The only student test data that really matters, says education consultant Debbie Silver, is timely, diagnostic information telling educators what their students know and can or cannot do. Articles Assessment Debbie Silver standardized tests student test data teacher input test-retest MORE
JACKSON — For Mississippi’s third graders, the stakes for good performance on the reading test that can knock them out of timely promotion to fourth grade are now higher than ever. K-12 News standards Testing MORE
The Seattle Times reports the teachers union shares concerns the faculty at Garfield High has raised about district-required standardized tests. As a result, the Garfield teachers announced that no teachers at the school would be giving the tests this winter, even though the district requires them to do so. Seattle standardized tests Seattle teacher boycott Seattle union boycott Standardized Testing MORE
The post Teaching Beyond the Standardized Test – Preparing Our Kids for Life | @Edu21Century appeared first on TeacherCast. In this episode of the TeacherCast Podcast, we speak with TED speaker Ted Dintersmith about his movie “Most Likely to Succeed.". In this episode of the TeacherCast Podcast, we speak with TED speaker Ted Dintersmith about his movie “Most Likely to Succeed” and ask the question, “what should our students be learning in school?”. About our Guest. MORE
Recently New York City made public teacher evaluations based on student standardized test scores. This proceeded the state of New York''s decision to change how educators are evaluated, in part by connecting the standardized test scores of students into final ratings. MORE
One of the leading educator organizations in this country is calling for an end to the over-reliance on standardized testing in accountability practices. They are calling for what is called "multimetric accountability" by which, according to their press-release includes: not using standardized test scores as the "sole measure of student achievement, educator effectiveness, or school quality." ASCD High Stakes Testing standardized testing testing and accountability MORE
What I hope to be able to do expose even more of the bizarreness behind our continued fetish with using standardized tests to measure everything in education. Somehow, we in the United States just can’t let go of this “If-it-breathes-let’s-test-it approach to education. And, I am still just as critical of our accountability and testing fetish as ever. Accountability PISA standardized testing Testing MORE
The post Prepareing Our Kids for Life … Not Standardized Tests appeared first on TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network. In this episode of the TeacherCast Podcast, we speak with TED speaker Ted Dintersmith about his new movie “Most Likely to Succeed” and ask the question, “what should our students be learning in school?” MORE
In the early 1990s, Kentucky districts were among those grading student portfolios and assessing performance tasks, instead of standardized tests, and they found themselves on the cutting edge of educational assessment. K-12 News Law and policy Personalized Learning Testing MORE
Standardized tests can seem like the bane of an entire school’s existence. Minimizing stress for test day is one of the most important factors for preparing your students to take any test. Here are a few ways to take the stress out of preparing for standardized tests. MORE
Opinion Harvard standardized testing Brilliant or Insane. There’s nothing worse for education reform than bad or misinterpreted research, like the study shared by education blogger, Joanne Jacobs, about value added measure of teacher effectiveness. MORE
This is not a form of humor that I enjoy, and the content rating here is sadly and unnecessarily PG-13, but this is one of the most cogent criticisms of our standardized testing system, its absurd limitations, and its associated for-profit drivers, that the general public will get. MORE
Also, please click here to read my recent article posted on Really Good Stuff regarding assessment and standardized testing. classroom assessment Erin Klein reach for the stars Really Good Stuff really good stuff gift certificate standardized testing MORE
“Developing better tests of student learning in the 21st century is as futile as attempting to find a faster horse and buggy would have been in the 20th century.” We need assessment conditions that are variable rather than standardized. MORE
PrepFactory is a site that offers students free SAT + ACT instructional videos and practice questions (kind of like Duolingo meets Khan Academy, specifically for test prep). It''s easy to use and offers tips for taking the tests as well as practice questions and videos. MORE
Many educators recognize that standardized tests don’t measure everything—and that some of the most critical types of growth can’t be measured by a numerical score. Seven years ago, during my first year of teaching, all of my eleventh graders failed the Georgia State End of Course Test in American Literature. McClarin Success Academy in College Park, GA is an alternative high school and many of our students have never passed a standardized test. MORE
In her recent post, “ What Are We Really Measuring “, she takes on the complex topic of standardized testing in schools. Brilliant stuff and makes you really think about not only why we use standardized tests, but what will this lead to for our future students? MORE
Today Dr. Brad Johnson @drbradjohnson talks about the mistakes schools make that hurt their standardized test scores. Consider this feedback as you prepare to administer testing this spring. In today’s show, Brad discusses standardized testing mistakes schools make. MORE
