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Testing, Teaching, and Learning

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-10-06

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 0309172861

State education departments and school districts face an important challenge in implementing a new law that requires disadvantaged students to be held to the same standards as other students. The new requirements come from provisions of the 1994 reauthorization of Title I, the largest federal effort in precollegiate education, which provides aid to "level the field" for disadvantaged students. Testing, Teaching, and Learning is written to help states and school districts comply with the new law, offering guidance for designing and implementing assessment and accountability systems. This book examines standards-based education reform and reviews the research on student assessment, focusing on the needs of disadvantaged students covered by Title I. With examples of states and districts that have track records in new systems, the committee develops a practical "decision framework" for education officials. The book explores how best to design assessment and accountability systems that support high levels of student learning and to work toward continuous improvement. Testing, Teaching, and Learning will be an important tool for all involved in educating disadvantaged studentsâ€"state and local administrators and classroom teachers.

Holding Schools Accountable

Author: Helen Ladd

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 9780815721215

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"Perhaps the most urgent—and complex—task facing American education today is to figure out how to hold schools accountable for improved academic achievement. In this important new work, Helen Ladd and her colleagues describe the options available to policymakers, weigh their respective strengths and pitfalls, and lay out principles for creating schools where learning is the number one objective. This book should be at the top of the reading list for anyone seriously interested in transforming the quality of American schools."—Edward B. Fiske, Former Education Editor, The New York Times A central theme of current efforts to reform elementary and secondary education in the United States is a more explicit focus on the outcomes of the educational system. This volume examines efforts throughout the country to hold schools accountable for the academic performance of their students. Researchers from various disciplines—most notably, economics, educational policy and management, and political science—address a range of questions related to performance- based strategies for reforming education. The authors describe and evaluate programs that recognize and reward the most effective schools, discuss the costs of achieving high performance, summarize what is known about parental choice as an accountability mechanism, and provide new evidence on the relationship between school inputs and educational outcomes. Grounded in the actual experiences of various states and school districts, the book provides a wealth of new information and provocative insights. Contributors argue that programs to hold schools accountable for student performance must be carefully designed to assure that schools are treated fairly; that vouchers, if used, should be directed toward low-income families; that resources do indeed matter—poor school districts may well require additional funding to increase student learning. In addition to the editor, the contributors include Charles T. Clotfelter, David K. Cohen, Richard F. Elmore, Ronald F. Ferguson, Susan H. Fuhrman, Eric A. Hanushek, Caroline Minter Hoxby, Richard J. Murnane, John F. Witte, and John McHenry Yinger.

Grading Education

Author: Richard Rothstein

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 2008-12-14

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9780807749395

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Yes, we should hold public schools accountable for effectively spending the vast funds with which they have been entrusted. But accountability policies like No Child Left Behind, based exclusively on math and reading test scores, have narrowed the curriculum, misidentified both failing and successful schools, and established irresponsible expectations for what schools can accomplish. Instead of just grading progress in one or two narrow subjects, we should hold schools accountable for the broad outcomes we expect from public education —basic knowledge and skills, critical thinking, an appreciation of the arts, physical and emotional health, and preparation for skilled employment —and then develop the means to measure and ensure schools’ success in achieving them. Grading Education describes a new kind of accountability plan for public education, one that relies on higher-quality testing, focuses on professional evaluation, and builds on capacities we already possess. This important resource: Describes the design of an alternative accountability system that would not corrupt education as does NCLB and its state testing systems Explains the original design of NAEP in the 1960s, and shows why it should be revived. Defines the broad goals of education, beyond math and reading test scores, and reports on surveys to confirm public and governmental support for such goals. Relates these broad goals of education to the desire for accountability in education.

Accountable Schools

Author: Jim Dueck

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-12-14

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 1475847858

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The majority of students are required to attend their neighborhood public school unless their parents apply to an alternate program such as private and charter schools. Seldom is a comprehensive measurement program in place for parents to assist them in determining whether their local school is providing quality educational services and, when a reporting system is in place, an unbiased evaluation is lacking. This book demonstrates how parents can make informed choices regarding their local school or others within their community. The accountability model presented was highly rated by the U.S. Department of Education and its approach is used in Alberta and California. Fixed boundaries should be replaced and all schools labeled as “magnet centers” with locally developed mission statements to attract students without transportation costs. Democratizing the workplace is as necessary as democratizing our schools so that workers are recognized and rewarded according to their team’s performance.

