tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-172789502011-04-21T20:21:15.380-07:00Do you help students score their true achievement level on tests? Find out more about The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card. What grade did your state make?nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1151682884003942582006-06-30T08:54:00.000-07:002006-06-30T08:54:44.233-07:00<a href="http://technorati.com/claim/kz9ppbnwn3" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-115168288400394258?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128028896272475472005-10-17T11:00:00.000-07:002005-10-17T09:02:13.496-07:00The Google Site-Flavored service below searches the Internet to return the best domain results for an 'education' specific query. The Google Site-Flavored service searches only domains lsited as education.<br /><!-- Site-Flavored Google Search --><br /><form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/search"><br /><table bgcolor="#ffffff"><br /><tbody><tr><td><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/services/siteflavored.html"><br /><img src="http://labs.google.com/images/gp/google_kaltix_site_flavored_searchbox.gif" alt="Google" align="middle" border="0" /></a> <input name="q" maxlength="150" value="" type="text" style="font-size:31;"><br /><input name="site_flavored" value="on" type="hidden"><br /><input name="client" value="site_flavored" type="hidden"><br /><input name="hl" value="en" type="hidden"><br /><input name="interests" value="1450" type="hidden"><br /><span id="site_flavored_name"></span><br /><script language="javascript"><br />homeHTML = "<input type="hidden" name="site_flavored_name" value=" + document.location +">";<br />document.getElementById("site_flavored_name").innerHTML = homeHTML;<br /></script><br /><input name="sa" value="Custom Search" type="submit"><br /><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></form><!-- Site-Flavored Google Search --><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">Dr. William C. Bruce, Associate Dean</span></span><br /></div> <span style="font-size:85%;">College of Education and Psychology<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3900 University Boulevard<br />Science 229C<br />Tyler, Texas 75799</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>Phone: (903) 566-7048<br />wbruce@uttyler.edu<br /></span><a href="http://www.uttyler.edu/edu/cpdt/"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.uttyler.edu/edu/cpdt/</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.uttyler.edu/c_i/bruce.htm</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt"><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.uttyler.edu/cpdt</span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><font><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Mirror, Mirror on the wall, should we care about test scores at all?</span></span></span><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">We all know that teaching</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> should mirror much more than our </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >focus on </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >test scores.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Are test scores as important</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> </span></span><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" >as they seem these days?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" ><font>If you're looking for ways to bring your students' test scores up</span></span><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" >, the information in these files have helped many educators and those interested in education.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">What do you think about tests?</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-size:100%;" ><font>What methods do you use</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> to cause your students to score higher on tests?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">-----</span><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span></span><font><span style="font-size:85%;">-----<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:130%;" ><font><font><font><font><font><span style="font-weight: bold;">Effective Accountability</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Much of the material in the Home Page of this blog, Test Scores, came from the document:<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Guide to Effective Accountability Reporting</span>, Ellen Forte Fast, Rolf K. Blank, Abigail Potts, and Andra Williams (Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, DC, with support from the U.S. Department of Education).<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">We made modifications to the original text for brevity. In the 2005 NCES </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:100%;">document, the NCES </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:100%;">(the National Center for Educational Statistics) guide, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Forum Guide to Education Indicators, </span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">the authors also modified the document: </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">A Guide to Effective Accountability Reporting</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">.</span><br /><br />NOTE: <font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>The Guide was developed through the National Cooperative Education Statistics System and funded by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education.<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />To download the original document, visit:<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.ccsso.org/publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=56">http://www.ccsso.org/publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=56</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Summary:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">To assist state and local educators, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) developed the monograph, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Guide to Effective Accountability Reporting</span>, through the Accountability Systems and Reporting State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (ASR SCASS).<br /><br />The original document, as stated in the guide description, is a resource for State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) responsible for producing state, district, or school report cards of the type required under many state or district accountability systems, as well as under the <span style="font-weight: bold;">No Child Left Behind Act</span> of 2001 (NCLB). The original document, as stated in the guide, is not meant to present academic discussions about the nature of indicators and indicator systems, nor was it meant to cover the broad range of accountability issues in their entirety. Rather, it is meant to provide a resource for agencies and help practitioners as accountability reporting systems are tooled to meet NCLB requirements.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">However, the NCES documents contain a wealth of information for all of us interested in education.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The NCES report explores why some schools may be better than others at helping students learn. It reviews 13 characteristics of schools, classrooms, and teachers that are most likely related to school quality and student learning. For each indicator, the report identifies where national data are currently available and reliable. It assesses the current status of our schools by examining and critiquing these national indicator data. The report is designed for policymakers, researchers, and others interested in assessing the strength of our schools. While it is relevant for those interested in standards or accountability, it is not about test scores and is not a guide for education reform.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Resources:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">NCES Handbooks Online<br />U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC<br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/handbook/index.asp">http://nces.ed.gov/programs/handbook/index.asp</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The following free NCES Handbooks Online define standard education terms for students, staff, schools, LEAs, intermediate education agencies, and SEAs. They are intended to serve as reference documents for public and private organizations (including education institutions and early childhood centers), as well as education researchers and other users of education data. This web-based tool allows users to view and download Handbook information via an electronic table of contents, a drill-down finder, element-name and first-letter searches, and advanced query options.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Practical Problems in Educational Measurement</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Author: Robert L. Ebel (1980)<br />DC Heath and Company: Lexington, MA<br /><br />This document presents a brief introduction to the practical application of educational tests and measurement techniques. It addresses topics such as accountability, testing bias, grading, and standard tests.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Safety in Numbers: Collecting and Using Crime, Violence, and Discipline Incident Data to Make a Difference in Schools (NCES 2002–312).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;">National Forum on Education Statistics (2002) U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2002312.asp">http://www.nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2002312.asp</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">This resource is designed for use by school, district, and state staff to improve the effectiveness of their efforts to collect and use disciplinary incident data. It provides recommendations on what types of data to collect, why it is critical to collect such data, and how the data maybe used to improve school safety and answer policy questions relating to school improvement and the safety of students.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">School District Demographics<br /><br /></span>Developed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics<br /><br /><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.asp">http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sdds/index.asp</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The School District Demographics</span> (SDD) is an electronic library containing social, economic and administrative data for each of the 15,274 public school districts in the United States. It contains the most comprehensive demographic database of the nation‘s children ever developed. The SDD enables users to: examine the demographics, operations, and finances of any school district; assess special needs of the children and households served; plan for growth or decline in student membership; compare characteristics of one school district to another; locate districts within a region with certain characteristics; draw a thematic map to examine geographic distributions; extract data that may be manipulated and used with other data; and use reference features as a handy electronic library.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">More Related Resources, including web materials, available from the National Forum on Education Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and other organizations.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">1. Accountability Mechanisms in Big City School Systems.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">ERIC/CUE Digest No. 71.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9220/big.htm"></a><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9220/big.htm</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font>Accountability has always been a basic concept in public education, although ideas about how to accomplish it have changed. In recent years, the urgent need to improve big city schools has been a powerful incentive for the adoption of accountability systems. This digest explores the strengths and weaknesses of various accountability tools, the use and misuse of indicators, and ways to create genuine accountability at the school level.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">2. Facilities Information Management: A Guide for State and Local Education Agencies (NCES 2003–400) National Forum on Education Statistics (2003) U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2003400.asp">http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2003400.asp</a><br /><br />This guide provides a framework for identifying a basic set of school facilities data elements and definitions that will meet the information needs of school and community decision makers, school facility managers, and the general public. It presents recommendations for designing and maintaining an information system about the condition, design, use, management, and financing of elementary/ secondary education facilities. Commonly used measures, data elements, and a list of additional resources for the practitioner are also<font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> included.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">3. Forum Guide to Building a Culture of Quality Data: A School and District Resource (NCES 2005–801) </span><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">National Forum on Education Statistics (2005) U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2005801.asp"></a><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2005801.asp</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font>This guide asserts that good data, like good students, come from schools. While it is undeniably harder to teach a student than it is to collect statistics, certain procedures can help to achieve goals in both cases. Recently, there has been a growing awareness that effective teaching, efficient schools, and quality data are linked. The quality of information used to develop an instructional plan, run a school, plan a budget, or place a student in a class depends on the school data clerk, teacher, counselor, and/or school secretary who enter data into a computer. With that in mind, the focus of this report is on data entry—getting things right at the source.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">4. Forum Guide to Protecting the Privacy of Student Information: State and Local Education Agencies (NCES 2004–330) </span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">National Forum on Education Statistics (2004) U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2004330.asp"></a><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">http://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2004330.asp</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br />---<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">High Stakes Education Indicators</span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">The advent of high stakes education indicators requires the generation of high quality indicator data. Thus, indicators should be:<br /><br />* useful (i.e., relevant to the issues in question);<br /><br />* valid (i.e., measure what they purport to measure);<br /><br />* reliable (i.e., produce consistent measures over time);<br /><br />* timely (i.e., available in time to inform decision-making); and<br /><br />* cost-effective (i.e., produce information that is valuable enough to justify any collection burden).<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;">---<br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about"></a><span style="font-size:100%;">http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><br />NAEP Overview</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"> • Read an Introduction to NAEP, the new nontechnical brochure explaining the assessment.<br /><br /></span><font></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;">• View FAQs about NAEP.<br /><br />• Read about NAEP's policy on inclusion of special-needs students.<br /><br />• Explore the NAEP Questions Tool for examples of the kinds of questions NAEP asks in its assessments.<br /><br />• Visit Current Activities for the latest information about what is happening in NAEP.<br />• Examine the NAEP schedule of assessments.<br /><br />• NAEP 2000 at a glance details operations essentials (size and scope) of the 2000 assessments.<br /><br />• NAEP 2001 at a glance details operations essentials (size and scope) of the 2001 assessments.<br /><br />• NAEP 2002 at a glance details operations essentials (size and scope) of the 2002 assessments.<br /><br />• Read a short history of NAEP and NAGB (620K PDF).<br /><br />• Read transcripts of previous online chats about NAEP findings.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">What Is NAEP?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.<br /><br />Under the current structure, the Commissioner of Education Statistics, who heads the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education, is responsible by law for carrying out the NAEP project. The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), appointed by the Secretary of Education but independent of the Department, sets policy for NAEP and is responsible for developing the framework and test specifications that serve as the blueprint for the assessments. NAGB is a bipartisan group whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988.<br /><br />NAEP does not provide scores for individual students or schools; instead, it offers results regarding subject-matter achievement, instructional experiences, and school environment for populations of students (e.g., fourth-graders) and groups within those populations (e.g., female students, Hispanic students). NAEP results are based on a sample of student populations of interest.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />---<br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states"></a><span style="font-size:100%;">http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">State Profiles </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The Nation's Report Card </span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size:100%;">State Profiles present key data about each state's student and school population and its NAEP testing history and results. The profiles provide easy access to all NAEP data for participating states and links to the most recent state report cards for all available subjects.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />---<br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005802"></a><span style="font-size:100%;">http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005802</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Title: Forum Guide to Education Indicators</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Description:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The Forum Guide to Education Indicators provides encyclopedia-type entries for 44 commonly used education indicators. Each indicator entry contains a definition, recommended uses, usage caveats and cautions, related policy questions, data element components, a formula, commonly reported subgroups, and display suggestions. The document will help readers better understand how to appropriately develop, apply, and interpret commonly used education indicators.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Online Availability: </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />* Download, view and print the report as a PDF file.<br />PDF File (1,028KB)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cover Date:</span> July 2005<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Web Release:</span> July 22, 2005<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Print Release:</span> August 1, 2005<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Publication #:</span> (NFES 2005802)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Authors:</span> Education Indicators Task Force<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Type of Product:</span> Handbook<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Survey/Program Areas: National Forum on Education Statistics (NFES)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Keywords: Achievement (student)</span><br /><br />* Advanced Placement<br /><br />* Assessment<br /><br />* Completion rates (high school)<br /><br />* Dropout rates (high school)<br /><br />* Education indicators<br /><br />* Educational attainment<br /><br /><br />* Educational goals<br /><br />* Educational research<br /><br />* Graduation rates, high school<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Questions: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">For questions about the content of this product, please contact Ghedam Bairu.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005802">http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005802</a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />---<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">The Dimensional Thinker, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 255, 153);"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">ISBN 0970480105</span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font><br /></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >From: </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 255, 153);">The Dimensional Thinker</span>, <font></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">William C. Bruce and Jean K. Bruce:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Improving Constructivism Communication:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" >The uncertainty of a</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" > new or an unexplored way of behaving in a classroom registers, in a cynical student's</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" > mind, as a threat. Most often the positive qualities of constructivism</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" > quickly win student endorsement. If, however, you find more than the usual</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> classroom mischief, try the following tips:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Talk with your student. Never talk at your student.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• If your student persistently shows difficulty with her newly found</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> classroom freedom, speak (1) with calm tact (2) non-aggressively abouther</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> opportunities (instead of class tasks) (3) about accountability as a class member.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Consider what your student says to you; show your eagerness to</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> understand her opinions. Never automatically reject your student’s</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> emotions or commentary. If you find yourself unable to respond immediately</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> to your student, show gratitude for her question or request; then, let your</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> student know that you want to find more time to listen. It’s a good idea, in</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> most cases, to ask your student to remind you to return to her concern when</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> time permits. A friendly voice says that you care.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Nonverbal responses count! Dagger stares bring more hostility and</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> dissension than you might imagine. Honest compliments, however, work.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• If your enthusiasm, compliments, play time, games, award charts, star</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> stickers, happy face seals, fun projects, timeouts, and other motivational tools</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> bring zero positive results and your student’s behavior continues to disrupt and</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> polarize, try saying something similar to the following: “I want to help. We can</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> figure how to work this out. First, I’d like for you to demonstrate to me that</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> you’ll give me the same consideration and respect I give you. Let’s find</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> agreement. Let’s explore our options.” Be careful to use unbiased, suitable</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> words that fit your student’s comprehension level and sensitivity.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• In a constructivist class, naturally, cooperation gained by corporal</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> punishment never answers the unruly or stubborn student. Yet, put a ceiling</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> on student behavior that is unwelcome. Your student will respond favorably</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> when you aid her in articulating feelings or opinions to fit the situation.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> Ask your student to try these strategies next: (1) think about her actions or</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> reactions (2) write about the actions or reactions, list self-control plans (3) talk</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> about skills for conduct, or better ways to express feelings.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• A vicarious style of communication often answers the problem situation</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> with adolescents. Adolescents like to talk about issues by talking around the</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> issues. Your adolescent student often extends interests (albeit she may try to</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> hide it), if you speak to her as if you are talking about her favorite</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> musical group, or movie; if this conversation style feels uncomfortable to you,</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> try other confidence-building approaches.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Use comparisons and authentic stories about something you relate to that</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> could be bugging your student. Your adolescent student may adopt a different</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> persona each day; she experiments with personal concepts by emulating</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> dialogues from (1) rap lyrics (2) movie stars (3) T.V. heroines and heroes (4)</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> wrestlers. Your student projects attitudes other than her own</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> personality. Use these invented attributes or eccentricities to your advantage</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> and to your student’s advantage. Talk to your student (in an up-beat manner)</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> about how to appraise the alternatives a favorite character, possibly, would</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> select. Despite how muddled your student’s answers sound, ask your student to</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> write four alternatives, analyze them, and evaluate how the alternatives could</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> work or fail. When your student's point of view becomes acceptable, let her</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> know that you wish to weigh her views because of the accountable road she</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> has taken. Impractical or farfetched alternatives prompt you to ask your</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> student to write and reevaluate, focusing on what type of results she might see</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> regarding her chosen alternatives. Your student soon writes worthy</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> alternatives. Ask your student to write the worthy alternatives as a Promissory</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> Note, with the date. Your student places the Promissory Note in the front of</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> her notebook; the two of you sign the Promissory Note. You both assure</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> each other to honor the new alternatives. </span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><font></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">You both</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> set a review date.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• If reward methods seem useless, if every effort you make collapses,</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> including cutting privileges (such as computer time), think about calling for</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> outside help, perhaps, a guidance counselor, your student’s parents, the</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> principal. Eliminate all threats. Talk the situation over with your student.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• Remember your nonverbals. Approval acts in impressive ways,</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> intensifying the building on ideas, as opposed to ripping weak ideas apart,</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> tearing self-confidence down.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">• When students verbalize their perceptions equitably, as constructivism</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> encourages, it motivates students to find additional ways for practical</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> expression; thus, constructivism prevents, ultimately, frustration and</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> unwarranted caution.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">How do you reach your student, to commit to problem-solve, using her</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> productive mind? How do you reach your student, to commit to problem-solve, using</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> her most constructive ideas when less than $2.00 daily feeds half of humankind?<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" >How do you get your student to see (on TV?) the gap between rich and poor and,</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" > care about the suffering of others and the environment? From cave child to new wave</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" > child, a student builds mind muscle when she pulls together her own history and</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);font-family:georgia;" > creative output. Your student builds more than mind muscle when she figures out</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> how to improve or understand whatever she resolves to understand or improve.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);"><br /><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >To support Mindtronics in your classroom, visit our favorite bookstore, amazon.com. Thank you for buying our books. ___jean and bill bruce</span><br /><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=mindinqualiv-20&o=1&amp;p=8&l=as1&amp;asins=0970480156&fc1=000000&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;=1&lc1=0000ff&amp;bc1=000000&lt1=_blank&amp;IS2=1&bg1=ffffff&amp;f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Home Page: Test Scores<br /><br /><br />Copyright 2005. jean and bill bruce, <font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><font></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;l=ur2&o=1" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /><br />_____<br 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</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112802889627247547?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128033212213760812005-10-04T15:46:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:47:07.790-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Reconfiguring Admissions to Serve the Mission of Selective Public Higher Education </span><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">By Mindy L. Kornhaber</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">I. Introduction </span><br /><br /></span>On what bases should students be admitted to highly selective public colleges and universities? In Texas under Hopwood, and in California under Proposition 209, the answer is: "by the numbers."<br /><br />With lawsuits pending in Michigan and a state initiative underway in Washington, the same response may soon be heard more frequently. Given the uneven circumstances from which students’ grades and class rank arise, the most potent numbers in admissions are often those from high-stakes standardized, norm-referenced tests (HSSNRTs), such as the SAT, ACT, and LSAT. Proponents of this approach argue that consideration of candidates' race or ethnicity violate laws against discrimination on the basis of race. They also assert that when HSSNRT scores are emphasized, merit is placed at the center of admissions decisions (See e.g., Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 1997; D'Souza, 1991). This score-ranked conception of merit is readily conveyed and grasped: the higher the score, the more an applicant deserves to be admitted. Nevertheless this conception is erroneously narrow: HSSNRT scores reveal little about who will succeed in higher education; they say far less about who will succeed thereafter.<br /><br />Thus, this score-ranked conception does not clearly support selective higher education’s mission to achieve excellence in instruction, research, and service. Furthermore, when put into practice, this score-ranked conception yields devastating social consequences.<br /><br />This paper first spells out several of these consequences. It then considers whether HSSNRTs are technically adequate to justify such consequences. Next, it offers a principled resolution to the debate between advocates of score-ranked admissions and proponents of diversity. This resolution is grounded less in the ideologies of individual merit and affirmative action than in the history and mission of American public higher education. Finally, it concludes by laying out various possible approaches to admission for policymakers and the wider public to consider. Each of these possibilities is considered in light of the mission of public higher education as well as its social consequences.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">II. Consequences of Increased Emphasis on Testing in Admissions </span><br /><br /></span>Central to the debates that gave rise to Hopwood and Proposition 209 is the question of whether admission to a selective public institution should in any way be influenced by a candidate’s racial or ethnic affiliation (Hopwood v. Texas, 1994, 1995; see Brest & Oshige, 1995; Tierney, 1997). Proponents of admission by the numbers argue that individuals should be admitted, whatever their race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status, as long as they have ‘made the grade.’ Yet, it is evident that individual applicants are not the ones to gain or lose under these policies (Brest & Oshige, 1995; Bowen & Bok, 1998). As highlighted below, an increased reliance on test scores also has consequences for particular groups, for selective public colleges and universities, and for the wider society:<br />Decreased admission for already underserved groups<br /><br />The clearest and most immediate consequence of the increased emphasis on HSSNRTs is a sharp drop in the acceptance rates of African American and Hispanic students at selective institutions. Following Proposition 209, the number of African American students accepted to Boalt Hall, Berkeley's law school, plummeted from 75 to 14. All 14 then opted for other institutions, leaving just one African American student who had deferred enrolling the previous year (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1997; Kane, 1998a). The percentage of entering African American freshmen fell from 7.2 percent in 1997 to 3.3 percent in 1998 (Berkeley Office of Student Research, 1997a, 1998). This situation is mirrored in Texas. Following Hopwood, African Americans admitted into the University of Texas at Austin's Law School fell from 5.9 percent in 1996 to 1.1 percent in 1997. Admission of Mexican American dropped from 6.3 percent to 3.3 percent (Chapa & Lazaro, 1998). Of some 500 students who actually entered UT Austin’s Law School in the fall of 1997, there were just four African Americans and 26 Mexican Americans (Traub, 1998). In essence, these ‘new’ policies have restored patterns of segregation last seen prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (see Karabel, 1998).<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">A demographic collision </span><br /></span><br />The precipitous drop in Black and Hispanic students in these selective institutions collides with the increasing proportion of these minorities in the surrounding society. Between the mid-1990s and 2010, the proportion of Black and Hispanic residents in Texas will increase<br />from 39 to 43.5 percent1 (Texas Population Projections Programs, n.d.). In California, the proportion will rise from 35 percent to 43 percent, with the gain attributable to the growth of Hispanic population (Malson, 1998).