expectations for teachers and students in English classrooms has been accompanied by a decrease in time, support, and inclusion of teacher voice in classroom decision-making. Over the last two years, those on the CEE Executive Committee have wondered about the state of methods courses in the US, those courses that specifically address how, what, and why to teach in English/language arts classrooms. Their interest has been driven by a range of questions. There was a feeling within the CEE Executive Committee that through an investigation of something as basic to their mission as methods courses, those in the field of literacy teacher education could better understand these developing complexities and author some insight into their implications for teachers and teacher educators alike. This article describes the day-long colloquium which the CEE Executive Committee authorized and developed. Designed as an interactive workshop, the colloquium gathered together a number of teacher educators in order to generate the range of what methods courses might look like, what concerns this range addressed, and what issues remained. [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Methods Courses, Language Arts, Teacher Educators
(2000). Assessing the Implementation of High Stakes Reform: Aggregate Relationships between Retention Rates and Test Results. The relationship between high stakes testing and retention was studied in Florida in the context of educational reform and controversy over the effectiveness of retaining students in grade. The focus was on the relationship between the percentage of students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8 falling below the 50th percentile on the Stanford Achievement Test and the percent retained by grade. The scope of the analysis was on the schools years 1986-1987 through 1990-1991, during which the reform went from strong enforcement (high retention policies) to termination. When there was a positive relationship between test results and retention, it tended to occur only in the more affluent schools. Leaving aside the question of whether retention is an effective or desirable way to remediate students and raise educational standards, this study points to the conclusion that high stakes approaches to improving student performance have a low probability of successful implementation. Although the retained-until-remediated policy may be feasible in the better performing schools, cost and space make it expensive even there, and the overall difficulties for implementation are formidable. (Contains 3 tables and 34 references.) [More] Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Educational Change, Elementary Education, Elementary School Students
(2000). Advocacy Seminar 2000 Course Book (Litchfield Park, Arizona, October 12-14, 2000). This publication contains material from a 2-day seminar sponsored by the National School Boards Association's Council of School Attorneys. The notebook includes papers prepared by the seminar faculty, court documents, and other information related to the following topics: student threats; current issues of students with disabilities; the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, accompanied by details on frequently asked questions and special-education issues; e-mail and access to public meetings and records; prayer in the schools; the Equal Access Act and related issues; legal considerations for measures to promote school safety, with highlights on school searches, dress codes, discipline, zero tolerance, discrimination, and security; hiring and retaining superintendents and dealing with search firms, letters of intent, and incentive agreements; practice tips for defending against temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, with suggestions for necessary pleadings, petitions for injunctive relief, and memoranda to vacate restraining orders in opposition; high-stakes testing; disciplining school-district employees for off-campus actions; fundraising, vending agreements, and advertising; race as a factor in student assignments, including briefs on voluntary desegregation and excerpts from recent cases; Cincinnati's alternative dispute-resolution process; and do-not-resuscitate orders and other issues related to medically fragile students. [More] Descriptors: Advocacy, Compliance (Legal), Court Litigation, Educational Administration
(2000). Washback or Backwash: A Review of the Impact of Testing on Teaching and Learning. Washback or backwash, also known as measurement-driven instruction, is a common term in applied linguistics referring to the influence of testing on teaching and learning, which is a prevailing phenomena in education. It is a truism that "what is assessed becomes what is valued, which becomes what is taught." This paper aims to share the discussion of this education phenomenon from different perspectives both in the area of general education and in language education. It discusses the historical origins of washback; the definition and scope of washback; and the function and mechanism of washback, and efforts, both recent and not, to mitigate its negative effects. It is concluded that the ultimate reason for the persistence and widespread nature of this problem is the existence of high-stakes testing. Few educators would dispute the claim that these sorts of high-stakes tests markedly influence the nature of instructional programs. Whether they are concerned about their own self-esteem or their students' well-being, teachers clearly want students to perform well on such tests. Accordingly, teachers tend to focus a significant portion of their instructional activities on the knowledge and skills assessed by such tests. [More] Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Curriculum Based Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education, Evaluation Research
