Measuring Up demystifies educational testing - from MCAS to SAT to WAIS. Bringing statistical terms down to earth, Koretz takes readers through the most fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education today, from high-stakes testing to special education.
Measuring Up demystifies educational testing - from MCAS to SAT to WAIS. Bringing statistical terms down to earth, Koretz takes readers through the most fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education today, from high-stakes testing to special education.
Measuring Up revisits vital issues of equity and assessment through the research efforts and insights of many of the nation's most prominent educators and assessment experts. As its most urgent purpose, the publication aims to sensitize readers to the unfairness and inappropriate uses of testing instruments which under optimal circumstances have the potential to benefit all students. With America fervently espousing both national and state testing, the differential performance by race and social class raises the specter of tests as barriers to life milestones such as promotion, graduation, and college admissions. In response to such punitive testing, the papers included here explore a host of models and practices that are currently being piloted both in America and abroad as educators grapple with the effects the assessment is having on minority and disadvantaged students and school systems. In the process, outcomes of innovative portfolio and authentic assessments are weighed against important standards and principles of validity and consequences. As the various authors probe the gap between African-American and White test scores, they raise important questions of resources,...
Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) provides academic and business economists, government officials, and members of the financial and business communities with timely research on current economic issues. Contents: Editors' Summary The Increase in Income Cyclicality of High-Income Households and Its Relation to the Rise in Top Income SharesBy Jonathan A. Parker and Annette Vissing-Jorgensen (Northwestern University) The State of the Social Safety Net in the Post-Welfare Reform EraBy Marianne P. Bitler (University of California, Irvine) and Hilary W. Hoynes (University of California, Davis) The Impact of No Child Left Behind on Students, Teacheres, and SchoolsBy Thomas S. Dee (University of Virginia) and Brian A. Jacob (University of Michigan) How Useful Are Estimated DSGE Model Forecasts for Central Bankers? By Rochelle M. Edge (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) and Refet S. Gürkaynak (Bilkent University) Regulating the Shadow Banking SystemBy Gary Gorton and Andrew Metrick (Yale University) State Fiscal Policies and Transitory Income FluctuationsBy James R. Hines, Jr. (University of Michigan)
A leader in educational technology separates truth from hype, explaining what tech can—and can’t—do to transform our classrooms. Proponents of large-scale learning have boldly promised that technology can disrupt traditional approaches to schooling, radically accelerating learning and democratizing education. Much-publicized experiments, often underwritten by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, have been launched at elite universities and in elementary schools in the poorest neighborhoods. Such was the excitement that, in 2012, the New York Times declared the “year of the MOOC.” Less than a decade later, that pronouncement seems premature. In Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education, Justin Reich delivers a sobering report card on the latest supposedly transformative educational technologies. Reich takes readers on a tour of MOOCs, autograders, computerized “intelligent tutors,” and other educational technologies whose problems and paradoxes have bedeviled educators. Learning technologies—even those that are free to access—often provide the greatest benefit to affluent students and do little to combat growing inequality in education. And...
Can we measure what we treasure? Can we build and sustain truly excellent schools focused on the ambitious goal of human flourishing? And can we hold ourselves accountable to the children and families we serve in ways that harness data to advance that goal? The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector says “yes”! The Montessori Assessment Playbook shows us how to do it. Organized around 33 discrete tools, the Playbook provides a clear and actionable scaffold for building an assessment protocol that captures compelling student outcomes, such as perseverance, compassion, and creativity, and that links those outcomes to the investments we make to classrooms and schools. Emphasizing both coherence and precision, the Montessori Assessment Playbook shows us how to develop and implement a comprehensive assessment framework focused on human flourishing and, just as important, why such a framework is urgently needed.