<br /><br />Given this growth, the new admissions policies will exclude an enormous portion of the population from selective public colleges and universities. At the same time, these institutions will concentrate their resources on society's decreasing proportion of white students and on certain segments of the Asian population. As discussed below, such enrollment patterns could well generate a backlash against selective public higher education.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><span style="font-size:100%;">Reducing public support for selective public institutions</span> </span><br /><br />Because tuition, endowment income, and grants are not sufficient to finance public higher education, state taxpayers subsidize these institutions. The subsidy occurs, even though many of the enrolled students are affluent. This is especially true among whites and Asians. For instance, in 1997, nearly 42 percent of white freshman at Berkeley had parental incomes over $100,000 a year, as did 27 percent of Asians. In contrast, 14 percent of African Americans and 10 percent of Chicanos had family incomes at that level (Berkeley Office of Student Research, 1997b).<br /><br />Given the demographic trends described above, if the new admissions policies persist, the subsidy of an increasingly affluent student body will be borne by taxpayers who themselves have not benefitted from selective higher education and who are unlikely to see the benefit for their own children. Will taxpayers and their elected representatives continue to support selective higher education for cohorts of unrepresentative and affluent students? There is serious doubt, at least in Texas, according to Russell Weintraub, a University of Texas law professor: "If the majority of people in this state are going to be Mexican-American and African American, and they are going to assume many of the leadership roles in the state, then it's going to be big trouble if the law school doesn't admit many minority students -- it's going to be a bomb ready to explode" (In Traub, 1998, p. 20).<br /><br />Some backlash is already evident. The Texas legislature, led by a black state assemblyman named Ron Wilson, has sought to have public universities apply the ten percent rule to all students, including athletes.2 This policy would demolish quality football teams and do away with millions of dollars in football-generated university revenue. Wilson has also considered efforts to transfer money away from selective state universities and to historically black colleges (Traub, 1998).<br /><br />Thus, HSSNRT-driven admissions not only segregate campuses and exclude increasing proportions of the surrounding society. By alienating African American and Hispanic citizens, they threaten the financial resources that selective institutions need to sustain their work.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><span style="font-size:100%;">A cognitive collision</span> </span><br /><br />Any assessment system, from teacher made tests to those created by ETS, have systemic effects on teaching and learning (Frederickson &amp; Collins, 1989): Teachers teach to the test. Students study to it (i.e., ‘Will this be on the test?’). Tests therefore influence the development of cognitive skills.<br /><br />Unfortunately, because HSSNRTs are largely devoid of the kinds of problem solving skills now demanded by the wider society, they undermine the development of these skills. For example, unlike HSSNRTs, real world problems do not yield one right answer. Instead, many answers are possible and their feasibility must be considered in light of an often-shifting array of constraints. For another example, HSSNRTs must be completed by test takers working in splended isolation. In contrast, most real-world problems require people to identify and orchestrate a range of resources, including other people, computers, and books (See Gardner, 1991; Reich, 1991; Resnick, 1987; Zuboff, 1988, 1995). Given these qualities, real world problems, unlike HSSNRT questions, typically call for more than a minute or two of concentration.<br /><br /><a href="http://osr4.berkley.edu">http://osr4.berkley.edu</a>/PUBLIC/STUDENT.DATA/PUBLICATIONS/UG/ugf97.html#table8<br /><br />Berkeley Office<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112803321221376081?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128032149497688282005-10-04T15:45:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:45:45.880-07:00<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" >The grade retention fallacy</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">by Christopher Edley Jr. and Johanna Wald<br /><br />Published in The Boston Globe, Opinion Editorial<br />December 16, 2002</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">STAFF ARTICLE</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">For those who have been following the path of standards-based school reform in this country, it is hard not to feel as if Massachusetts is blindly following the same deeply flawed script that was written over a decade ago and continues to this day in Texas and Chicago. The storyline goes something like this: As soon as high stakes testing is introduced in 10th grade, the number of students retained in ninth grade surges. Minority and low-income students are overrepresented among those students who are held back.<br /><br />Sure enough, data provided by the state Department of Education offer evidence of the perpetuation of this crippling pattern in Massachusetts. Overall retention rates for ninth-graders jumped from 6.3 percent in 1995 to 8.4 percent in 2001. Twelve districts in 2001 held over 20 percent of its ninth-graders back. The three with the highest ninth grade retention rates between 27 percent and 38 percent - enroll a majority of nonwhite students.<br /><br />But while the increasing practice of retaining students in ninth grade is hardly surprising, its approval by Education Commissioner David Driscoll is. By ignoring decades of research, he is encouraging the even more widespread adoption of a practice that is almost certain to harm the state's most vulnerable students.<br /><br />Of course, on the surface, his statement that ''Holding students back should ultimately help them'' contains certain logic. If a student performs poorly one year, then repeating the grade gives him or her a second chance to catch up. Right?<br /><br />Wrong. Most struggling students don't respond that way, even if educators wish they would. For 40 years, study after study on grade retention has reached the same conclusion: Failing a student, particularly in the critical ninth grade year, is the single largest predictor of whether he or she drops out. Unless accompanied by targeted and intensive supports and interventions, this practice yields no academic gains for the retained students, results in huge management problems, and financially taxes the school system.<br /><br />Widespread retention further exacerbates the racial achievement gap. In Massachusetts, for example, across all grades, African-American and Hispanics are retained at over three times the rate of whites.<br /><br />These findings were backed up by a 1999 National Academy of Sciences report. Citing eight studies on the harmful impact of retaining students, the report specifically recommended that students not be held back on the basis of a high stakes test. In fact, the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Council on Measurement in Education, the Department of Education, and most testing professionals all assert that no decision of serious consequence in a child's life should be made on the basis of a single test score.<br /><br />Moreover, because ninth grade marks a critical transition period when many students decide whether or not to stay in school, it may be the worst possible year for holding students back. One study commissioned by The Civil Rights Project found that, even controlling for demographic and family background characteristics, previous school performance, and pre-high school attitudes and ambitions, forcing students to repeat ninth grade contributes substantially to the likelihood that they will eventually drop out.<br /><br />Then why, in the face of strong evidence of its damaging impact, is the practice of retaining students in ninth grade accelerating in Massachusetts? It is difficult to skirt the most obvious answer: Superintendents and principals are under intense pressure to raise MCAS scores in their districts and schools. In many Massachusetts communities, real estate values rise and fall on the posted MCAS scores. Thus, one way to raise aggregate scores is to remove from the pool those students most likely to perform at the bottom end of the scale.<br /><br />But this pressure should not be allowed to trump sound policy. State educational leaders ought to take a clear-eyed view of the evidence and push for alternatives to retention, particularly as students navigate the often-treacherous path between middle and high school. What might these be? Promising strategies include early interventions, individual tutoring, intensive instruction in basic skills combined with high school level academics, better counseling and support services, and breaking up large high schools into smaller units. All of these share the same goal - identifying and reaching out to struggling students before they face the prospect of flunking a grade.<br /><br />Research tells us that fear and humiliation are not the strongest motivators for struggling students. Too many will simply give up on school, largely because they feel like the school system has already given up on them. If Massachusetts is to avoid creating an ever-growing underclass of high school dropouts and intensifying existing racial inequalities, its leaders need to champion strategies that will produce genuine academic gains, not simply artificially boost test scores.<br /><br />Christopher Edley Jr., a professor of law at Harvard Law School, is co-director of The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. Johanna Wald is policy writer/editor at The Civil Rights Project.<br /><br />This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 12/16/2002.<br />2002 Globe Newspaper Company.<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112803214949768828?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128031837304692012005-10-04T15:43:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:43:31.616-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;">Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Inequality and High-Stakes Testing in Public Education</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Edited by Gary Orfield and Mindy L. Kornhaber</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">About the Book</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Published by the Century Foundation Press as part of a series called Civil Rights in a New Era, this book makes clear the importance of high standards and accountability systems. But support for standards and accountability systems should not be equated with support for high-stakes tests. These are tests that are used to determine whether a student graduates, gains access to challenging curriculum, or is promoted, or whether schools or educators are rewarded or penalized. Most of the contributors to the volume have found evidence that policies that focus on high-stakes testing corrupt educational reform and undermine achievement, especially for at-risk students. State and federal policymakers are increasingly pushing such tests as a panacea for the nation’s educational concerns.<br /><br />--From Press Release, June 20, 2001<br /><br />Table of Contents<br /><br />Acknowledgments<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">High-Stakes Testing Policies: Examining Their Assumptions and Consequences<br />Mindy L. Kornhaber and Gary Orfield<br /><br />The Development and Impact of High-Stakes Testing<br />Gary Natriello and Aaron M. Pallas<br /><br />High-Stakes Testing and Economic Productivity<br />Henry M. Levin<br /><br />The Impacts of Minimum Competency Exam Graduation Requirements on College Attendance and Early Labor<br />John H. Bishop and Ferran Mane<br /><br />The Adverse Impact of High-Stakes Testing on Minority Students: Evidence from One Hundred Years of Test Data<br />George Madaus and Marguerite Clarke<br /><br />Do High-Stakes Graduation Tests Improve Learning Outcomes? Using State-level NAEP Data to Evaluate the Effects of Mandatory Graduation Tests<br />Monty Neill, with Keith Gayler<br /><br />The Harmful Impact of the TAAS System of Testing in Texas: Beneath the Accountability Rhetoric<br />Linda McNeil and Angela Valenzuela<br /><br />Should We End Social Promotion? Truth and Consequences<br />Robert M. Hauser<br /><br />High-Stakes Testing and Civil Rights: Standards of Appropriate Test Use and a Strategy for Enforcing Them<br />Jay P. Heubert<br /><br />Century Foundation Press<br />ISBN 0-87078-452-8<br /><br />To Order, contact the Century Foundation Press at (800) 552-5450.<br /><br />The Civil Rights Project<br />Harvard University<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu</span></a><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112803183730469201?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128031466403847682005-10-04T15:42:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:42:23.136-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The Civil Rights Project</span><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Harvard University<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Testing: The Need and Dangers</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">National Trends</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Statewide and national tests in schools have become increasingly popular, despite the civil rights concerns that they raise. Testing is viewed by policymakers and the public as a way to improve the quality of schools in a cost-effective and efficient manner. A 1997 survey found that 71 percent of adults felt that students would work harder if required to pass a test before graduation (Johnson and Farkas). These tests are thought to raise the general level of education throughout the country by holding school districts, teachers, and students accountable to a certain level of standards. Obviously, assessment is a crucial part of educating students, but there are serious problems when it is used to punish rather than to help students.<br /><br />Achievement tests are often used in making important decisions about individual students. The results of these high stakes tests are used in determining whether a student will be placed on a slower or more advanced track in school, whether a student will be promoted to the next grade level at the end of the academic year, or whether a student will be allowed to graduate.<br /><br />In 1997, in response to increased civic interest in the quality of public schooling, President Clinton proposed the idea of voluntary national tests in reading and math. Congress and President Clinton asked the National Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment to conduct studies on high stakes tests to ensure that they are non-discriminatory.<br /><br />In addition, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education has drafted testing guidelines in order to ensure that tests measure students' knowledge or academic ability without regard to their race, gender, national origin, or socio-economic background. These guidelines serve as a resource of educational and legal principles and as an information base for teachers, policymakers, and concerned citizens. Tests must meet standards of validity and if they have disproportionate racial impacts, the institutions must demonstrate their educational necessity. It is our hope that these guidelines will be used to ensure the fair use of tests. If you are interested in obtaining a draft copy of Non-discrimination in High-Stakes Testing: A Resource Guide, please call the Office for Civil Rights at (202) 205-5557.<br /></span><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" >Civil Rights Concerns</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Though the idea of testing enjoys fairly widespread public support, high stakes testing has come under attack for its disparate impact on minority and/or low-income students. Indeed, minority and low-income students are over-represented in low-track schools and programs. They are more likely than more affluent and/or white students to repeat a grade or to fail to graduate.<br /><br />In studies done of testing programs in Texas, Minnesota, and New York, "minority students perform less well than their majority peers in all cases." Testing is also shown to threaten the possibility of graduation for African-American and Latino students in Texas and Minnesota.<br /><br />Social science researchers are interested in determining the cause of the racial and socio-economic differences in test performance and their consequences. However, determining the cause or causes of this discrepancy is not easy. Researchers attempt to decide whether a test accurately reflects a student’s ability, or whether other factors – such as inadequate teaching or an insufficient curriculum – are responsible for students’ performance. The National Research Council has recently stated that, "group differences in test performance do not necessarily indicate problems in a test, because test scores may reflect real differences in achievement. These may be due to a lack of access to a high-quality curriculum and instruction. Thus, a finding of group differences calls for a careful effort to determine their cause."</span><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" >Research Findings</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Most researchers conclude that there are a number of factors involved in determining a student’s performance on a high stakes test. However, academics do not always agree upon the validity of high stakes testing to measure students' learning or potential for future success or work. They also question the impact of high stakes tests on the quality of public education in this country.<br /><br />Supporters of the use of high stakes testing claim that these exams raise the level of education received by students and increase the likelihood of their college attendance and early labor market success. Some believe that minimum competency exams which determine whether a student will be able to graduate will help students get jobs by signaling to employers their qualification for work.<br /><br />However, a great deal of research on high stakes tests has found significant drawbacks. A major report from the National Academy of Sciences concludes that high stakes tests do not improve the overall level of education in schools but instead often penalize students – especially minority students – who have received inadequate instruction.<br /><br />The Civil Rights Project recently commissioned research on the implications of high stakes testing. Following is a list of major findings:<br /><br />* If test results are related to important decisions and outcomes, then teachers often begin to "teach to the test." A National Science Foundation study in 1992 showed that teachers with a high percentage of minority students were significantly more likely to state that standardized tests affected their teaching style. Thus, there arise serious differences in curricula between classrooms with high and low percentages of minority students.<br />* High stakes tests do not necessarily make teachers and students more motivated in the classroom. Psychological studies have shown that motivation is highly complex and that people deal with it differently. Those students who are not motivated by the tests will begin to feel alienated by the tests and consequently, the educational process.<br />High stakes testing is correlated with high drop out rates. Researchers from the State University of New York found that nine of the ten states with the highest drop out rates use high stakes testing, while none of the ten states with the lowest drop out rates do. Minority and low-income students are more likely than others to attend schools that use high stakes tests.<br />* Dropout rates have risen in the past few years, especially for African-American males. The costs for dropping out are high; those that do not graduate have no chance for college and little chance of finding a decent job. There is also an increased likelihood that they will be imprisoned.<br />* A student's performance on a high stakes exam is significantly tied to the level of their teacher’s experience. Minority and low-income students tend to have teachers with the lowest amounts of experience and are therefore likely to perform less well on high stakes tests than their white counterparts – and to be unfairly hurt by the test’s consequences.<br />* There is little evidence of a correlation between high test scores and job success. The test score gap between black and white males has narrowed by half since the mid-sixties, while the black-white wage gap for males that narrowed primarily during the period of civil rights enforcement has grown since that time.<br />* The use of high stakes testing results to make employment decisions is likely to be ineffective as well as harmful to minorities.<br />* Test-based grade retention does little to improve learning. In addition, it is expensive and may present class management problems associated with having an older student in a classroom with younger students.<br />* Grade retention disproportionately affects African-American males who are the most likely ethnicity/gender group to be held back. (By ages 15 to 17, close to 50 percent of African-American males compared to about 30 percent of white females are below the average grade for their age or have dropped out of school.)<br /></span><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Legal Action</span><br /><br />If a school's use of testing hurts opportunities for minority students, the testing might be successfully challenged in court. With the exception of graduation testing, test scores are generally combined with other factors, like grades, to make educational decisions. Nonetheless, if a discriminatory test was even one factor among many, and a clear disparate impact on minority students is the end result, the educational decision may violate Title VI civil rights laws. Remedies to the use of a biased test may be as narrow as substituting in a less biased test, or as broad as ending the use of tests altogether and requiring a different educational program or scheme.<br /><br />If there is proof that a biased test was used purposefully to segregate students, the decision to use the test violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. However, for Constitutional challenges, intent to discriminate is difficult to prove.<br /><br />If you think you've been discriminated against on the basis of race, national origin, gender or disability, you can file a complaint with the Enforcement Office of the Office for Civil Rights that serves your state. Contact the Office for Civil Rights at (202) 205-5557 as a first step.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" >What You Can Do</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">* High stakes decisions should not be made on the basis of test scores alone – other factors must be considered. Be suspicious of any major decision based upon the results of one test, which is subject to the influence of many outside factors. This violates a basic ethical principle of the testing profession.<br /><br />* Flunking a student can often increase the likelihood that he/she will drop out. Encourage school officials to take flunking seriously, and to use other strategies when possible.<br /><br />* Parents and community groups can take action by monitoring the real dropout rate in their schools. Find out how many students receive diplomas at the end of the school year and compare that number to the number of students that entered the school four years before. By insisting upon data from the schools every year, parents and community members can keep track of graduation rates and look for any discrepancies in the data.<br /><br />* If you notice a dropout trend in your community, talk to your local legislators and express your concern about potential problems with the school curriculum or high stakes testing policy. You can get the names and addresses of your legislation and city leaders at your public library.<br /><br />* Parents and community groups can organize together with researchers at local universities, civil rights organizations, and teachers' organizations. These coalitions can search out information on school policies and data, and speak with state officials about the implementation and effectiveness of tests in schools.<br /><br />* Use the press to your advantage. Involve the local media when discrepancies in dropout rates or test use are found so that the wider community can learn about the issues involved.<br /><br />* Testify before legislative committees and state boards of education about proper and improper use of tests. Meet with minority caucuses at the legislature.<br /><br />* Do not be so discouraged by potential unfairness or bias in testing that you simply attack testing. Tests can serve a useful purpose in education by helping to improve the quality of learning and to ensure equality of educational opportunity. We need measures of student progress to identify those who need extra help. We also have a responsibility to ensure that these measures are fair and reliable, and used for educational progress.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu">http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu</a></span><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112803146640384768?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128033503002607302005-10-04T15:40:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:41:11.176-07:00<span style="font-size:78%;">May 5, 2005<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Teacher Quality: Equalizing Educational</span><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Opportunities and Outcomes</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">By Gail L. Sunderman and Jimmy Kim</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:85%;" >POLICY ACTION</span><br /><br />Policy Brief<br /><br />The policy brief provides information for practioners and policy makers on how NCLB requirements affect LEP Students..more<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">CONVENINGS</span><br /></span><br />Rethinking Title I Policy<br /><br />On September 18, 1998 CRP and the Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights held the above conference on policy, enforcement, and educational benefits of Title I.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" >Executive Summary NCLB Reports</span><br /></span><br />The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) teacher quality provisions recognize both the importance of teacher quality for improving student achievement and the unequal distribution of teachers across districts and schools. But the question of how to achieve the goal of a high quality teacher in every classroom is complicated because of the challenges of attracting and retaining teachers to schools serving large numbers of minority and low-income students, the schools most likely to have the least qualified teachers. Professional development, the primary mechanism in the law to improve teacher quality, is insufficient to overcome these challenges and insure a high quality teacher in every classroom. Moreover, the sanctions attached to the NCLB adequate yearly progress requirements create an additional disincentive for highly qualified teachers to remain in high-poverty schools.<br /><br />This report examines the challenges of implementing the NCLB teacher quality provisions in six states—Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Georgia, and Virginia—and eleven school districts. We examine how teacher quality varies by school characteristics, how each state’s policy context affects teacher policies, and the barriers to implementing the NCLB teacher quality requirements at the state and local level using both qualitative and quantitative data sources.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" >Research Findings</span><br /></span><br />Implementing the NCLB teacher quality provisions is complex since managing teachers involves different levels of the school system—state, district, and school. Traditionally, each level has distinct responsibilities yet NCLB blurs these distinctions without providing additional resources or addressing the jurisdictional issues that govern teachers. Our research on the NCLB teacher quality provisions reveals the following findings:<br /><br />* States lacked sufficient capacity to collect data. There was significant variability in state capacity to collect data on measures of teacher quality as well as considerable variation among states on the measures they collected. States did not have adequate data systems to track teacher qualifications according to the criteria outlined by the federal government. Tracking teacher qualifications by subject matter was particularly problematic for states.<br /><br />* Teacher quality was unevenly distributed between districts. Large, urban districts and districts serving low-income students were more likely to have teachers that did not meet the NCLB teacher qualifications.<br /><br />* Schools identified as needing improvement had the lowest percentage of qualified teachers. In two states, Illinois and California, the average percentage of teachers with full credentials was highest in schools that were not identified as needing improvement. As the number of years a school was in program improvement increased, the number of teachers with full credentials decreased.<br /><br />* NCLB sanctions encourage teachers to transfer out of schools identified for improvement. Teachers responses on a teacher survey administered in Fresno, CA and Richmond, VA indicated that an unintended effect of the NCLB accountability system is that it will make it more difficult to attract and retain teachers to low-performing schools.<br /><br />* The NCLB approach to improving teacher quality does not take into consideration state and district context. While improving teacher quality is important, the issues states and districts faced regarding teacher quality and the distribution of teachers are far different than those receiving attention in NCLB. These issues include the following.<br /><br />* States faced very different labor markets issues. Some states, such as California, had a statewide teacher shortage. Others, such as Virginia, faced shortages in some parts of the state. Georgia had a growing demand for teachers who can teach English as a second language. Illinois and New York had difficulties attracting teachers to large urban districts. Arizona had an overall surplus of teachers, but shortages in some regions of the state and subject matter areas.<br /><br />* States deferred to districts to improve the unequal distribution of teachers. There is little in the NCLB regulations that provide guidance on how to address the unequal distribution of teachers across districts and across schools, other than through professional development and recruitment. Few states had policies or programs in place to increase the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers. Because teacher recruitment is primarily a district responsibility, the states in our study deferred to districts to address the unequal distribution of teachers. This is consistent with the traditional role of states in establishing certification requirements.<br /><br />* Districts faced very different implementation challenges that were related to differences in fiscal capacity, organizational characteristics, and state and district policies. Some districts had a declining student population and ongoing budget shortfalls which made it difficult to attract and retain highly qualified teachers. Well-funded districts that were located in a desirable labor market had little difficulty attracting teachers. State policies sometimes created incentives for teachers to move out of districts serving low-income students. Small schools and districts where one teacher covers several subjects had special problems.<br /><br />NCLB establishes the important goal of having a high quality teacher in every classroom, yet it does not provide the policies, support, or flexibility needed to meet this goal. By failing to recognize the local labor needs and differences in state policy context, some districts will have a more difficult time meeting these requirements than others. There is also the real potential that the negative consequences of the NCLB high stakes accountability policies will create a more negative teaching environment and contribute to teachers wanting to leave, either the profession or those schools serving the most disadvantaged students.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Recommendations</span><br /></span><br />To address the unequal distribution of teachers across schools and districts, the federal government should take a leadership role in understanding and correcting the factors that contribute to these distributional inequities. To meet the goal of having a high quality teacher in every classroom, we recommend:<br /><br />* Direct federal and state incentives for improving teacher quality to high-poverty areas.<br /><br />* Encourage states and districts to develop and support programs that create economic and racial diversity in the public schools.<br /><br />* Provide additional federal funds to assist states to develop the technological infrastructure necessary to track teacher quality over time and manage the increased data collection responsibilities.<br /><br />* Monitor other indicators of teacher quality in addition to the NCLB measures and assess the distribution of these characteristics across schools and districts.<br /><br />* Reform the No Child Left Behind Act teacher quality provisions to expand the definition of a qualified teacher to include experience.<br /><br />* Reform the No Child Left Behind Act to create recognition and rewards for teachers that make a difference and for schools that make improvement.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;">/research/esea/teacherQuality.php<br /></span><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112803350300260730?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128029809999543782005-10-04T15:38:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:38:43.086-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:180%;" >The Lifeworld of Leadership</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Creating Culture, Community, and Personal Meaning in Our<br />Schools</span><br />Thomas J. Sergiovanni<br /><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Chapter 5: Layered Standards and Shared Accountability</span><br /><br />Building diverse and effective school communities that focus on both caring and competence is a good idea. But we have a problem. We can't have this kind of community and a standards movement that imposes on all schools the same expectations and the same outcomes for learning. The present standards movement needs to be realigned. If we continue with standardized standards and assessment then we place community building at risk and compromise the lifeworlds of parents, teachers, students, and local communities. We can avoid this problem by switching to layered standards and shared accountability. Both can accelerate the building of effective school communities. By switching we can have our cake and eat it, too.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Changing Our Course</span><br /><br />Switching our approach to standards is not the same as doing away with standards. Setting standards for what students need to know, for what levels of civility should characterize student behavior, for what schools need to do, and for how parents, teachers, and even governors and legislators define their roles with respect to educational issues is good for students, schools, and the country. Standards are most useful when they are accompanied by assessments that can be used to determine where we are with respect to our goals and to help us get better. Personally, I like standards and assessments, if we have the right kind. Both can help us to define the common good and to come together in a quest to pursue that good. Standards and assessments can play an important role in building the kinds of focused and caring school communities most Americans want. As now construed, however, standards colonize rather than enhance the lifeworld of<br />schools, place schools' organizational character at risk, compromise their responsiveness to local needs and aspirations, hamper effective teaching and learning, and frustrate attempts to instill learning and caring virtues in students. Changing our present approach, however, will not be easy. We seem to be in the middle of another fad stampede, and stampedes have a way of spoiling good ideas.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:130%;" >Page 7</span><br /><br />....Consequently, America's teachers are doing exactly what is "rational"if they want to keep their jobs: focusing exclusively and obsessively on the things that will probably be on the test, and drilling students over and over on that narrow range of things until they memorize it [p. 38].<br /><br />Spady proposes twelve questions that teachers and principals can use to quiz policymakers, corporate executives, fellow educators, and others who are caught up in the stampede (see Spady, 1998, p. 38). Among them are:<br /><br />• What does this test actually measure?<br /><br />• What does this test not measure?<br /><br />• What does this test not measure that is important to students' success in the<br />information age?<br /><br />• Why don't we measure and report that instead?<br /><br />• What does a particular student test score mean?<br /><br />• Does this one test score represent the student's total learning and achievement?