(2000). Policy Perspectives on Assessment (Ways To Better Clarify Assessment Issues across Governance Organizations). Educational policy issues must be seen as statements of intention, with the practice issues of accountability kept separate. Accountability should not be juxtaposed to school improvement. Instead, accountability should be defined broadly as doing the things that improve practice so that the intended results can be achieved. If there is no balance in the definition of accountability, then it will merely result in scorekeeping. School improvement must drive the standards and assessment process or control over the positive impact standards will be lost. To improve achievement, standards-based classrooms must precede the assessment process. Because standards, assessment, and accountability form a new paradigm for the educational process, it is important that innovations come from the classroom and move up, rather than from the state moving down. High stakes testing, or external accountability, tends to drive out good practice. To avoid this, the hierarchy of the school system must be reversed to focus on the classroom first. Teachers must be helped to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to define what students should learn, and then they must learn to determine how they will know students have learned what they should. In Nebraska, the state department of education is trying to create a systems approach to standards, assessment, and accountability that rests on local definition of standards. [More] Descriptors: Accountability, Educational Assessment, Educational Policy, Educational Practices
(1991). The Effects of High-Stakes Testing on Achievement: Preliminary Findings about Generalization across Tests. Detailed evidence is presented about the extent of generalization from high-stakes tests to other tests and about the instructional effects of high-stakes testing. Data are from grade 3 of a large, high-poverty urban district with large numbers of Black and Hispanic American students. The district's results in 1990 for two tests, designated Test B and Test C, were compared to the researchers' results for Test C (N=840 students in 36 schools). Student-level comparisons were made for three study tests and Test B. For mathematics, all comparisons, at district and student levels, support the primary hypothesis that performance on the conventional high-stakes test does not generalize well to other tests for which students have not been specifically prepared. Evidence in reading is less consistent, but suggests weaknesses in generalizing in some instances. Even the preliminary results presented in this paper provide a serious criticism of test-based accountability and raise concerns about the effects of high-stakes testing on instruction. Teachers in this district evidently focus on content specific to the test used for accountability rather than trying to improve achievement in the broader, more desirable sense. Five references are listed, and four tables of study data and six illustrative figures are included. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Accountability, Achievement Tests, Black Students
(2000). Racing against Time: A Report on the Leupp Navajo Immersion Project. This paper describes a federally funded language preservation program at Leupp Public School, part of Flagstaff (Arizona) Unified School District but located on the Navajo Reservation. Funded in 1997 for 5 years, this schoolwide project is designed to help elementary students become proficient speakers, readers, and writers of Navajo while enhancing their English language skills and preparing them to meet state academic standards. The program combines Navajo immersion with English-as-a-second-language inclusion, literacy initiatives, sheltered English/Navajo, parental involvement, and take-home technologies. Academic content and state standards are initially presented from a Navajo perspective via four global themes with a unifying concept of "hozho" or "peace, beauty, and harmony." By fall 2000, the immersion program had been implemented in grades K-2 and plans for a school-based cultural center had been presented to the school district. This paper examines the need for the program and how it was developed with staff, parental, and community involvement; presents a program overview; describes the Navajo culture-based curriculum; and discusses some of the inherent challenges in developing and sustaining a language preservation program based upon a Navajo-specific curriculum in the English-only era of high-stakes testing. [More] Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian Education, Bilingual Education, Culturally Relevant Education
(2000). Democracy and Education, Schools and Communities Initiative: Conceptual Framework and Preliminary Findings. Nine rural Vermont schools committed to linking to their local communities are participating in an ongoing study of how manifest curricula (what is taught) and latent curricula (how classes are taught and schools are governed) influence development of student dispositions toward democratic participation. This paper presents preliminary findings from the first year. In some schools that gave students opportunities to practice democratic values and that had a vision of how service learning or a curriculum of place relates to the school mission, school-community relations improved and the student body developed a sense of civic responsibility. The major factors impacting a school's adoption of service learning were school board support, collaborative leadership, common philosophies of education among teachers and staff, and adequate resources and professional development opportunities. Service-learning and related experiential education opportunities engaged alienated and marginalized students. Most service-learning projects lacked strong ties to the traditional curriculum and strong reflection components, and few service-learning efforts emphasized complex social problems, human rights issues, environmental awareness, or social justice. Barriers to fuller implementation and sustainability of existing efforts include inadequate preparation time, transportation, and resources; uncertainty over where to place emphasis and how experiential learning meets academic standards; philosophical conflicts over the role of education; perceived limitations of students; high stakes testing; and the entrenched authoritarian and anti-democratic organizational structure and mindset of current schooling. [More] Descriptors: Academic Standards, Citizenship Education, Citizenship Responsibility, Classroom Environment