Provides parents with a comprehensive outline of today's educational standards. Explains the new standards and the language of education. Considers the education a child is getting and explains how each state measures academic achievement. Outlines the goals and content of new standardized tests, provides sample English and math questions with answer explanations, and offers guidance for the English and math assessment tests from elementary through high school. Presents a list of state websites for more information on specific tests and dates and explains how the No Child Left Behind bill affects you.
High-stakes standardized testing has a long history of exclusion, oppression, power, and control with deep roots in the landscape of American education. In this text, the events and circumstances that have forged the way of high-stakes testing are presented in a straightforward and accessible manner.
A 2020 AESA Critics' Choice Book Award winner The rise of high-stakes testing in New York and across the nation has narrowed and simplified what is taught, while becoming central to the effort to privatize public schools. However, it and similar reform efforts have met resistance, with New York as the exemplar for how to repel standardized testing and invasive data collection, such as inBloom. In New York, the two parent/teacher organizations that have been most effective are Long Island Opt Out and New York State Allies for Public Education. Over the last four years, they and other groups have focused on having parents refuse to submit their children to the testing regime, arguing that if students don’t take the tests, the results aren’t usable. The opt-out movement has been so successful that 20% of students statewide and 50% of students on Long Island refused to take tests. In Opting Out, two parent leaders of the opt-out movement—Jeanette Deutermann and Lisa Rudley—tell why and how they became activists in the two organizations. The story of parents, students, and teachers resisting not only high-stakes testing but also privatization and other corporate reforms parallels the rise of teachers across the country going on strike to demand increases in school funding and teacher salaries. Both the success of the opt-out movement and teacher strikes reflect the rise of grassroots organizing using social media to influence policy makers at the local, state, and national levels. Perfect for courses such as: The Politics Of Education | Education Policy | Education Reform Community Organizing | Education Evaluation | Education Reform | Parents And Education
Whether resulting from the educational fallout of the COVID-19 global pandemic or merely challenging the status quo, more schools are transitioning their grading practices away from traditional points and percentages and toward 21st century grading practices such as standards-based and proficiency-based grading. A Parents’ Guide to Grading and Reporting: Being Clear about What Matters assists parents and guardians in understanding what is involved in 21st century grading and how to become better partners with educators in efforts to understand students’ strengths and areas for improvement.
The federal government's No Child Left Behind Act has thrust high-stakes testing - its goals, methods, and consequences - into the educational limelight. The four-fold purpose of this book is to: describe the nature of high-stakes testing; identify types of collateral damage that have attended the testing programs; analyze methods different groups of people have chosen for coping with the damage and suggest lessons to be learned from the high-stakes-testing experience. The six groups of people whose coping strategies are inspected include: politicians and their staffs; educational administrators and their staffs; parents and the public; test makers and test administrators; teachers and students. Importantly, the author avoids aligning himself with the test-bashing rhetoric of those who oppose high-stakes testing, especially the No Child Left Behind Act. Key features of this outstanding new book include: illustrative cases. The book offers more than 350 cases of collateral damage from high-stakes testing--and people's coping strategies--as reported in newspapers over the 2002-2004 period. background perspectives. Part I examines the influence of high-stakes testing on: 1) what schools teach; 2) how student progress is evaluated; 3) how achievement standards are set; and 4) how test results are used. participant responses. Part II, which is the heart of the book, devotes a separate chapter to the coping strategies of each of the major participants in the high-stakes testing movement: politicians and their staffs, educational administrators and their staffs, parents and the public, test-makers and test-givers, teachers, and students. summary chapter. The last chapter (Lessons to Learn) offers suggestions for minimizing collateral damage by adopting alternative approaches not used in the creation of our current high-stakes testing programs, particularly the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act. This book is appropriate for any of the following audiences: students taking evaluation or administration courses in schools of education, inservice administrators and teachers, policy makers, and those members of the general public who are concerned about the fate of schooling in America.
Argues that education in the States and Britain has been radically transformed, through efforts to create curricular standards, and through an emphasis on accountability measured by standardized tests, and efforts to introduce market competition and private services into educational systems.
This practical guide will help parents understand the school choices available to them and explain the pros and cons of each choice. A complete source of information for anyone concerned with giving their child the best education possible.
Help your child succeed in the classroom--and in life! As a parent of a child with dyslexia you may wonder what you should expect as your child goes through life. How can you help your child deal with school and succeed? It's true, there are challenges for children with dyslexia, but when identified early, they can be overcome successfully. Abigail Marshall, manager of dyslexia.com, shows you how to: Identify the early symptoms of dyslexia. Work with teachers to create an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Reduce homework struggles. Find the best treatment program. Help your child develop skills with the use of assistive technology. Plan for college and career. The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Dyslexia, 2nd Edition is your first step in facing the challenges of dyslexia with a positive attitude.
Although dyslexia affects 10 to 15 percent of the U.S. population, only 5 out of every 100 dyslexics are recognized and receive assistance. If you're the parent of a child with dyslexia, this statistic can be disconcerting, especially when it comes to your child's academic performance and developing social skills. The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Dyslexia gives you a complete understanding of what dyslexia is, how to identify the signs, and what you can do to help your child. This authoritative book seeks to alert parents to the special needs associated with this learning disability and offers practical suggestions for getting involved in the classroom. The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Dyslexia shows you how to: Select the right treatment programs for your child Secure an IEP Choose a school and reduce homework struggles Develop your child's skills with the use of assistive technology Maintain open communication and offer support The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Dyslexia is your first step in facing the challenges of dyslexia with a positive attitude.
Cizek & Burg draw on their experiences as assessment experts & classroom teachers to help teachers understand what test anxiety is & how they can help their students overcome it.