<br /><br />• Which score on this test indicates a student is competent?<br /><br />• Does one point less indicate that the student is incompetent?<br /><br />Standards have the potential to provide needed focus and to rally our resources in a<br />common direction. Testing is a powerful tool that can help us assess how well standards<br />are being achieved. Both can provide clues as to how we can get better.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><a href="http://scholar.google.com/"><span style="font-size:100%;">http://scholar.google.com/</span></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112802980999954378?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128027277824891222005-10-04T15:37:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:37:19.690-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">NBER<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Raise Achievement</span><br />School Style Can Raise Achievement<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">"Elementary school students with teachers who are 'tough' graders have fewer disciplinary problems and show greater improvements in their reading and math scores."<br /><br />Though state curricular standards have proliferated since 1983, there remains a stunning lack of consensus about what comprises a good education, an inability to agree on how one measures it, and a lack of evidence about whether particular teaching practices or school organizational forms do a superior job of imparting it. In Do High Grading Standards Affect Student Performance? (NBER Working Paper No. 7985), authors David Figlio and Maurice Lucas explore one of these questions. After controlling for student and family effects, they find that, on average, elementary school students with teachers who are "tough" graders have fewer disciplinary problems and show greater improvements in their reading and math scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. High-achieving students in low-achieving classes, and low-achieving students in high-achieving classes appear to benefit most from tougher grading standards.<br /><br />In the Alachua County Public Schools, a Florida school district, there are about 1800 students in each grade; students take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills each year. The FCAT is scored using the Sunshine State Standards, the same state curricular standards on which student letter grades in Florida are supposed to be based. Yet differences between an individual's grade in a course and his grade on the FCAT suggest that many teachers grade less stringently than the state standards recommend.<br /><br />The authors find that only 9 percent of all Alachua County students given an A by their teacher scored at the corresponding level on the FCATs. There was a closer correspondence between test scores and grades for students with teachers who were relatively tough graders: 65 percent of A students with tough graders for teachers attained a level 4 (a B) or above. Among those with teachers who were relatively "light" graders, "only 28 percent of A students attained level 4 or above.<br /><br />With a confidential dataset provided by the Alachua County School Board, Figlio and Lucas had access to information on almost every third, fourth, and fifth grader in the county between 1995-6 and 1998-9. Individual student records included teacher information, scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), report card grades, disciplinary records, race, ethnicity, sex, and disability status.<br /><br />Comparing children's test score gains across years as their teachers change, Figlio and Lucas find that lowering student grades from A to B in some circumstances could lead to student test score gains of as much as one-third of a year or more. These estimated effects of increased grading standards are similar in magnitude to the relationship between test score gains and student poverty, measured by free lunch eligibility.<br /><br />In a related paper, School Choice and the Distributional Effects of Ability Tracking: Does Separation Increase Equality? (NBER Working Paper No. 8055), authors David Figlio and Marianne Page note that along with tougher grading standards, schools traditionally have sought to challenge high achievers by putting them in classes, or "tracks," with peers of similar ability. Proponents of ability tracking argue that grouping students with similar abilities fosters learning by allowing teachers to fine tune instructional levels. Critics of ability tracking have argued that it deprives low aptitude students of positive peer effects arising from contact with more able students, that schools with tracking programs redistribute resources towards more able students, and that less capable teachers are assigned to low ability tracks. These criticisms, along with two decades of empirical studies that seem to suggest that ability grouping has benefited high-ability children and harmed low-ability ones, led to an estimated 7 percent drop between 1987 and 1993 in the number of gifted programs in the United States.<br /><br />Figlio and Page however find no evidence that ability tracking harms disadvantaged students. If anything, they find that the effect of tracking is "positive for members of the low ability group" and that tracked settings appear to do a better job of educating low achievers. Finally, their results suggest that gifted and remedial programs help schools maintain an economically diverse student body by attracting students from higher income families.<br /><br />Previous studies of tracking were based on the assumption that students' enrollment decisions were not related to whether a school grouped students by their academic ability; these studies often used track placement as a proxy for academic ability. But there is substantial disagreement about what constitutes ability groupings, and schools that group students by ability do not use standard criteria to identify high and low achievers. As a result, previous estimates of the effect of ability tracking are compromised by the possibility that the differences in outcome attributed to tracking may in fact be a product of the variations in student ability that determined track placement in the first place.<br /><br />Figlio and Page avoid these problems by using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 and from the Schools and Staffing Survey (three national samples of schools and school districts done in 1987-8, 1990-1, and 1993-4). The data on 7,676 individuals come from a nationally representative sample of public school students. The authors measure achievement using the change in an individual's raw score on a mathematics achievement test between 8th and 10th grade. Along with student track placement, the authors control for effects attributable to differences in family background and school characteristics with information on parents' education, income, and race as well as school student-teacher ratios, teacher salaries, and demographic composition.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.nber.org/digest/jul01/w7985.html">http://www.nber.org/digest/jul01/w7985.html</a><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112802727782489122?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128031097398220392005-10-04T15:35:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:35:31.680-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Capital Ideas</span><br />Selected Papers on Price Theory<br />Chicago CSB<br />The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business<br /><br />The Cheating Curve<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">What Are the Costs of High-Stakes Testing?</span><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Research by Steven Levitt</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The emphasis placed on standardized tests in elementary and secondary education has been steadily increasing over the past decade. Recent research examines how the pressure to boost test scores can lead to cheating by teachers and administrators.<br /><br />Standardized test scores are designed to provide an objective measure of student achievement. Consequently, the use of test outcomes to punish or reward schools and students, a practice referred to as “high-stakes testing,” is now extremely widespread.<br /><br />Proponents of high-stakes testing argue that the stronger incentives associated with tangible, quantitative measures of performance will lead teachers and students to work harder. Opponents have worried that the emphasis on standardized tests will lead teachers to “teach to the test,” or cut out subjects such as social sciences to emphasize reading and mathematics.<br /><br />“In the debate over high-stakes testing, neither side has expressed concern that teachers may respond to these stronger incentives in more diabolical ways, such as outright cheating,” says University of Chicago economics professor Steven Levitt.<br /><br />In the recent study, “Rotten Apples: An Investigation of the Prevalence and Predictors of Teacher Cheating” Levitt and coauthor Brian A. Jacob of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government find that as incentives for high test scores increase, unscrupulous teachers may be more likely to engage in a range of illicit activities, including changing student responses on answer sheets, providing correct answers to students, obtaining copies of exams illegitimately prior to the test date, and teaching students the answers to precise test questions.<br /><br />“The way teachers respond to incentives is just human nature,” says Levitt. “To quote W. C. Fields: ‘Anything worth winning is worth cheating for.'”<br /><br />Levitt and Jacob developed a set of tools that they refer to as a “cheating detection algorithm,” which uses economic theory, statistical measures, and available data to uncover outright teacher cheating on standardized tests.<br /><br />The study identifies the overall prevalence of teacher cheating and the factors that predict cheating. Levitt and Jacob's results highlight the fact that incentive systems with fixed rules often induce behavioral distortions such as cheating.<br /><br />For standardized tests, Levitt and Jacob find that cheating classrooms will systematically differ from other classrooms because they show unusually large fluctuations in test scores and suspicious patterns of answers.<br /><br />Using data from the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the authors estimate that serious cases of teacher or administrator cheating on standardized tests occur in a minimum of 4 to 5 percent of elementary school classrooms annually. The frequency of cheating appears to be strongly linked to minor changes in incentives.<br /><br />“Incentives are powerful, but they are a double-edged sword,” says Levitt. “Incentives can change behavior for the better and for the worse.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Tell-Tale Signs</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">For one week each May, third through eighth grade students in the Chicago Public Schools take a standardized, multiple-choice achievement exam known as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), a national exam with a reading comprehension section and three math sections.<br /><br />Students mark their responses on answer sheets, which are scanned to determine their score. Teachers or administrators then “clean” the answer keys, erasing stray pencil marks, removing dirt or debris from the form, and darkening item responses that were only faintly marked by the student.<br /><br />Prior to 1996, Iowa Test scores were mainly used to provide teachers and parents with a sense of how a student was progressing academically. Beginning in 1996, with the appointment of Paul Vallas as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, CPS launched an initiative designed to hold students and teachers accountable for student learning.<br /><br />Elements of the reform included putting schools on “probation”—a highly undesirable circumstance—if less than 15 percent of students scored at or above national norms on the ITBS reading exams. Probation schools that do not show enough improvement may be reconstituted, which involves closing the school and dismissing or reassigning the staff.<br /><br />The second part of the reform included an end to social promotion, the practice of passing students to the next grade regardless of their academic skills or school performance. Under the new policy, students in the third, sixth, and eighth grades must meet minimum standards on ITBS in both reading and math in order to be promoted to the next grade.<br /><br />The authors use detailed administrative data from 1993 to 2000, including question-by-question answers given by every student taking the ITBS. The authors also have access to each student's full academic record, including past test scores, the school and room to which a student was assigned, and extensive demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Their final data set includes approximately 20,000 students per grade per year distributed across approximately 1,000 classrooms.<br /><br />Given that the aim of cheating is to raise test scores, one signal of cheating is unusually large gains in test scores for students in the year the cheating occurs, followed by very small test score gains (or even declines) the following year. Since test score gains that result from cheating do not represent real gains in knowledge, there is no reason to expect gains to be sustained on future exams taken by these students. In contrast, if large test score gains are due to a talented teacher, student gains are likely to be more permanent.<br /><br />A second indicator is distinctive patterns of suspicious answer strings. The crudest form of teacher cheating is likely to leave tell-tale signs in the form of blocks of identical answers for many students in the classroom. Teachers can quickly and easily alter test forms by erasing answers and filling in the correct responses. Another element to the suspicious answer strings are cases where many students answer most of the easy questions wrong and get most of the hard questions right.<br /><br />The authors find that the introduction of social promotion and probation policies are positively connected with the likelihood of classroom cheating, and cheating rates in the lowest performing classrooms are the most sensitive to changes in incentives.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">A Unique Policy Intervention</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">In the spring of 2002, Arne Duncan, the new CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, having read Levitt and Jacob's research, invited the authors to work with CPS administrators to design and implement auditing and retesting procedures using their cheating detection algorithm. Levitt and Jacob detail the results of this experiment in their follow-up study, “Catching Cheating Teachers: The Result of an Unusual Experiment in Implementing Theory.”<br /><br />A few weeks after the initial ITBS exam was administered, the authors retested 117 classrooms under controlled circumstances that precluded cheating. Of the classrooms retested, 76 were suspected of cheating during the initial exam: 51 with suspicious answer strings and large test score gains, 21 with only suspicious answer strings, and 4 with anonymous allegations of cheating made to CPS officials</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">They also retested two sets of classrooms as control groups: the first control group was classes with large test score gains, but no evidence of cheating in answer strings; the second control group consisted of randomly selected classrooms.<br /><br />The classrooms identified as likely to have cheated experienced test score gains on the initial spring 2002 tests that were nearly twice as large as a typical CPS classroom. Consistent with their hypothesis, the authors found that on the retest, gains for those classrooms completely disappeared, most notably in the reading scores.<br /><br />One subset of classrooms suspected of cheating had only average test score gains on the initial test, even with the suspected cheating. This implies that the teachers taught almost nothing and cheated to raise their classrooms' scores up to the average. These classrooms were expected to have large test score declines on the retest, which proved to be the case.<br /><br />In contrast, classrooms identified as having good teachers that had not cheated scored even higher on the reading retest, while math scores fell slightly. The randomly selected classrooms maintained nearly all of their gains when retested.<br /><br />In 29 classrooms, the test score declines averaged more than one grade-equivalent across the subjects tested. CPS staff further undertook investigations of these 29 classrooms, including analysis of erasure patterns and on-site investigations. A substantial number of cheating teachers were disciplined for their actions, including some dismissals.<br /><br />The data generated by the auditing experiment also provided the authors with a unique opportunity to improve their cheating detection techniques.<br /><br />“During the retest, we found that the most effective way of catching cheating was looking at cases where students get the easy questions wrong and the hard questions right,” says Levitt.<br /><br />The results of the experiment provide compelling evidence that these methods can successfully identify cheating classrooms, as well as identify classrooms with good teachers whose gains are legitimate and possibly deserving of rewards.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Costs and Benefits of Incentives</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Levitt and Jacob argue that the obvious benefits of high-stakes tests as a means of providing incentives must be weighted against possible distortions that these measures induce. Explicit cheating is just one form of distortion.<br /><br />There are several ways to reduce cheating on standardized tests: lower the payoff (incentive), make it more difficult to cheat, or increase the severity of punishment.<br /><br />The kind of cheating that the authors focus on could be reduced at relatively low cost through the implementation of proper safeguards, such as those used by the Educational Testing Service on the SAT and GRE exams, which require independent proctors.<br /><br />However, even if this type of cheating is eliminated, the study highlights the nearly unlimited capacity of human beings to distort behavior in response to incentives.<br /><br />“Ultimately, the aim of public policy should be to design rules and incentives that provide the most favorable trade-off between the real benefits of high-stakes testing, and the real costs associated with behavioral distortions aimed at artificially gaming the system,” says Levitt.<br /><br />Steven Levitt is Alvin H. Baum Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago and Director of the Initiative on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.<br /></span><br /><a href="http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/news/capideas/may05/chesting.html"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/news/capideas/may05/chesting.html</span></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span><br /><br />_____<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112803109739822039?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128357072296243152005-10-04T15:33:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:33:27.516-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;">National Standards in American Education</span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">A Citizen's Guide</span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">Diane Ravitch</span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">Brookings Institution Press 1995</span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">c. 242pp.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;"> </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Cloth Text, 0-8157-7352-8 </span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">Paper Text, 0-8157-7351-X </span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;"></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"></span><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">DESCRIPTION</span><br /> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">Updating her highly acclaimed book, Diane Ravitch presents the latest information on the debate over national standards and assessments.</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">"Ensuring a rigorous liberal education for all is asking a lot in a contentious democracy like ours. Is it possible to educate every child to the same high standards? Is it politically feasible? Will raising standards help or hinder poor minority children? Ravitch sees where these land mines are buried and her book provides an indispensable diagram for getting around them." —The Wall Street Journal</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">"A simple message lies at the heart of Diane Ravitch's new book.... If clear and consistent goals of learning could be set for all American children, rich and poor, gifted and ordinary, then all of these children would end up better educated than they now are likely to be." —The New York Times</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">"No one could be more qualified to write a book about national standards in education than Diane Ravitch." —The Washington Times</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">"The ongoing debate about national education standards and assessment in the U.S. has created as much confusion as it has solutions. What has been needed is an examination of the educational, historical, political, and social issues related to the development of such standards. Ravitch provides such a foundation."—Choice</span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">Diane Ravitch, former assistant secretary of educational research and improvement at the U.S. Department of Education, is a senior research fellow at New York University and a nonresident senior fellow in the Governmental Studies program at the Brookings Institution.</span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;">Diane Ravitch, former Assistant Secretary of Educational Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education, is the author of numerous books, including <span style="font-style: italic;">The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn</span> (Knopf, 2003), <span style="font-style: italic;">Left Back: A Century of Battles over School Reform</span> (Simon & Schuster, 2001), and <span style="font-style: italic;">National Standards in American Education: A Citizen’s Guide</span> (Brookings, 1995). </span></span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/natlstds2.htm">http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/natlstds2.htm</a></span><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112835707229624315?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128357530309333572005-10-04T15:31:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:31:44.946-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What Do Test Scores in Texas Tell Us?</span></span><br />Stephen P. Klein, Laura S. Hamilton, Daniel F. McCaffrey, Brian M. Stecher<br /><br /><br />Preface<br />During the past decade, several states have begun using the results on statewide tests as the basis for rewarding and sanctioning individual students, teachers, and schools. Although testing and accountability are intended to improve achievement and motivate staff and students, concerns have been raised in both the media and the professional literature (e.g., Heubert & Hauser, 1999; Linn, 2000) about possible unintended consequences of these programs.<br /><br />The high-stakes testing program in Texas has received much of this attention in part because of the extraordinarily large gains the students in this state have made on its statewide achievement tests, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). In fact, the gains in TAAS reading and math scores for both majority and minority students have been so dramatic that they have been dubbed the "Texas miracle." However, there are concerns that these gains were inflated or biased as an indirect consequence of the rewards and sanctions that are attached to the results. Thus, although there is general agreement that the gains on the TAAS are attributable to Texas' high-stakes accountability system, there is some question about what these gains mean. Specifically, do they reflect a real improvement in student achievement or something else?<br /><br />We conducted several analyses to examine the issue of whether TAAS scores can be trusted to provide an accurate index of student skills and abilities. First, we used scores on the reading and math tests that are administered as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to investigate how much students in Texas have improved and whether this improvement is consistent with what has occurred nationwide. NAEP scores are a good benchmark for this purpose because they reflect national content standards and they are not subject to the same external pressures to boost scores as there are on the TAAS.<br /><br />Next, we assessed whether the gains in TAAS scores between 1994 and 1998 were comparable to those on NAEP. We did this to examine how much confidence can be placed in the TAAS score gains. Similarly, we measured whether the differences in scores between whites and students of color on the TAAS were consistent with the differences between these groups on NAEP. Specifically, is the gap on TAAS credible given the gap on NAEP? And finally, we investigated whether TAAS scores are related to the scores on a set of three other tests that we administered to students in 20 Texas elementary schools.<br /><br />Our findings from this research raise serious questions about the validity of the gains in TAAS scores. More generally, our results illustrate the danger of relying on statewide test scores as the sole measure of student achievement when these scores are used to make high-stakes decisions about teachers and schools as well as students. We anticipate that our findings will be of interest to local, state, and national educational policymakers, legislators, educators, and fellow researchers and measurement specialists.<br /><br />Readers also may be interested in a RAND study by Grissmer et al. (2000) that compared the NAEP scores of different states across the country. Grissmer and his colleagues found that after controlling for various student demographic characteristics and other factors, Texas tended to have higher NAEP scores than other states and there was some speculation as to whether this was due to the accountability system in Texas. Thus, while the Grissmer et al. (2000) report and the research presented in this issue paper both used NAEP scores, these studies differed in the questions they investigated, the data they analyzed, and the methodologies they employed. A forthcoming RAND issue paper will discuss some of the broader policy questions about high-stakes testing in schools.<br /><br />The preparation of this issue paper benefited greatly from the many thoughtful suggestions and insights of our RAND colleagues, Dr. David Grissmer, Dr. Daniel Koretz, and Dr. James Thomson, and our external reviewers, Professor Richard Jaeger of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Professor Robert Linn of the University of Colorado at Boulder. We are also grateful to Miriam Polon and Christina Pitcher for editorial suggestions.<br /><br /><br />Background<br />Scores on achievement tests are increasingly being used to make decisions that have important consequences for examinees and others. Some of these "high-stakes" decisions are for individual students--such as for tracking, promotion, and graduation (Heubert & Hauser, 1999). Some states and school districts also are using test scores to make performance appraisal decisions for teachers and principals (e.g., merit pay and bonuses) and to hold schools and educational programs accountable for the success of their students (Linn, 2000). Although the policymakers who design and implement such systems often believe they lead to improved instruction, there is a growing body of evidence which indicates that high-stakes testing programs can also result in narrowing the curriculum and distorting scores (Koretz &amp; Barron, 1998; Koretz et al., 1991; Linn, 2000; Linn, Graue, & Sanders, 1990; Stecher, Barron, Kaganoff, & Goodwin, 1998). Consequently, questions are being raised about the appropriateness of using test scores alone for making high-stakes decisions (Heubert &amp; Hauser, 1999).<br /><br />In this issue paper, we examine score gains on one statewide test in an effort to assess the degree to which they provide valid information about student achievement in that state and about improvements in achievement over time. This investigation is the latest in a decade-long series of RAND studies of high-stakes testing (e.g., Koretz & Barron, 1998). We believe that this work will provide lessons to help policymakers understand some of the challenges that arise in the context of high-stakes accountability systems.<br /><br />Our interest in Texas was prompted by an unusual empirical relationship we observed between scores on TAAS and tests we administered to students in a small sample of schools as part of a larger study on teaching practices and student achievement. Because our set of schools was small and not representative of the state, we decided to explore statewide patterns of achievement on TAAS and on NAEP. In addition, Texas provides an ideal context in which to study high-stakes testing because its accountability system has received attention from the media and from the policy community, and it has been cited as possibly contributing to improved student achievement (e.g., Grissmer &amp; Flanagan, 1998; Grissmer et al., 2000). TAAS scores are a central component of the accountability system. For example, students must pass the TAAS to graduate from high school, and TAAS scores affect performance evaluations (and, in some cases, compensation) for teachers and principals.<br /><br />The TAAS program has been credited not only with improving student performance, but also with reducing differences in average scores among racial and ethnic groups. For example, a recent press release announced a record high passing rate on the TAAS. According to Commissioner of Education Jim Nelson, "Texas has justifiably gained national recognition for the performance gains being made by our students." Nelson also stated that Texas has "been able to close the gap in achievement between our minority youngsters and our majority youngsters, and we've again seen how we're progressing in that regard" (Jim Nelson as quoted by Mabin, 2000).<br /><br />The unprecedented score gains on the TAAS have been referred to as the "Texas miracle." However, some educators and analysts (e.g., Haney, 2000) have raised questions about the validity of these gains and the possible negative consequences of high-stakes accountability systems, particularly for low-income and minority students. For example, the media have reported concerns about excessive teaching to the test, and there is some empirical support for these criticisms (Carnoy, Loeb, & Smith, 2000; McNeil & Valenzuela, 2000; Hoffman et al., in press). For instance, teachers in Texas say they are spending especially large amounts of class time on test preparation activities. Because the length of the school day is fixed, the more time that is spent on preparing students to do well on the TAAS often means there is less time to devote to other subjects.<br /><br />There are also concerns that score trends may be biased by a variety of formal and informal policies and practices. For example, policies about student retention in grade may affect score trends (McLaughlin, 2000). States may vary in the extent to which their schools promote students who fail to earn acceptable grades and/or statewide test scores. Eliminating these so-called "social promotions" would most likely raise the average scores at each grade level in subsequent years while lowering it at each age level. This is likely to occur because although the students who are held back may continue to improve, they are likely to do so at a slower rate than comparable students who graduate with their classmates (Heubert & Hauser, 1999). Another concern is inappropriate test preparation practices, including outright cheating. There have been documented cases of cheating across the nation, including in Texas. If widespread, these behaviors could substantially distort inferences from test score gains (Hoff, 2000; Johnston, 1999).<br /><br />The pressure to raise scores may be felt most intensely in the lowest-scoring schools, which typically have large populations of low-income and minority students. Students at these schools may be particularly likely to suffer from overzealous efforts to raise scores. For example, Hoffman et al. (in press) found that teachers in low-performing schools reported greater frequency of test preparation than did teachers in higher-performing schools. This could lead to a superficial appearance that the gap between minority and majority students is narrowing when no change has actually occurred.<br /><br />Evidence regarding the validity of score gains on the TAAS can be obtained by investigating the degree to which these gains are also present on other measures of these same general skills. Specifically, do the score trends on the TAAS correspond to those on the highly regarded NAEP? The NAEP tests are generally recognized as the "gold standard" for such comparisons because of the technical quality of the procedures that are used to develop, administer, and score these exams. Of course, NAEP is not a perfect measure. For example, there are no stakes attached to NAEP scores, and therefore student motivation may differ on NAEP and state tests, such as TAAS. However, it is currently the best indicator available.<br /><br />There are several other reasons why score gains on the TAAS are not likely to have a one-to-one match with those on NAEP if these tests assess different skills and knowledge. However, the specifications for the NAEP exams are based on a consensus of a national panel of experts, including educators, about what students should know and be able to do. Hence, NAEP provides an appropriate benchmark for measuring improvement. As Linn (2000) notes, "Divergence of trends does not prove that NAEP is right and the state assessment is misleading, but it does raise important questions about the generalizability of gains reported on a state's own assessment, and hence about the validity of claims regarding student achievement" (p. 14).<br /><br /><br />Questions for Our Research<br />Understanding the source and consequences of the impressive score gains on the TAAS would require an extensive independent study. We have not done that. Instead, the analyses described below address the following questions about student achievement in Texas:<br /><br /> 1. Have the reading and math skills of Texas students improved since the full statewide implementation of the TAAS program in 1994 (e.g., are fourth graders reading better today than fourth graders a few years ago); and, if their skills did improve: (a) how much improvement occurred and (b) was the amount of improvement in reading the same as it was in math?<br /><br /> 2. Are the gains in reading and math on the TAAS consistent with what would be expected given NAEP scores in Texas and the rest of the country?<br /><br /> 3. Has Texas narrowed the gap in average reading and math skills between whites and students of color?<br /><br /> 4. Do other tests given in Texas at a sample of 20 schools produce results that are consistent with those obtained with the TAAS?<br /><br />We begin by describing certain important features of the TAAS and NAEP exams. We then answer the first three questions through analyses of publicly available TAAS and NAEP data and discuss the findings. Next, we answer the fourth question by reporting the results from a study that administered other tests to about 2,000 Texas students. Finally, we present our conclusions.<br /><br /><br />Description of the TAAS<br />TAAS was initiated in 1990 to serve as a criterion-referenced measure of the state's mandated curriculum. It is intended to be comprehensive and to measure higher-order thinking skills and problem-solving ability (Texas Education Agency, 1999). Since the full implementation of the TAAS program in 1994, it has been administered in reading and mathematics in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10. Other subjects are also tested at selected grade levels. Last year, for example, a writing test was given at grades 4, 8, and 10. Science and social studies were tested at grade 8. The TAAS tests consist primarily of multiple-choice items, but the writing test includes questions that require written answers.<br /><br />Teachers administer the TAAS tests to their own students. Answers are scored by the state. The questions are released to the public after each administration of the exam, and a new set of TAAS tests is administered each year. However, the format and content of the questions in one year are very similar to those used the next year. Each form of the TAAS contains items that are being field-tested for inclusion in the forms to be used in subsequent years. These items are also used to link test scores from one year to the next to help ensure consistent difficulty over time. These experimental items are not used to compute student scores nor are they released to the public. This practice is consistent with that employed in many other large-scale testing programs.<br /><br />The TAAS is administered only in Texas. Thus, there are no national norms or benchmarks against which to compare the performance of Texas students on this test. However, the Texas Education Agency administered the Metropolitan Achievement Tests to a sample of Texas students to determine how well these students performed relative to a national norm group. We discuss this study in a later section of this issue paper.<br /><br /><br />Description of NAEP<br />The national portion of NAEP is mandated by Congress and is administered through the National Center for Education Statistics. It is currently the only assessment that provides information on the knowledge and skills of a representative sample of the nation's students. The content of NAEP tests is based on test specifications that were developed by educators and others, and is intended to reflect a consensus about what students should be learning at a given grade level. Hence, the questions are not tied to standards of a single state or district.[1] Like TAAS, NAEP is designed to assess problem-solving skills in addition to content knowledge. A national probability sample of schools is invited to participate in NAEP. Schools that decline are replaced with schools where the student characteristics are similar to those at the schools that refused to participate.<br /><br />Most states, including Texas, also arrange to have the NAEP exams administered to another (and larger) group of their schools to allow for the generation of reliable state-level results. This state-level testing utilizes the same general procedures as the national NAEP program does; e.g., third-party selection of the participating schools and having a cadre of trained consultants (rather than classroom teachers) administer the tests. However, unlike the national program, these consultants may be local district personnel.<br /><br />In both the national and state-level programs, a given student is asked a sample of all the questions that are used at that student's grade level. This permits a much larger sampling of the content domain in the available testing time than would be feasible if every student had to answer every item. Different item formats (including multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay) are used in most subjects. The breadth of content and item types, as well as the consensus of a national panel of experts that is reflected in NAEP frameworks, makes NAEP a useful indicator of achievement trends across the country.<br /><br />The validity of NAEP scores is enhanced by the procedures that are used to give the exams and ensure test security (e.g., test administrators do not have a stake in the outcomes). However, the utility of NAEP scores is limited by some of the other features of this testing program. For instance, NAEP is not administered every year, and when it is administered, not every subject is included, only a few grade levels are tested, and individual student, school, and district scores are not available. These features preclude examining year-to-year trends in a particular subject or tracking individual student progress over time. The motivation to do well on the NAEP tests is intrinsic rather than driven by external stakes. However, any reduction in student effort or performance that may stem from NAEP being a relatively low-stakes test should be fairly consistent over time and therefore not bias our measurement of score improvements across years.<br /><br /><br />How We Report Results<br />NAEP and TAAS results are typically reported to the public in terms of the percentage of students passing or meeting certain performance levels (or "cut" scores). Although this type of reporting seems easier to understand, it can lead to erroneous conclusions. For example, the difficulty of achieving a passing status or a certain level of performance (such as "proficient") may vary between tests as well as within a testing program over time. Making comparisons based on percentages reaching certain levels also does not account for score changes among students who perform well above or below the cut score.<br /><br />To avoid these and other problems with percentages, we adopted the research community's convention of reporting results in terms of "effect" sizes. The effect size is the difference in mean scores (between years or groups) divided by the standard deviation of those scores. In other words, it is the standardized mean difference. The major advantage of using effect sizes is that they provide a common metric across tests.<br /><br />As a frame of reference for readers who are not familiar with this metric, the effect size for the difference in achievement between white and black students has ranged from 0.8 to 1.2 across a variety of large-scale tests (Hedges & Nowell, 1998). The effect size for the difference in third grade student reading scores between large and small classes in Tennessee was approximately 0.25 (Finn &amp; Achilles, 1999).[2]<br /><br /><br />Have Reading and Math Skills Improved in Texas?<br />NAEP data have been cited as evidence of the effectiveness of educational programs in Texas (e.g., Grissmer & Flanagan, 1998). For instance, within a racial or ethnic group, the average performance of the Texas students tends to be about six percentile-points higher than the national average for that group (Grissmer et al., 2000; Reese et al., 1997).<br /><br />These results are consistent with the findings obtained by the Texas Education Agency in its 1999 Texas National Comparative Data Study, in which a sample of Texas students took the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Seventh Edition (MAT-7). Texas students at every grade level scored slightly higher than the national norming sample in most subjects (Texas Education Agency, 1999). However, it is difficult to draw conclusions from this study because, according to the sampling plan for this research, each participating school selected the classrooms and students that would take the MAT. Moreover, Texas did not report the mean TAAS scores of the students who took the MAT. Under the circumstances, the TAAS data are vital for determining whether those who took the MAT were truly representative of their school or the state. For example, the interpretation of the MAT findings would no doubt change if it was discovered that the mean TAAS scores of the students who took the MAT were higher than the corresponding state mean TAAS scores.<br /><br />Data from a single year cannot tell us whether achievement has improved over time or whether trends in TAAS scores are reflected in other tests. To answer the question of whether performance improved, we compared the scores of Texas fourth graders in one year with the scores of Texas fourth graders four years later. We did this in both reading and mathematics. We also did this for eighth graders in mathematics (NAEP's testing schedule precluded conducting a similar analysis for eighth graders in reading). We then contrasted these results with national trends to assess whether the gains in Texas after the full statewide implementation of the TAAS differed from those in other states.<br /><br /><br />The main finding is that the average test score gains on the NAEP in Texas exceeded those of the nation in only one of the three comparisons.<br /><br />Figures 1 through 3 present the results of these analyses. The main finding is that over a four-year period, the average test score gains on the NAEP in Texas exceeded those of the nation in only one of the three comparisons, namely: fourth grade math.<br /><br />Figure 1 shows that the Texas fourth graders in 1998 had higher NAEP reading scores than did Texas fourth graders in 1994. The size of the increase was .13 standard deviation units for white students and .15 units for students of color. However, these increases were not unique to Texas. The national trend was for all students to improve. In fact, only among white fourth graders was the improvement in Texas greater than improvement nationally, and then only slightly (the difference in the effect sizes between Texas and the United States was .08). We discuss the implications of this difference in score gains between groups when we discuss the question of whether Texas has narrowed the gap in performance among racial and ethnic groups.<br /><br />The TAAS data tell a radically different story (see Figure 1). They indicate there was a very large improvement in TAAS reading scores for all groups (effect sizes ranged from .31 to .49). Figure 1 also shows that on the TAAS, black and Hispanic students improved more than whites. The gains on TAAS were therefore several times larger than they were on NAEP. And, contrary to the NAEP findings, the gains on TAAS were greater for students of color than they were for whites.<br /><br />Figure 2 shows that fourth graders in Texas in 1996 had substantially higher NAEP math scores than did fourth graders in 1992 (effect sizes ranged from .25 to .43). Moreover, this improvement was substantially greater than the increase nationwide. This was especially true for white students. Nevertheless, the gains on TAAS were much larger than they were on NAEP, especially for students of color.[3]<br /><br />Figure 3 shows that Texas eighth graders in 1996 had higher NAEP scores than did Texas eighth graders in 1992, but these differences were only slightly larger than those observed nationally. Thus, as with fourth grade reading, there was nothing remarkable about the NAEP scores in Texas, and students of color did not gain more than whites. In contrast, there were huge improvements in eighth grade math scores on the TAAS during a similar four-year period, and these increases were much larger for students of color than they were for whites. The same was true for eighth grade TAAS reading scores during this period (effect sizes for whites, blacks, and Hispanics were .28, .45, and .37, respectively).<br /><br />IP202fig1 IP202fig2<br /><br />IP202fig3<br /><br />To further examine the question of whether there has been an improvement in reading and math skills of Texas students, we compared the NAEP scores of fourth graders in one year with the NAEP scores of eighth graders four years later. Because of the way NAEP samples students for testing, this is analogous (but not equivalent) to following the same cohort of students over time. In fact, the redesign of NAEP in 1984, which established a practice of testing grade levels four years apart and conducting the assessment in the core subjects every four years, was intended in part to support this type of analysis (Barton & Coley, 1998). We present results for Texas and the nation so readers can see the extent to which Texas students are progressing relative to students in other states.<br /><br />Table 1 shows that the average NAEP math scale score for white Texas fourth graders in 1992 was 229. Four years later, the mean score for white eighth graders was 285, i.e., a 56-point improvement. However, there was a 54-point improvement nationally for whites during this same period. There was a similar pattern for minority students, and these trends held for both math and reading (Table 2). In short, the score increases in Texas were almost identical to those nationwide (we could not conduct the corresponding analysis with TAAS data because TAAS does not convert scores to a common scale across grade levels).<br /><br />IP202tab1 IP202tab2<br /><br />Is Texas Closing the Gap Between Whites and Students of Color?<br />In 1998, the mean fourth grade NAEP reading score for whites in Texas was one full standard deviation higher than the mean for blacks. To put this in perspective, the average black student was at roughly the 38th percentile among all Texas test takers whereas the average white student was at about the 67th percentile. This gap was slightly larger than the difference between these groups in 1994. In other words, the black-white reading gap actually increased during this four-year period. The same pattern was present in fourth and eighth grade math scores (see Figure 4a).<br /><br />In contrast, the difference in mean TAAS scores between whites and blacks was initially smaller than it was on NAEP, and it decreased substantially over a comparable four-year period. Consequently, by 1998, the black-white gap on TAAS was about half what it was on NAEP. In other words, whereas the gap on NAEP was large to begin with and got slightly wider over time, the gap on TAAS started off somewhat smaller than it was on NAEP and then got substantially smaller.<br /><br />IP202fig4a IP202fig4b<br /><br />The same radically disparate NAEP and TAAS trends were also present for the Hispanic-white gap; i.e., the gap got slightly wider on NAEP but substantially smaller on TAAS over comparable four-year periods (see Figure 4b). In addition, although fourth grade math was the subject on which Texas showed the largest gains over time relative to the nation, the white-Hispanic NAEP gap grew in Texas but not nationally, and the white-black gap remained constant in Texas but actually shrank nationally. In short, gap sizes on NAEP were moving in the opposite direction than they were on TAAS.<br /><br />It is worth noting that even the relatively small NAEP gains we observed might be somewhat inflated by changes in who takes the test. As mentioned earlier, Haney (2000) provides evidence that exclusion of students with disabilities increased in Texas while decreasing in the nation, and Texas also showed an increase over time in the percentage of students dropping out of school and being held back. All of these factors would have the effect of producing a gain in average test scores that overestimates actual changes in student performance.<br /><br /><br />Why Do TAAS and NAEP Scores Behave So Differently?<br />The large discrepancies between TAAS and NAEP results raise serious questions about the validity of the TAAS scores. We do not know the sources of these differences. However, one plausible explanation, and one that is consistent with some of the survey and observation results cited earlier, is that many schools are devoting a great deal of class time to highly specific TAAS preparation. It is also plausible that the schools with relatively large percentages of minority and poor students may be doing this more than other schools.<br /><br />TAAS questions are released after each administration. Although there is a new version of the exam each year, one version looks a lot like another in terms of the types of questions asked, terminology and graphics used, content areas covered, etc. Thus, giving students instruction and practice on how to answer the specific types of questions that appear on the TAAS could very well improve their scores on this exam. For example, in an effort to improve their TAAS scores, some schools have retained outside contractors to work with teachers, students, or both.<br /><br />If the discrepancies we observed between NAEP and TAAS were due to some type of focused test preparation for the TAAS, then this instruction must have had a fairly narrow scope. With the possible exception of fourth grade math, it certainly did not appear to influence NAEP scores. In short, if TAAS scores were affected by test preparation for the TAAS, then the effects of this preparation did not appear to generalize to the NAEP exams. This explanation also raises questions about the appropriateness of what is being taught to prepare students to take the TAAS.<br /><br />A small but significant percentage of students may have "topped out" on the TAAS. In other words, their TAAS scores may not reflect just how much more proficient they are in reading and math than are other students. If that happened, it would artificially narrow the gap on the TAAS between whites and students of color (because majority students tend to earn higher scores than minority students). Thus, the reduced gap on the TAAS relative to NAEP may be an artifact of the TAAS being too easy for some students.[4] If so, it also would deflate the gains in TAAS scores over time. In short, were it not for any topping-out, the TAAS gain scores in Figures 1 through 3 would have been even larger, which in turn would further increase the disparity between TAAS and NAEP results.<br /><br /><br />What Happens on Other Tests?<br />We collected data on about 2,000 fifth graders from a mix of 20 urban and suburban schools in Texas. This study was part of a much larger project that included administering different types of science and math tests to students who also took their state's exams. The 20 schools were from one part of Texas. They were not selected to be representative of this region let alone of Texas as a whole. Nevertheless, some of the results at these schools also raised questions about the validity of the TAAS as a measure of student achievement.<br /><br />Test Administration<br /><br />In the spring of 1997, our Texas students took the English language version of the TAAS in reading and math. A few weeks later, we administered the following three tests to these same students: the Stanford 9 multiple-choice science test, the Stanford 9 open-ended (OE) math test, and a "hands-on" (HO) science test developed by RAND (Stecher & Klein, 1996). The Stanford 9 OE math test asked students to construct their own answers and write them in their test booklets. In the HO science test, students used various materials to conduct experiments. They then wrote their answers to several open-ended questions about these experiments in a simulated laboratory notebook. Table 3 shows the means and standard deviations on each measure.<br /><br />Some Expected and Unexpected Findings<br /><br />We analyzed the data in two ways. First, we investigated whether the students who earned high scores on one test tended to earn high scores on the other tests. Next, we examined whether the schools that had a high average score on one test tended to have high average scores on the other tests. We also looked at whether the results were related to type of test used (i.e., multiple-choice or open-ended), subject matter tested (reading, math, or science), and whether a student was in a free or reduced-price school lunch program. The latter variable serves as a rough indicator of a student's socioeconomic status (SES). For the school-level analyses, SES was indicated by the percentage of students at the school who were in the subsidized lunch program.<br /><br />IP202tab3<br /><br />Some of our results were consistent with those in previous studies. Others were not. We begin with what was consistent and then turn to those that were anomalous.<br /><br />The first column of Table 4 shows the correlation between various pairs of measures when the student (N ~ 2,000) is the unit of analysis.[5] The second column shows the results when the school (N = 20) is the unit of analysis. The first set of rows show that the measures we administered correlated about .55 with each other when the student was the unit of analysis. These correlations were substantially higher when the school was the unit. For example, the correlation between Stanford 9 science and Stanford 9 OE math was .55 when the student was the unit, but it was .78 when the school was the unit. These results are very consistent with the general findings of other research on student achievement.<br /><br />IP202tab4<br /><br />The second set of rows in Table 4 shows a strong negative correlation between the percentage of students at a school who were in the lunch program and that school's mean on the tests we administered. In other words, schools with more affluent students tended to earn higher mean scores on the non-TAAS tests than did schools with less wealthy students. This relationship is present regardless of test type (multiple-choice or open-ended) and subject matter (math or science). Again, these findings are very consistent with those found in other testing programs.<br /><br />The correlation between SES and our test scores is much stronger when the school is used as the unit of analysis than when the student is the unit. This is a common finding and stems in part from the fact that it is difficult to get a high correlation with a dichotomous variable (i.e., in program versus not in program). The school-level analyses do not suffer from this problem because SES at the school level is measured by the percentage of students at the school who are in the program (i.e., a continuous rather than a dichotomous variable). School-level analyses also tend to produce higher correlations than individual-level analyses because aggregation of scores to the school level reduces the percentage of error in the estimates.<br /><br />The anomalies appear in the third and fourth sets of rows. In the third set, SES had an unusually small (Pearson) correlation with both of the TAAS scores even when the school was used as the unit of analysis.[6] This result (which is opposite to the one we found with the non-TAAS tests) was due to a curvilinear relationship between SES and TAAS scores. Specifically, schools with a relatively low or high percentage of students in the lunch program tended to have higher mean TAAS math scores than did schools with an average percentage of students in this program (see Figure 5). Thus, the typical relationship between SES and test scores disappeared on the TAAS even though this relationship was present on the tests we administered a few weeks after the students took the TAAS. Figure 6 illustrates the more typical pattern by showing the negative, linear relationship between Stanford 9 math test scores and the percentage of students in the free or reduced-price lunch program.<br /><br />IP202fig5 IP202fig6<br />The fourth set of rows in Table 4 shows that when the student is the unit of analysis, TAAS math and reading scores correlate well with the scores on the tests we gave. Although the correlations are somewhat lower than would be expected from experience with other tests (especially the .46 correlation between the two math tests), these differences do not affect the conclusions we would make about the relationships among different tests. However, the correlation between TAAS and non-TAAS tests essentially disappears when the school is the unit of analysis. This result is contrary to the one that would be expected by other studies and the results in the first block of rows.<br /><br />The last row of Table 4 shows that TAAS math has a very high correlation with TAAS reading (despite being a different subject). In fact, TAAS math correlates much higher with TAAS reading than it does with another math test (namely: Stanford 9 OE math).<br /><br />To sum up, the non-TAAS tests correlated highly with each other and with SES; and, as expected, this correlation increased when the school was used as the unit of analysis. Also as anticipated, the two TAAS tests had a moderate correlation with the non-TAAS tests, but unexpectedly, this only occurred when the student was used as the unit of analysis. Rather than getting larger, the correlation between TAAS and non-TAAS tests essentially evaporated when the school was the unit. And finally, regardless of the unit of analysis, the two TAAS tests had an extremely high correlation with each other, but both had a virtually zero correlation with SES.<br /><br />One of the reasons we were surprised that the TAAS and non-TAAS scores behaved so differently is that the latter tests were designed to measure some of the same kinds of higher-order thinking skills that the TAAS is intended to measure. However, our results could be due to the unique characteristics of the 20 schools in our study or other factors. We are therefore reluctant to draw conclusions from our findings with these schools or to imply that these findings are likely to occur elsewhere in Texas. Nevertheless, they do suggest the desirability of periodic administration of external tests to validate TAAS results. This procedure, which is sometimes referred to as "audit testing," could have been incorporated into the study of the Metropolitan Achievement Test discussed previously.<br /><br /><br />Conclusions<br />We are now ready to answer the questions that we posed at the beginning of this issue paper. Specifically, we found that the reading and math skills of Texas students improved since the full implementation of the TAAS program in 1994. However, the answers to the questions of how much improvement occurred, whether the improvement in reading was comparable to what it was in math, and whether Texas reduced the gap in scores among racial and ethnic groups depend on whether you believe the NAEP or TAAS results. They tell very different stories.<br /><br /><br />NAEP and TAAS results tell us very different stories.<br /><br />According to NAEP, Texas fourth graders were slightly more proficient in reading in 1998 than they were in 1994. However, the country as a whole also improved to about the same degree. Thus, there was nothing remarkable about reading score gains in Texas. In contrast, the increase in fourth grade math scores in Texas was significantly greater than it was nationwide. However, the small improvements in NAEP eighth grade math scores were consistent with those observed nationally. The gains in scores between fourth and eighth grade in Texas also were consistent with national trends. In short, except for fourth grade math, the gains in Texas were comparable to those experienced nationwide during this time period.<br /><br />In all the analyses, including fourth grade math, the gains on the TAAS were several times greater than they were on NAEP. Hence, how much a Texas student's proficiency in reading and math actually improved depends almost entirely on whether the assessment of that student's skills relies on NAEP scores (which are based on national content frameworks) or TAAS scores (which are based on tests that are aligned with Texas' own content standards and are administered by the classroom teacher).<br /><br />The huge disparities between the stories told by NAEP and TAAS are especially striking in the assessment of (1) the size of the gap in average scores between whites and students of color and (2) whether these gaps are getting larger or smaller. According to NAEP, the gap is large and increasing slightly. According to TAAS, the gap is much smaller and decreasing greatly. We again quote Linn (2000, p. 14): "Divergence of trends does not prove that NAEP is right and the state assessment is misleading, but it does raise important questions about the generalizability of gains reported on a state's own assessment, and hence about the validity of claims regarding student achievement." Put simply, how different could "reading" and "math" be in Texas than they are in the rest of the country?<br /><br />The data available for this report were not ideal. Limitations in the way NAEP is administered make it difficult to do the kinds of comparisons that would be most informative. For example, NAEP is not given every year and individual student or school scores are not available. And the supplemental study described above was limited to 20 schools in just one part of a very large state. Nevertheless, the stark differences between TAAS and NAEP (and other non-TAAS tests) raise very serious questions about the generalizability of the TAAS scores.<br /><br />These concerns about TAAS do not condemn all efforts to increase accountability, nor should they be interpreted as being opposed to testing. On the contrary, we believe that some form of large-scale assessment, when properly implemented, is an essential tool to monitor student progress and thereby support state efforts to improve education. Moreover, the possible problems with the TAAS discussed earlier in this issue paper are probably not restricted to this test or state. For example, score inflation and unwanted test preparation have been found in a number of jurisdictions (Koretz & Barron, 1998; Linn, 2000; Stecher et al., 1998; Heubert & Hauser, 1999).<br /><br />To sum up, states that use high-stakes exams may encounter a plethora of problems that would undermine the interpretation of the scores obtained. Some of these problems include the following: (1) students being coached to develop skills that are unique to the specific types of questions that are asked on the statewide exam (i.e., as distinct from what is generally meant by reading, math, or the other subjects tested); (2) narrowing the curriculum to improve scores on the state exam at the expense of other important skills and subjects that are not tested; (3) an increase in the prevalence of activities that substantially reduce the validity of the scores; and (4) results being biased by various features of the testing program (e.g., if a significant percentage of students top out or bottom out on the test, it may produce results that suggest that the gap among racial and ethnic groups is closing when no such change is occurring).<br /><br />There are a number of strategies that states might try to lessen the risk of inflated and misleading gains in scores. They can reduce the pressure to "raise scores at any cost" by using one set of measures to make decisions about individual students and another set (employing sampling and third-party administration) to make decisions about teachers, schools, and educational programs. States can replace their traditional paper-and-pencil multiple-choice exams with computer based "adaptive" tests that are tailored to each student's abilities, that draw on "banks" of thousands of questions, and that are delivered over the Internet into the school building (for details, see Bennett, 1998; Hamilton, Klein, & Lorie, 2000). States can also periodically conduct audit testing to validate score gains. They can study the positive and negative effects of the testing program on curriculum and instruction, and whether these effects are similar for different groups of students. For instance, what knowledge, skills, and abilities are and are not being developed when the focus is concentrated on preparing students to do well on a particular statewide, high-stakes exam? However, given the findings reported above for Texas, it is evident that something needs to be done to ensure that high-stakes testing programs, such as the TAAS, produce results that merit public confidence and thereby provide a sound basis for educational policy decisions.<br /><br />1.It was beyond the scope of this issue paper to identify the specific similarities and differences in content coverage between NAEP and TAAS.<br /><br />2.This estimate includes students who spent one to four years in small classes.<br /><br />3.In Figures 2 and 3, the NAEP and TAAS trends cover different but overlapping years, due to the testing schedules of these measures.<br /><br />4.The results in the 20-school study discussed later in this issue paper suggest that some topping-out occurred on the TAAS. For example, although about two-thirds of the 2,000 students in this study were in a free or reduced-price lunch program, 7 percent answered 95 percent of the TAAS reading questions correctly and 9 percent did so on the math test. Only a few students were able to do this on any of the tests we gave.<br /><br />5.The correlation coefficient, which can range from ­1.00 to +1.00, is a measure of the degree of agreement between two tests. A high positive correlation is obtained when the students (or schools) that have high scores on one test also tend to have high scores on the other test.<br /><br />6.We also examined the relationships by splitting the schools into two groups, according to whether they had relatively high versus low percentages of students in the lunch program (e.g., those that had more than 70 percent versus those with less than 70 percent). This analysis produced results that were consistent with the data in Figures 5 and 6. Specifically, schools with a high percentage of students in the lunch program had much lower scores on the three tests we gave than did schools with a relatively low percentage of students in this program whereas that was not the case with the TAAS scores.<br /><br /><br />References<br />Barton, P. E., &amp; Coley, R. J. (1998). Growth in school: Achievement gains from the fourth to the eighth grade (ETS Policy Information Report). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.<br /><br />Bennett, R. E. (1998). Reinventing assessment. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.<br /><br />Carnoy, M., Loeb, S., & Smith, T. L. (2000). Do higher state test scores in Texas make for better high school outcomes? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.<br /><br />Finn, J. D., &amp; Achilles, C. M. (1999). Tennessee's class size study: Findings, implications, misconceptions. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21, 97-109.<br /><br />Grissmer, D., & Flanagan, A. (1998). Exploring rapid achievement gains in North Carolina and Texas. Washington, DC: National Education Goals Panel.<br /><br />Grissmer, D., Flanagan, A., Kawata, J., &amp; Williamson, S. (2000). Improving student achievement: What state NAEP test scores tell us. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, MR-924-EDU.<br /><br />Hamilton, L. S., Klein, S. P., & Lorie, W. (2000). Using web-based testing for large-scale assessment. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, IP-196-EDU.<br /><br />Haney, W. (2000). The myth of the Texas miracle in education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8 (41). Available at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n41.<br /><br />Hedges, L. V., &amp; Nowell, A. (1998). Black-white test score convergence since 1965. In Jencks, C., & Phillips, M. (Eds.), The Black-White Test Score Gap (pp. 149-181). Washington, DC: Brookings.<br /><br />Heubert, J. P., &amp; Hauser, R. M. (Eds.) (1999). High stakes: Testing for tracking, promotion, and graduation. A Report of the National Research Council, Washington, DC: National Academy Press.<br /><br />Hoff, D. J. (2000). As stakes rise, definition of cheating blurs. Education Week, June 21.<br /><br />Hoffman, J. V., Assaf, L., Pennington, J., & Paris, S. G. (in press). High stakes testing in reading: Today in Texas, tomorrow? The Reading Teacher.<br /><br />Johnston, R. C. (1999). Texas presses districts in alleged test-tampering cases. Education Week, March 17.<br /><br />Koretz, D., &amp; Barron, S. I. (1998). The validity of gains on the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS). Santa Monica, CA: RAND, MR-1014-EDU.<br /><br />Koretz, D., Linn, R. L., Dunbar, S. B., & Shepard, L. A. (1991). The effects of high-stakes testing: Preliminary evidence about generalization across tests, in R. L. Linn (chair), The Effects of High Stakes Testing, symposium presented at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association and the National Council on Measurement in Education, Chicago, April.<br /><br />Linn, R. L. (2000). Assessments and accountability. Educational Researcher, 29 (2), 4-16.<br /><br />Linn, R. L., Graue, M. E., &amp; Sanders, N. M. (1990). Comparing state and district test results to national norms: The validity of claims that "everyone is above average." Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 9, 5-14.<br /><br />Mabin, Connie (2000). State's students again improve on TAAS scores. Austin American-Statesman, May 18.<br /><br />McLaughlin, D. (2000). Protecting state NAEP trends from changes in SD/LEP inclusion rates. Palo Alto, CA: American Institutes for Research.<br /><br />McNeil, L., & Valenzuela, A. (2000). The harmful impact of the TAAS system of testing in Texas: Beneath the accountability rhetoric. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Civil Rights Project.<br /><br />Reese, C. M., Miller, K. E., Mazzeo, J., &amp; Dossey, J. A. (1997). NAEP 1996 report card for the nation and the states. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.<br /><br />Stecher, B. M., Barron, S., Kaganoff, T., & Goodwin, J. (1998). The effects of standards-based assessment on classroom practices: Results of the 1996-97 RAND Survey of Kentucky Teachers of Mathematics and Writing (CSE Technical Report 482). Los Angeles: Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.<br /><br />Stecher, B. M., &amp; Klein, S. P. (Eds.) (1996). Performance assessments in science: Hands-on tasks and scoring guides. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, MR-660-NSF.<br /><br />Texas Education Agency (1999). Texas Student Assessment Program: Technical digest for the academic year 1998-1999. Available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/techdig.htm.<br /><br />Texas Education Agency (2000). 1999 Texas National Comparative Data Study. Available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/researchers.htm.<br /><br />Texas Education Agency (2000). Texas TAAS passing rates hit seven-year high; four out of every five students pass exam. Press release, May 17.<br /><br />IP-202 (2000)<br /><br />Building on more than 25 years of research and evaluation work, RAND Education has as its mission the improvement of educational policy and practice in formal and informal settings from early childhood on.<br /><br />RAND issue papers explore topics of interest to the policymaking community. Although issue papers are formally reviewed, authors have substantial latitude to express provocative views without doing full justice to other perspectives. The views and conclusions expressed in issue papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of RAND or its research sponsors.<br /><br />Abstracts of all RAND documents may be viewed on the web. RAND publications are distributed to the trade by NBN. RAND® is a registered trademark. RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve public policy through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of its research sponsors.<br /><br />Copyright © 2000 RAND<br /><br />All rights reserved. Permission is given to duplicate this on-line document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes.<br /><br />Published 2000 by RAND<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rand.org">http://www.rand.org</a>/publications/IP/IP202/<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112835753030933357?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128366945352194072005-10-04T15:24:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:25:06.866-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;">Madeline Hunter's Lesson Plan<br /><br /><br />Class:<br /><br />Unit:<br /><br />Teacher:<br />Objectives<br />Before the lesson is prepared, the teacher should have a clear idea of what the teaching objectives are. What, specifically, should the student be able to do, understand, care about as a result of the teaching. informal. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which is shown below, gives an idea of the terms used in an instructional objective. See Robert Mager [library catalog] on behavioral objectives if writing specificity is required.<br /><br />Standards<br />The teacher needs to know what standards of performance are to be expected and when pupils will be held accountable forwhat is expected. The pupils should be informed about the standards of performance. Standards: an explanation of the type of lesson to be presented, procedures to be followed, and behavioral expectations related to it, what the students are expected to do, what knowledge or skills are to be demonstrated and in what manner.<br /><br />Anticipatory Set<br />Anticipatory set or Set Induction: sometimes called a "hook" to grab the student's attention: actions and statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson. To put students into a receptive frame of mind.<br /><br /> * to focus student attention on the lesson.<br /> * to create an organizing framework for the ideas, principles, or information that is to follow (c.f., the teaching strategy called "advance organizers").<br /> * to extend the understanding and the application of abstract ideas through the use of example or analogy...used any time a different activity or new concept is to be introduced.<br /><br />Teaching: Input<br />The teacher provides the information needed for students to gain the knowledge or skill through lecture, film, tape, video, pictures, etc.<br /><br />Teaching: Modeling<br />Once the material has been presented, the teacher uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product of their work. The critical aspects are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc. Students are taken to the application level (problem-solving, comparison, summarizing, etc.).<br /><br />Teaching: Checking for Understanding<br />Determination of whether students have "got it" before proceeding. It is essential that students practice doing it right so the teacher must know that students understand before proceeding to practice. If there is any doubt that the class has not understood, the concept/skill should be retaught before practice begins.<br /><br />Questioning strategies: asking questions that go beyond mere recall to probe for the higher levels of understanding...to ensure memory network binding and transfer. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a structure for questioning that is hierarchical and cumulative. It provides guidance to the teacher in structuring questions at the level of proximal development, i.e., a level at which the pupil is prepared to cope. Questions progress from the lowest to the highest of the six levels of the cognitive domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.<br /><br />Guided Practice<br />An opportunity for each student to demonstrate grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher's direct supervision. The teacher moves around the room to determine the level of mastery and to provide individual remediation as needed.<br /><br />Closure<br />Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lessor presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring things together in their own minds, to make sense out of what has just been taught. "Any questions? No. OK, let's move on" is not closure. Closure is used:<br /><br /> * to cue students to the fact that they have arrived at an important point in the lesson or the end of a lesson,<br /> * to help organize student learning,<br /> * to help form a coherent picture, to consolidate, eliminate confusion and frustration, etc.,<br /> * to reinforce the major points to be learned...to help establish the network of thought relationships that provide a number of possibilities for cues for retrieval. Closure is the act of reviewing and clarifying the key points of a lesson, tying them together into a coherent whole, and ensuring their utility in application by securing them in the student's conceptual network.<br /><br /><br />Independent Practice<br />Once pupils have mastered the content or skill, it is time to provide for reinforcement practice. It is provided on a repeating schedule so that the learning is not forgotten. It may be home work or group or individual work in class. It can be utilized as an element in a subsequent project. It should provide for decontextualization: enough different contexts so that the skill/concept may be applied to any relevant situation...not only the context in which it was originally learned. The failure to do this is responsible for most student failure to be able to apply something learned.<br /><br />Materials<br />List materials needed.<br /><br />Duration<br />Type the amount of time needed to complete this lesson.<br /><br /><a href="http://template.aea267.iowapages.org">http://template.aea267.iowapages.org</a>/lessonplan/id3.html<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836694535219407?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128365504066881282005-10-04T15:22:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:23:08.956-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mastery Learning in Public Schools</span></span><br />Denese Davis and Jackie Sorrell<br /><br /><br />Source: Davis, D., & Sorrell, J. (1995, December). Mastery learning in public schools. Paper prepared for PSY 702: Conditions of Learning. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Available online: [http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/files/mastlear.html]<br /><br /><br />Abstract<br /><br />This paper presents a definition, the history, a literature review, and implementation experiences of mastery learning. Mastery learning is an alternative method of teaching and learning that involves the student reaching a level of predetermined mastery on units of instruction before being allowed to progress to the next unit. Mastery learning is not a new concept; it was introduced into American education over 70 years ago. It is a process whereby students achieve the same level of content mastery but at different time intervals. The literature indicates positive effects of mastery learning on students, especially in the areas of achievement, attitudes toward learning, and the retention of content. School systems that have implemented mastery learning have found it to be a very effective teaching and learning method.<br /><br />Mastery Learning In Public Schools<br /><br />As a nation we have moved from the agricultural age to the information age in less than 100 years. Changes are taking place rapidly in the economic arena due to advances in technology. However, similar changes have yet to be made in education. Gallagher and Pearson (1989) reviewed several studies on classroom practices and reported that from 1893 to 1979, instructional practice remained about the same. Robinson (1992) states that student characteristics as well as societal expectations have changed, while traditional methods and modes of instruction are still employed by a large number of educators. This is leading to a growing concern that the nation's schools are unable to educate the youth of America and therefore, nontraditional methods and modes of instruction must be evaluated. This paper addresses one such method of nontraditional instruction: mastery learning.<br /><br />The mastery learning method divides subject matter into units that have predetermined objectives or unit expectations. Students, alone or in groups, work through each unit in an organized fashion. Students must demonstrate mastery on unit exams, typically 80%, before moving on to new material. Students who do not achieve mastery receive remediation through tutoring, peer monitoring, small group discussions, or additional homework. Additional time for learning is prescribed for those requiring remediation. Students continue the cycle of studying and testing until mastery is met. Block (1971) states that students with minimal prior knowledge of material have higher achievement through mastery learning than with traditional methods of instruction.<br /><br />The developers of mastery learning assert that it is most useful with basic skills and slow learners at both elementary and secondary levels. Group instruction is often given to the entire class by the instructor with individual time for learning provided until mastery is met. The goal of mastery learning is success for the student. It is asserted that success in achievement, attitude, and motivation in the education or learning environment makes learning more effective.<br /><br />The mastery learning concept was introduced in the American schools in the 1920's with the work of Washburne (1922, as cited in Block, 1971) and others in the format of the Winnetka Plan. The program flourished during that decade; however, without the technology to sustain a successful program, interest among developers and implementers steadily diminished (Block). Mastery learning was revived in the form of programmed instruction in the late 1950's in an attempt to provide students with instructional materials that would allow them to move at their own pace and receive constant feedback on their level of mastery. During the 1960's Bloom's (1968) Learning for Mastery focused new attention on the philosophy of mastery learning. Bloom (1968) is now generally recognized as the classic theoretical formulation on the mastery model. He is widely viewed as the major theoretician and promulgator of mastery learning. Bloom made a number of specific predictions about the gains from mastery learning procedures. One is that in classes taught for mastery, 95% of the students will achieve at the level previously reached by the top 5%. That means that typical scores in a mastery classroom should be around the ninety-eighth percentile, or approximately two standard deviations above the mean. Bloom has also argued that students do not have to put in much more time on school tasks to achieve this level of proficiency. Although students taught for mastery may need more time to reach proficiency in the initial stages of a course, they should need less time to master more advanced material because of the firm grasp of fundamentals that they should gain from their initial efforts. Bloom maintains that besides mastery of the material to be learned, mastery learning increases the attitude and interest of students (Fehlen, 1976). He and his students have conducted many empirical studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of mastery programs in a wide variety of circumstances (Levine, 1987). Bloom suggests that mastery learning procedures are likely to enhance learning outcomes in most all subject areas. However, he suggests that effects will be largest in mathematics and science since learning in these subject areas is generally more highly ordered and sequential (Guskey & Gates, 1986).<br /><br />From John Carroll (1963), Bloom derived a critical and quantitative ingredient of instruction--time. In Carroll's formulation, learning is a function of time spent divided by time needed. One important variable related to time needed is student aptitude, which Carroll defines as the amount of learning time necessary for a student to master an objective under optimal conditions. Carroll indicates that if a student is allowed the time he/she needs to achieve a particular level and if he/she spends the amount of time needed, he/she should achieve at that level. Bloom has attempted, through mastery learning techniques, to ensure that almost all students demonstrate high levels of competence on school material and to reduce the amount of time the student needs to learn school-related content.<br /><br />In summary, mastery learning is not a new method of instruction. It is based on the concept that all students can learn when provided with conditions appropriate to their situation. The student must reach a predetermined level of mastery on one unit before they are allowed to progress to the next. In a mastery learning setting, students are given specific feedback about their learning progress at regular intervals throughout the instructional period. This feedback, helps students identify what they have learned well and what they have not learned well. Areas that were not learned well are allotted more time to achieve mastery. Only grades of "A" and "B" are permitted because these are the accepted standards of mastery. Traditional instruction holds time constant and allows mastery to vary while mastery learning or systematic instruction holds mastery constant and allows time to vary (Robinson, 1992).<br /><br />Review of Related Literature<br /><br />Extensive research has been done since Bloom's (1968) seminal article on mastery learning. This literature review will first discuss several meta-analyses covering major aspects of mastery learning and then report on research studies which have isolated specific aspects of mastery learning.<br /><br />Meta-analyses<br /><br />Guskey and Gates (1986) conducted a meta-analysis which contained 27 studies addressing five areas: student achievement, student retention, time variables, student affect, and teacher variables. They found that achievement results were overwhelmingly positive, but varied greatly from study to study. Students in mastery learning programs at all levels showed increased gains in achievement over those in traditional instruction progam; effects were somewhat larger in elementary and junior high school classes than at the high school level. Effects in language arts and social studies classes were slightly larger than those attained in science and mathematics classes. Students retained what they had learned longer under mastery learning, both in short-term and long-term studies. Students were engaged in learning for a larger portion of the time they spent in mastery classes and required decreasing amount of corrective time over a series of instructional units. Students developed more positive attitudes about learning and about their ability to learn. Finally, teachers who used mastery learning developed more positive attitudes toward teaching, higher expectations for students, and greater personal responsibility for learning outcomes.<br /><br />Guskey and Pigott (1988) conducted a meta-analysis in an attempt to answer several questions about group-based mastery learning. Those questions were: How effective is the typical group-based mastery learning program? What types of educational outcomes are affected by the use of mastery learning? Do programs vary in their effectiveness depending upon the subject matter to which they are applied? Are programs more or less effective depending upon the grade level or age of the students involved? And does the duration of the study affect the magnitude of the results attained? The authors began with 1000 research articles and narrowed the number to 46 using the following criteria: applications of mastery learning that were clearly group-based and teacher-paced; studies had to report data on measured outcomes for students in mastery learning and in control classes; and the studies had to be free from serious methodological flaws.<br /><br />The 46 studies included in the synthesis contained findings on program effects in the same five areas addressed by Guskey and Gates (1986): student achievement, student learning retention, time variables (including measures of time on task and time spent), student affect, and teacher variables. They found that student achievement was the primary variable of interest in the vast majority of these studies. In regards to student achievement, a positive effect was obtained as a result of the application of group-based mastery learning strategies. However, statistically significant differences were found among subject areas, indicating that the effect size differs depending upon the subject area to which mastery learning was applied. Bloom (1968) suggested that mastery learning would enhance learning in all subject areas with larger effects in mathematics and science. This analysis found more positive effects in language arts.<br /><br />Again, positive effects of mastery learning were seen across all levels of education; they appeared to be larger for younger students in elementary classrooms than for older high school or college students. Only 7 of the 46 studies investigated student retention of learned material over a 4-week to 4-month time period. The results showed that group-based mastery learning strategies do appear to have a positive effect upon students' retention of the material. The authors suggested that more studies are needed involving short-term retention as well as long-term retention.<br /><br />Three variables related to time were investigated: time on task, student attendance and attrition rates, and instructional time. All three of these variables showed positive effects. Remediation time spent by students and instructors significantly decreases as the student reaches higher instructional units. The authors state that learning rate appears to be an alterable characteristic and mastery learning procedures may be one way slow learners can be helped to increase the rate at which they learn. When investigating student affect the authors found students who learned under mastery conditions generally liked the subject they were studying more, were more confident of their abilities in that subject, felt the subject was more important, and accepted greater personal responsibility for their learning than students who learned under non-mastery conditions. In the area of mastery and its effects upon teachers it was found in one study that the expectations formed by teachers about students' abilities was increased because many students had far greater achievement than the teacher originally anticipated. Another study found that teachers who use mastery learning and see improvement in student learning outcomes began to feel better about teaching and their roles as teachers. The authors found the effects of mastery learning were positive but not as large as mastery learning advocates had suggested. They suggested further studies in all areas.<br /><br />Kulik, Kulik and Bangert-Downs (1990) conducted a meta-analysis involving 108 evaluations of mastery learning programs. The outcome measures used were performance on examinations at the end of instruction, attitude towards instruction, attitude toward content, and course completion. Performance on examinations at the end of instruction showed positive effects on student achievement although these effects were higher on locally prepared examinations than on nationally standardized test. The majority of studies showed a positive correlation in student attitudes towards instruction and content of mastery learning programs. When analyzing 32 studies related to course completion comparing mastery and traditional classes, only nine studies found a higher completion rate in the mastery class. This reduced effect was found to be related to self-paced mastery learning.<br /><br />The meta-analysis by Kulik et al. (1990) found data that led to the analysis of additional outcomes that the authors did not originally intend to analyze. The benefits obtained from mastery learning were found to be enduring, not short term. After 8 weeks of instruction mastery scores remained consistently higher than those of students in traditional classes. The data showed that the effects of mastery programs were not uniform on all students in a class; low aptitude students were found to have higher gains than high aptitude students. No significant increase in time-on-task was found which was a contradiction to widely held beliefs by many authors concerning mastery learning. More positive effects were found in relation to social science than to math and natural sciences. One prediction from the mastery model was that mastery teaching would raise the performance of 95% of the students to a level ordinarily achieved by only the top 5%.<br /><br />To achieve such an improvement in student performance, an increase in average score of more than two standard deviations would be necessary. The authors found an increase of only 0.5 standard deviations. However, the authors stated that in evaluation after evaluation mastery programs have produced more impressive gains than other educational programs.<br /><br />Other Effectiveness Studies<br /><br />Research has been conducted comparing the effects of mastery learning alone, mastery learning with teams, teams alone, and traditional instruction on student achievement (e.g., Mevarech, 1985; Slavin & Karweit, 1984). These studies were similar in their design, yet the end result of each study was very different. Slavin and Karweitt reported that student achievement was affected by the team treatment and not the mastery learning treatment. Mavarech reported that mastery learning was the indicator that significantly increased achievement. He stated that the team component of the study had little to do with achievement. Mavarech theorizes the difference in the results of the two studies is related to socioeconomics. The subjects in Slavin and Karweitt's study were all from low-income families, whereas Mavarech's subjects were middle-class families. Dunkelberger and Heikkinen (1984) performed a very specific research study investigating only one aspect of mastery learning: repeatable testing. Achievement was examined using subjects who were allowed to repeat tests and subjects who were allowed only one attempt at the test. The findings of the study showed no significant correlation between achievement and repeatable testing. The authors state that cognitive gains obtained from mastery learning are related to a combination of remediation and retesting, not retesting alone.<br /><br />Mastery learning's effect on achievement and motivation was examined by Clark, Guskey, and Benninga (1983). The study examined a mastery learning group and a traditional group that used the lecture format. The main variable for this study was motivation and its effect on student achievement. These authors found that the mastery learning group demonstrated higher levels of achievement, fewer absences, and more motivation toward learning course material. In a similar study, Ritchie and Thorkildsen (1994) examined achievement and accountability. This study compared two mastery learning groups. The treatment variance was that one group was aware they were in a mastery learning program while the other group was unaware. These authors found a statistically significant difference between the two groups with the informed group showing higher levels of achievement. They theorized this difference may have related to the awareness and the subjects may have been more motivated to meet the specific goals. That is the informed group may have altered their attention to the learning environment. Both of these studies challenge claims of mastery learning critics that conclude mastery learning programs increase achievement solely by increasing instructional time because of remediation.<br /><br />Wentling (1973) compared mastery learning and non-mastery learning as to how feedback relates to achievement. This study examined four specific areas: immediate cognitive achievement, attitude toward instruction, time spent on instruction, and delayed cognitive achievement. Each group received feedback in one of the three forms: no feedback, partial feedback (knowledge of correctness of response) and total feedback (knowledge of correct response). The findings from this study showed superior achievement for both immediate achievement and long-term retention in groups with partial feedback. However, time spent on instruction and attitude toward instruction showed no significant difference. The author states low-ability students spent more time on instruction than the high ability students for the no feedback treatment and the partial feedback treatment, but within the total feedback treatment the high ability students spent more time than the low ability students.<br /><br />One aspect of mastery learning that receives much consideraton is time. Mastery learning theorists, especially Bloom (1971), contend that mastery learning techniques reduce the amount of time needed to achieve mastery. Arlin and Webster (1983) conducted an experiment to test these time claims. Mastery learning students were compared to non-mastery students. The variables assessed were achievement, time, and learning rate. The authors found significant increases in learning rate and achievement in the mastery group. In relation to learning rate, mastery students learned 15.75 items per hour as compared to 12.08 items in the non-mastery students. The mastery students spent significantly more time on instruction areas than non-mastery students. Mastery students averaged 40.9 minutes per chapter, in contrast to 20.8 minutes per chapter in non-mastery students. In summary, these authors state it is possible to significantly raise achievement levels using mastery learning, but the time needed for this increase is considerable.<br /><br />Another important component of mastery learning is mastery teaching. Okey (1974, 1977) examined the materials necessary in order to teach mastery learning, teachers and students attitudes toward mastery learning, and student achievement. Significant positive effects were discovered in all areas. Instructors were found to incorporate new teaching strategies into the classroom that positively influenced both themselves and their students toward the learning process.<br /><br />The literature has, for the most part, indicated positive effects of mastery learning on students. It should be noted that much of the research is fragmented. During the 1970's and 1980's there were numerous research studies conducted on mastery learning; since the late 1980's the research has declined. There has been areas of overlap especially in the area of academic achievement. One area that needs further examination relates to teachers, specifically the training necessary to implement mastery learning and teaching toward testable content. Another area for examination is the academic gains associated with remediation versus retesting. Lastly, is the long term retention of content with long term retention defined in months to years. Further research will be necessary in these areas of debate if we are to enhance the trend toward implementation of this instructional paradigm known as mastery learning.<br /><br />School-Based Implementations<br /><br />Research on implementing mastery learning for the most part endorses the mastery learning method and the claims of the mastery learning developers. Keeping the research in mind, it is necessary to look at school systems that have implemented mastery learning programs. School administrators, classroom teachers, and others involved in educational decision-making must be made aware of the research findings. The information obtained from research and implementation studies can be used to develop restructuring plans in school systems willing to meet the changing world climate.<br /><br />Patterson (1993) discussed the restructuring efforts at a high school in Colorado based on demands for higher standards and higher student achievement. This school discarded old policies and practices and adapted mastery learning standards. Implemented changes included 75% achievement on each unit and retakes for those who did not meet the 75% requirement. This change in mastery level led to an eight-period schedule with four 90-minute periods per day in order to meet student needs. One of the 90-minute periods was designated as the Encore period in which students could seek assistance in areas of decreased mastery or work on other areas of study. Because of restructuring the students are succeeding due to higher expectations and a schedule that accommodates their needs. Teachers have fewer interruptions and can ensure all students have a firm understanding of the material covered in class. Academically, the students are achieving higher test scores and more students are advancing to college since the transition to the mastery learning program.<br /><br />An innovative approach to a summer school biology course in North Carolina was discussed by Hill and Hounshell (1991). Summer school is conducted for those who failed the course previously. These students generally have a dislike for both school and the course they are required to retake. The schedule for summer school is designed to cover a full academic year in five to six weeks with three to five class hours per day. The school system implemented six teaching strategies in an attempt to increase student achievement, student attitudes, parent attitudes, and student attendance. All students participated in all six teaching strategies. Mastery learning was one of those six and was used to help create successful student objectives, to aid in individualizing instruction to each student, and to stress the importance of time on task. Students were monitored closely and required to achieve 80% on all graded work. The results for this combination of six strategies showed improved achievement, decreased absenteeism and tardiness, and improved attitudes from students, teachers, and parents.<br /><br />Arredondo and Block (1990) discuss the integrative efforts necessary to make the connection between educational models and the educational environment. Specifically, they look at the efforts of two school districts that have successfully integrated mastery learning along with thinking skills into their curriculum. Both districts began their integration in the early 1980s and have spent considerable time deciding on the specific content to be taught and evaluated. Each district has shown considerable increase in achievement while at the same time students have been provided with the basic framework necessary to connect one fragment of instruction with another (Smith, 1989). Arredondo and Block emphasize the need for educators to be knowledgeable about research related to educational methods in order to make distinctions between the many research studies that may be applicable in any one specific instructional interaction.<br /><br />Chicago Mastery Learning Reading Program (CMLR) is an integral part of language arts instruction in many schools. It was developed by the Chicago Board of Education in order to systematize mastery learning as the instructional approach to reading throughout the city's schools. CMLR is a kindergarten through eighth grade program that consists of student workbooks, tests and teacher manuals dealing with word attack, study skills, and comprehension concepts. CMLR is organized on a mastery learning model. It has specific objectives and standards of mastery for each unit along with a model that introduces and reiterates essential prerequisites in logical increments (Levine, 1985). Three schools, one in California, one in Ohio, and one in Missouri each have successfully implemented this mastery learning model. Several points emerge from these successful programs: 1) mastery learning provides a model of instruction that is effective for a wide range of students, 2) mastery learning reduces the academic spread between the slower and faster students without slowing down the faster students, and 3) the skills and concepts have been internalized and put to use in other areas of the curriculum. Along with academic gains, student attitude and self-image have also improved. In regards to the implementation in these schools it should be noted that the transition was voluntary, the teachers played a role in decision making, and staff development was a major factor.<br /><br />Levine (1985) suggests some major points for school systems to explore when considering implementing a mastery learning program. Foremost, the principal must take on the role of instructional leader. Instructional leadership involves an understanding of mastery learning principles, a commitment to preparing and supporting staff, constant awareness, and a system for setting and monitoring goals, directions, and results of the program. Another important point is planning prior to the implementation of the mastery learning program. Principles must be developed and all involved must have a clear understanding of the program. Selecting material that is well organized and conforms to the principles enables easier transition to the program for both the student and teacher.<br /><br />The plan must also include a method to monitor student achievement as well as student and teacher attitude toward the mastery learning program. Concrete results have been observed in the areas of student achievement, improved attitude, and increased expectations in all school systems addressed. Each school system reviewed literature and voluntarily choose the mastery learning approach. By implementing mastery learning these school systems have shown the capability to attain the scholastic excellence that is increasingly demanded in today's changing economy.<br /><br />Summary and Conclusions<br /><br />The Department of Labor's Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS,1991) report outlines the requirements of today's ever changing technology. The SCAN's report provides a blueprint of basic foundations necessary for success in the workplace. These foundations are: basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities. The research and implementation studies on mastery learning show significant positive effects in each of these areas. By using mastery learning programs in the basic skills areas, the academic foundation for success in the twenty-first century can easily be reached by the vast majority of our student population.<br /><br />School systems must recognize that traditional methods of teaching and learning are unsuccessful for many students. Mastery learning is an alternative to the unsuccessful traditional methods of teaching and learning. Robinson (1992) states a change from traditional curriculum and instruction models and adoption of a new method will require major restructuring of how the schools are organized and how teachers are prepared and empowered. School systems have the task of defining success, determine what it requires to be successful in the twenty-first century, and then evaluating research, outcomes, and discussions of which method would best be implemented to meet each individual's needs.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://chiron.valdosta.edu">http://chiron.valdosta.edu/</a>whuitt/files/mastlear.html</span><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836550406688128?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128365861745561712005-10-04T15:21:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:21:54.306-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Education</span></span><br />Dr. Bob Kizlik<br />Updated March 27, 2005<br /><br /> I was continuously reminded each semester that many education students who had the requisite course in "educational tests and measurements" or a course with a similar title as part of their professional preparation, had confusing ideas about fundamental differences in terms such as measurement, assessment and evaluation as they are used in education. When I asked the question, "what is the difference between assessment and evaluation?" I got a lot of blank stares. Yet, it seems that understanding the differences between measurement, assessment, and evaluation is fundamental to the knowledge base of teaching, and certainly to the processes employed in the education of future teachers.<br /><br /> In many places on the ADPRIMA website the phrase, "Anything not understood in more than one way is not understood at all" appears after some explanation or body of information. That phrase is, in my opinion, a fundamental idea of what should be a cornerstone of all teacher education. Students often struggle with describing or explaining what it means to "understand" something that they say they understand. I believe in courses in educational tests and measurements, that "understanding" has often been inferred from responses on multiple-choice tests or solving statistical problems. A semester later, when questioned about very fundamental ideas in statistics, measurement, assessment and evaluation, the students I had seemingly forgot most, if not all of what they "learned."<br /><br /> Measurement, assessment, and evaluation mean very different things, and yet most of my students are unable to adequately explain the differences. So, in keeping with the ADPRIMA approach to explaining things in as straightforward and meaningful a way as possible, here are what I think are useful descriptions of these three fundamental terms. These are personal opinions, but they have worked for me for many years. They have operational utility.<br /><br /> Measurement refers to the process by which the attributes or dimensions of some physical object are determined. One exception seems to be in the use of the word measure in determining the IQ of a person. The phrase, "this test measures IQ" is commonly used. Measuring such things as attitudes or preferences also applies. However, when we measure, we generally use some standard instrument to determine how big, tall, heavy, voluminous, hot, cold, fast, or straight something actually is. Standard instruments refer to instruments such as rulers, scales, thermometers, pressure gauges, etc. We measure to obtain information about what is. Such information may or may not be useful, depending on the accuracy of the instruments we use, and our skill at using them. There are few such instruments in the social sciences that approach the validity and reliability of say a 12" ruler. We measure how big a classroom is in terms of square feet, we measure the temperature of the room by using a thermometer, and we use Ohm meters to determine the voltage, amperage, and resistance in a circuit. In all of these examples, we are not assessing anything; we are simply collecting information relative to some established rule or standard . Assessment is therefore quite different from measurement, and has uses that suggest very different purposes. When used in a learning objective, the definition provided on the ADPRIMA for the behavioral verb measure is: To apply a standard scale or measuring device to an object, series of objects, events, or conditions, according to practices accepted by those who are skilled in the use of the device or scale.