Improving public schools through performance-based funding Spurred by court rulings requiring states to increase public-school funding, the United States now spends more per student on K-12 education than almost any other country. Yet American students still achieve less than their foreign counterparts, their performance has been flat for decades, millions of them are failing, and poor and minority students remain far behind their more advantaged peers. In this book, Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth trace the history of reform efforts and conclude that the principal focus of both courts and legislatures on ever-increasing funding has done little to improve student achievement. Instead, Hanushek and Lindseth propose a new approach: a performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost-effective decisions about how to run their schools, ultimately leading to improved student performance. Hanushek and Lindseth have been important participants in the school funding debate for three decades. Here, they draw on their experience, as well as the best available research...
Achievement tests play an important role in modern societies. They are used to evaluate schools, to assign students to tracks within schools, and to identify weaknesses in student knowledge. The GED is an achievement test used to grant the status of high school graduate to anyone who passes it. GED recipients currently account for 12 percent of all high school credentials issued each year in the United States. But do achievement tests predict success in life? The Myth of Achievement Tests shows that achievement tests like the GED fail to measure important life skills. James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, Tim Kautz, and a group of scholars offer an in-depth exploration of how the GED came to be used throughout the United States and why our reliance on it is dangerous. Drawing on decades of research, the authors show that, while GED recipients score as well on achievement tests as high school graduates who do not enroll in college, high school graduates vastly outperform GED recipients in terms of their earnings, employment opportunities, educational attainment, and health. The authors show that the differences in success between GED recipients and high school graduates are driven ...
Shows how global ratings and rankings shape political agendas and influence states' behavior, reframing how we think about power.
The New York City Department of Education asked RAND to conduct an independent longitudinal evaluation of its 5th-grade promotion policy. The findings of that study, conducted between March 2006 and August 2009, provide a comprehensive view of the policy's implementation and its impact on student outcomes, particularly for students at risk of retention and those who were retained in grade.
Despite claims that written exams narrowed the curriculum, ruined children’s health, and turned teachers into automatons, once tests took root in American schools their legitimacy was never seriously challenged. William Reese puts today’s battles over standards and benchmarks into perspective by showcasing the history of the pencil-and-paper exam.
"The question that dismays all teachers and ought to concern everyparent because of what it reveals about what school can do to achild's curiosity -- ?Will this be on the test?' -- will never beanswered again in the same way. Bob Rothman offers a rich andcompelling account of the unfolding revolution in testing inAmerica's schools." -- Richard P. Mills, Vermont commissioner of education An award-winning journalist, Rothman cuts through the assessmentdebate -- a debate often characterized by misrepresentations andjargon -- to offer a highly accessible examination of the shift inthinking about testing. He underscores that any change must beginwith the And: what we want students to know and be able to do. Suchchanges demand a new way of knowing what students can achieve--anda system that enables them to achieve.
Policy makers are caught between two powerful forces in relation to testing in America's schools. One is increased interest on the part of educators, reinforced by federal requirements, in developing tests that accurately reflect local educational standards and goals. The other is a strong push to gather information about the performance of students and schools relative to national and international standards and norms. The difficulty of achieving these two goals simultaneously is exacerbated by both the long-standing American tradition of local control of education and the growing public sentiment that students already take enough tests. Finding a solution to this dilemma has been the focus of numerous debates surrounding the Voluntary National Tests proposed by President Clinton in his 1997 State of the Union address. It was also the topic of a congressionally mandated 1998 National Research Council report (Uncommon Measures: Equivalence and Linkage Among Educational Tests), and was touched upon in a U.S. General Accounting Office report (Student Testing: Issues Related to Voluntary National Mathematics and Reading Tests). More recently, Congress asked the National Research...
To achieve national goals for education, we must measure the things that really count. Measuring What Counts establishes crucial research- based connections between standards and assessment. Arguing for a better balance between educational and measurement concerns in the development and use of mathematics assessment, this book sets forth three principles--related to content, learning, and equity--that can form the basis for new assessments that support emerging national standards in mathematics education.