Every year, writes teacher leader Jennifer Smith, schools "muddle through" standardized testing days trying to design schedules that take less time away from productive learning. Her 5th grade team tried a fresh approach that both engaged and energized test-weary kids. Articles Test Anxiety curriculum fifth grade Jennifer Smith McDonogh School scheduling standardized testing testing MORE
43 
It’s Never Too Early to Start Preparing for Critical Standardized Tests Standardized tests can be as scary as just the letters ACT, SAT, and AP and these tests can send shivers down students’. MORE
You don’t have to look far to find controversy regarding standardized testing. Federally mandated testing has been one of the major points of discussion in Congress’s efforts this year to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Last spring, the press was full of headlines about families opting out of state testing in protest to current testing policies (see here , here , here , and here ). MORE
Anne OBrien Education Trends One of the biggest complaints about NCLB was the test-and-punish nature of the law. Read about how ESSA could change that. MORE
15 Ways To Make Testing Fun–Or At Least To Keep Your Sanity While It’s Happening. Right, so, testing. With that in mind, we thought a few tips might help get you through the testing period and ready to ease into those looming long summer mornings, afternoons, and nights. MORE
When the Opt-Out movement gained traction in 2015, more than 20 percent of New York students (about 200,000) in grades 3 through 8 declined to take state standardized exams, a statistic that raised questions about the future of such testing. The Educational Testing Service (ETS), a New Jersey-based nonprofit, is one of the largest high-stakes testing providers in the United States. Aligning tests with the ways students learn in the classroom is one of Gorin’s goals. MORE
To make matters worse, high-stakes tests can sap the joy out of teaching very quickly. Teaching creative teaching education reform standardized tests student engagement test preparation MORE
Andrew Miller PBL Assessment Blogger Andrew Miller acknowledges the tension between project-based learning and standardized testing prep, yet he also finds a wide swathe of common ground between both teaching methods MORE
It is painful when all of the effort that teachers and students put into teaching and learning becomes summarized by standardized test results—especially when hard-working students that have demonstrated massive growth over the course of the year receive poor scores. This past April, while administering the 5th grade ELA standardized test in Louisiana, I did as I was supposed to—I circulated and stuck to the script. Would it just add to his test anxiety in the future? MORE
Over the course of my career, I’ve had some years where my students’ standardized test scores were on the rise , and other years where they stagnated. While educators are engaged in long-winded conversations about how these tests don’t accurately reflect student success, kids are losing out every day. Just a few weeks before he took this diagnostic writing test, his Lexile score was assessed and his level was 1100 (the low end of high school equivalency). MORE
For three consecutive years of my career I taught grade 6, which is one of three grades in which students in Ontario write the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized exam. MORE
There is a reason that standardized exams are so simplistic in nature. It is a lot easier to standardize procedures if every student takes the same exam at the same time and the scores can be tabulated by a machine that counts black and white circles. GAFE Edtech Update Hapara Highlights hapara workspace standardized testingOffering a secure examination experience for teachers and students in the cloud can be a daunting task. MORE
After politics and religion, few issues are as contentious as standardized tests. To some, standardized testing overwhelms our schools and helps eradicate differences between students. Whatever your thoughts, there’s no denying that students are taking lots of tests. students were taking about eight tests a year. Predictably, a big business has sprung up around testing. What you want is a test where the items on it don’t play favorites. MORE
Without turning his classroom into “test prep central,” teacher Kevin Hodgson is working to anticipate what his state's evolving standardized tests will contain and how best to help his sixth graders prepare themselves with plenty of reading and writing strategies. MORE
We know very little about what goes into standardized tests, who really designs them and how they're scored. Take a peek into the nation's largest test-scoring facility in the country. » MORE
Of course we all acknowledge state standardized tests can't possibly measure everything that matters. Our state even forbids the use of state test scores as the sole basis of making high-stakes decisions. Yet, as the season of testing falls upon us, the obsession with bubble sheets and number two pencils begins anew. But we need to be reminded that tests are only a small piece of information that matters about our students and our teachers. MORE
Standardized tests were introduced during President Lyndon Johnson’s administration to prove the extra funds going to low-income schools were working. That’s why many civil rights groups adamantly defend the tests as crucial for accountability and equality. Now, parents and students are opting out of the tests, arguing the testing detracts from learning. America’s obsession with standardized tests is harming our kids. MORE