<br /><br /> Assessment is a process by which information is obtained relative to some known objective or goal. We assess at the end of a lesson or unit. We assess progress at the end of a school year through testing, and we assess verbal and quantitative skills through such instruments as the SAT and GRE. Whether implicit or explicit, assessment is most usefully connected to some goal or objective for which the assessment is designed. An assessment is another way of saying a test. A test or assessment yields information relative to an objective or goal. In that sense, we test or assess to determine whether or not an objective or goal has been obtained. Assessment of skill attainment is rather straightforward. Either the skill exists at some acceptable level or it doesn’t. Skills are readily demonstrable. Assessment of understanding is much more difficult and complex. Skills can be practiced; understandings cannot. We can assess a person’s knowledge in a variety of ways, but there is always a leap, an inference that we make about what a person does in relation to what it signifies about what he knows. In the section on this site on behavioral verbs, to assess means To stipulate the conditions by which the behavior specified in an objective may be ascertained. Such stipulations are usually in the form of written descriptions.<br /><br /> Evaluation is perhaps the most complex and least understood of the terms. Inherent in the idea of evaluation is "value." When we evaluate, what we are doing is engaging in some process that is designed to provide information that will help us make a judgment about a given situation. Generally, any evaluation process requires information about the situation in question. A situation is an umbrella term that takes into account such ideas as objectives, goals, standards, procedures, and so on. When we evaluate, we are saying that the process will yield information regarding the worthiness, appropriateness, goodness, validity, legality, etc., of something for which a reliable measurement or assessment has been made. For example, I often ask my students if they wanted to determine the temperature of the classroom they would need to get a thermometer and take several readings at different spots, and perhaps average the readings. That is simple measuring. The average temperature tells us nothing about whether or not it is appropriate for learning. In order to do that, students would have to be polled in some reliable and valid way. That polling process is what evaluation is all about. A classroom average temperature of 75 degrees is simply information. It is the context of the temperature for a particular purpose that provides the criteria for evaluation. A temperature of 75 degrees may not be very good for some students, while for others, it is ideal for learning. We evaluate every day. Teachers, in particular, are constantly evaluating students, and such evaluations are usually done in the context of comparisons between what was intended (learning, progress, behavior) and what was obtained. When used in a learning objective, the definition provided on the ADPRIMA site for the behavioral verb evaluate is: To classify objects, situations, people, conditions, etc., according to defined criteria of quality. Indication of quality must be given in the defined criteria of each class category. Evaluation differs from general classification only in this respect.<br /><br /> To sum up, we measure distance, we assess learning, and we evaluate results in terms of some set of criteria. These three terms are certainly connected, but it is useful to think of them as separate but connected ideas and processes.<br /><br /> Bob Kizlik<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.adprima.com">http://www.adprima.com</a>/measurement.htm<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836586174556171?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128366431414185892005-10-04T15:18:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:18:31.420-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Teachers Talking about Learning</span></span><br />Explore Ideas<br /><br />UNICEF<br /><br />Articles, Opinions, and Research about Teaching and Learning<br />Teaching styles for active learning<br /><br />By creating a mixture of different learning opportunities, we can help children encounter new information, develop skills, try out ideas, and build knowledge.<br /><br />To accomplish this, we may employ a mixture of teaching styles.<br /><br />Important modes of teaching and learning can include:<br />Learning in groups<br /><br />When learners work in pairs and small groups, they can engage in communicating ideas, in co-operating to accomplish goals, in peer review of each other's work, and in coaching.<br /><br />Children of different abilities can be grouped together to participate in projects and activities, and to create opportunities for peer mentoring and coaching. Children of different abilities may also have different aptitudes and talents, so that one member of a group may assist the others with writing, while another represents the group's work in pictures.<br /><br />Children of similar abilities can be grouped together, especially in multigrade classrooms. Members of a reading group, for example, might read a certain story individually, then meet to address a list of questions and to share their reactions to the story. At the same time, a group reading at a different level may read and discuss a different story.<br /><br />Children with similar interests can be grouped together. In a geography activity, for example, one group may be composed of learners who want to study southern Africa, while another may be interested in Latin America.<br /><br />Be sure to create with the class a set of guidelines for communicating and co-operating in groups. Such guidelines may cover making sure that everyone has a chance to talk, criticising constructively instead of destructively, and finding ways to analyse the work of others.<br /><br />For one idea about a group-based learning activity, go to Observing the sugar cane plant.<br /><br />For ideas about promoting co-operation, visit Co-operative learning.<br /><br />Direct teaching<br /><br />Direct teaching is a familiar practice, in which the teacher addresses the class (or a large group) by lecturing, reading, leading recitation, or demonstrating techniques.<br /><br />Teachers read to the class or demonstrate skills to introduce new information. Direct teaching is an efficient way to introduce the whole class (or a large group in a multigrade class) to new concepts, information or skills.<br /><br />Teachers guide children's thinking by asking questions and posing examples. In a reading class, for example, a teacher may read a story, then begin discussion by asking thought-provoking questions.<br /><br />It's a fine teaching strategy to introduce a new activity or lesson by helping children list what they already know about a subject.<br /><br />For example, in a science unit about the seasons, we can ask the class to name the seasons and to describe them, and to guess about what causes seasonal change. We can then read or describe the ways the Earth's revolution around the sun affects the seasons, before outlining a research project in weather observation for small groups to explore.<br /><br />Direct instruction can connect us and our classes to other, more active ways of encountering information and building knowledge.<br /><br />Teachers lead recitation of key facts and information, sometimes as a way of reviewing knowledge that children have already gained.<br /><br />The best teachers understand that a little direct teaching goes a long way. Listening and watching are passive ways of learning, and it requires great mental skill to translate what we see and what we hear into knowledge. Most children learn best when they learn through action.<br /><br />Independent learning<br /><br />As children mature they become more able to work and learn independently - this means that they are motivated to learn, they focus on specific tasks, and they have the skills and resources that they need to complete assignments.<br /><br />Independent learning may mean that children read books, or write stories on their own, and draw illustrations. They may concentrate on mathematics exercises. They may even perform research, arrange information, and create a report or presentation on a specific topic.<br /><br />In some primary classes, teachers institute "choice time," a period in the daily or weekly schedule when children explore learning resources on their own. They may read books, play with mathematics games, build models from found materials, or work on art projects.<br /><br />Many of us feel pressed to finish an overloaded syllabus, so implementing choice time can be difficult. But it's a very rewarding way to move toward more child-centred ways of teaching.<br /><br />Try short periods and a number of independent choices to begin with. In other instances, you may want to prepare exercises, reading, and other assignments that children can work on and complete.<br /><br />We can encourage self-directed, independent learning in our classes by:<br /><br /> * creating a learning environment that supports curiosity and focused activity<br /> * collecting resources, such as picture books, dictionaries, math manipulatives, and others<br /> * connecting new information to information that has been learned previously<br /> * inventing assignments and learning activities that are meaningful to the learners involved<br /> * ensuring that learners are not afraid to try out their ideas and to explore the unknown<br /><br />All the skills that children need to learn independently also help them learn in groups.<br /><br />Journal activity: Combining teaching modes<br /><br />Expand the teaching modes that you use in a given activity.<br /><br />Select a lesson that you enjoy teaching and that you know well. Analyse where in the lesson you engage children in learning in three different modes:<br /><br /> - in groups<br /> - through direct instruction<br /> - as independent learners<br /><br />Which of these modes is most common in the lesson? How could you make teaching and learning in that mode more effective? If direct instruction is the dominant mode, for example, you could make it more effective by tying the information directly to the lives of the children in your classroom in concrete ways.<br /><br />Now select one of the modes that is less common in the lesson. Where in the lesson could learners engage in that mode? How could you use that mode to engage learners in active learning?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.unicef.org">http://www.unicef.org/</a>teachers/teacher/styles.htm<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836643141418589?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128366769572322502005-10-04T15:16:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:17:09.353-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;">Direct Teaching Information</span></strong></span><br /><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Bob Kizlik</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Updated March 24, 2005<br /><br /> "Tell them what you're going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said."<br /><br /> Probably as much as any other "instructional method," direct teaching, also known as direct instruction, is both misunderstood and at the same time can be a powerful teaching tool in the classroom. The name most associated with direct teaching is Madeline Hunter. Direct teaching is also associated with Clinical Teaching, Target Teaching, and Instructional Theory into Practice (TIP). To be sure, there are many who dismiss direct teaching as an ineffective model, but one must question such assertions with a deeper question: "Ineffective compared to what?"<br /><br /> Direct teaching is a systematic instructional method that first and foremost requires the teacher to have have a command of the subject matter at as close to a mastery level as possible. This means that whether subject matter is at the elementary level, middle school level, high school level, college level or adult education level, that the teacher thoroughly "understand" the content. Such understanding presupposes that the teacher "knows" more than the facts, but also the structure of the content. In short, it means that the teacher understands each item of the content in more than one way. The main purpose of direct teaching is to provide information within a structure that enables all students to attain the stated objectives at a level of mastery. Inferences may be made at this point that direct teaching is least attractive to those teachers who themselves lack mastery of the content. Can teachers be effective without using direct teaching? Of course. In fact, many, if not most successful instructional episodes occupy a continuum of teaching methods from direct teaching to cooperative learning and individual student projects.<br /><br /> Direct teaching or direct instruction is a systematic way of planning, communicating, and delivering in the classroom. One does not become proficient at this, or any skill without practice and relevant feedback. Direct teaching is probably best for teaching skills, not understandings, and so, the teacher must practice these skills himself as perfectly as possible.<br /><br /></span><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Bob Kizlik</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /><a href="http://www.adprima.com">http://www.adprima.com/</a>direct.htm<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836676957232250?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128367317468010132005-10-04T15:15:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:15:47.843-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOME BASIC LESSON PRESENTATION ELEMENTS</span></span><br /><br /><br /> * The Madeline Hunter Direct Instruction Model<br /> * The Madeline Hunter Elements of Effective Instruction<br /> * Decontextualization for transfer and general application<br /><br />AN OUTLINE OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION<br /><br /> 1. objectives<br /> 2. standards<br /> 3. anticipatory set<br /> 4. teaching<br /> * input<br /> * modeling<br /> * check for understanding<br /> 5. guided practice/monitoring<br /> 6. closure<br /> 7. independent practice<br /><br />[The above outlines what is generally referred to at the Madeline Hunter Method; it is only a small part of her "method." An explanation of the meaning of the terms follows here and a fuller development of the Hunter Method follows this section.]<br /><br /> 1. Before the lesson is prepared, the teacher should have a clear idea of what the teaching objectives are. What, specifically, should the student be able to do, understand, care about as a result of the teaching. informal. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which is shown below, gives an idea of the terms used in an instructional objective. See Robert Mager [library catalog] on behavioral objectives if writing specificity is required.<br /><br /> 2. The teacher needs to know what standards of performance are to be expected and when pupils will be held accountable forwhat is expected. The pupils should be informed about the standards of performance. Standards: an explanation of the type of lesson to be presented, procedures to be followed, and behavioral expectations related to it, what the students are expected to do, what knowledge or skills are to be demonstrated and in what manner.<br /><br /> 3. Anticipatory set or Set Induction: sometimes called a "hook" to grab the student's attention: actions and statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson. To put students into a receptive frame of mind.<br /><br /> * to focus student attention on the lesson.<br /><br /> * to create an organizing framework for the ideas, principles, or information that is to follow (c.f., the teaching strategy called "advance organizers").<br /><br /> * to extend the understanding and the application of abstract ideas through the use of example or analogy...used any time a different activity or new concept is to be introduced.<br /><br /> 4. Teaching/presentation: includes Input, Modeling, and Checking for Understanding.<br /><br /> 1. Input: The teacher provides the information needed for students to gain the knowledge or skill through lecture, film, tape, video, pictures, etc.<br /><br /> 2. Modeling: Once the material has been presented, the teacher uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product of their work. The critical aspects are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc. Students are taken to the application level (problem-solving, comparison, summarizing, etc.)<br /><br /> 3. Checking for Understanding: Determination of whether students have "got it" before proceeding. It is essential that students practice doing it right so the teacher must know that students understand before proceeding to practice. If there is any doubt that the class has not understood, the concept/skill should be retaught before practice begins.<br /><br /> Questioning strategies: asking questions that go beyond mere recall to probe for the higher levels of understanding...to ensure memory network binding and transfer. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a structure for questioning that is hierarchical and cumulative. [See the end of this section for a summary of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.] It provides guidance to the teacher in structuring questions at the level of proximal development, i.e., a level at which the pupil is prepared to cope. Questions progress from the lowest to the highest of the six levels of the cognitive domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. [LINK PENDING See section following this outline for an exposition of the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of educational objectives.]<br /><br /> [For questioning strategies, such as Wait Time (allowing all pupils the time necessary to process and develop a response to a question before placing the question with a specific pupil) see GESA materials. GESA/TESA provide a practical model for questioning.]<br /><br /> 5. Guided practice: An opportunity for each student to demonstrate grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher's direct supervision. The teacher moves around the room to determine the level of mastery and to provide individual remediation as needed. [Fred Jones'"praise, prompt, and leave" is suggested as a strategy to be used in guided practice.]<br /><br /> 6. Closure: Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lessor presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring things together in their own minds, to make sense out of what has just been taught. "Any questions? No. OK, let's move on" is not closure. Closure is used:<br /> * to cue students to the fact that they have arrived at an important point in the lesson or the end of a lesson,<br /><br /> * to help organize student learning,<br /><br /> * to help form a coherent picture, to consolidate, eliminate confusion and frustration, etc.,<br /><br /> * to reinforce the major points to be learned...to help establish the network of thought relationships that provide a number of possibilities for cues for retrieval. Closure is the act of reviewing and clarifying the key points of a lesson, tying them together into a coherent whole, and ensuring their utility in application by securing them in the student's conceptual network.<br /><br /> 7. Independent practice: Once pupils have mastered the content or skill, it is time to provide for reinforcement practice. It is provided on a repeating schedule so that the learning is not forgotten. It may be home work or group or individual work in class. It can be utilized as an element in a subsequent project. It should provide for decontextualization: enough different contexts so that the skill/concept may be applied to any relevant situation...not only the context in which it was originally learned. The failure to do this is responsible for most student failure to be able to apply something learned.<br /><br />Summary: You told them what you were going to tell them with set, you tell them with presentation, you demonstrate what you want them to do with modeling, you see if they understand what you've told them with checking for understanding, and you tell them what you've told them by tying it all together with closure. [For a detailed treatment of this topic, see Cooper et al, Classroom Teaching Skills, 4th ed., D.C. Heath &Co., Lexington, Ky.]<br /><br />The Madeline Hunter "seven step lesson plan." The basic lesson plan outline given above contains the so-called "Hunter direct instruction lesson plan elements:" 1) objectives, 2) standards, 3) anticipatory set, 4) teaching [input, modeling, and check for understanding], 5) guided practice, 6) closure, and 7) independent practice. If you count input, modeling, and check for understanding as three steps, there are nine elements...not the seven in the usual title.<br /><br />Madeline Hunter did not create a seven step lesson plan model. She suggested various elements that might be considered in planning for effective instruction. In practice, these elements were compiled by others as the "Seven Step Lesson Plan, "taught through teacher inservice, and used as a check list of items that must be contained in each lesson.<br />This application is contrary to Dr. Hunter's intent and its misuse is largely responsible for objections to "direct instruction" and to Madeline Hunter's system of clinical supervision. Used as Dr. Hunter's intent and its misuse is largely responsible for objections to "direct instruction" and to Madeline Hunter's system of clinical supervision. Used as Dr. Hunter intended, the steps make a useful structure for development of many lesson plans...including non-behavioral ones. Not all elements belong in every lesson although they will occur in a typical unit plan composed of several lessons.<br />[Those who have an evaluator who uses the elements as a check list and records a fault for each element missing from a lesson are referred to Patricia Wolfe, "What the 'Seven-Step Lesson Plan' Isn't," Educational Leadership, pp. 70-71, Feb., 1987.]<br /><br />For a further explanation of direct instruction and a similar lesson plan model, see Joyce and Weil, Models of Teaching,"Mastery Learning and Direct Instruction." [P. 325, ff. in the third edition.]<br /><br />Note that the term "mastery learning" may mean different things to different people. With Benjamin Bloom, Mastery Learning is a plan for ensuring that all children learn material before proceeding to the next step.<br /><br />ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION<br />"The Madeline Hunter model"<br />SUMMARY<br />Teaching to an objective<br />[lesson objective--not a "step." See below for how to write a behavioral objective]<br /><br /> 1. Objectives<br /> 2. Set [hook]<br /> 3. Standards/expectations<br /> 4. Teaching<br /> * Input<br /> * Modeling/demo<br /> * Direction giving [see below]<br /> * Checking for understanding<br /> 5. Guided Practice<br /> 6. Closure<br /> 7. Independent Practice<br /><br />Behavioral Objective format:<br />Students will demonstrate their [knowledge, understanding, skill, etc.] of/to [concept, skill, etc.] by [activity performed to meet the lesson objective] according to [standard].<br />Example: Each student will demonstrate achievement of the skill of addition of whole numbers by adding columns of figures with paper and pencil accurately nine out of ten times individually in class.<br /><br />Four step instructional process<br /><br /> 1. Watch how I do it [modeling]<br /> 2. You help me do it (or we do it together) [together]<br /> 3. I'll watch you do it or praise, prompt and leave [guided practice]<br /> 4. You do it alone [independent practice].<br /><br />Motivation "TRICKS"<br /><br /> 1. Feeling Tone<br /> 2. Reward [extrinsic/intrinsic]<br /> 3. Interest<br /> 4. Level of Concern<br /> * accountability<br /> * time to produce<br /> * visibility<br /> * predictability<br /> 5. Knowledge of results<br /> 6. Success<br /><br />Ways of monitoring<br /><br /> 1. Oral individual<br /> 2. Oral together<br /> 3. Visual answers, e.g., "thumbs"<br /> 4. Written<br /> 5. Task Performance<br /> 6. Group sampling<br /><br />Questioning Guidelines<br /><br /> 1. Place signal [get their attention], then ask question<br /> 2. Ask question before designating the person to answer<br /> 3. Do not repeat nor rephrase the student's response. May ask for agreement by class or for others to respond. [GESA suggests that you should explain why the answer is good, however. ]<br /> 4. Ask question then wait for 50% of hands [or "bright eyes," knowing looks]<br /> 5. Never ask a question of a student who you know cannot answer.<br /> 6. If the student is confused or can't answer, calmly repeat the same question or give a direct clue.<br /><br />Retention, Reinforcement<br /><br /> 1. Meaning/understanding (the most effective way to learn)<br /> 2. Degree of original learning. Learn it well the first time. [And don't practice it wrong!]<br /> 3. Feeling tone. [positive or negative will work but negative has some undesirable side effects.]<br /> 4. Transfer [emphasize similarities for positive transfer and differences where there might be an incorrect transfer.] [See Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives for levels of learning. Transfer implies all of the higher levels. See Barak Rosenshine re. decontextualizing following this summary of the "Hunter Model"--which is essential for effective transfer of knowledge and skills to the real world.]<br /> 5. Schedule of Practice. [Mass the practice at first, then create a regular follow-up schedule.<br /><br />Creating Directions<br /><br /> 1. break down into parts/steps.<br /> 2. Give only three at a time, one if the behavior is new.<br /> 3. Delay giving instructions until just before the activity.<br /> 4. Give directions in the correct sequence.<br /> 5. Plan dignified help for those who don't tune in. [no put-downs]<br /> 6. Give directions visually as well as orally (Visual representation of the task) [cf. Fred Jones' VIP]<br /><br />Giving Directions<br /># Give the planned directions [creation above].<br /># Check the students' understanding ["Any questions?" does not check understanding.<br /># Have a student model the behavior. [I.e, on the board or orally.]<br /># If needed, remediate and recheck. [It is essential that students do not practice error.]<br /><br />The Madeline Hunter "Seven Step" lesson design may be used for more than just direct instruction in the behavioral mode. It can be used as a shell for any instructional lesson or unit.<br /><br />One use in an inquiry mode suggested by Dr. Hunter appeared in Educational Leadership, December-January 1990-91, pp. 79-80: "Anticipatory set and objective: Let's review the procedure in making slides because today you'll be making your own slides to be used in developing a hypothesis to explain_________ and support your conclusions....Objective: Today your group will work with magnets to see how many generalizations you can develop and support...Input: Remember what you've learned about modifying only one variable at a time, observing results carefully and checking whether or not the data supportyour hypothesis. Your information today will be derived from your own observations while you experiment with these materials.... (Input can come from observation, experimentation, computers, films, videos, books, etc., not just from teachers.) Modeling : Observe what I do, and be ready to state whether my conclusions are valid or invalid, and why.... Checking for understanding: Look at your data to determine and be ready tostate which could be used either to support or refute yourhypothesis.... Guided or monitored practice: I'll becirculating among your lab groups. Signal me if you have questions or need assistance.... Independent practice:Identify a question that you have about___________. Then designand conduct an experiment (alone/ group) that would answer your question...."<br /><br /> Not each of the "seven steps" need be in every lesson nor should every lesson be based on the seven steps; however, the seven steps make a good check list of elements in planning a lesson. The instructional purpose and the best way to involve the learnerare the guides for what to choose in planning a lesson.<br /><br />DECONTEXTUALIZING LEARNING<br />Decontextualization for transfer and general application<br /><br />Barak Rosenshine, in a presentation to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Spring 1990, reported on recent research on direct instruction. Direct instruction (as addressed by Rosenshine) applies to skills, not to the teaching of content.<br />Most of the research on teaching effectiveness has been on the teaching of well-structured skills: how to add, how to focus a microscope. His new work addresses research on how effective teachers teach less-structured skills: how to summarize, how to take notes, how to ask appropriate questions, etc. Other continua that are similar/parallel to well structured-less structured are: explicit-implicit, algorithm-heuristic, and concrete-abstract.<br /><br />The strategies he has recently reported provide scaffolds for learning the less-structured skills. They:<br /><br /> * Regulate the difficulty [escalate after learner gets it]<br /><br /> * Anticipate difficult areas [then provide lots of support]<br /><br /> * Model: talk out loud about the process you are going through.<br /><br /> * Provide procedural facilitators [procedural facilitators are to content as advance organizers are to process]<br /><br /> * Provide appropriate student practice in varied contexts.<br /><br />All of these apply to the teaching of well-structured skills as well but they are specifically indicated for the teaching of less structured skills: things for which discrete procedural steps are hard to identify. They are less relevant to the teaching of content because prior/background knowledge is key to the teaching of content.<br /><br />Learning takes place in the zone of proximal development [ZPD] where the student's development is advanced enough for the pupil to learn but will need help to get there.<br /><br />A scaffold[outline, model, visual instruction plan (VIP), diagram, or figure that provides an image to hang ideas on] makes it easier for the learner to "get it" in developmental skills subjects where background knowledge is not key and so is not applicable for non-progressive content like social studies or literature. ZPD is not critical for most content in English or social studies but is more so in science or math. [Note: writing an essay, at least in the initial learning stages, is a less-structured skill that has steps that can be taught, e.g., start with an attention-grabber, then a topic sentence, then a statement followed by supporting information, then another statement with support, then a third statement with support, then a summary statement tying the three statements to the topic.]<br /><br />Most things in math and science, especially skills, are taught in a context. For transfer to broader applicability it is necessary to decontextualize the learning. One way to do this is in guided practice by giving attention to decontextualizing the skill by providing lots of varied practice and spaced practice. [Ed.note: And to have students manipulate the ideas/skills, e.g., "Have you ever seen something like this down town?" or "How many ways can you think of to use this concept/skill?" or "Can you explain how you arrived at that answer" (metacognition).]<br /><br /> [Ed. note: It is likely that decontextualization of learning is the most important and least practiced function of teaching for latter application. The lack of transfer of knowledge/skills to "real life" is likely the main reason why graduates do so poorly on state-wide and national tests [even when they "know" the answers: the questions aren't asked in the context in which they were learned. It is important that we present and re-represent the material to be learned in as many different ways/contexts as we can...and at the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.]<br /><br /><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu">http://www.humboldt.edu</a>/~tha1/hunter-eei.html#ret-bloomtax<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836731746801013?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128367686644129782005-10-04T15:14:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:14:44.953-07:00<h1 style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Old Brain and Learning</span></h1> Humboldt State University<br />California<br /><br /> <p> </p> <h2><span style="font-size:100%;">Why is it so hard to teach some people anything?</span></h2> <h3> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"> As Yogi Berra said, "There are some people, who if they don't already know, you can't tell them." </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> Truth to tell, we're all that way and there is a good reason for it. It's built into our brains. On the way to the development of the human brain, we went through several phases. First there was a brain stem, which is the inner and most primitive layer. It is the part of the brain that overseas such functions as reproduction, self-preservation, circulation of the blood, breathing, sleeping, and the contractions of muscles in response to external stimulation. This brain stem sits on top of the spinal column in the base of the skull. It is sometimes referred to as the "reptilian brain" because all vertebrates from reptiles to mammals have one. Surrounding this first part is the portion of the brain called the limbic system. The function of this second layer of the brain is to generate emotions--especially fear and aggression. These two parts together we can call the "old brain." It is hard wired and determines most of your automatic reaction. The third layer is the cerebral cortex--that large mass of grey matter that we think of when we think of the human brain. It surrounds the old brain but does not completely control it although it can moderate some of its instinctual reactions. This new brain is the part that is conscious and alert and in contact with our surroundings. It is logical and tries to find a reason or cause for everything. [ref. Paul D. McLean, "Man and His Animal Brains," in Modern Medicine, Feb. 3, 1964.] </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> We are rarely aware of the functioning of the old brain--it is not part of our consciousness. Its main function is self-preservation. It examines every new stimulus to answer the question, "Is it safe?" </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> Unlike the new brain, the old brain has a vague awareness of the outside world. The images it receives are filtered by the new brain but come to it without interpretation. Like the black silhouettes of planes flashed on a screen for fighter pilots to recognize. Although the new brain is quickly able to recognize one person from another, one dog from another, the old brain seems only able to recognize six basic categories, is this particular person (thing) someone to: </span></p><p> </p><ol><li><span style="font-size:100%;">attack, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">submit to, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">run away from, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">have sex with, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">be nurtured by, or </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">nurture. </span></li></ol> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"> It is up to the new brain to refine these categories. But the old brain has already started to ready the body to make its move. Evolution selected out the slow-to-react primitive brains long before the Stone Age. If the limbic system has sent the message to the brain stem to relax, its friendly; prepare to fight, its a foe; or flee, its too dangerous to fight, it takes some doing for the new brain to calm the emotion and reverse the preparation--drain the adrenalin, etc. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> The brain continues to add new data to the memory storage relating to the person you have just encountered; however, if the initial impression was negative, your first response to each new encounter continues to be negative no matter how many positive experiences you have had since. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> This helps to explain why people form friendships, select a mate, and have a happy or unhappy friendship or marriage. We tend to react positively to people who remind us of those who have nurtured us in the past...something about their looks or the way they behave makes our old brain decide that this person is likely to nurture us. Since the person who first nurtured us is typically a member of our tribe, if not our mother, we are likely to select someone who has characteristics like ourselves to nurture us. And if the other is looking to us for someone to nurture them, then a match is readily made. Unfortunately, far too often one or the other or both had an unsatisfactory childhood and "the child within" is seeking to have it made all better by the other...which helps to explain the large number of unhappy spouses with unfulfilled expectations! When a person is desperately seeking succor, they rarely have it in them to provide the succor needed by their mate. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> The old brain has no sense of linear time. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow do not exist. The past and the present are the same. So the instinctual response may bear little relationship to the current situation. For example, spouses frequently overreact--fly off the handle--at seemingly trivial provocation. And the person who "blew up" may be unable to explain why he did so. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> This tendency to hold on to initial impressions also helps to explain why it is so difficult for us to change. It takes a strong motivation to overcome an initial impression. If we have spent a lifetime defending a particular decision/action, we are unlikely to change readily. Typically "first impressions" count for everything. Interviewers tend to form an impression "in the first thirty seconds" and spend the rest of the interview justifying that "decision." Consider brand loyalty or political party identification, or religious affiliation or learning a new concept that rationally is contrary to what we have believed. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> How often is contrary information dismissed? It is "water off a duck's back." </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> To the old brain, anything that is not routine and habituated feels unnatural. The teachers' task is cut out for them. Teaching almost anything requires overcoming the myths or logical-but-wrong ideas constructed in childhood to fill the gaps of ignorance. Even learning a new language presents a problem. How to prevent a student dutifully practicing mispronunciation? Especially if they have seen the word before they have heard it--because they tend to pronounce the new word as if it is a part of their native tongue. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> To overcome the natural resistance to change takes all the skill and patience a teacher can muster. All of this goes to explain why a nurturing teacher has a better chance than a hostile one. The old brain may cause a pupil to "knuckle under" when escape is not possible. But nurturing is far more likely to gain confidence and willingness to cooperate. The best thing that teaching has going for it is that, given enough time and enough repetitions, the brain can adjust to a new reality. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"> Memory tests indicate that people tend to recall what they believe to be true, but forget what they think is false. ["Don't believe everything you think" is a favorite bumper sticker.] It's automatic. It's also a big challenge to teachers to get pupils to accept as true what they are studying that is new or different from what they have figured out in an attempt to make a rational explanation of an unknown...or have been told by someone else who didn't really understand the phenomenon. How to challenge the myths and old wives' tales so that they begin to reconsider. And then provide [random] reinforcement to the newly adopted idea, fact, or method. The teacher's task is to convince them with evidence and reason that false is false and true is true. The best chance is with new material because it is--for a brief moment--wide open. Provide an association before the student picks one that is wrong. Show how the new item relates to other learning before it is incorporated incorrectly. Reteaching is extremely difficult so try to do it right the first time!<br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu">http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/oldbrain.html</a></span><br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">_____<br /></span></p> </h3> <h3> <p> </p> </h3><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836768664412978?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128367972203176822005-10-04T15:12:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:12:50.376-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">GESA SUMMARY</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Gender/ethnic Expectations and Student Achievement<br /><br /> Presenting a lesson requires more than the structure of the<br />lesson model/plan. Among the things that support your lesson are<br />teacher-pupil interaction strategies. The best way of learning<br />these strategies I know of is GENDER-ETHNIC EXPECTATIONS AND<br />STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: GESA.<br /><br /> HISTORY: EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN THE CLASSROOM, the report<br />of a Federal grant, conducted by L.A. County. Based on<br />observations of thousands of teaching situations. They reported<br />what the best teachers do in relating to students. A model<br />derived from Equal Opportunity in the Classroom is TESA--Teacher<br />Expectations and Student Achievement. Phi Delta Kappa sponsors<br />workshops on TESA. <br /><br /> Delores Grayson adapted and simplified the TESA model and<br />calls it GESA [Gender/ethnic Expectations and Student<br />Achievement.] GESA combines the three sets of five interactions<br />of TESA into five sets of two. It provides an excellent<br />workshop handbook. [D.Grayson and M. Martin, The GESA<br />Facilitator, GrayMill, Rt. 1, Box 45, Earlham, Iowa 50072<br />(515)834-2431.]<br /><br />[Tom Allen's modification of the GESA model]:<br /><br /> 1a. Response Opportunities<br /> 1b. Acknowledgement/feedback<br /><br /> 2a. Wait time/ silence<br /> 2b. Physical closeness/proximity<br /><br /> 3a. Touching/individual helping<br /> Praise, Prompt & Leave<br /> Personal interest<br /> Praise of work<br /> 3b. Reproof of misbehavior--not of the person<br /> Desisting--cool & calm when reproving<br /> [Handle all misbehavior equally--both "good"<br /> and "bad" Students]<br /><br /> 4a. Probing/delving [equally]<br /> 4b. Listening attentively to responses<br /> [this is a powerful way of relating--<br /> letting them know you care about them]<br /> Maintain eye contact.<br /><br /> 5a. Higher Level Questioning<br /> 5b. Analytical feedback<br /><br /> TESA adds: [Teacher should model] Courtesy</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu">http://www.humboldt.edu/</a>~tha1/gesa.html<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836797220317682?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128368193233758732005-10-04T15:07:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:10:08.753-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">ELEMENTS OF A DISCIPLINE PLAN</span></span><br />Thomas H. Allen, Ph.D.<br /><br /> (c)1996. All rights reserved. Fair use by teachers and students is authorized. Commercial use is prohibited except by prior written permission by the author.<br /><br />This outline is explained in detail in class. Experienced teachers will recognize parts of the Lee Canter and Fred Jones approaches.<br /><br />Its purpose is to provide a framework for laying out the classroom control plan developed by a teacher to meet the needs of a specific school class and to satisfy the teacher's style needs.<br /><br />Some teachers (and many pupils) need a structured situation. This framework provides for that.<br /><br />Other teachers prefer to allow students maximum freedom to develop. This framework provides for that as well.<br /><br />Probably all teachers hope that the structure that is typically required at the beginning of a class can wither away and be replaced by self-motivated learning in a self-regulated environment with cooperative, mature behavior. This framework should facilitate that to the extent possible.<br /><br /> The blank form is followed by<br /><br /> * a form with examples,<br /> * a commentary on effective classroom management and<br /> * a commentary on motivation.<br /><br />DISCIPLINE PLAN<br /><br />TEACHER_______________________________ SUBJECT_______________________<br /><br />GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT _____________________ SCHOOL ___________________<br /><br />RULES [General classroom rules stated positively]<br /><br />1. _______________________________________________________________________<br /><br />2. _______________________________________________________________________<br /><br />3. _______________________________________________________________________<br /><br />4. _______________________________________________________________________<br /><br />5. _______________________________________________________________________<br /><br />INCENTIVE PLAN [DESCRIBE--[May include Preferred Activity Time (PAT)]<br /><br />_________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />_________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />_________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />LIMIT SETTING ACTS TO BE USED [Generally non-verbal]<br /><br />________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />________________________________________________________________________<br /><br />NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES [Hierarchical steps to be used in class when limit setting acts are ineffective.]<br /><br />Step 1. _________________________________________________________________<br /><br />Step 2. _________________________________________________________________<br /><br />Step 3. _________________________________________________________________<br /><br />BACK-UP PLAN [Outside help to be requested]<br /><br />Step 4. _________________________________________________________________<br /><br />Step 5. _________________________________________________________________<br /><br />Step 6. _________________________________________________________________<br /><br />ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE STEPS POSSIBLE: Action by School Attendance Review Board (SARB); Suspension from school by administrator; expulsion from school by school board.<br />Elements of a Discipline Plan [With examples]<br /><br />RULES [STATED POSITIVELY] May be developed with the class or imposed but must be "taught" along with consequences.<br /><br /> 1. Be in your seat by the end of the tardy bell.<br /> 2. Be prepared with materials and assignments.<br /> 3. Raise hand to ask questions or participate.<br /> 4. Respect others and the property of others.<br /> 5. If more rules are needed, I will announce them. [i.e., no ex post facto rules]<br /><br />INCENTIVE PLAN [DESCRIBE]<br /><br />Every other Friday there will be a Preferred Activity Time [PAT] period of up to one hour--time determined by net minutes earned by the class. Minutes may be earned by quick compliance with teacher's directions, etc. Minutes may be lost by violation of class rules by one or more members. [Since the teacher controls this, a reasonable amount of net time will be earned by the class.] The class will choose the preferred activity from a menu developed by the class and approved by the teacher [only educationally- related and "legal" activities will be approved].<br />POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES [MAY VARY WITH EACH RULE.]<br /><br /> 1. Praise from teacher.<br /> 2. Points toward Preferred Activity Time.<br /> 3. Call home or note home telling how good the pupil's work has been, how cooperation has improved, etc.<br /><br />LIMIT SETTING ACTS [TO BE USED BEFORE IT IS TIME TO EMPLOY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES].<br /><br /> 1. Proximity, point to work to be done.<br /> 2. Blink lights or raise hand for class attention.<br /> 3. Suspend instruction and call name [this is understood to constitute a warning].<br /><br />NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES [MAY VARY WITH EACH RULE] A HIERARCHY OF STEPS<br /><br /> 1. Talk with student in hallway or after class.<br /> 2. Lunch detention<br /> 3. Lunch detention and phone call/note home.<br /><br /> BACK-UP PLAN [OUTSIDE HELP]<br /><br /> 4. In school suspension [remainder of period].<br /> 5. Referral to vice principal.<br /> 6. Parent-pupil-teacher-administrator conference with contractand/or suspension.<br /><br />Note: Student teacher is to obtain support of master teacher [and vice principal if appropriate] prior to implementation of the plan. The plan is hierarchical--the teacher always knows what will be done next if the present step doesn't achieve desired results. The teacher can then remain calm with the assurance that the plan will work and thus avoid becoming emotionally involved.<br /><br />EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: SUMMARY<br />The effective teacher emphasizes prevention rather than remediation in classroom management. The teacher systematically approaches teaching by planning and preparing well in advance; setting expectations and teaching the procedures, routines and standards of behavior at the start of school and reteaches as necessary; and maintains these through prompt and consistent reinforcement of appropriate behavior and by providing appropriate, well-prepared lessons and activities that engage the learners. See "Effective Classroom Management and Instruction: An Exploration of Models" Final Report, Evertson et al, 1985, ERIC:ED 271 422 for a complete discussion of this topic.<br /><br />Effective classroom managers:<br /><br /> 1. Plan classroom procedures and rules carefully and in detail.<br /><br /> 2. Systematically teach students procedures and expected behaviors.<br /><br /> 3. Monitor student work and behavior closely.<br /><br /> 4. Deal with inappropriate behavior quickly and consistently.<br /><br /> 5. Organize instruction to maximize student task engagement and success.<br /><br /> 6. Communicate directions and expectations clearly.<br /><br />At the end of a class period/teaching day, it is important to analyze and reflect on the lesson if improvement as a teacher is to occur.<br /><br />Analysis and reflection vis a vis a discipline plan:<br /><br /> 1. Is it working? [for all but a few?]<br /><br /> 2. Why isn't it working? [review the plan]<br /><br /> 3. Have you really implemented the plan with consistency?<br /><br /> 4. Have you consulted with counselor, parents, administrator?<br /><br /> 5. Do you need to modify the plan? For all? For some individuals?<br /><br /> 6. Is it time to announce, "This isn't working, so ..." [Then develop with the class or announce a new rule/plan.]<br /><br />ON MOTIVATION<br />The teacher's role: to enable others to learn...to develop attitudes toward learning...work on attitudes and the learning will smooth out.<br /><br />When you get up in the morning, do you want to run 10 miles? Do a dozen hard calculus problems? Kids don't always want to do what you give them to do.<br /><br />How do you handle the kid who says, "I don't want to do it?" [QUIETLY] Tell him he doesn't have to do it...just sit quietly so others can work...they'll get bored and join in later. Or, "ok, you can read something else...but tell me, how are you going to get this concept if you don't do the assignment?"<br /><br />What is the most frustrating thing from the teacher's point of view? Wasting time, goofing off, stalling, not doing the work.<br /><br />You will be paid as a teacher to cause children to learn. Yet Madeline hunter says that no one can motivate another person. Certainly no one can force another to learn. What can we do?<br /><br />You can set the stage so that a pupil will go to work. What are the conditions that encourage learning?<br /><br /> 1. Attractive, enriched environment.<br /><br /> 2. Material at a level that challenges but can be understood.<br /><br /> 3. Teach to individual learning styles.<br /><br /> 4. Use appropriate model of teaching for the purpose.<br /><br /> 5. Praise, prompt, and leave [get all pupils started quickly and provide prompt seatwork assistance as needed...then move on quickly].<br /><br /> 6. Clear expectations and consistent class control.<br /><br /> 7. Madeline Hunter's 6 variables of motivation: feeling Tone, Reward, Interest, level of Concern, Knowledge of results, and Success (TRICKS).<br /><br /> 8. Make learning intrinsically interesting to students by relating lesson content to the student's life.<br /><br /> 9. Vividness of the presentation...novel or different approaches in the readiness part of the lesson.<br /><br /> 10. Vary the lesson presentations, use a variety of audio-visual approaches to keep teaching from going stale.<br /><br /> Use of the TESA or GESA interactions so that each pupil is involved in success.<br /><br /> 11. The bottom line in motivation is meaning/understanding.<br /><br /> This list of a dozen variables that you can use to set the stage for student self-motivation includes, of course, nearly everything you've studied about teaching, doesn't it? Not a bad check list if things aren't going right.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu">http://www.humboldt.edu</a>/~tha1/disciplin.html<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836819323375873?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128368398216169462005-10-04T15:05:00.001-07:002005-10-04T13:07:49.986-07:00<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Optional Elements of a Discipline Plan<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Humboldt State University<br />California</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><br />Some Options You May Find Useful<br /><br /> * Developing a Discipline Plan for You<br /> * Seven Models of Discipline<br /> * The Canter and Jones Models<br /> * Lists of Rules, Limit-Setting Acts, Consequences, etc"<br /> * A sample letter to be sent home<br /><br />DEVELOPING A DISCIPLINE PLAN FOR YOU<br />http://www.humboldt.edu/~tha1/discip-options.html<br />Thomas H. Allen, Ph.D.<br /><br /> (c)1996. All rights reserved. Fair use by teachers and students is authorized. Commercial use is prohibited except by prior written permission by the author<br /><br />If you are to teach successfully, you must have the circumstances that make it possible for you to teach and for your pupils to learn. Those circumstances do not happen by accident. You need to develop a plan to ensure that reasonable circumstances for teaching and learning do occur.<br /><br />Each teacher, class, subject,and situation is different. No plan will fit every situation.<br /><br />The purpose of this text (and the Classroom Management Workshop it was designed to supplement) is to help you develop a discipline plan for your class, to know how to diagnose problems, and to know how to change the plan to fit changed situations.<br /><br />Prior to 1970 there were no systematic classroom control models. Schools of education gave random good advice...much of which was useful. In the early 1960's, our societies' conventions and the schools started to come unglued. Teachers had previously been able to maintain order by asserting their authority. Pupils generally were reasonably well behaved and rarely required much disciplinary attention from the teacher. The old methods began to fail.<br /><br />Teachers typically do the best that they know how to do. Some have discipline problems. Many of the teachers currently in the schools have not received systematic help to this day. Unless their school has brought in a workshop presenter, it is unlikely that they have had systematic instruction in developing a discipline plan for their classes.<br /><br />In the decade from 1969 to 1979, a number of models were developed to deal with the fact that teachers all over the country were complaining that they could no longer teach effectively because of classroom disruption and student inattention.<br /><br />A number of researchers observed the teaching of many instructors. They noted what worked and what didn't work. They developed systematic ways to deal with the problems of class control. Several of these systematic models are given in brief form here.<br /><br />The descriptions of the following models have been digested by Tom Allen and modified to fit his own experience, other sources and workshops with such presenters as Lee Canter and Fred Jones. The models are summarized from Building Classroom Discipline: From Models to Practice, by C.M. Charles, Longman:New York, 1985. Charles has summarized seven systematic models of classroom management. Each of these has elements that you may find appropriate now or in the future. The models are based on extensive observation of pupil and teacher behavior and on research into various psychological aspects of human nature and behavior. They incorporate what is deemed to work in the hands of successful teachers.<br /><br />The plan of this class is to work through the available options and develop a plan that will make it possible for you to teach and the pupils to learn...and for you to feel comfortable with what you do to make it possible.<br /><br />Annual polls of beliefs about the schools consistently rate the lack of discipline at the top of the list of problems. Teachers and the general public agree on this. Even pupils agree that the lack of classroom discipline is the main problem. One poll found<br /><br />Although fear of physical attack is common, serious injury of teachers is very rare. Verbal encounters with hostile students are more common. Violence among pupils and vandalism are common. But what is disrupting classes is relatively innocuous. Fred Jones researched the problem and found that about 99% of the typically encountered discipline problems are made up of such behaviors as pupils talking without permission, daydreaming, wandering around the room, or otherwise not doing what they have been asked to do.<br /><br />If Jones is correct that nearly all of what bugs teachers is no more significant than goofing off, why all the concern? This low level misbehavior interferes with teaching and learning. It is a heavy contributor to stress and "burn-out." The need to deal constantly with noisy, disorderly, and discourteous behavior...and the occasionally serious confrontation with defiant behavior...wears teachers down. It is to deal with these routine distractions and to reduce the likelihood for confrontations that systematic classroom control models have been developed.<br /><br />Although significant elements of various models have been presented here, the rationales and examples have been generally omitted due to space limitations. The selections were made to give an idea of the range of options open to the teacher...if you want to know more about one or more of the models, consult Building Classroom Discipline: From Models to Practice, by C.M. Charles, Longman:New York, several editions, or look up works by the authors of the individual models. When funding permits, the TPSS Program offers TPSS 701 Assertive Discipline and TPSS 701 Classroom management Techniques. These workshops, taught by local public school educators who have been trained by Lee Canter or Fred Jones, are highly recommended.<br /><br />Underlying all discipline problems and efforts to cope with misbehavior are four basic realities of human nature: We tend to resist doing what others try to make us do; we like to denigrate and "question authority"; every person is different in interests, abilities and learning styles as well as different needs, wants and values; and, as children grow older, they need to be weaned psychologically in order to develop their potential. The ultimate goal should be to develop self-discipline in pupils and to move away from external, authority-imposed control; in the meanwhile, a systematic control system makes it possible for teachers to teach and pupils to learn. This teacher-imposed plan should provide for a transition to self-control and should wither away as it is no longer needed.<br /><br />Return to top of this page<br />#<br />KEY IDEAS OF SEVEN MODELS OF DISCIPLINE.<br />The Kounin Model:<br />Withitness, Alerting, and Group Management.<br /><br /> * The ripple effect: when you correct one pupil's behavior, it tends to change the behavior of others.<br /> * The teacher needs to be with it to know what is going on everywhere in the room at all times.<br /> * Smooth transitions between activities and maintaining momentum are key to effective group management.<br /> * Optimal learning takes place when teachers keep pupils alert and held accountable for learning.<br /> * Boredom [satiation] can be avoided by providing variety to lessons, the classroom environment and by pupil awareness of progress.<br /><br />The Neo-Skinnerian Model:<br />Shaping Desired Behavior. B.F. Skinner is the father of the behavioral school of psychology. A recently popular outgrowth of Skinnerian behaviorism is Behavior Modification. For a useful presentation, see the section on the Behavioral Systems Family in Joyce and Weil, Models of Teaching, particularly the introduction to the section and chapters on "Learning Self-Control" and "Assertive Training."<br /><br /> * Behavior is conditioned by its consequences. Behavior is strengthened if followed immediately by reinforcement. Behavior is weakened if it is not reinforced. ["Extinction."] Behavior is also weakened if it is followed by punishment.<br /> * In the beginning stages of learning, reinforcement provided every time the behavior occurs produces the best results.<br /> * Behavior can be maintained by irregular reinforcement.<br /><br />The Ginott Model:<br />Addressing the Situation with Sane Messages.<br /><br /> * Discipline is little-by-little, step-by-step. The teacher's self-discipline is key. Model the behavior you want in students.<br /> * Use sane messages when correcting misbehavior. Address what the student is doing, don't attack the student's character [personal traits]. Labeling disables.<br /> * Use communication that is congruentwith student's own feelings about the situation and themselves.<br /> * Invite cooperation rather than demanding it.<br /> * Teachers should express their feelings--anger--but in sane ways. "What you are doing makes me very angry. I need you to ...."<br /> * Sarcasm is hazardous.<br /> * Praise can be dangerous; praise the act, not the student and in a situation that will not turn peers against the pupil.<br /> * Apologies are meaningless unless it is clear that the person intends to improve.<br /> * Teachers are at their best when they help pupils developtheir self-esteem and to trust their own experience.<br /><br />The Glasser Model:<br />Good Behavior Comes from Good Choices. Glasser's recent work focuses on the class meeting as a means of developing class-wide discipline. See the chapter on The Classroom Meeting in Joyce and Weil, Models of Teaching. [For those who have their classes under control and would like to try to go beyond teacher-imposed discipline, William Glasser's approach is worth serious consideration.<br /><br /> * Students are rational beings capable of controlling their own behavior.<br /> * Help pupils learn to make good choices, since good choices produce good behavior.<br /> * Do not accept excuses for bad behavior. Ask, "What choices did you have? Why did you make that choice? Did you like the result? What have you learned?"<br /> * Reasonable consequences should always follow good or bad student behavior.<br /> o [Usually developed in classroom meetings,] class rules are essential to a good learning climate, they must be enforced.<br /> o Classroom meetings are a good way to develop and maintain class behavior. [The group diagnoses the problem and seeks solutions.]<br /><br />The Dreikurs Model:<br />Confronting Mistaken Goals.<br /><br /> * Discipline is not punishment. It means self-control.<br /> * The teacher's role is helping pupils to impose limits on themselves.<br /> * Teachers can model democratic behavior by providing guidance and leadership and involving pupils in setting rules and consequences.<br /> * All students want to belong. Their behavior is directed to belonging.<br /> * Misbehavior is the result of their mistaken belief that it will gain them peer recognition. [It is usually a mistake to assume that misbehavior is an attack directed at the teacher.]<br /> * Misbehavior is directed at mistaken goals: attention-getting, power-seeking, revenge, and displaying inadequacy. The trick is to identify the goal and act in ways that do not reinforce mistaken goals.<br /> * Teachers should encourage students' efforts, but avoid praising their work [?] or character. [Others disagree.]<br /> * Support the idea that negative consequences follow<br /><br />The Canter Model: Assertively Taking Charge and The Fred Jones Model: Body Language, Incentive Systems, and Providing Efficient Help.<br />The next two sections spell out the Canter and Jones models in some detail. These are the two systems most in use in public schools. I have moved them to a different file [press here] in order to shorten this page. [Easy to return here.]<br />Lists of Rules, Limit-Setting Acts, Consequences, etc.<br /><br /> In preparing a discipline plan, consider what your objectives are and what needs to happen for those objectives to come about. Avoid jumping directly to a solution. If you say, "I have this tool [for example, detention], that ought to work." You have locked into a single option. To a person with a new hammer, everything looks like a nail.<br /><br /> It is more productive to ask yourself, "I need to get John to stop talking and get to work. What options do I have?"<br /><br /> My workshop participants have brainstormed a number of options for each of the elements of a discipline plan: rules, positive and negative reinforcers, limit-setting acts, etc. I list many of them here--with my comments for some in brackets. I don't necessarily recommend all of them and you should only use those appropriate to your situation and that you will feel comfortable using in practice.<br /><br />Return to top of this page<br /><br />RESULTS OF BRAINSTORMING IN PREVIOUS SECTIONS OF WORKSHOP<br />RULES<br /><br /> * Be on time<br /> * Clean up area<br /> * Mutual respect for learning and right to teach<br /> * Pick up trash<br /> * Do in-class work in this class<br /> * No hats [Hats off?]<br /> * No staple shooting [do you want to suggest this?]<br /> * No clay throwing<br /> * No running<br /> * No food fights<br /> * Be cooperative<br /> * No throwing things [Would this be better? "Throw things on the field, not in the class"<br /> * Tobacco is prohibited [this is a State/school rule, do you need it?]<br /> * Listen quietly<br /> * Keep area clear [specify area]<br /> * No snapping towels<br /> * Keep criticism positive<br /> * Follow directions the first time<br /> * No talking during roll<br /> * Eat/drink outside of class<br /> * Use proper language in class<br /> * Work to the end of class<br /> * Dispose of gum before entering<br /> * Carry microscope with two hands<br /> * Attend to the work of the class ["no note passing," etc. can be handled in the explanation of what the rule means.]<br /> * Leave the belongings of others alone<br /> * Keep hands and feet to yourself<br /> * Don't make fun of others [Items like the last three can be covered with a rule like "Respect others and their possessions."]<br /> * Raise your hand to be recognized<br /> * Be prepared<br /> * Stay in seat<br /> * Be an active listener<br /> * Follow safety rules<br /> * No complaining about assignments [Students will try to negotiate a postponement, etc. It is usually best to listen, avoid getting into an argument, and restate the assignment, i.e., "broken record."]<br /> * Take care of equipment<br /> * Sit correctly in seat [posture]<br /> * Respect materials<br /> * Sharpen pencil before the bell rings [what happens if the pencil breaks?]<br /> * No cheating. ["Do your own work"]<br /> * Be responsible<br /> * Bring materials to class<br /> * Ask to leave the room [Is this what you intend?]<br /> * Turn assignments in on time<br /> * No unauthorized experiments<br /> * Do work in ink in proper format<br /> * Talk only with permission<br /> * Be in your seat when the bell rings<br /> * No talking across the room<br /><br />State rules positively when possible, use as few rules as you can and still reach your objectives, let one rule cover a number of related ideas, and explain the rules with examples to your class.<br /><br /> What (few) rules do you really need to set the environment for learning?<br /><br />LIMIT SETTING ACTS<br />Non-verbal:<br /><br />Eye contact--composed face<br /><br />Proximity<br /><br />Calming gesture<br /><br />Place hand on the pupil's desk or book<br /><br />Open student's book and point at work to be started<br /><br />Tap on teacher's desk<br /><br />Flash lights off and on<br /><br />Personal contact [see "touching" in GESA materials for explanation--touching is powerful and potentially dangerous]<br /><br />Peer pressure [may assist but not something teacher can direct]<br /><br />Model expected behavior<br /><br />Point to posted rule<br /><br />Circle child who is asleep/off-task while continuing lecture<br /><br />The Stare<br /><br />Silence [then follow up with gesture when the student looks up]<br /><br />Blow a whistle, click a clicker, tinkle a bell, etc.<br /><br />Ignore intentionally [note: by the time the teacher realizes that a child is off task, [there has usually been enough time for extinction to work if it is going to work.]<br /><br />Start over<br /><br />Talk with student after class<br /><br />Nod or point with eye contact<br /><br />Moving in [it is suggested that you not attempt the Fred Jones sequence unless you have been trained/practiced.]<br /><br />Point at student<br /><br />Hand gestures, e.g., palm down or out, thumbs down<br /><br />Incorporate student who is off-task into the demonstration [not a put down: "Joe, please hold the end of this for me"]<br /><br />Raise your hand [cooperative learning signal]<br /><br />If a general problem, have class reenter the room<br /><br />Verbal acts short of consequences:<br /><br />Call student by name<br /><br />I need you to....<br /><br />Quietly, calmly [one-to-one] state what you want, e.g., "I need you to...."<br /><br />Compliment someone who is on task [Lee Canter says to compliment several acts before applying negative consequences]<br /><br />Peer counseling [e.g., send a pair out so the rules can be explained before consequences affecting preferred activity time would be imposed<br /><br />Broken record [in lieu of arguing about what happened] "I need you to...." "But Louie started it." "I need you to ...."<br /><br /> Limit setting acts are the preferred thing for the teacher to do to stop misbehavior...only use the negative consequences when limit setting isn't working or when the act is deliberate/persistent<br /><br />POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES/PREFERRED ACTIVITY TIME<br /><br />Positive consequences, as used here are typically attached to specific, individual behaviors, e.g., when an individual gives a correct response, you praise the answer. Preferred Activity Time [PAT] is given as a result of accumulated positive class behavior over a period of time. Some of the following could be utilized as positive consequences for individual or class acts as well as being on the list of preferred activities to be chosen by the class when "Preferred Activity Time Friday" comes.<br /><br /> * Movies, videos<br /> * Music [It is suggested that the teacher list the music from which the class will choose and control the sound level. A heavy beat/vocals tend to interfere with seat work.]<br /> * Teacher reads aloud<br /> * Guest speaker/presentation<br /> * Field trips<br /> * Computer time<br /> * "Great Kid" note<br /> * Positive letter home<br /> * Contest<br /> * Free reading<br /> * Variety box of games in content area, e.g., Trivial Pursuit<br /> * baseball (the in-class game in which one team's pitcher "pitches" questions to the other team's batter)<br /> * No homework [if goal has been met in class]<br /> * awards given at ceremony<br /> * Positive personal award<br /> * Games of lower organization<br /> * Two class competition<br /> * Class discussion of topic of their choice<br /> * Pizza or Popcorn [easy on the butter and salt]<br /> * Raffle tickets for privileges, prizes<br /> * Work on puzzles [note: this kind of activity can have a curricular value and still be fun]<br /> * Open microphone<br /> * Draw a mural<br /> * Free labs<br /> * Spelling bee<br /> * Make posters<br /> * Career investigation<br /> * Class party [parties don't work out when every class does it...like on the last day of year]<br /> * Free writing<br /> * Sing-a-long with or without instruments<br /> * Planning a class project<br /> * Team prize<br /> * Strokes [verbal, written]<br /><br />LEE CANTER'S SUGGESTIONS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS<br />POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES<br /><br />Recognition<br /><br />Happy Gram to Parent/Student<br /><br />Recognition in daily bulletin<br /><br />Smile<br /><br />Pat on back<br /><br />Display work<br /><br />Standing ovation<br /><br />Round of applause<br /><br />Encouraging words<br /><br />Privileges<br /><br />Library pass<br /><br />Free time<br /><br />Choice of where to sit<br /><br />Use of lab equipment<br /><br />Allow to do special experiment<br /><br />Computer time<br /><br />No weekend homework<br /><br />Choice of music<br /><br />Early to lunch<br /><br />Tangible Rewards<br /><br />Snacks/soft drinks in room<br /><br />Free pass to event<br /><br />Video treat<br /><br />Bonus points<br /><br />Video game tokens<br /><br />Extra credit<br /><br />Return to the top of this page<br />NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES<br />In-class detention [note: student must be permitted to eat lunch; if after school, need to notify office, notify parent, and/or arrange for child to be picked up if missing the bus.]<br /><br />Send to room 12 [you and another teacher have agreed to park the other's problems...a visiting "non person" may return when assignment is completed.]<br /><br />Parent attends class with miscreant by mutual agreement<br /><br />Tape recorder "so I can play it when your mother asks what you've been up to."<br /><br />Contract [between teacher and pupil]<br /><br />Ten laps/essay [do you want to equate school work with punishment?]<br /><br />Isolation [be careful about parking child in the hallway...it gets to be great fun when several are there from different classes; your supervision responsibility is in jeopardy; check to see if there is a school rule aboutthis. May be o.k. if, "John, I want you to wait for me outside the door, I'll be there as soon as I get the class started...."]