Much of the common knowledge about standardized tests is simply wrong, and these misunderstandings have led to the distortion of the education of children and the judgments made about them. The Myths of Standardized Tests debunks these assumptions, proposing better ways to judge the success of our schools and offering readers suggestions for ways they can help reduce the burden of tests on their children.
"From the director of Race to Nowhere comes a ... book for parents, students, and educators on how to revolutionize learning, prioritize children's health, and re-envision success for a lifetime"--
Provides information and statistics on the health, education, and standard of living of all Americans.
In exploring the relationship between bureaucratic schooling and the individual child, Waters describes the persistence of educational inequality, child development, and the nature of bureaucracy. The conclusions point out how education bureaucracies frame both schooling and childhood as they relentlessly seek to create ever more perfect children.
Measure what matters for deeper learning Getting at the heart of what matters for students is key to deeper learning that connects with their lives, but what good is knowing what matters without also understanding how to bring it to life? What does it really take to know who students are, what they are truly learning, and why? Measuring Human Return solves this dilemma with a comprehensive, systematic process for measuring deeper learning outcomes. Educators will learn to assess students’ self-understanding, knowledge, competencies, and connections through vignettes, case studies, learning experiences and tools. The book helps readers: Develop key system capabilities to build the foundation for sustainable engagement, measurement, and change Discover five comprehensive "frames" for measuring deeper learning Engage in the process of collaborative inquiry Commit to the central, active role of learners by engaging them as partners in every aspect of their learning Discover how to take an authentic, formative, and inquiry-driven approach to measuring the outcomes that drive deeper learning. The book really hits the mark. The best thing about it is the in-depth discussion of systems. ...
Why are America's public schools falling so short of the mark in educating the nation's children? Why are they organized in ineffective ways that fly in the face of common sense, to the point that it is virtually impossible to get even the worst teachers out of the classroom? And why, after more than a quarter century of costly education reform, have the schools proven so resistant to change and so difficult to improve? In this path-breaking book, Terry M. Moe demonstrates that the answers to these questions have a great deal to do with teachers unions—which are by far the most powerful forces in American education and use their power to promote their own special interests at the expense of what is best for kids. Despite their importance, the teachers unions have barely been studied. Special Interest fills that gap with an extraordinary analysis that is at once brilliant and kaleidoscopic—shedding new light on their historical rise to power, the organizational foundations of that power, the ways it is exercised in collective bargaining and politics, and its vast consequences for American education. The bottom line is simple but devastating: as long as the teachers unions...
Winner of the 2017 AESA Critic's Choice Book Award This book provides multiple perspectives on the dual struggle that teacher educators currently face as they make sense of edTPA while preparing their pre-service teachers for this high stakes teacher exam. The adoption of nationalized teacher performance exams has raised concerns about the influence of corporate interests in teacher education, the objectivity of nationalized teaching standards, and ultimately the overarching political and economic interests shaping the process, format, and nature of assessment itself. Through an arc of scholarship from various perspectives, this book explores a range of questions about the goals and interests at work in the roll out of the edTPA assessment and gives voice to those most affected by these policy changes, teacher educators, and teacher education students.
The systems that make up the accountability package in education: standards, assessments, and the quality determination for a school, have each entered the educational field under the explicit assumption by their creators that they would drive educator behavior in a positive way. But what if that isn’t actually the case? What if each of the components was actually designed for another purpose entirely and now is tasked with a role that was never considered in its design? If that is the case those who put the systems in place risk expecting a result that the system was never designed to produce. That is exactly where we find ourselves today. In education the misalignment between what the systems were designed to do and the intent of those who selected them is masked in the sheer complexity of the educational exercise. What this book does so marvelously is unravel that complexity and present the contradictions in a clear, coherent manner. Understanding these contradictions is the first step towards actual improvement.
This book, described by reviewers as “shocking” and “a masterpiece,” exposes the tragic tale of the millions of schoolchildren who are never taught basic skills in reading, writing, and math. With heart-wrenching stories of individual children from his own experience as an advocate and ground-breaking policy researcher, Kalman “Buzzy” Hettleman documents what can only be labeled educational abuse. It may be unintentional, but it is gross negligence because we know how to prevent it, yet fail do it. Many of the victims are “Mislabeled as Disabled.” Denied proper instruction, they fall behind in regular general education, overwhelm teachers, and hold back classmates. Out of desperation, school systems unlawfully “dump” such "Mislabeled as Disabled" students in special education, even though they do not have a true medical disability. Yet, unlike students with severe limitations who are “Truly Disabled,” the special education they receive is hardly special at all. They fall farther behind and suffer stigma and segregation. Moreover, school systems cover up this educational malpractice with misleading progress reports and data. The fact that a disproportionate...
In 1978, V. P. Franklin and James D. Anderson co-edited New Perspectives on Black Educational History. For Franklin, Anderson, and their contributors, there were glaring gaps in the historiography of Black education that each of the essays began to fill with new information or fresh perspectives. There have been a number of important studies on the history of African American education in the more than three decades since Franklin and Anderson published their volume that has pushed the field forward. Scholars have redefined the views of Black southern schools as simply inferior, demonstrated the active role Blacks had in creating and sustaining their schools, sharpened our understanding of Black teachers’ and educational leaders’ role in educating Black students and themselves with professional development, provided a better understanding and recognition of the struggles in the North (particularly in urban and metropolitan areas), expanded our thinking about school desegregation and community control, and broadened our understanding of Black experiences and activism in higher education and private schools. Our volume will highlight and expand upon the changes to the field over ...
In an effort to avoid the degradation of instruction and inflation of test scores that often occurred when educators were held accountable for scores on multiple-choice tests. The findings of this study indicate that inflation of scores remains a risk in assessment-based accountability systems even when they rely on test formats other than multiple choice.
The movement to privatize K–12 education is stronger than ever. Samuel Abrams examines the rise of market forces in public education and reveals how a commercial mindset that sidesteps fundamental challenges has taken over. Nevertheless, public schools should adopt lessons from the business world, such as raising teacher salaries to attract talent.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the latest in more than two decades of federal efforts to raise educational standards and an even longer stream of initiatives to improve education for poor children. What lessons can we draw from these earlier efforts to help NCLB achieve its goals? In Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap, leading scholars in sociology, economics, psychology, and education policy take on this critical question. Armed with the latest data and up-to-date research syntheses, the authors show that standards-based reform has had some positive effects, particularly in the area of teacher quality. Moreover, some of the critics' greatest fears have not been realized: for example, retention rates have not shot upward. Yet the overall pace of improvement has been slow, owing in part to poor implementation. Based on these findings, the contributors offer recommendations for the implementation and impending reauthorization of NCLB. These proposals, such as national testing and a rethinking of achievement targets, are sure to be at the center of the upcoming debate. Contributors include Thomas Dee, Laura Desimone, George Farkas, Barbara Foorman, Brian Jacob, Robert ...
Navigating Teacher Licensure Exams offers practical, empirically sourced insights into the high-stakes licensure exams required in most states for teacher certification. This unique resource foregrounds the experiences of diverse preservice teachers, including teachers of color, to understand how they organize their preparation efforts, overcome self-doubt and anxiety, and navigate the high-pressure space of this important testing event. By situating these exams within their social and psychological contexts, presenting real-life cases of success and failure, and confronting innate perceptions of standardized tests, this book provides essential and highly practical support for preservice teachers, teacher educators, and departmental resource libraries.
