Complicating the World of Reading Assessment: Toward Better Assessments for Better Teaching

In this article, we share with readers our hopes, fears, and predictions for reading assessment in American schools at a critical policy juncture—the production of new assessments to measure achievement of the Common Core State Standards. It isn't just Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium in play. There is a new stream of progressive-minded pedagogical reform rekindling the fire for higher-order thinking, project-based learning, and learning that transfers to new and different situations and problems. This is a perfect storm—a genuine opportunity to change the course of assessment for accountability and classroom decision-making. Our hope is that readers will find our perspectives useful as we collectively avail ourselves of this unique opportunity.     

美国“共同核心州立标准”中K～2年级数学标准简介

美国2010年颁布的"共同核心州立标准"包括《共同核心州立数学标准》和《共同核心州立英语语言标准》。"共同核心州立标准"的颁布对美国基础教育整体质量的提升有积极作用。本文对《共同核心州立数学标准》的目标、结构以及K～2年级的具体内容作了介绍。美国的经验有一定借鉴价值。     

The Integration of Common Core and Response to Intervention: Supporting Vulnerable Readers in a Time of Sophisticated Standards

The Common Core State Standards and Response to Intervention are significant contemporary educational initiatives that have emerged largely in isolation from one another. We argue that an integration of these initiatives is beneficial. We trace the independent development of these two initiatives and offer suggestions for how they might fruitfully transact, fully supporting vulnerable readers in their efforts to master sophisticated standards. Results from a school implementing these initiatives as an integrated whole are discussed.     

“I'm Not Teaching English,I'm Teaching Something Else!”: How New Teachers Create Curriculum Under Mandates of Educational Reform

This study presents how beginning teachers create and teach an English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum in urban schools in the context of an educational reform movement driven by mandates such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS), high stakes tests, and prescribed curricula. They serve in schools with each using unique and individual curricula due to frequent administrative turnover and reorganization. Through the use of participants' classroom writings, interviews, and records of their classroom teaching, this study presents that the participants are neither teaching the content they wish, nor able to use pedagogies they see as effective. They experience confusion about the nature of the curricula imposed on them which differs significantly from their understanding of the ELA curriculum. The curricula they teach has little to do with either personal understandings of ELA, or how it is presented it in their educational coursework.     

NGSS and the Next Generation of Science Teachers

This article centers on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and their implications for teacher development, particularly at the undergraduate level. After an introduction to NGSS and the influence of standards in the educational system, the article addresses specific educational shifts—interconnecting science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts; recognizing learning progressions; including engineering; addressing the nature of science, coordinating with Common Core State Standards. The article continues with a general discussion of reforming teacher education programs and a concluding discussion of basic competencies and personal qualities of effective science teachers.     

美国“共同核心州立标准”中K～2年级语言标准简介

美国2010年颁布的"共同核心州立标准"包括《共同核心州立数学标准》和《共同核心州立英语语言标准》。本文介绍了《共同核心州立英语语言标准》的目标、结构以及K～2年级的具体内容。这份标准对我国《3～6岁儿童学习与发展指南》的制订与实施有借鉴意义。     

Performance,Perseverance, and the Full Picture of College Readiness

Although college readiness is a centerpiece of major educational initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards, few systems have been implemented to track children's progress toward this goal. Instead, college‐readiness information is typically conveyed late in a student's high‐school career, and tends to focus solely on academic accomplishments—grades and admissions test scores. Late‐stage feedback can be problematic for students who need to correct course, so the purpose of this research is to develop a system for communicating more comprehensive college‐readiness diagnoses earlier in a child's K‐12 career. This article introduces college‐readiness indicators for middle‐school students, drawing on the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), a nationally representative longitudinal survey of educational inputs, contexts, and outcomes. A diversity of middle‐school variables was synthesized into six factors: achievement, behavior, motivation, social engagement, family circumstances, and school characteristics. Middle‐school factors explain 69% of the variance in college readiness, and results suggest a variety of factors beyond academic achievement—most notably motivation and behavior—contribute substantially to preparedness for postsecondary study. The article concludes with limitations and future directions, including the development of college‐readiness categories to support straightforward communication of middle‐school indicators to parents, teachers, and students.     