“… these tests are unable to measure all of what it is that makes you the valued person who you are.” – Principal Len Christie. Even though I’d like to abolish them completely, I realize standardized testing is part of the education system and not going away anytime soon. MORE
Test anxiety starts early for many students, so we share some tips for eliminating the stress many students experience during testing in elementary school. The post Dealing with Anxiety about State Testing in Elementary Schools [Infographic] appeared first on Where Learning Clicks. MORE
If, at this time of year, you find yourself speaking of "Test-Prep Rallies" and of climbing on the roof of your building and eating chicken manure if all your students give their best on 'the tests', chances are you're badly infected. Secondly, you're infected with metric fixation, you believe that by simply making metrics, or test results public, you can improve schools by just being accountable. Accountability High Stakes Testing standardized testing MORE
Illustration credit: ©AndSim/iStock.com Valencia Clay Education Equity Low standardized test scores are a reflection of being uninspired, not unknowledgeable. MORE
Fifth graders give notes on how to fix the ‘many things wrong’ with Tennessee state tests. “We knew we would have to take that test soon,” student Christopher Romero said. MORE
Using data-driven instruction, Claude Elementary in TX saw some students significantly outperform the national average for growth on standardized tests. Inside the Classroom Data-driven instruction Intervention standardized testing Student Data Student Success Teaching Strategies Testing in elementary schoolThe post One School’s Success with Data-Driven Instruction appeared first on Where Learning Clicks. MORE
— Special Guest Editorial to the CUE Blog — Over the past several years, there has been an ever-increasing uproar about the over-testing of our children, especially the big standardized tests imposed by the No Child Left Behind Law. MORE
standardized-testing 
The CoolCatTeacher
APRIL 28, 2017
Today Dr. Brad Johnson @drbradjohnson talks about the mistakes schools make that hurt their standardized test scores. Consider this feedback as you prepare to administer testing this spring. In today’s show, Brad discusses standardized testing mistakes schools make.
MiddleWeb
DECEMBER 5, 2017
The only student test data that really matters, says education consultant Debbie Silver, is timely, diagnostic information telling educators what their students know and can or cannot do. Articles Assessment Debbie Silver standardized tests student test data teacher input test-retest
The Innovative Educator
JANUARY 13, 2013
The Seattle Times reports the teachers union shares concerns the faculty at Garfield High has raised about district-required standardized tests. As a result, the Garfield teachers announced that no teachers at the school would be giving the tests this winter, even though the district requires them to do so. Seattle standardized tests Seattle teacher boycott Seattle union boycott Standardized Testing
CUE
JULY 31, 2016
— Special Guest Editorial to the CUE Blog — Over the past several years, there has been an ever-increasing uproar about the over-testing of our children, especially the big standardized tests imposed by the No Child Left Behind Law.
Edutopia
MAY 11, 2016
Illustration credit: ©AndSim/iStock.com Valencia Clay Education Equity Low standardized test scores are a reflection of being uninspired, not unknowledgeable.
TeacherCast
FEBRUARY 7, 2018
The post Teaching Beyond the Standardized Test – Preparing Our Kids for Life | @Edu21Century appeared first on TeacherCast. In this episode of the TeacherCast Podcast, we speak with TED speaker Ted Dintersmith about his movie “Most Likely to Succeed.". In this episode of the TeacherCast Podcast, we speak with TED speaker Ted Dintersmith about his movie “Most Likely to Succeed” and ask the question, “what should our students be learning in school?”. About our Guest.
Edutopia
MAY 7, 2015
Andrew Miller PBL Assessment Blogger Andrew Miller acknowledges the tension between project-based learning and standardized testing prep, yet he also finds a wide swathe of common ground between both teaching methods
Edsurge
JANUARY 10, 2018
After politics and religion, few issues are as contentious as standardized tests. To some, standardized testing overwhelms our schools and helps eradicate differences between students. Whatever your thoughts, there’s no denying that students are taking lots of tests. students were taking about eight tests a year. Predictably, a big business has sprung up around testing. What you want is a test where the items on it don’t play favorites.
NPR Learning and Tech
JULY 8, 2015
We know very little about what goes into standardized tests, who really designs them and how they're scored. Take a peek into the nation's largest test-scoring facility in the country. »
Edsurge
MARCH 5, 2018
When the Opt-Out movement gained traction in 2015, more than 20 percent of New York students (about 200,000) in grades 3 through 8 declined to take state standardized exams, a statistic that raised questions about the future of such testing. The Educational Testing Service (ETS), a New Jersey-based nonprofit, is one of the largest high-stakes testing providers in the United States. Aligning tests with the ways students learn in the classroom is one of Gorin’s goals.