<br /><br />Restrict activity<br /><br />Name on the board, check marks [lunch-time/after school detention]<br /><br />Phone parents<br /><br />Send letter home [see sample following this section]<br /><br />Give minus points/demerits [this only works if you have a way to earn points/merits]<br /><br />Cease activity students want<br /><br />Take time away from PAT [not usually advisable unless you typically give liberally as well as take away]<br /><br />Lose lab points<br /><br />Lose a privilege<br /><br />Time out<br /><br />Stop the lesson [Lee Canter says you should always stop and deal with interruptions; however, limit-setting acts may be used without interruption of the lesson.]<br /><br />Solitary time<br /><br />Restrict student to chair<br /><br />Extra work [do you wish to equate school work with punishment?]<br /><br />Have student apologize to teacher and class [only if student has agreed to do so privately beforehand and if there is reason to believe that the student intends to follow through.]<br /><br />Clean room<br /><br />Charge a fee [may not be legal; check this out before announcing it.]<br /><br />OUT-OF-CLASS BACK-UP SYSTEM<br />[Requires help from others to carry out]<br />Saturday school clean-up<br /><br />Referral to office<br /><br />Detention [school-wide plan]<br /><br />Student-Parent-Teacher-Administrator/counselor conference [usually terminates with a contract]<br /><br />Deliver student to parent<br /><br />In-school suspension<br /><br />Suspension in office<br /><br />Suspend from class [teacher can do this for one day...check school policy on notification...administrator can suspend for longer period.]<br /><br />Suspend from school [only administrator can]<br /><br />Expulsion [only school board can]<br /><br />Note: Police and court actions may be used if indicated by the crime. A school attendance review board [SARB] may be used if appropriate.<br />A Sample Letter Home<br />PACIFIC HIGH SCHOOL<br />FIFTH AND UNION STREETS<br />Arcata, CA 95521<br /><br />October xx, 199x<br /><br />Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith:<br /><br />Your son, Bill, talks to the people sitting near him in his U.S. History class so much that it interferes with his learning and with their learning.<br /><br />I have talked with him about it, but the problem persists.<br /><br />I have attached a copy of the class discipline plan to this letter for your convenience. As you can see, the next step is for me to notify you.<br /><br />If Bill continues to disrupt the class, the next step is suspension from this class for one period and referral to the office.<br /><br />From our earlier conversation, I know you have high hopes for Bill. I need your help now. Please discuss this with Bill. I am sure that we can bring about a change if we work together. If you have any questions, please call me at 000-0000 between 11:00 am and 12:00 noon, my preparation period, or call me at home between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. at 111-1111.<br /><br />Please sign below and ask Bill to return this to me so that I will know that you received the message.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Eric Q. Teacher<br /><br />cc: Bill Smith<br /><br /><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu">http://www.humboldt.edu</a>/~tha1/discip-options.html<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />_____<br />___<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836839821616946?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128368939091550492005-10-04T15:05:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:04:16.116-07:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A GUIDE TO CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AND INSTRUCTION</span><br /><br /><br />Opening Day and Subsequent Observations<br />By Student Teachers<br /><br /> [This guide to observation has been provided by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Marianne Pennekamp, Ph.D., and edited by Tom Allen</span>. The sections that follow this one (on some basic elements of instruction and the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives are from other sources as indicated.]<br /><br />THE PURPOSE OF ASSIGNED CLASSROOM OBSERVATION is to SEE the various interpersonal interactions between the instructor, instructional aides if any, classroom volunteers and themselves; and those interactions occurring AMONG students in the classroom; and BETWEEN these students and the above named adults. Over time patterns of interaction that are complex in nature will emerge. These in turn will assist the student observer in his/her later work as a student teacher and a career teacher to understand accurately what classroom dynamics exist and how to impact them in the interest of high quality instruction.<br /><br />Steps in observation:<br /><br /> 1. Keep a log of your observations. Use a mental "brainstorming technique" when doing so: at first, write down everything, without screening what you see, hear, intuit: it is all food for learning.<br /><br /> 2. Become aware that your prior experiences, the novelty of your being in the observer role, your personal style, and your personal world view and biases will be reflected in your perceptions and log record. Get assistance in TPSS class with increased awareness of how you impose your own personal agenda on what you perceive. Try to step back and observe again, with an almost "empty" mind, i.e., "empty of your prejudgments." This may be difficult for you. It is for most of us. Group support by your peers is likely to help.<br /><br /> 3. Develop a system for your observations. You might do the following:<br /><br /> * focus one day's observation on the class as a whole. You might want to record every interaction (or every-other if it moves too fast) between the teacher and the class, e.g., what is being asked, what general reaction occurs and what subpatterns seem to take place.<br /> Do this a number of times later on other days, too, to capture how the tone is set at the beginning of class. This will help you assess what the class climate is, and for whom. [Noting the tone at the opening of class will be helpful in recalling the experience when discussing classroom management in a class.]<br /><br /> * focus on specific teacher activities: giving assignments, asking quizzes;<br /><br /> * focus also on the nonverbal behavior of the teacher: does he/she move around, make contact by proximity [nearness], with individual students and groups of students? How does the teacher enact his/her relationships with students? Is there time for personal contact/ interaction? Is all instruction oriented to the "whole class," do some pupils obtain more attention than others, etc?<br /><br /> * focus on specific student activities while holding back any tendency to problem-solve how YOU would deal with such behaviors. You are observing to PERCEIVE what is going on. Such perceiving precedes BEHAVING in a certain (hopefully appropriate) way; and behaving over time precedes becoming the kind of teacher who is effective in his/her teaching in a way which engages students in their own learning.<br /><br /> * only after obtaining an awareness of the whole class, begin to focus on individual students. Track how they deal with BEING in class; and with defining themselves as a student in THIS class; remember that students are in school as INVOLUNTARY CLIENTS by state law: they have to attend school. The trick is to help them become voluntary clients, WHO WANT TO BE THERE AND WANT TO LEARN. This process is heavily influenced by the group process between students, and the external context which labels this class as "college prep," and that class as "basic/remedial" etc. These labels tend to influence expectations and behaviors of students and faculty alike. [It makes little difference how the grouping is labeled, the kids soon discover the code.]<br /><br /> * we tend to be shaped by "critical incidents" which engage our emotions as well as our minds. Pay particular attention to such incidents that touch you deeply. Write them down. Find a buddy, a trusted colleague with whom to discuss them. Don't repress them; you will be setting yourself on the path of denial which will impair your later functioning and living as a teacher. [But keep the information CONFIDENTIAL; professionals do not "gossip" about students or colleagues.]<br /><br /> 4. Even though one classroom contains an enormous range of possible interactions and therefore opportunities for making decisions and interventions, some essential data can only be gathered outside the classroom: You have noted that student J. is frequently absent. J. avoids a conversation with you, and, as an observer, your role is limited. The classroom teacher indicates that the student will soon land in continuation school due to the absences. You want to find out more about the way the school deals with absences. You set out to discover some answers. You inquire who is in charge of attendance. You visit the attendance clerk and ask that the system be explained to you. You ask about your particular student as an example of how things work.<br /><br /> You find out that the counselor has some attendance responsibilities, too. You find J.'s counselor and ask your questions--the general ones about attendance and the specific ones about J. You then ask about your responsibilities as a teacher: recordkeeping, informing (whom, and how?), getting help for the student, if possible, to encourage class attendance, conferences with parents, or whatever steps might be useful. Then find out what is being done, can be done, at the school to deal with absenteeism, as a discipline issue, as your own issue as a teacher wishing to reach all students. Go slow on all this, but use the cases of students as you become aware of them to discover how such situations are being managed, reflecting on how you would like to see them managed should you be assigned to teach the class.<br /><br /> 5. Get to know the school's special help personnel, beyond the counselors and the dean/vice principal in charge of discipline. Most schools have access to a school psychologist, perhaps a school social worker, a mental health worker, a drug/alcohol counselor, a school nurse, special education staff who can help you understand a student's special learning style, strengths and weaknesses.<br /> In some schools, there are student study team meetings, where persons concerned about a specific student come together to brainstorm what can be done and by whom. As a teacher, you can request such a meeting. Also in some schools, teachers can assist students through a process called IMPACT. Inquire about the existence on campus of a group of teachers/staff providing coordinated Intervention. Other teachers may help with peer counseling, lead Friendship Clubs, and reach out to students informally.<br /><br /> Although not all schools have one, State law provides for School Attendance Review Boards. SARBs are composed of non-school personnel who are empowered to force parental cooperation, if necessary, to carry out a plan to improve a student's attendance and performance. The SARB conducts hearings, works out a plan and monitors progress. The SARB is under the general supervision of the Superior Court.<br /><br />You decide, with your master teacher, how much or how little of such extra activities you wish to take on. During your observation phase, it is simply useful to learn the basics of school-wide policies and practices, formal and informal. They will affect you as well as the students.<br /><br />GOOD LUCK! This is an unusual opportunity to observe the world in which you will be spending a great deal of your life. In the process of observing, you can learn much about yourself. That is a gift which will help you keep growing, if you nurture it.<br />#<br />Professional Behavior<br /><br />As with all work within the education profession, you will be expected to keep information about individuals within professional circles and confidential. Only those with a need to know should be given information about an individual. It is easy to carry personal information outside of the professional circle--at which point it becomes gossip. And gossip can injure individuals: the children in your charge, other teachers, etc., and can destroy your career.<br /><br />Your supervisor will be more able to assist you if you have systematically recorded your observations. Recording reinforces memory.<br /><br />[Make an objective, non-critical record; master teachers and other professionals may ask to see what you have written.]<br /><br />#<br />Some additional things to look for during the observation semester:<br /><br /> 1. List beginning school activities observed.<br /><br /> 2. Briefly list, analyze, and discuss various room arrangements seen. (How did they support or interfere with learning?)<br /><br /> 3. Identify all areas of school environments which require pupils to learn/use specific procedures.<br /><br /> 4. Make a list of procedures (including safety and procedural rules) that the master teacher/student teacher will use with pupils. [You will have an opportunity to consider rules and their implementation in detail in TPSS 712.]<br /><br /> 5. List master teacher's rules for student behavior (in addition to procedures). [see form: "Elements of a Discipline Plan," for a format for recording.]<br /><br /> 6. List positive consequences and reinforcers used.<br /><br /> 7. List negative consequences and reinforcers used.<br /><br /> 8. Note how teacher's behavioral expectations/rules are presented.<br /><br /> 9. Record how teachers deal with inappropriate behavior.<br /><br /> 10. Record how teachers reinforce appropriate behavior.<br /><br />#<br />Some key factors in learning in a class:<br /><br /> * High Academic Learning Time<br /> o Allocated learning time: intended, budgeted [but what is the learner doing?]<br /><br /> o Time on task: engaged in the scheduled activity [But how much of the time is the learner actually learning?]<br /><br /> o Academic Learning Time (Berliner, 1981): the amount of time that the pupil spends at task while achieving at a 90% effective rate or better.<br /><br /> * Effective classrooms have higher academic learning time ratios than less effective classrooms.<br /><br /> * Frequent monitoring of student progress/feedback.<br /><br /> * Coherently organized curriculum with a tight relationship between curriculum and objectives.<br /><br /> * A variety of teaching strategies so that the teacher can implement more appropriate approaches when the pupil isn't learning.<br /><br /> * Opportunities for engaging in responsible behaviors, e.g.,involvement in student government, as a monitor/ helper, peer and cross-age tutoring, planning and carrying out projects, etc.<br /><br />[See for more information: Joyce, Hersh, and McKibbin, The Structure of School Improvement, LB1027 .J647 1983]<br /><br />These are the things that make for more effective teaching and they are the things we will work on this year and that the good teachers will spend the rest of their careers perfecting.<br /><br />The Central Goal of TPSS: To prepare beginning teachers with enough skills and knowledge to improve their teaching continuously through analysis and reflection.<br /><br />Every teacher must teach for participation in a pluralistic society. It doesn't make any difference whether the children in their class are of the same culture as themselves or not, they must teach for the future and the future is multiracial and pluralistic.<br /><br />You can't legislate attitudes. But you canlegislate behavior.<br />We can't change your attitude by force--nor will you be able to change the attitudes of your pupils entirely by the force of your dynamic personality. But by skillful teaching and setting an appropriate example and standard for behavior, you can bring about change in their behavior and make it possible for your pupils to succeed in a multicultural, pluralistic society.<br />Only when their attitudes become more positive and inclusive of all humankind will they become a positive force in American society to the end that this country and its people continue to flourish.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu">http://www.humboldt.edu/</a>~tha1/observ.html<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836893909155049?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128369120512224842005-10-04T15:04:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:03:08.466-07:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE TAXONOMY OF EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES</span></span><br /><br /><br />This is a revised version of Benjamin Bloom's work with the addition of the Psychomotor Domain as developed by Anita Harrow [1972]. Dr. Bloom's intent was to develop a classification framework for writing educational objectives. The questions and examples were added by Tom Allen to make the Taxonomy more useful for beginning teachers as a tool to facilitate appropriate questioning.<br /><br />COGNITIVE DOMAIN:<br /><br /> 1. Knowledge: recognize or recall information.<br /><br /> Q: What is the capital of Maine? Who wrote "Hamlet?"<br /><br /> Words typically used: define, recall, recognize, remember, who, what, where, when.<br /><br /> 2. Comprehension: demonstrate that the student has sufficient understanding to organize and arrange material mentally.<br /><br />Q: What do you think Hamlet meant when he said, "to be or not to be, that is the question?" (Rosenshine, among others, would argue that one of the best ways to teach is to teach pupils how to ask their own questions about the topic under consideration.)<br /><br /> Words typically used: describe, compare, contrast, rephrase, put in your own words, explain the main idea.<br /><br />3. Application: a question that asks a student to apply previously learned information to reach an answer. Solving math word problems is an example.<br /><br /> Q: According to our definition of socialism, which of the following nations would be considered to be socialist?<br /><br /> Words typically used: apply, classify, use, choose, employ,write and example, solve, how many, which, what is.<br /><br />4. Analysis: higher order questions that require students to think critically and in depth. [Unless students can be brought to the higher levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, it is unlikely that transfer will take place, i.e., this is stuff I can use rather than this is just more dumb school stuff that I can forget after I take the test. If teachers don't ask higher level questions, it is unlikely that most students will transfer school work to real life. They may not even be able to apply it to school situations other than the one in which it was "learned." E.g., we "know" that students know more than scores on the CAP Test or SAT would suggest.] In analysis questions, students are asked to engage in three kinds of cognitive processes:<br />1. identify the motives, reasons, and/or causes for aspecific occurrence (Q: Why was Israel selected as the site for the Jewish nation?),<br /><br />2. consider and analyze available information to reach a conclusion, inference, or generalization based on this information (Q: After studying the French, American, and Russian revolutions, what can you conclude about the causes of a revolution?), or<br /><br /> 3. Words typically used: identify motives/causes, draw conclusions, determine evidence, support, analyze, why.<br /><br />5. Synthesis: higher order question that asks the student to perform original and creative thinking. Synthesis questions ask students to:<br /><br />1. produce original communications. (Q: What's a good name for this invention? Write a letter to the editor on a social issue of concern to you. Make a collage of pictures and words that represents your beliefs and feelings about the issue.)<br /><br />2. make predictions. (Q: How would the U.S.A. be different if the South had won the Civil War? What would happen if school attendance was made optional? What is the next likely development in popular music?)<br /><br />3. solve problems--although analysis questions may also ask students to solve problems, synthesis questions differ because they don't require a single correct answer but, instead allow a variety of creative answers. (How could we determine the number of pennies in a jar without counting them? How can we raise money for our ecology project?<br /><br />Words typically used in synthesis questions: predict, produce, write, design, develop, synthesize, construct, how can we improve, what would happen if, can you devise, how can we solve.<br /><br />6. Evaluation: a higher level question that does not have a single correct answer. It requires the student to judge the merit of an idea, a solution to a problem, or an aesthetic work. The student may also be asked to offer an opinion on an issue. (Q: Do you think schools are too easy? Is busing an appropriate remedy for desegregating schools? Do you think it is true that "Americans never had it so good?" Which U.S. senator is the most effective? To answer evaluation questions objective criteria or personal values must be applied. Some standard must be used. differing standards are quite acceptable and they naturally result in different answers. This type of question frequently is used to surface values or to cause students to realize that not everyone sees things the same way. It can be used to start a class discussion. It can also precede a follow-up analysis or synthesis question like, "Why?"<br /><br />Affective Domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.<br />The Affective Domain addresses interests, attitudes, opinions, appreciations, values, and emotional sets.<br />The original purpose of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives was to provide a tool for classifying instructional objectives. The Taxonomy is hierarchical (levels increase in difficulty/sophistication) and cumulative (each level builds on and subsumes the ones below). The levels, in addition to clarifying instructional objectives, may be used to provide a basis for questioning that ensures that students progress to the highest level of understanding. If the teaching purpose is to change attitudes/behavior rather than to transmit/process information, then the instruction should be structured to progress through the levels of the Affective Domain:<br /><br />1. Receiving. The student passively attends to particular phenomena or stimuli [classroom activities, textbook,music, etc. The teacher's concern is that the student's attention is focused. Intended outcomes include the pupil's awareness that a thing exists. Sample objectives: listens attentively, shows sensitivity to social problems. Behavioral terms: asks, chooses, identifies, locates, points to, sits erect, etc.<br /><br />2. Responding. The student actively participates. The pupil not only attends to the stimulus but reacts in some way. Objectives: completes homework, obeys rules, participates in class discussion, shows interest in subject, enjoys helping others, etc. Terms: answers, assists, complies, discusses, helps, performs, practices, presents, reads, reports, writes,etc.<br /><br />3. Valuing. The worth a student attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior. Ranges from acceptance to commitment (e.g., assumes responsibility for the functioning of a group). Attitudes and appreciation. Objectives: demonstrates belief in democratic processes, appreciates the role of science in daily life, shows concern for others' welfare, demonstrates a problem-solving approach, etc. Terms: differentiates, explains, initiates, justifies, proposes, shares, etc.<br /><br />4. Organization. Bringing together different values, resolving conflicts among them, and starting to build an internally consistent value system--comparing, relating and synthesizing values and developing a philosophy of life. Objectives: recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsibility in a democracy, understands the role of systematic planning in solving problems, accepts responsibility for own behavior, etc. Terms: Arranges, combines, compares, generalizes, integrates, modifies, organizes, synthesizes, etc.<br /><br />5. Characterization by a Value or Value Complex. At this level, the person has held a value system that hascontrolled his behavior for a sufficiently long time that acharacteristic "life style" has been developed. Behavior ispervasive, consistent and predictable. Objectives are concernedwith personal, social, and emotional adjustment: displays self reliance in working independently, cooperates in groupactivities, maintains good health habits, etc. Terms:<br /><br />PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN of Educational Objectives.<br />Instructional objectives and derived questions/tasks typically have cognitive/affective elements, but the focus is on motorskill development. The suggested areas for use are speechdevelopment, reading readiness, handwriting, and physical educa‚tion. Other areas include manipulative skills required inbusiness training [e.g., keyboarding], industrial technology, andperformance areas in science, art and music. American educationhas tended to emphasize cognitive development at the expense ofaffective and psychomotor development. The well©rounded and fully functioning person needs development in all three domains. In the psychomotor domain, performance may take the place ofquestioning strategies in many cases.<br /><br /> 1. Reflex movements. Segmental, intersegmental, and suprasegmental reflexes.<br /><br /> 2. Basic-fundamental movements. Locomotor movements, nonlocomotor movements, manipulative movements.<br /><br /> 3. Perceptual abilities. Kinesthetic, visual, auditory and tactile discrimination and coordinated abilities.<br /><br /> 4. Physical abilities. Endurance, strength, flexibility, and agility.<br /><br /> 5. Skilled movements. Simple, compound, and complex adaptive skills.<br /><br /> 6. Nondiscursive communication. Expressive andinterpretive movement.<br /><br />Sample general objectives: writes smoothly and legibly; accurately reproduces a picture, map, etc.; operates a [machine] skillfully; plays the piano skillfully; demonstrates correct swimming form; drives an automobile skillfully; creates a new way of performing [creative dance]; etc.<br /><br />Behavioral terms: assembles, builds, composes, fastens, grips, hammers, makes, manipulates, paints, sharpens, sketches, uses, etc. [See Anita Harrow, 1972, for more detail on the psychomotor domain.]<br /><br /><a href="http://www.humboldt.edu/">http://www.humboldt.edu/</a>~tha1/bloomtax.html<br /><br />Copyright 2005, test scores, jean and bill bruce. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=mindinqualiv-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=search-handle-url/index=books%26field-author-exact=William%20C.%20Bruce%26rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank">Recommended books of Professor W.C. Bruce </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mindinqualiv-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br />_____<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/17278950-112836912051222484?l=testscores.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nut-n-fancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17278950.post-1128369396723455012005-10-04T15:03:00.000-07:002005-10-04T13:01:15.283-07:00<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><font>Humboldt University</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><font>California</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />AN OUTLINE OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION</span></span><br /><br /> 1. objectives<br /> 2. standards<br /> 3. anticipatory set<br /> 4. teaching<br /> * input<br /> * modeling<br /> * check for understanding<br /> 5. guided practice/monitoring<br /> 6. closure<br /> 7. independent practice<br /><br />[The above outlines what is generally referred to at the Madeline Hunter Method; it is only a small part of her "method." An explanation of the meaning of the terms follows here and a fuller development of the Hunter Method follows this section.]<br /><br />1. Before the lesson is prepared, the teacher should have a clear idea of what the teaching objectives are. What, specifically, should the student be able to do, understand, care about as a result of the teaching. informal. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which is shown below, gives an idea of the terms used in an instructional objective. See Robert Mager [library catalog] on behavioral objectives if writing specificity is required.<br /><br />2. The teacher needs to know what standards of performance are to be expected and when pupils will be held accountable forwhat is expected. The pupils should be informed about the standards of performance. Standards: an explanation of the type of lesson to be presented, procedures to be followed, and behavioral expectations related to it, what the students are expected to do, what knowledge or skills are to be demonstrated and in what manner.<br /><br />3. Anticipatory set or Set Induction: sometimes called a "hook" to grab the student's attention: actions and statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson. To put students into a receptive frame of mind.<br /><br /> * to focus student attention on the lesson.<br /><br />* to create an organizing framework for the ideas, principles, or information that is to follow (c.f., the teaching strategy called "advance organizers").<br /><br />* to extend the understanding and the application of abstract ideas through the use of example or analogy...used any time a different activity or new concept is to be introduced.<br /><br /> 4. Teaching/presentation: includes Input, Modeling, and Checking for Understanding.<br /><br />1. Input: The teacher provides the information needed for students to gain the knowledge or skill through lecture, film, tape, video, pictures, etc.<br /><br />2. Modeling: Once the material has been presented, the teacher uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product of their work. The critical aspects are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc. Students are taken to the application level (problem-solving, comparison, summarizing, etc.)<br /><br />3. Checking for Understanding: Determination of whether students have "got it" before proceeding. It is essential that students practice doing it right so the teacher must know that students understand before proceeding to practice. If there is any doubt that the class has not understood, the concept/skill should be retaught before practice begins.<br /><br />Questioning strategies: asking questions that go beyond mere recall to probe for the higher levels of understanding...to ensure memory network binding and transfer. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a structure for questioning that is hierarchical and cumulative. [See the end of this section for a summary of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.] It provides guidance to the teacher in structuring questions at the level of proximal development, i.e., a level at which the pupil is prepared to cope. Questions progress from the lowest to the highest of the six levels of the cognitive domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. [LINK PENDING See section following this outline for an exposition of the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains of educational objectives.]<br /><br />[For questioning strategies, such as Wait Time (allowing all pupils the time necessary to process and develop a response to a question before placing the question with a specific pupil) see GESA materials. GESA/TESA provide a practical model for questioning.]<br /><br />5. Guided practice: An opportunity for each student to demonstrate grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher's direct supervision. The teacher moves around the room to determine the level of mastery and to provide individual remediation as needed. [Fred Jones'"praise, prompt, and leave" is suggested as a strategy to be used in guided practice.]<br /><br />6. Closure: Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lessor presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring things together in their own minds, to make sense out of what has just been taught. "Any questions? No. OK, let's move on" is not closure. Closure is used:<br /> * to cue students to the fact that they have arrived at an important point in the lesson or the end of a lesson,<br /><br /> * to help organize student learning,<br /><br /> * to help form a coherent picture, to consolidate, eliminate confusion and frustration, etc.,<br /><br />* to reinforce the major points to be learned...to help establish the network of thought relationships that provide a number of possibilities for cues for retrieval. Closure is the act of reviewing and clarifying the key points of a lesson, tying them together into a coherent whole, and ensuring their utility in application by securing them in the student's conceptual network.<br /><br />7. Independent practice: Once pupils have mastered the content or skill, it is time to provide for reinforcement practice. It is provided on a repeating schedule so that the learning is not forgotten. It may be home work or group or individual work in class. It can be utilized as an element in a subsequent project. It should provide for decontextualization: enough different contexts so that the skill/concept may be applied to any relevant situation...not only the context in which it was originally learned. The failure to do this is responsible for most student failure to be able to apply something learned.<br /><br />Summary: You told them what you were going to tell them with set, you tell them with presentation, you demonstrate what you want them to do with modeling, you see if they understand what you've told them with checking for understanding, and you tell them what you've told them by tying it all together with closure. [For a detailed treatment of this topic, see Cooper et al, Classroom Teaching Skills, 4th ed., D.C. Heath &Co., Lexington, Ky.]<br /><br />The Madeline Hunter "seven step lesson plan." The basic lesson plan outline given above contains the so-called "Hunter direct instruction lesson plan elements:" 1) objectives, 2) standards, 3) anticipatory set, 4) teaching [input, modeling, and check for understanding], 5) guided practice, 6) closure, and 7) independent practice. If you count input, modeling, and check for understanding as three steps, there are nine elements...not the seven in the usual title.<br /><br />Madeline Hunter did not create a seven step lesson plan model. She suggested various elements that might be considered in planning for effective instruction. In practice, these elements were compiled by others as the "Seven Step Lesson Plan, "taught through teacher inservice, and used as a check list of items that must be contained in each lesson.<br />This application is contrary to Dr. Hunter's intent and its misuse is largely responsible for objections to "direct instruction" and to Madeline Hunter's system of clinical supervision. Used as Dr. Hunter's intent and its misuse is largely responsible for objections to "direct instruction" and to Madeline Hunter's system of clinical supervision. Used as Dr. Hunter intended, the steps make a useful structure for development of many lesson plans...including non-behavioral ones. Not all elements belong in every lesson although they will occur in a typical unit plan composed of several lessons.<br />[Those who have an evaluator who uses the elements as a check list and records a fault for each element missing from a lesson are referred to Patricia Wolfe, "What the 'Seven-Step Lesson Plan' Isn't," Educational Leadership, pp. 70-71, Feb., 1987.]<br /><br />For a further explanation of direct instruction and a similar lesson plan model, see Joyce and Weil, Models of Teaching,"Mastery Learning and Direct Instruction." [P. 325, ff. in the third edition.]<br /><br />Note that the term "mastery learning" may mean different things to different people. With Benjamin Bloom, Mastery Learning is a plan for ensuring that all children learn material before proceeding to the next step.<br /><br />ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION<br />"The Madeline Hunter model"<br />SUMMARY<br />Teaching to an objective<br />[lesson objective--not a "step." See below for how to write a behavioral objective]<br /><br /> 1. Objectives<br /> 2. Set [hook]<br /> 3. Standards/expectations<br /> 4. Teaching<br /> * Input<br /> * Modeling/demo<br /> * Direction giving [see below]<br /> * Checking for understanding<br /> 5. Guided Practice<br /> 6. Closure<br /> 7. Independent Practice<br /><br />Behavioral Objective format:<br />Students will demonstrate their [knowledge, understanding, skill, etc.] of/to [concept, skill, etc.] by [activity performed to meet the lesson objective] according to [standard].<br />Example: Each student will demonstrate achievement of the skill of addition of whole numbers by adding columns of figures with paper and pencil accurately nine out of ten times individually in class.<br /><br />Four step instructional process<br /><br /> 1. Watch how I do it [modeling]<br /> 2. You help me do it (or we do it together) [together]<br /> 3. I'll watch you do it or praise, prompt and leave [guided practice]<br /> 4. You do it alone [independent practice].<br /><br />Motivation "TRICKS"<br /><br /> 1. Feeling Tone<br /> 2. Reward [extrinsic/intrinsic]<br /> 3. Interest<br /> 4. Level of Concern<br /> * accountability<br /> * time to produce<br /> * visibility<br /> * predictability<br /> 5. Knowledge of results<br /> 6. Success<br /><br />Ways of monitoring<br /><br /> 1. Oral individual<br /> 2. Oral together<br /> 3. Visual answers, e.g., "thumbs"<br /> 4. Written<br /> 5. Task Performance<br /> 6. Group sampling<br /><br />Questioning Guidelines<br /><br /> 1. Place signal [get their attention], then ask question<br /> 2. Ask question before designating the person to answer<br />3. Do not repeat nor rephrase the student's response. May ask for agreement by class or for others to respond. [GESA suggests that you should explain why the answer is good, however. ]<br /> 4. Ask question then wait for 50% of hands [or "bright eyes," knowing looks]<br /> 5. Never ask a question of a student who you know cannot answer.<br /> 6. If the student is confused or can't answer, calmly repeat the same question or give a direct clue.<br /><br />Retention, Reinforcement<br /><br />