scholarly journals Identifying Good Teachers: Expert vs. Ordinary Knowledge

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Casalaspi ◽  
Ethan Hutt ◽  
Jack Schneider
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Teacher Quality ◽  
Test Score ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
Good Teacher ◽  
Parental Response ◽  
Teacher Traits ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

While much has been written about the effects of standardized testing on student achievement, less work has addressed how this information is taken up by parents.  Drawing on the results of a survey of 286 parents in a diverse urban school district, our research illuminates three aspects of parental response to test score information and efforts to link that information to teacher quality concerns: 1.) How parents relate various teacher traits to quality teaching; 2.) How parents know if their child has a good teacher; and 3.) How parents think teachers should be evaluated. We find that test score data are perceived as both imperfect and incomplete with regard to measuring teacher quality and that parents often rely more on “ordinary” forms of knowledge.  This raises questions about the value of existing standardized test score data as an informational spur to reform.

scholarly journals PBIS Implementation Fidelity and Student Outcomes in an Urban School District

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-117
Author(s):  
C. Angelique Scherer ◽  
W. Kyle Ingle
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Implementation Fidelity ◽  
Urban School ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
Positive Behavior Interventions

The purpose of our study was to examine Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) implementation fidelity and student outcomes for secondary schools in a large, urban school district placed under a corrective action plan due to disproportionate suspension practices for students of color. Drawing upon data over a four-year period on PBIS implementation fidelity, discipline referrals, suspensions, and standardized test scores, we employed repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and revealed improved outcomes in the first year, but improvements did not continue over time. Additionally, academic outcomes did not show any significant increases. The study concludes with implications for policy, practice, and future research.

The Foundation of Racial Disparities in the Standardized Testing Era

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachelle J. Brunn-Bevel ◽  
W. Carson Byrd
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Black Students ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
White Students ◽  
Black Student ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Policy Implications

We present a historical outline of racial inequality in Virginia’s kindergarten through 12th grade educational system focusing on de jure school desegregation and subsequent massive resistance following Virginia’s role in Brown v. Board of Education. Currently, standardized tests are used to evaluate students’ educational progress and knowledge, evaluate teacher and administrative effectiveness, and measure states’ educational efforts. In this article, we use school district-level data to examine racial disparities between black and white students in Virginia in 2010. We find widespread disparities in standardized test score passing rates with the exception of black students’ performance in history and social science before high school. Black students are consistently less likely than white students to earn passing scores in all subject areas at each grade level. We use state-level education data such as school district size, teacher–student ratio, and school funding to contextualize the standardized test data. We find that the locale of schools and their close links to white financial advantage and black student segregation can impact school resources and influence black students’ performance on standardized tests. We argue that the historic denial of equal educational opportunities to black Virginians is related to current educational inequality. We discuss our analyses in relation to policy implications for black student academic achievement.

Public School Voice Clinics, Part I

1984 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57
Author(s):  
Sandra Q. Miller ◽  
Charles L. Madison
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
School District ◽  
Voice Disorders ◽  
Urban School ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
Local School District ◽  
Local School ◽  
Perceived Need ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Voice Problem

The purpose of this article is to show how one urban school district dealt with a perceived need to improve its effectiveness in diagnosing and treating voice disorders. The local school district established semiannual voice clinics. Students aged 5-18 were referred, screened, and selected for the clinics if they appeared to have a chronic voice problem. The specific procedures used in setting up the voice clinics and the subsequent changes made over a 10-year period are presented.

Commentary on “Validation Methods for Aggregate-Level Test Scale Linking: A Case Study Mapping School District Test Score Distributions to a Common Scale”

2020 ◽  
pp. 107699862095666
Author(s):  
Alina A. von Davier
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Test Score ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Validation Methods ◽  
Common Scale ◽  
Scale Linking ◽  
Score Distributions

In this commentary, I share my perspective on the goals of assessments in general, on linking assessments that were developed according to different specifications and for different purposes, and I propose several considerations for the authors and the readers. This brief commentary is structured around three perspectives (1) the context of this research, (2) the methodology proposed here, and (3) the consequences for applied research.

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