Making Sense of Test-Based Accountability in Education


Book Description

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




Charter High Schools


Book Description




Watching Worms


Book Description

Follow the directions to create a worm farm.




Sweating the Small Stuff


Book Description

This book tells the story of six secondary schools that have succeeded in eliminating or dramatically shrinking the achievement gap between whites and disadvantaged black and Hispanic students. It recounts the stories of the University Park Campus School (UPCS) in Worcester, the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, Amistad Academy in New Haven, the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, the KIPP Academy in the Bronx, and the SEED school in Washington, D.C.







Neurodiversity in the Classroom


Book Description

This book by best-selling author Thomas Armstrong offers classroom strategies for ensuring the academic success of students in five special-needs categories: learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders.




Measuring Up


Book Description

How do you judge the quality of a school, a district, a teacher, a student? By the test scores, of course. Yet for all the talk, what educational tests can and can’t tell you, and how scores can be misunderstood and misused, remains a mystery to most. The complexities of testing are routinely ignored, either because they are unrecognized, or because they may be—well, complicated. Inspired by a popular Harvard course for students without an extensive mathematics background, Measuring Up demystifies educational testing—from MCAS to SAT to WAIS, with all the alphabet soup in between. Bringing statistical terms down to earth, Daniel Koretz takes readers through the most fundamental issues that arise in educational testing and shows how they apply to some of the most controversial issues in education today, from high-stakes testing to special education. He walks readers through everyday examples to show what tests do well, what their limits are, how easily tests and scores can be oversold or misunderstood, and how they can be used sensibly to help discover how much kids have learned.




Ida B


Book Description

The New York Times bestselling debut novel from acclaimed children's author Katherine Hannigan is both very funny and extraordinarily moving. Who is Ida B. Applewood? She is a fourth grader like no other, living a life like no other, with a voice like no other, and her story will resonate long after you have put this book down. How does Ida B cope when outside forces—life, really—attempt to derail her and her family and her future? She enters her Black Period, and it is not pretty. But then, with the help of a patient teacher, a loyal cat and dog, her beloved apple trees, and parents who believe in the same things she does (even if they sometimes act as though they don't), the resilience that is the very essence of Ida B triumph...and Ida B. Applewood takes the hand that is extended and starts to grow up. This modern classic is a great choice for independent reading.




Phillis's Big Test


Book Description

In 1773, Phillis Wheatley published a book of poetry. It was a great accomplishment that made her very famous. Only a year before, Phillis had had to take a test to prove that she was the actual author of these poems, because Phillis Wheatley was a slave. Who would believe that an African girl could be the author of such poetry? Phillis did! She believed in herself, and took every opportunity she could to make her life better. She believed in the power of her words, and her writing to prove her talent, and used the power of words to change a life.




Math Fact Fluency


Book Description

This approach to teaching basic math facts, grounded in years of research, will transform students' learning of basic facts and help them become more confident, adept, and successful at math. Mastering the basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is an essential goal for all students. Most educators also agree that success at higher levels of math hinges on this fundamental skill. But what's the best way to get there? Are flash cards, drills, and timed tests the answer? If so, then why do students go into the upper elementary grades (and beyond) still counting on their fingers or experiencing math anxiety? What does research say about teaching basic math facts so they will stick? In Math Fact Fluency, experts Jennifer Bay-Williams and Gina Kling provide the answers to these questions—and so much more. This book offers everything a teacher needs to teach, assess, and communicate with parents about basic math fact instruction, including The five fundamentals of fact fluency, which provide a research-based framework for effective instruction in the basic facts. Strategies students can use to find facts that are not yet committed to memory. More than 40 easy-to-make, easy-to-use games that provide engaging fact practice. More than 20 assessment tools that provide useful data on fact fluency and mastery. Suggestions and strategies for collaborating with families to help their children master the basic math facts. Math Fact Fluency is an indispensable guide for any educator who needs to teach basic math facts.