Americans are increasingly alarmed over our nation's educational deficiencies. Though anxieties about schooling are unending, especially with public institutions, these problems are more complex than institutional failure. Expenditures for education have exploded, and far exceed inflation and the rising costs of health care, but academic achievement remains flat. Many students are unable to graduate from high school, let alone obtain a college degree. And if they do make it to college, they are often forced into remedial courses. Why, despite this fiscal extravagance, are educational disappointments so widespread? In Bad Students, Not Bad Schools, Robert Weissberg argues that the answer is something everybody knows to be true but is afraid to say in public America's educational woes too often reflect the demographic mix of students. Schools today are filled with millions of youngsters, too many of whom struggle with the English language or simply have mediocre intellectual ability. Their lackluster performances are probably impervious to the current reform prescriptions regardless of the remedy's ideological derivation. Making matters worse, retention of students in school is...
The persistent failure of public schooling in low-income communities constitutes one of our nation's most pressing civil rights and social justice issues. Many school reformers recognize that poverty, racism, and a lack of power held by these communities undermine children's education and development, but few know what to do about it. A Match on Dry Grass argues that community organizing represents a fresh and promising approach to school reform as part of a broader agenda to build power for low-income communities and address the profound social inequalities that affect the education of children. Based on a comprehensive national study, the book presents rich and compelling case studies of prominent organizing efforts in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, San Jose, and the Mississippi Delta. The authors show how organizing groups build the participation and leadership of parents and students so they can become powerful actors in school improvement efforts. They also identify promising ways to overcome divisions and create the collaborations between educators and community residents required for deep and sustainable school reform. Identifying the key processes that create ...
The author draws on scientific studies of tests and their uses to show how standardized achievement tests must play a central role in improving achievement in K-12 schools. He explains the central considerations in developing and evaluating tests and tells how tests can best be best used, covering such topics as using tests for student incentives, paying teachers for performance, and using tests in efforts to attain new state and national standards.
Despite great progress around the world in getting more kids into schools, too many leave without even the most basic skills. In India’s rural Andhra Pradesh, for instance, only about one in twenty children in fifth grade can perform basic arithmetic. The problem is that schooling is not the same as learning. In The Rebirth of Education, Lant Pritchett uses two metaphors from nature to explain why. The first draws on Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom’s book about the difference between centralized and decentralized organizations, The Starfish and the Spider. Schools systems tend be centralized and suffer from the limitations inherent in top-down designs. The second metaphor is the concept of isomorphic mimicry. Pritchett argues that many developing countries superficially imitate systems that were successful in other nations— much as a nonpoisonous snake mimics the look of a poisonous one. Pritchett argues that the solution is to allow functional systems to evolve locally out of an environment pressured for success. Such an ecosystem needs to be open to variety and experimentation, locally operated, and flexibly financed. The only main cost is ceding control; the reward would be ...
Award-winning education journalist Peg Tyre mines up-to-the-minute research to equip parents with the tools and knowledge necessary to get their children the best education possible We all know that the quality of education served up to our children in U.S. schools ranges from outstanding to shockingly inadequate. How can parents tell the difference? And how do they make sure their kids get what's best? Even the most involved and informed parents can feel overwhelmed and confused when making important decisions about their child's education. And the scary truth is that evaluating a school based on test scores and college admissions data is like selecting a car based on the color of its paint. Synthesizing cutting-edge research and firsthand reporting, Peg Tyre offers parents far smarter and more sophisticated ways to assess a classroom and decide if the school and the teacher have the right stuff. Passionate and persuasive, The Good School empowers parents to make sense of headlines; constructively engage teachers, administrators, and school boards; and figure out the best option for their child—be that a local public school, a magnet program, a charter school, homeschooling,...
In this update to his landmark publication, William J. Reese offers a comprehensive examination of the trends, theories, and practices that have shaped America's public schools over the last two centuries. A thoroughly revised epilogue outlines the significant challenges to public school education within the last five years. Reese analyzes the shortcomings of "No Child Left Behind" and the continued disjuncture between actual school performance and the expectations of government officials. He discusses the intrusive role of corporations, economic models for enticing better teacher performance, the continued impact of conservatism, and the growth of home schooling and charter schools. --From the publisher description.
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