scholarly journals Using Authentic Writing Contests to Prepare Third Graders for High Stakes Standardized Assessments

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Defauw
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-167
Author(s):  
Maya A. Mingo ◽  
Sherry Mee Bell ◽  
R. Steve McCallum ◽  
D. Lakmal Walpitage

Data from 403 third graders were analyzed to determine relative and combined efficacy of group-administered Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) and Teacher Rankings of student reading and math performance taken early in the school year to predict end-of-year achievement scores. Teacher Rankings added to the power of CBMs to predict reading ( R2change = .18) and math ( R2change = .22). Combined CBMs and Teacher Rankings predicted at-risk status in reading (82%) and math (86%), based on logistic regression, and yielded strong area under the curve (AUC) statistics, defining risk status .88 (reading) and .82 (math). Surprisingly, Teacher Rankings yielded higher correlations with end-of-year scores than CBMs. Findings support using rankings as a simple, efficient strategy to add to the predictive power of CBMs readily available within a response to intervention (RTI) context and depicts a methodology school personnel can use to determine the relative/combined predictive power of CBMs and rankings. Of note, predictions based on Teacher Rankings vary across end-of-year performance levels.


Author(s):  
Daniel Conn

Northridge Elementary calls into question the norm - based ideals of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). By constructing a portrait of Northridge, this study reveals the challenges indigenous students face in the ag e of standardized assessments. The overarching quest ion of this study is: Do high - stakes assessments further the endemic values of colonization? The term colonization in this study refers to federal and state governmental agencies directing what indigenous students should be taught at school despite cultural relevance. This study applies the theoretical framework of Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit), through video photography, observations, interviews with former students, and a teacher focus group to construct portraiture of the educational realities indigenous students face in a standardized education system.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh William Catts

At the end of each school year, starting in third grade, students are administered standardized assessments of reading achievement. In most contexts, these assessments have become benchmarks for student success. In this article, I argue that while these tests are commonplace, they are unfair assessments for students, teachers, and schools. An alternative approach involving curriculum-based assessment has been introduced to address the inadequacies of current high-stakes testing of reading. I highlight this approach to reading assessment and conclude that it is more appropriate and equitable for students, teachers, and schools.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Kern ◽  
Allyse A. Hetrick ◽  
Beth A. Custer ◽  
Colleen E. Commisso

Accommodations are intended to address student academic and behavioral deficits by reducing obstacles that impede learning and accurately measuring skills. There is limited research, however, pertaining to the types of accommodations students receive and their selection, particularly among those with emotional and behavioral problems. This is a significant concern for secondary age students who spend the majority of their day in regular education settings and must participate in high-stakes testing. We examined types of accommodations provided to 222 secondary students with emotional and behavioral problems, their use (i.e., classroom or standardized assessments), and variables related to their selection. Analyses indicated (a) students received a wide array of accommodations with some differences depending on disability type, (b) more accommodations were provided in the classroom than on standardized testing, (c) few demographic variables were associated with type or number of accommodations, and (d) with a single exception, academic and behavioral functioning did not explain type of accommodation received. The findings suggest that accommodation selection is highly imprecise and point to the critical need for further research in this area.


1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Darren Kew

In many respects, the least important part of the 1999 elections were the elections themselves. From the beginning of General Abdusalam Abubakar’s transition program in mid-1998, most Nigerians who were not part of the wealthy “political class” of elites—which is to say, most Nigerians— adopted their usual politically savvy perspective of siddon look (sit and look). They waited with cautious optimism to see what sort of new arrangement the military would allow the civilian politicians to struggle over, and what in turn the civilians would offer the public. No one had any illusions that anything but high-stakes bargaining within the military and the political class would determine the structures of power in the civilian government. Elections would influence this process to the extent that the crowd influences a soccer match.


1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margie Gilbertson ◽  
Ronald K. Bramlett

The purpose of this study was to investigate informal phonological awareness measures as predictors of first-grade broad reading ability. Subjects were 91 former Head Start students who were administered standardized assessments of cognitive ability and receptive vocabulary, and informal phonological awareness measures during kindergarten and early first grade. Regression analyses indicated that three phonological awareness tasks, Invented Spelling, Categorization, and Blending, were the most predictive of standardized reading measures obtained at the end of first grade. Discriminant analyses indicated that these three phonological awareness tasks correctly identified at-risk students with 92% accuracy. Clinical use of a cutoff score for these measures is suggested, along with general intervention guidelines for practicing clinicians.


Author(s):  
Markus Krüger ◽  
Horst Krist

Abstract. Recent studies have ascertained a link between the motor system and imagery in children. A motor effect on imagery is demonstrated by the influence of stimuli-related movement constraints (i. e., constraints defined by the musculoskeletal system) on mental rotation, or by interference effects due to participants’ own body movements or body postures. This link is usually seen as qualitatively different or stronger in children as opposed to adults. In the present research, we put this interpretation to further scrutiny using a new paradigm: In a motor condition we asked our participants (kindergartners and third-graders) to manually rotate a circular board with a covered picture on it. This condition was compared with a perceptual condition where the board was rotated by an experimenter. Additionally, in a pure imagery condition, children were instructed to merely imagine the rotation of the board. The children’s task was to mark the presumed end position of a salient detail of the respective picture. The children’s performance was clearly the worst in the pure imagery condition. However, contrary to what embodiment theories would suggest, there was no difference in participants’ performance between the active rotation (i. e., motor) and the passive rotation (i. e., perception) condition. Control experiments revealed that this was also the case when, in the perception condition, gaze shifting was controlled for and when the board was rotated mechanically rather than by the experimenter. Our findings indicate that young children depend heavily on external support when imagining physical events. Furthermore, they indicate that motor-assisted imagery is not generally superior to perceptually driven dynamic imagery.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽  
Ann S. Masten

Academic achievement in immigrant children and adolescents is an indicator of current and future adaptive success. Since the future of immigrant youths is inextricably linked to that of the receiving society, the success of their trajectory through school becomes a high stakes issue both for the individual and society. The present article focuses on school success in immigrant children and adolescents, and the role of school engagement in accounting for individual and group differences in academic achievement from the perspective of a multilevel integrative model of immigrant youths’ adaptation ( Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012 ). Drawing on this conceptual framework, school success is examined in developmental and acculturative context, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. Findings suggest that for both immigrant and nonimmigrant youths the relationship between school engagement and school success is bidirectional, each influencing over time the other. Evidence regarding potential moderating and mediating roles of school engagement for the academic success of immigrant youths also is evaluated.


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