Investigating the Impact of Standards, High-stakes Testing, and Accountability on Progressive Social Studies Teaching

Investigating the Impact of Standards, High-stakes Testing, and Accountability on Progressive Social Studies Teaching
Author: Marijo Phillips Pearson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2007
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781109844597

Download Investigating the Impact of Standards, High-stakes Testing, and Accountability on Progressive Social Studies Teaching Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Analysis of the data revealed teachers, school administration, and students all shared a common view of progressive social studies, but found that the mandated Global History and Regents Examination compromised this practice and consequently compromised the mission of the school. From this study, it is clear that progressive social studies may not be able to co-exist comfortably with standardization, high-stakes testing, and accountability.

Accountability and Teacher Practice

Accountability and Teacher Practice
Author: Erin F. Cocke
Publisher:
Total Pages: 10
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN:

Download Accountability and Teacher Practice Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

There is much debate over the impact of high stakes testing as well as a growing body of research focused on both the intended and unintended consequences of these tests. One claim of both the popular media and education researchers is that high stakes tests have led to curricular narrowing--the idea that school time is increasingly allocated to tested subjects to the detriment of non tested ones (Dillon, 2006; Center for Education Policy, 2006; West, 2007). In order to investigate the effects of testing on the allocation of instructional time, the authors analyze changing trends in reported teacher time use in situations where testing in new subjects has been recently added. This study uses the three most recent waves (1999-2000, 2003-2004 and 2007, 2008) of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data to explore the how the addition of tests in science and social studies over time have impacted teacher time use within states. This exploration of the impact of a state test in science and social studies on teacher time use indicates that for states that added a test in science there is a small impact of this test on reported teacher time use in science. In addition, there is no significant impact of a new test in social studies on teacher time use in social studies. These results are in contrast with prior work finding a significant impact of a test in social studies and science on reported teacher time in these subjects (West, 2007). One obvious conclusion is that the content of what teachers are teaching matters and is driving change in student test scores rather than the actual time spent teaching each subject. However, this small impact could also be due to the lack of federal pressure currently associated with social studies and science tests, as these tests do not yet impact whether a school meets Average Yearly Progress. Teacher behavior may understandably be more responsive to high pressure accountability than to accountability without sanctions attached. (Contains 4 figures and 2 footnotes.).

The Unintended Consequences of High-stakes Testing

The Unintended Consequences of High-stakes Testing
Author: M. Gail Jones
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2003
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780742526273

Download The Unintended Consequences of High-stakes Testing Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

To understand how high-stakes accountability has influenced teaching and learning, this book looks at the consequences that high-stakes tests hold for students, teachers, administrators, and the public, and demonstrates the negative effects of such testing on nontested subjects, minority students, and students with special needs.

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education

Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education
Author: Laura S. Hamilton
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2002-07-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0833033980

Download Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Test-based accountability systems that attach high stakes to standardized test results have raised a number of issues on educational assessment and accountability. Do these high-stakes tests measure student achievement accurately? How can policymakers and educators attach the right consequences to the results of these tests? And what kinds of tradeoffs do these testing policies introduce? This book responds to the growing emphasis on high-stakes testing and offers recommendations for more-effective test-based accountability systems.

Pencils Down

Pencils Down
Author: Wayne Au
Publisher: Rethinking Schools
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2012
Genre: Education
ISBN: 094296151X

Download Pencils Down Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This powerful collection from the groundbreaking Rethinking Schools magazine takes high-stakes standardized tests to task. Despite overwhelming evidence that the tests are invalid ways to measure teaching and learning -- and continuing signs of their unjust effects on students and teachers -- "reformers" and policymakers continue to force high-stakes tests into the public schools. Through articles that provide thoughtful and emotional critiques from the frontlines of education, Pencils Down deconstructs the damage that standardized tests wreak on our education system and the human beings that populate it. Better yet, it offers visionary forms of assessment that are not only more authentic, but also more democratic, fair, and accurate.

A Guide to High-Stakes Standardized Testing in the United States

A Guide to High-Stakes Standardized Testing in the United States
Author: Amy L. Kelly
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2021-11-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9004511733

Download A Guide to High-Stakes Standardized Testing in the United States Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

High-stakes standardized testing has a long history of exclusion, oppression, power, and control with deep roots in the landscape of American education. In this text, the events and circumstances that have forged the way of high-stakes testing are presented in a straightforward and accessible manner.

High Stakes

High Stakes
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 1998-12-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309173469

Download High Stakes Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Everyone is in favor of "high education standards" and "fair testing" of student achievement, but there is little agreement as to what these terms actually mean. High Stakes looks at how testing affects critical decisions for American students. As more and more tests are introduced into the country's schools, it becomes increasingly important to know how those tests are usedâ€"and misusedâ€"in assessing children's performance and achievements. High Stakes focuses on how testing is used in schools to make decisions about tracking and placement, promotion and retention, and awarding or withholding high school diplomas. This book sorts out the controversies that emerge when a test score can open or close gates on a student's educational pathway. The expert panel: Proposes how to judge the appropriateness of a test. Explores how to make tests reliable, valid, and fair. Puts forward strategies and practices to promote proper test use. Recommends how decisionmakers in education shouldâ€"and should notâ€"use test results. The book discusses common misuses of testing, their political and social context, what happens when test issues are taken to court, special student populations, social promotion, and more. High Stakes will be of interest to anyone concerned about the long-term implications for individual students of picking up that Number 2 pencil: policymakers, education administrators, test designers, teachers, and parents.

Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education

Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 111
Release: 2011-10-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309225078

Download Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

In recent years there have been increasing efforts to use accountability systems based on large-scale tests of students as a mechanism for improving student achievement. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a prominent example of such an effort, but it is only the continuation of a steady trend toward greater test-based accountability in education that has been going on for decades. Over time, such accountability systems included ever-stronger incentives to motivate school administrators, teachers, and students to perform better. Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education reviews and synthesizes relevant research from economics, psychology, education, and related fields about how incentives work in educational accountability systems. The book helps identify circumstances in which test-based incentives may have a positive or a negative impact on student learning and offers recommendations for how to improve current test-based accountability policies. The most important directions for further research are also highlighted. For the first time, research and theory on incentives from the fields of economics, psychology, and educational measurement have all been pulled together and synthesized. Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education will inform people about the motivation of educators and students and inform policy discussions about NCLB and state accountability systems. Education researchers, K-12 school administrators and teachers, as well as graduate students studying education policy and educational measurement will use this book to learn more about the motivation of educators and students. Education policy makers at all levels of government will rely on this book to inform policy discussions about NCLB and state accountability systems.