MindShift
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
Standardized tests were introduced during President Lyndon Johnson’s administration to prove the extra funds going to low-income schools were working. That’s why many civil rights groups adamantly defend the tests as crucial for accountability and equality. Now, parents and students are opting out of the tests, arguing the testing detracts from learning. America’s obsession with standardized tests is harming our kids.
Edsurge
FEBRUARY 15, 2018
Over the course of my career, I’ve had some years where my students’ standardized test scores were on the rise , and other years where they stagnated. While educators are engaged in long-winded conversations about how these tests don’t accurately reflect student success, kids are losing out every day. Just a few weeks before he took this diagnostic writing test, his Lexile score was assessed and his level was 1100 (the low end of high school equivalency).
Gaggle Speaks
MAY 18, 2015
Standardized tests can seem like the bane of an entire school’s existence. Minimizing stress for test day is one of the most important factors for preparing your students to take any test. Here are a few ways to take the stress out of preparing for standardized tests.
The Learning Revolution Has Begun
MAY 4, 2015
This is not a form of humor that I enjoy, and the content rating here is sadly and unnecessarily PG-13, but this is one of the most cogent criticisms of our standardized testing system, its absurd limitations, and its associated for-profit drivers, that the general public will get.
Edsurge
AUGUST 31, 2017
It is painful when all of the effort that teachers and students put into teaching and learning becomes summarized by standardized test results—especially when hard-working students that have demonstrated massive growth over the course of the year receive poor scores. This past April, while administering the 5th grade ELA standardized test in Louisiana, I did as I was supposed to—I circulated and stuck to the script. Would it just add to his test anxiety in the future?
Edsurge
OCTOBER 31, 2017
Many educators recognize that standardized tests don’t measure everything—and that some of the most critical types of growth can’t be measured by a numerical score. Seven years ago, during my first year of teaching, all of my eleventh graders failed the Georgia State End of Course Test in American Literature. McClarin Success Academy in College Park, GA is an alternative high school and many of our students have never passed a standardized test.
A Principal's Reflections
MARCH 7, 2012
Recently New York City made public teacher evaluations based on student standardized test scores. This proceeded the state of New York''s decision to change how educators are evaluated, in part by connecting the standardized test scores of students into final ratings.
Inquire and Inspire
JUNE 2, 2014
For three consecutive years of my career I taught grade 6, which is one of three grades in which students in Ontario write the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized exam.
Edutopia
JANUARY 28, 2016
Anne OBrien Education Trends One of the biggest complaints about NCLB was the test-and-punish nature of the law. Read about how ESSA could change that.
The 21st Century Principal
JANUARY 29, 2014
One of the leading educator organizations in this country is calling for an end to the over-reliance on standardized testing in accountability practices. They are calling for what is called "multimetric accountability" by which, according to their press-release includes: not using standardized test scores as the "sole measure of student achievement, educator effectiveness, or school quality." ASCD High Stakes Testing standardized testing testing and accountability
The 21st Century Principal
NOVEMBER 8, 2015
What I hope to be able to do expose even more of the bizarreness behind our continued fetish with using standardized tests to measure everything in education. Somehow, we in the United States just can’t let go of this “If-it-breathes-let’s-test-it approach to education. And, I am still just as critical of our accountability and testing fetish as ever. Accountability PISA standardized testing Testing
Teacher Reboot Camp
JANUARY 19, 2018
“… these tests are unable to measure all of what it is that makes you the valued person who you are.” – Principal Len Christie. Even though I’d like to abolish them completely, I realize standardized testing is part of the education system and not going away anytime soon.
Ditch That Textbook
JANUARY 28, 2016
To make matters worse, high-stakes tests can sap the joy out of teaching very quickly. Teaching creative teaching education reform standardized tests student engagement test preparation
The 21st Century Principal
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
“Developing better tests of student learning in the 21st century is as futile as attempting to find a faster horse and buggy would have been in the 20th century.” We need assessment conditions that are variable rather than standardized.
Where Learning Clicks
APRIL 10, 2018
Using data-driven instruction, Claude Elementary in TX saw some students significantly outperform the national average for growth on standardized tests. Inside the Classroom Data-driven instruction Intervention standardized testing Student Data Student Success Teaching Strategies Testing in elementary schoolThe post One School’s Success with Data-Driven Instruction appeared first on Where Learning Clicks.
The 21st Century Principal
MARCH 30, 2016
Of course we all acknowledge state standardized tests can't possibly measure everything that matters. Our state even forbids the use of state test scores as the sole basis of making high-stakes decisions. Yet, as the season of testing falls upon us, the obsession with bubble sheets and number two pencils begins anew. But we need to be reminded that tests are only a small piece of information that matters about our students and our teachers.
Brilliant or Insane
APRIL 7, 2015
Opinion Harvard standardized testing Brilliant or Insane. There’s nothing worse for education reform than bad or misinterpreted research, like the study shared by education blogger, Joanne Jacobs, about value added measure of teacher effectiveness.
Where Learning Clicks
MARCH 8, 2018
Test anxiety starts early for many students, so we share some tips for eliminating the stress many students experience during testing in elementary school. The post Dealing with Anxiety about State Testing in Elementary Schools [Infographic] appeared first on Where Learning Clicks.
Educational Technology Guy
MARCH 23, 2015
PrepFactory is a site that offers students free SAT + ACT instructional videos and practice questions (kind of like Duolingo meets Khan Academy, specifically for test prep). It''s easy to use and offers tips for taking the tests as well as practice questions and videos.
MiddleWeb
APRIL 16, 2017
Without turning his classroom into “test prep central,” teacher Kevin Hodgson is working to anticipate what his state's evolving standardized tests will contain and how best to help his sixth graders prepare themselves with plenty of reading and writing strategies.
Hapara
MAY 20, 2016
There is a reason that standardized exams are so simplistic in nature. It is a lot easier to standardize procedures if every student takes the same exam at the same time and the scores can be tabulated by a machine that counts black and white circles. GAFE Edtech Update Hapara Highlights hapara workspace standardized testingOffering a secure examination experience for teachers and students in the cloud can be a daunting task.
MiddleWeb
MARCH 26, 2015
Most teachers Mary Tarashuk knows are salmon, with a deeply embedded instinct that urges them to keep swimming upstream against mighty currents (including CC standardized testing) to find their way back to real teaching that makes real sense for real kids.
The Principal of Change
JANUARY 10, 2017
In her recent post, “ What Are We Really Measuring “, she takes on the complex topic of standardized testing in schools. Brilliant stuff and makes you really think about not only why we use standardized tests, but what will this lead to for our future students?
EmergingEdTech
AUGUST 10, 2015
It’s Never Too Early to Start Preparing for Critical Standardized Tests Standardized tests can be as scary as just the letters ACT, SAT, and AP and these tests can send shivers down students’.
MiddleWeb
JANUARY 29, 2018
Every year, writes teacher leader Jennifer Smith, schools "muddle through" standardized testing days trying to design schedules that take less time away from productive learning. Her 5th grade team tried a fresh approach that both engaged and energized test-weary kids. Articles Test Anxiety curriculum fifth grade Jennifer Smith McDonogh School scheduling standardized testing testing
TeachThought - Learn better.
APRIL 22, 2015
15 Ways To Make Testing Fun–Or At Least To Keep Your Sanity While It’s Happening. Right, so, testing. With that in mind, we thought a few tips might help get you through the testing period and ready to ease into those looming long summer mornings, afternoons, and nights.
Kleinspiration
JANUARY 24, 2012
Also, please click here to read my recent article posted on Really Good Stuff regarding assessment and standardized testing. classroom assessment Erin Klein reach for the stars Really Good Stuff really good stuff gift certificate standardized testing
The 21st Century Principal
APRIL 18, 2018
If, at this time of year, you find yourself speaking of "Test-Prep Rallies" and of climbing on the roof of your building and eating chicken manure if all your students give their best on 'the tests', chances are you're badly infected. Secondly, you're infected with metric fixation, you believe that by simply making metrics, or test results public, you can improve schools by just being accountable. Accountability High Stakes Testing standardized testing
The Christensen Institute
DECEMBER 4, 2015
You don’t have to look far to find controversy regarding standardized testing. Federally mandated testing has been one of the major points of discussion in Congress’s efforts this year to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Last spring, the press was full of headlines about families opting out of state testing in protest to current testing policies (see here , here , here , and here ).
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 30, 2016
JACKSON — For Mississippi’s third graders, the stakes for good performance on the reading test that can knock them out of timely promotion to fourth grade are now higher than ever. K-12 News standards Testing
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