This book provides ways of thinking for preservice and new teachers to transition from the theory behind curricular design to engaged teaching and learning in the classroom. It offers a comprehensive framework for the creation and implementation of one's own authentic and effective ELA curriculum. In addition to strategies for preservice teachers to develop their own pedagogies, lessons, and teaching techniques, Costigan also demonstrates how to design tools for teaching in the current testing- and standards-driven context of the educational reform movement. Containing real-life examples of reading and writing instruction, this book empowers preservice teachers to translate the concepts of curriculum design to actual ELA classroom practices that will engage students.

This book describes all of the important factors that cause some students to have low reading achievement and others to have high reading achievement. It concentrates on the main factors that influence how much a student gains in reading achievement during a year of school, or a calendar year. An attempt is made to answer the following questions: what can educators do to increase reading achievement, and what is beyond their influence? The author is directly concerned with achievement associated with normal or typical reading. The focus of the book is on things teachers can do during an entire school year that are likely to improve the reading level and reading rate of students, which in turn, will increase their reading achievement. This effort to specify the most important causes of high and low reading achievement represents an integration of two disciplines of scientific psychology--experimental psychology and psychometrics. A glossary at the end of the book contains definitions of terms and concepts. Helpful appendices explain rauding theory, the three laws of rauding theory, and the equations that can be used to predict the accuracy of reading comprehension, provide conversions among units of rauding rate, and list the numbered equations presented in the book.

Passing the State Science Proficiency Tests presents essential content for elementary and middle school teachers who want to improve their science content background, enhance their classroom instruction, or pass the state science proficiency tests. This book addresses different aspects of the physical, life, and earth sciences. Each chapter was written by a science education expert and includes review questions with an accompanying answer key. This book will enhance the effectiveness and competency of any pre-service or in-service elementary or middle school teacher.

Public schools have been placed in a straitjacket over the past 30 years through over-regulation as a result of the growing power of the federal government over public education, expanding court decisions, state government legislation, school board policies and procedures, and the media's influence on public opinion. The straitjacket of centralized control and coercive approaches to the problems that public education is facing is not the solution, but actually is part of the problem. And where achievement is lower than desired this book brings attention to the root cause - lack of student preparation so that more resources can be put into catching these kids up, rather than into more tests, more curriculum development, and more administrative staff needed to comply with all of this complexity and growing regulations. We must break out of our straitjacket and give schools more flexibility in finding creative and innovative ways to address the needs of students, changing times, and professional expectations - not shackle them through regulatory mandates, closed thinking, and defective accountability processes.

"Standard Setting: A Guide to Establishing and Evaluating Performance Standards on Tests is a well-timed text, given the legislated requirement of performance standards in our K-12 educational system, as well as the continued need in the process of credentialing professionals. This book would be useful to individuals retained to produce or coordinate standard-setting activites." -PSYCCRITIQUES In Standard Setting: A Guide to Establishing and Evaluating Performance Standards on Tests, authors Gregory J. Cizek and Michael B. Bunch provide the only "go-to" reference on how to set standards on tests in education, licensure, and certification. This book is comprehensive in scope, practical in nature, and definitive in terms of cataloguing the essential conceptual and procedural fundamentals of setting performance standards. Key Features: Offers a detailed description of procedures: In a practical, straightforward, and virtually jargon-free style, this book begins with important foundational and conceptual information about standard setting followed by step-by-step procedures for all currently used methods, including Angoff, Item Mapping, Analystic Judgment, etc. In addition, a full chapter is devoted to future issues and research in standard setting. Enables readers to design, implement, and evaluate a standard setting study: Using this book, readers will be able to: select an appropriate standard setting method; schedule and plan implementation; identify and train qualified standard-setting participants; conduct the standard setting meeting; calculate one or more cut scores; and evaluate the success of the procedure they have implemented. Allows readers to adapt written materials to their situation: Examples are provided in widely available formats such as Excel, SPSS, .pdf and Word files so readers do not have to purchase specialized software or learn to use unfamiliar packages. The book includes downloadable forms, sample correspondence, checklists, data sets, and analytical software for performing calculations required for various standard setting procedures. Intended Audience: This is an excellent supplementary textbook for graduate courses such as Applied Measurement in Education; Psychometric Theory; Advanced Educational Measurement; