I applied McAdam's political process model for social movement analysis to examine the level of collective resistance to high stakes testing in California, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Texas from 1985 to 2005. Data on protest occurrences in those states were gathered from online news reports, anti-testing organization websites, and electronic interviews from individuals associated with the anti-testing movement. Variables used in the analysis included each state's key educational accountability legislation, political affiliations of state political leaders, state political leaders' support of accountability issues, student ethnicity profiles, poverty indicators, dropout rates, and collective bargaining laws. I examined the relationship between those variables and protest development in terms of the political process model's three components: framing processes, mobilizing structures, and political opportunity. I concluded California and Massachusetts, with their strong networks of anti-testing organizations, showed more instances of protest than any other state. Slightly fewer protests occurred in New York. Texas showed few instances of anti-testing protests and there were no reports of protests in South Carolina. There was evidence of framing efforts from both proponents and opponents of high-stakes testing, with proponents' framing efforts tending to be more covert. I found that anti-testing protests were primarily initiated by middle-class and affluent groups of citizens, who demonstrated greater political access but whose major concerns differed by state. Evidence showed that although all five states have Republican governors, protests emerged more readily in the three states whose legislatures had a Democratic majority. I found that protest efforts were inhibited when protesters faced serious consequences as a result of their actions. In addition, state political leaders began to take part in the anti-testing protest movement once the state became subject to sanctions under the strict performance requirements imposed by No Child Left Behind. Overall, the political process model proved to be a highly efficient analytical tool in this context.

Many students currently entering college are able to solve mathematical problems but often do not understand the chemistry concepts underlying their calculations. High school chemistry teachers from Texas and the United States (US) were surveyed as to what topics they teach in their chemistry classes. A subset of Texas teachers was also interviewed about their instruction. The survey indicated that less-experienced Texas teachers are omitting a number of topics from their chemistry instruction, as compared to more experienced teachers. No differences were seen for those topics among US teachers. Chemistry textbooks from 1930 to the current 2002 Texas state adoptions were analyzed for inclusion of these topics. The only textbooks that were missing topics were from the 1930s. All others contained the topics. In general, textbooks have been increasing numbers of questions and problems for each topic, with the number of quantitative problems increasing at a greater rate than qualitative problems. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed that the main reason for omission of topics by less-experienced Texas chemistry teachers is that these topics are not assessed on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills science exam. Omitted topics were both qualitative and quantitative; the common factor is that they are not tested. School administrators reportedly reinforce this practice. Archival data regarding textbook usage by general chemistry students showed that students' course grades are not correlated to the amount of time they spend using their textbook. With topics included in textbooks, and no relationship between textbook usage and student grades, observed changes in chemistry courses must be due to changes in classroom instruction. With new course standards adopted by Texas for chemistry and the development of end-of-course exams, these changes should produce graduates who understand chemistry concepts as well as they solve mathematical chemistry problems. Repeating this study in 5 years may show that increasing the amount of chemistry tested will produce students entering college with a better conceptual background in chemistry.

The goal of this research was to investigate teachers' perceptions of professional discretion and satisfaction related to internal and external factors of curriculum control. Results of the study were intended to provide data to policy makers and school district administrators that could be used in the development and implementation of the curriculum reform process. Middle and high school teachers in a large central Florida school district completed the survey. The survey's six constructs were 1. Influence of Teacher Beliefs 2. Perceptions of Success and Satisfaction 3. Influence of Tests and Curriculum Guides 4. Teacher Control of Pedagogy 5. Leadership 6. Maintaining High Standards The research questions focused on determining the difference in perspectives due to years of teaching experience, level of teaching (middle or high school), and curriculum control category (high, medium, or low). The results revealed there was not significant disagreement among teacher perceptions based on years of teaching experience. However, results indicated significant differences in perceptions based on level of teaching and curriculum control category in regard to the six survey constructs. The construct of leadership revealed significant differences between both levels of teaching and curriculum control categories. Overall, the results indicated a significant relationship among curriculum control policies and effects on teachers' perceptions of professional discretion and satisfaction. The literature on curriculum reform efforts since the 1980s, specifically in the areas of curriculum standards, textbook adoption policies, testing policies and leadership practices, framed the study. The literature review focused on existing research issues within the six constructs and the research questions. The information gained from this study may be used to inform policies, improve teachers' working conditions, and promote teacher and leadership effectiveness. Recommendations for practice were addressed in terms of what policy makers, school district administrators, and individual classroom teachers can and should do to implement and support meaningful curriculum reform. The researcher emphasized that recognizing the professional expertise and knowing the perspective of teachers are key to the development and implementation of an effective curriculum reform process.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teacher efficacy levels and fifth grade Virginia SOL Mathematic achievement. This study sought to determine the extent to which personal efficacy, general efficacy, and total efficacy account for fifth grade Virginia Standards of Learning Mathematic achievement over and above that explained by teacher experience, teacher education, and class size. A critical review of the previous research methodologies and findings on teacher efficacy demonstrated the need for further research in this area. This study hoped to provide school officials in educational leadership with data necessary to plan professional development to improve classroom instruction, teacher efficacy, and student achievement. This study utilized a quantitative survey which measured personal, general, and total efficacy levels among fifth grade teachers in 11 elementary schools located in central Virginia. Twenty-one of the 27 (78%) 5th grade teachers that were surveyed, completed and returned the survey used in the study. Other data, such as teacher education, teacher experience, class size, and student achievement scores were collected from the division with the permission of the division's superintendent. Results of the data analysis indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between teacher efficacies and 5th grade mathematics SOL achievement. The findings demonstrated that personal teaching efficacy, general teaching efficacy, and total teaching efficacy had no significant impact on 5th grade mathematics SOL achievement over and above the extent that teacher experience, teacher education, and class size impacted student achievement. It should be noted that the following limitations may have impacted the final results of the analysis. Class sizes were of mixed math ability, ranging from 11-23 students. Special education students tended to be in the smaller sized inclusion classes and gifted and talented students tended to be in the larger class sizes. Teacher efficacy levels were based on self-report. The sample size was small and limited generalizability of the results due to the focus on one Virginia school division. Also, student factors, such as prior achievement, were not included in the study. In this study, teacher education and class size did show significance associated with student achievement. Again, the limitations may have contributed to the findings of this study. The study showed that teachers with a master's degree had lower student achievement than teachers with a bachelor's degree, but the results might have been impacted from the limitations. Larger class sizes also had increased student achievement. Factors, such as class make-up of students (smaller classes typically had special education inclusion students and larger class sizes typically included gifted and talented students), class size (smallest class was 11 students and the largest class was 24), and teacher assignment (teachers with master's degrees could have been assigned to students with more academic needs), need to be considered when reviewing these findings, implications, and recommendations. The implications and recommendations were drawn from the findings of this study. The factors and limitations of the study were taken into consideration when the implications and recommendations were developed. / Ed. D.

No description available.

Durant les deux dernières décennies, la pression à l’évaluation chiffrée, dans le système éducatif québécois, s’est grandement intensifiée. Cette pression a provoqué un accroissement du nombre d’évaluations chiffrées dans les écoles, entrainant dans son sillage des dérives au plan de la pratique comme le gonflement artificiel des notes des élèves pour satisfaire les cibles du Ministère de l’Éducation en matière de réussite. La pression prend de l’ampleur à la fin du primaire, au moment où les élèves de 6e année doivent opérer le passage vers le secondaire. Dans la foulée, la performance scolaire traduite par la note chiffrée représente un critère de choix pour sélectionner les élèves dans certains établissements privés d’enseignement réputés pour leur « excellence ». Dans ce contexte, l’évaluation chiffrée est devenue un enjeu sociopolitique. À ce jour, la recherche a surtout documenté les impacts psychologiques de la pression à l’évaluation chiffrée sur le travail d’enseignant·e·s (stress, anxiété, fatigue, abandon) ; peu d’attention a été portée à la manière dont les enseignant·e·s s’ajustent pour composer avec ce contexte. Ainsi, ce mémoire vise à comprendre comment des enseignant·e·s de 6e année du primaire s’adaptent face à la pression à l’évaluation chiffrée des apprentissages des élèves québécois. Plus précisément, il documente les formes d’adaptations secondaires que les enseignant·e·s déploient pour négocier les contraintes institutionnelles et les conventions professionnelles qui se construisent autour de l’évaluation chiffrée des apprentissages. La théorie de Perrenoud (2004b) sur le « métier d’élève » est ici transposée au « métier d’enseignant » afin d’éclairer ces adaptations secondaires. Sur le plan méthodologique, le point de vue des enseignant·e·s a été privilégié, recueilli au moyen d’entretiens individuels conduits auprès de 4 enseignantes de 6e année travaillant dans des établissements d’enseignement primaire de Montréal et de Laval. Les données recueillies sont présentées suivant deux registres d’analyse. Dans le premier registre, le matériau de recherche est analysé selon le point de vue des participantes à partir d’une stratégie de raisonnement par questionnement analytique (Paillé et Mucchielli (2016). Il en ressort trois catégories d’adaptations secondaires que les enseignantes ont développées pour s’affranchir un peu de l’influence externe qui pèse sur leur travail, à savoir : l’allègement des tâches d’évaluation, l’alignement des modalités d’évaluation et l’ajustement de l’évaluation selon une commande externe. Dans le deuxième registre, en cohérence avec la démarche inductive employée, un éclairage complémentaire est mobilisé pour donner sens à la dynamique d’actions réciproques entre les acteurs qui sous-tend ces stratégies d’adaptation. Il s’agit de la théorie de la régulation sociale de Reynaud (1979), issue de la sociologie des organisations. Combinée aux apports d’autres auteurs affiliés à une perspective interactionniste, cette théorie conduit à éclairer la fabrique de l’évaluation par la mise en relief de trois stratégies de régulation : la régulation de contrôle, la régulation autonome et la régulation conjointe. / Over the past two decades, high-stakes testing has been on the rise in Quebec’s educational system. This pressure provoked an increase in the number of quantitative assessments in schools, leading to some dubious practices such as test score inflation in order to meet the achievement standards established by the Ministry of Education. The pressure is particularly high during the last year of primary education (6th grade) as test scores constitute a key selection criterion for admission into certain private secondary schools known for their “excellence”. In this context, quantitative assessment has become a socio-political issue. To date, research has mainly documented the psychological impacts of high-stakes testing on teachers (stress, anxiety, fatigue, attrition); whilst less attention has been paid to the ways in which teachers adapt to this context. Thus, this research aims to understand how the pressure to increase quantitative assessment affects the teaching profession in Quebec. Precisely, it documents the forms of secondary adaptations that teachers deploy to negotiate institutional constraints and professional agreements concerning the quantitative assessment of learning. Perrenoud's theory (2004b) on “studenting” is transposed to “teachers’ work” to shed light on these secondary adaptations. Methodologically, teachers’ perspectives were foregrounded through individual interviews with four sixth grade teachers working in Montreal and Laval. The data collected are presented using two levels of analysis. At the first level, the data were analyzed from the point of view of the participants, by following an analytical questioning reasoning strategy (Paillé & Mucchielli, 2016). Three categories of secondary adaptations that teachers developed to cope with the external influence that weighs on their work, are identified namely: simplifying evaluation tasks, aligning evaluation methods, and adjusting grades according to an external command. At the second level, the inductive approach adopted at the outset of this research led to mobilizing a complementary perspective drawn from organizational sociology, i.e. Reynaud’s theory of social regulation (1979). Together with other works within an interactionist perspective, this level of analysis helps explain the production of evaluation by highlighting three regulatory strategies: controlled regulation, autonomous regulation, and joint regulation.

The intent of this study was to investigate changes in the curriculum caused by high-stakes testing mandates within 3 Southwest Virginia school systems to find best practices for instructional application in classrooms. This qualitative study was comprised of indepth interviews and observations with elementary school teachers and administrators. High-stakes testing has impacted the nation in myriad ways. The mandates from the government presented teachers and administrators with conditions that must be met according to the No Child Left Behind Act and individual state's standards. Teachers' perceptions of curriculum changes, Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP), testing mandates according to high-stakes testing, and accountability were examined through personal interviews and classroom observations. This study focused on policies and practices of esteemed teachers' creative abilities as they adhered to mandates and captivated students' abilities to perform in the classroom. Teachers and administrators shared their feelings and perceptions regarding new policies and how they made changes within the classrooms and school systems. The findings indicated that the most prevalent ideas concerning teachers and administrators developed into the patterns: educators' level of satisfaction, students' stress, school changes, and our future. Educators' level of satisfaction was the most frequent theme that demonstrated high-stakes testing affected their overall happiness level. The research reflected that educators were negatively affected by high-stakes testing. Constructive ideas were identified as to how they maintained creativity within the classroom that could inspire critical thinking. A model was developed to demonstrate the findings for best instructional practices for teaching high-stakes standards in the classroom. This research should add to existing research in this area and provide information that other educators might apply to their own classroom or educational environment. The participants in this study were the change agents, and their attitudes regarding the changes affected the decisions they made with the school curriculum.