The Common Core’s promises and pitfalls from the perspectives of policy entrepreneurs and ground-level actors

The Common Core State Standards Initiative (Common Core) was spearheaded by policy entrepreneurs, unveiled nationally in 2010, and initially received strong support from leaders in state and federal government, philanthropic foundations, the business sector, and teacher unions. However, the reform came into the crosshairs of an ideologically wide set of politicians and interest groups. What is less well understood about the controversy are the responses the reform encountered within states, particularly from ground-level actors, such as parents, local educators, school boards, and community members, as well as their elected representatives. This study uses two data sets to examine how the promises and pitfalls that the reform’s policy entrepreneurs anticipated in 2011 were received by ground-level actors in 10 states between late-2013 and early-2014. The findings suggest ground-level responses to the anticipated promises and pitfalls both spurred and resonated with interest groups to disrupt the reform’s support among state-level leaders. The findings also suggest that political and implementation lessons may be gained from further study of the adoption and implementation of the Common Core in California. Whether the Common Core in California or other states may improve achievement or equity is considered in light of third-wave reforms.     

为升学和就业做准备:美国“共同核心州立标准”述评

2010年,美国颁布的共同核心州立标准标志着美国基于标准的教育改革迈出突破性的步伐。此次颁布的标准包括《共同核心州立数学标准》和《共同核心州立英语标准》两份文件,分别对相应学科领域K-12年级学生在特定年龄阶段应该掌握的知识和技能作出了明确的规定,旨在让所有学生做好升学和就业的准备,以确保美国的国际竞争力。共同核心州立标准致力于弥补已有的全国标准和州立标准的不足,其制定以事实和研究为依据,特点是清晰、集中而连贯。     

Accelerating the College and Career Readiness of Diverse K–5 Literacy Learners

Given the increasing demand for a well-educated American workforce, college and career readiness has become a significant educational priority. New educational initiatives, including the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, are being developed and implemented to prepare students for success in postsecondary education and the workplace. In this article, we discuss how college and career readiness standards have transformed expectations for literacy instruction in K–5 classrooms, especially for students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Given that students of color have been historically underserved in schools, we contend that these children need more equitable and enriched opportunities to learn academic literacies, content knowledge, and communication skills to achieve their future college aspirations and career goals. To that end, we offer key principles (i.e., community-oriented classrooms, close reading of complex texts, content-rich inquiry, and cultural connectedness) that elementary educators can use to design engaging learning environments and robust literacy lessons that advance the college and career readiness of all students.     

Reaching the Mountaintop: Addressing the Common Core Standards in Mathematics for Students with Mathematics Difficulties

The Common Core State Standards provide teachers with a framework of necessary mathematics skills across grades K‐12, which vary considerably from previous mathematics standards. In this article, we discuss concerns about the implications of the Common Core for students with mathematics difficulties (MD), given that students with MD, by definition, struggle with mathematical skills. We suggest that instruction centered on the Common Core will be challenging and may lead to problematic outcomes for this population. We propose that working on foundational skills related to the Common Core standards is a necessary component of mathematics instruction for students with MD, and we provide teachers with a framework for working on foundational skills concurrent with the Common Core standards. We caution, however, that implementation of the Common Core is in its infancy, and the implications of the Common Core for students with MD need to be monitored carefully.     

Examining Peer Collaboration in Online Inquiry

Abstract

This study examines peer collaboration among four pairs of seventh graders who read online to determine what caused the downfall of the Mayan civilization. More and less productive collaborative interactions are presented through snippets of dialogue in which pairs negotiated complex texts. Few examples of how teachers can skillfully facilitate collaborative interactions currently exist, despite the call for these skills in the Common Core State Standards. Teaching ideas that support collaborative online reading are featured.

[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of The Educational Forum for the following free supplemental materials: set of printable graphic organizers to support collaborative online reading and cross-curricular web resources to support critical evaluation of online content].     

Engaging Minds in the Common Core: Integrating Standards for Student Engagement

With the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) many teachers continue to search for ways to engage students in the learning process while meeting the rigorous demands of the standards. Researchers suggest that by providing opportunities for higher order thinking, student choice, and creative ways to showcase knowledge, students will find engagement and motivation in the classroom. Many teachers of adolescent students struggle with ways to integrate these approaches while meeting the standards. The purpose of this article is to provide examples of engaging literacy strategies that focus on the Common Core State Standards for middle and high school students.     