Charter Schools and Accountability in Public Education

Author: Paul T. Hill

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2004-05-13

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9780815798583

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Charter schools are among the most debated and least understood phenomena in American education today. At the heart of these matters is a contested question of accountability. To survive, charter schools must make and keep promises about what students will experience and learn under their purview. However, unlike public schools, charter schools do not rely exclusively on their relationship with school districts. They must also look to parents, teachers, and donors to cooperatively establish expectations of a particular school and its mission. Aimed toward elected officials, school reform activists, and educators, this book is the result of the first national-scale study of charter school accountability. The authors researched one hundred-fifty schools and sixty authorizing agencies in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Michigan. These states contain the majority of charter schools that have been operating for three years or more and represent the major differences in state charter school legislation. The authors include interviews from a range of participants in the field©¡from state legislators and administrators to principals, teachers, and parents. In assessing the structure of accountability as it works internally to bolster external confidence, Hill and Lake suggest the struggle of charter schools actually complements those of standards based reform. Both seek to transform public education to make schools responsible for performance, not compliance.

Ethical Leadership in Schools

Author: Kenneth A. Strike

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2006-09-07

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1452280819

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Discover the link between ethical leadership and successful educational communities! In an age of accountability and transparency, principals are held responsible for everything from test scores to school finances. Because of this increased accountability, school leaders must regularly confront difficult ethical dilemmas. Ethical Leadership in Schools teaches principals and aspiring principals the concepts that inform ethical choices in leadership roles. Using brief vignettes, Kenneth A. Strike explores common situations that principals are likely to encounter and presents questions and issues to help them determine the ethical path. As part of the Leadership for Learning initiative of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), this invaluable resource clearly explains complex ideas in an accessible, well-illustrated manner. To help resolve the dilemmas that challenge every school leader, this book: Guides readers through the process of making ethical decisions Bridges ethics to issues of accountability Provides scenarios that reflect the difficult choices facing principals Supplies the tools to create ethical advice in varied contexts Examines the central principles of fair cooperation The study of ethics should emphasize what makes a school a good educational community. By creating communities that are competent, caring, and collegial, school leaders will be able to maximize their resources and meet the growing demands of accountability.

Higher Education Accountability

Author: Robert Kelchen

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2018-02-27

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1421424738

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Beginning with the earliest efforts to regulate schools, the author reveals the rationale behind accountability and outlines the historical development of how US federal and state policies, accreditation practices, private-sector interests, and internal requirements have become so important to institutional success and survival

Whole Novels for the Whole Class

Author: Ariel Sacks

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-10-21

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 1118526503

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Work with students at all levels to help them read novels Whole Novels is a practical, field-tested guide to implementing a student-centered literature program that promotes critical thinking and literary understanding through the study of novels with middle school students. Rather than using novels simply to teach basic literacy skills and comprehension strategies, Whole Novels approaches literature as art. The book is fully aligned with the Common Core ELA Standards and offers tips for implementing whole novels in various contexts, including suggestions for teachers interested in trying out small steps in their classrooms first. Includes a powerful method for teaching literature, writing, and critical thinking to middle school students Shows how to use the Whole Novels approach in conjunction with other programs Includes video clips of the author using the techniques in her own classroom This resource will help teachers work with students of varying abilities in reading whole novels.

Holding NCLB Accountable

Author: Gail L. Sunderman

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 561

ISBN-13: 1412957877

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By mandating high standards for all students, the No Child Left Behind Act has promised to close the achievement gap and bring all students up to proficient levels by 2014. The challenge is in connecting the goals of NCLB legislation with the realities of change in the classroom.

Holding Schools Accountable

Author: Kris Sloan

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13:

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Sloan explores the varied contours of the educational accountability movement that has swept the United States. He describes the historical origins and underlying assumptions of present day accountability measures, current issues surrounding accountability, relationships between the accountability and the standards movements, and the role of standardized testing in each of these movements, and provides a critical reading of the seemingly divided literature concerning the effects of accountability on public education. This volume also focuses on the implications of accountability measures on parents, families, and communities, including details of the varied efforts by grassroots organizations that have raised concerns over current accountability measures. While there has been a substantial amount of parent and community opposition to both state and national accountability policies, increasingly these organizations are offering suggestions for ways to make accountability measures better and more responsive to both community and student needs. The work concludes by offering valuable suggestions about improving, even strengthening accountability measures in ways that are more responsive and respectful of students, their families, and local communities.