The current research study investigates the predictive value of two frequently-used benchmark reading assessments: Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). With an increasing emphasis on high-stakes testing to measure reading proficiency, benchmark assessments may assist in predicting end-of-year performance on high-stakes testing. Utah's high-stakes measurement of end-of-year reading achievement is the English Language Arts Criterion-Referenced Test (ELA-CRT). A Utah urban school district provided data for students who completed the DRA, DIBELS, and ELA-CRT in the 2005-2006 school year. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the accuracy to which the Fall administrations of the DRA and the DIBELS predicted performance on the ELA-CRT. Supplementary analysis also included cross-sectional data for the DIBELS. Results indicated that both Fall administrations of the DRA and the DIBELS were statistically significant in predicting performance on the ELA-CRT. Students who were high risk on the benchmark assessments were less likely to score proficiently on the ELA-CRT. Also, demographic factors did not appear to affect individual performance on the ELA-CRT. Important implications include the utility of data collected from benchmark assessments to address immediate interventions for students at risk of failing end-of-year, high-stakes testing.

Since the implementation and achievement score pressures of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, elective course offerings such as music have been drastically reduced, especially in the middle school setting. A great deal of correlational research has shown a positive correlation between music education in school and students’ overall academic achievement. This study examined the correlation between those middle school students that participated in the District Concert Band Music Performance Assessment (MPA) versus those middle school students that did not regarding their achievement scores on the 2016 English language arts (ELA) and mathematics subtests of the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA). The theoretical framework of this study was undergirded by Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. The researcher used a non-experimental ex post facto research design for the collection of the study’s data. The results indicated that there was a positive, statistically significant difference between both the ELA and mathematics achievement scores of those students that participated in the MPA and those that did not. There was also a positive, statistically significant difference between both the ELA and mathematics achievement scores of those students that participated in the MPA and the level of music their band performed. However, there was not a statistically significant difference between both the ELA and mathematics achievement scores of those students that performed at the MPA and the final overall rating that their band received. School administrators are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that effective programs are instituted in their schools so their students can be successful. The results of this quantitative non-experimental ex post facto study could provide administrators additional research-based evidence suggesting that band on the middle-school level, which is a branch of music education, could be a program to include in the school’s curriculum because it might positively contribute to the school’s ELA and mathematics achievement and academic culture. Additional research can also be conducted to observe the effects of music study on student achievement for students of all grade levels and socioeconomics. This would lead school administrators to continue practicing the notion of educating the whole child while making administrative decisions, which should be the sine qua non of education.

Questa ricerca presenta una panoramica introduttiva delle principali variabili (storiche, sociali, economiche, istituzionali, culturali, ideologiche e valoriali) che condizionano il policy-making educativo degli Stati Uniti e descrive le riforme e innovazioni più significative introdotte negli ultimi trent’anni nel sistema scolastico americano. Quali fattori socio-culturali, urgenze storiche, azioni e convinzioni politiche stanno alla base delle riforme in atto? Come stanno mutando gli equilibri di potere fra governo federale, stati membri e autorità locale e quali sono le ricadute di questo riallineamento sulla governance scolastica? L’approccio seguito per esaminare le principali riforme ed innovazioni (dal movimento per gli standard comuni, al collegamento fra i test scolastici e accountability per i risultati, alle charter school) è quello proprio della policy research, disciplina pressoché sconosciuta a quanti s’interessano di problematiche pedagogiche in Italia ma che può arricchire la capacità di lettura e comprensione di molte questioni dibattute quando si parla di riforme dell’istruzione. / this research provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of education policies in the United States. Blending together theoretical analysis and practical examples, it examines the main variables (history, economy, demographics, political structures, ideologies, values, political culture) that influence the policy environment. What social and economic needs does the U.S. education system cater to? What sociocultural factors, pressing historical circumstances, political choices and actions and beliefs (independent) underlie the current education reforms? What are the implications of the shift of power over education policy from the school and local levels to the federal and state levels? Current issues such as charter schools, high-stakes testing, standards-based reform, and school choice are analyzed in retrospective and perspective using a policy research approach to public problems and policy alternatives. Almost unknown to Italian educational experts, particularly in academia, policy research can expand our general understanding and knowledge about problems and choices when education reform is under discussion.