Futurism in the Curriculum

Abstract

Teacher professional development (PD) is a complex, ongoing challenge as educational systems attempt to deliver excellent programming in pursuit of increased student achievement (Opfer and Pedder 2011). This article examines Idaho Total Instructional Alignment (TIA), a model for teacher PD that is currently being utilized in secondary schools throughout the state of Idaho. The implications of this model for effective guidance and support with implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), as well as the factors that indicate readiness of secondary teachers for implementation of the CCSS, are explored.     

美国中小学共同核心标准的建立及探析

为帮助学生高中毕业前获得进入大学或就业前必备的知识和能力,美国于2010年6月正式颁布首份中小学统一课程标准——共同核心标准。该标准立足"八性",结构清晰、知识系统连贯、重视基础知识和学生理解,但在推行政策、学科内外知识联系、部分内容完整性和评价体系上受到质疑。其蕴含的教育改革经验是我国课程改革发展的有效借鉴。     

The Repetitive Name Game

Because of the Common Core State Standards there is a renewed emphasis on the importance of visual literacies in today's classrooms. Students need prior knowledge before approaching these types of texts. This article describes the results of one 6th-grade language arts class's engagement in pre-reading prior to viewing a theatrical performance. The study examined whether obtaining background knowledge through print can be used effectively to increase the knowledge of drama, visual literacy, and nonprint text. The study utilized an experimental control-group design; t-test results revealed that using pre-reading as a comprehension strategy is more effective than just viewing drama. In addition, factorial ANOVA results showed that the treatment did not signficantly interact with reading ability or gender. Overall, this 6th-grade class's comprehension skills were enhanced with the help of pre-reading. This study indicates that pre-reading is a powerful strategy that can build background knowledge and ultimately increase comprehension of visual literacy for all students, and it and offers insight for a larger study.     

Common Core State Standards,Writing, and Students with LD: Recommendations

This article examines the Common Core State Standards as they apply to writing and students with learning disabilities (LD). We first consider why the implementation of these standards is advantageous to writing instruction for students with LD as well as the challenges in implementing them. Next, we make the following four recommendations in terms of their implementation: (1) increase general and special education teachers’ knowledge about writing development; (2) create a writing environment in which students with LD can thrive; (3) employ evidence‐based writing practices in general education classes (where most students with LD are taught); and (4) use evidence‐based writing practices effective with students with LD. We conclude by considering research that still needs to be undertaken to help educators maximize the probability that students with and without LD meet the writing benchmarks proposed in these Standards.     

Relating aspects of motivation to facets of mathematical competence varying in cognitive demand

The author investigated the relationship between aspects of student motivation and performance on mathematical tasks varying in cognitive demand relevant to meeting the expectations of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M). A sample of 479 primarily Latino middle school students completed established survey measures of motivation and a constructed response assessment of two facets of mathematical competence. The assessment measured students' progress toward performing a procedure and demonstrating understanding by providing a written critique of a peer's work, a more cognitively demanding facet. As predicted, higher interest and efficacy in mathematics, lower performance-avoidance goals, and fewer experiences of negative emotions related to performance levels for both facets, while utility and mastery-approach goals (i.e., focusing on understanding mathematics) related only to the more cognitively demanding facet. Implications of these findings for preparing students to be successful mathematical learners, especially in the many states implementing the CCSS-M, are discussed.     

Conceptualizing and Assessing Higher-Order Thinking in Reading

Students engage in higher-order thinking as they read complex texts and perform complex reading-related tasks. However, the most consequential assessments, high-stakes tests, are currently limited in providing information about students’ higher-order thinking. In this article, we describe higher-order thinking in relation to reading. We provide a framework for understanding higher-order thinking in reading, in relation to relevant theories and research in reading, and standards and assessment initiatives. We conclude with the considerations in assessments of higher-order thinking in reading that can help teachers and students work toward attainment of the Common Core State Standards.     

New directions in education? A critique of contemporary policy reforms

This paper draws on facets of Foucault's theoretical resources to critique current education policy reform from within the Australian State of Victoria, namely the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's (DEECD) discussion paper New directions for school leadership and the teaching profession. Implicit in the reform effort is decentralization, including penalties for “underperforming” classroom teachers and “ineffective” teacher education courses. Principals will hold a pre-eminent rank in the reforms proposed as they are charged with their oversight and implementation, including intervening in the education and preparation of pre-service teachers.