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School Transformation Through Arts Integration at Bates Middle School

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Blogs on Standardized Testing

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Common Core Sample: Plumbing the Dark Mysteries of National Standards

Gaetan PappalardoFebruary 16, 2012

Tags Common Core Standards, Comprehensive Assessment, Curriculum, Education Reform, Standardized Testing, Teacher Development, All Grades, English Language Arts, History, Math, Science

I'm cranky. Are you? I've just been a downright Scrooge, though I really don't mean to. And I didn't know why until today. You see, for the last three months I've been aligning and adding the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to all of my lesson plans. And, like drinking wine tainted with an undetectable, scentless, tasteless, and usually in powder form, poison, it's been secretly making me ill.

Why Giving Bonus Money to Better Teachers Is Wrong

Dr. Richard CurwinFebruary 13, 2012

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Standardized Testing, Teacher Compensation, Teacher Development, All Grades

There is an ongoing nationwide debate on the issue of merit pay for teachers. Many national policy makers and media pundits have essentially said, "How can we improve the quality of education if we don't reward the best and brightest teachers with more money?"

Three Ways Student Data Can Inform Your Teaching

Rebecca AlberDecember 6, 2011

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Formative Assessment, Mental Health, Standardized Testing, All Grades

The job of a teacher is to be faithful to authentic student learning. Currently, our profession is fixated on results from one test, from one day, given near the end of the school year. And, yes, that is data that can be useful, however, we teachers spend the entire year collecting all sorts of immediate and valuable information about students that informs and influences how we teach, as well as where and what we review, re-adjust, and re-teach.

The Role of Mistakes in the Classroom

Alina TugendSeptember 6, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Brain Research, Comprehensive Assessment, Primary (K-2), , Standardized Testing, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades

As the school doors swing open to welcome the start of another year, both teachers and students will have goals: to inspire a class, to learn new things, to get good grades.

What probably won't be on that list is to make a mistake -- in fact many. But it should be.

Teacher Development Is Key to Closing the Achievement Gap

Brian SimsJuly 22, 2011

Tags Accountability, Achievement Gap, Education Reform, Leadership, Principals, Professional Development, Professional Learning Network (PLN), Standardized Testing, Teacher Development, All Grades, Illinois

Brian Sims is managing director of training academies at AUSL in Chicago. Betsy Haley Doyle co-authored this blog. She is a manager in The Bridgespan Group's education practice.

Last June, as principals and teachers from 14 Chicago public school "turnarounds," run by the nonprofit Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), gathered at the Academy's leadership summit, there was a moment when the room turned silent. A slide went up comparing the percentage of students achieving annual expected growth at each school to the average score for each school's teachers. The figures were based on a sophisticated teacher evaluation tool, the nationally recognized Danielson framework.

Leveling the Playing Field: How to Make Standardized Test Preparation Accessible to All Students

Andrea AlexanderJuly 6, 2011

Tags Standardized Testing, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, High (9-12), English Language Arts

A Different Perspective: Teaching to the Test

Ben JohnsonJune 20, 2011

Tags Accountability, Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Standardized Testing, Student Engagement, All Grades

What does "teaching to the test" mean? I haven't actually ever seen this literally happen in a classroom: "Class, remember the answer to question 12 is A, 13 is B, and 14 is D." But, as much as it is maligned, isn't a form of teaching to the test the point of why we teach in the first place? I'm wondering how students can be successful on the state standardized test if we don't teach to it?

Going Beyond NCLB and Assessing Schools Differently

Anne OBrienMay 10, 2011

Tags Accountability, Comprehensive Assessment, Formative Assessment, Performance Assessment, Standardized Testing, All Grades, New Hampshire

We all know that reading and math standardized test scores do not truly represent how good a school is. But thanks to No Child Left Behind -- the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- they are just about all we consider while judging a school's performance.

Happy Scott Walker Day!

Holden ClemensApril 1, 2011

Tags Accountability, Standardized Testing, Drama, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blog is by Holden Clemens. Mr. Clemens is an educator. This makes him slightly more qualified than most politicians to comment on education.

Hello!

I would like to take this moment to in honor of today -- Scott Walker Day -- to share my thoughts on the current state of the educational system in our beloved country.

Criteria for Effective Assessment in Project-Based Learning

Andrew MillerFebruary 28, 2011

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Formative Assessment, Performance Assessment, Project-Based Learning, Standardized Testing, Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

One of the greatest potentials for PBL is that it calls for authentic assessment. In a well-designed PBL project, the culminating product is presented publicly for a real audience. PBL is also standards-based pedagogy. Oftentimes when I consult and coach teachers in PBL, they ask about the assessment of standards. With the pressures of high stakes testing and traditional assessments, teachers and administrators need to make sure they accurately design projects that target the standards they need students to know and be able to do.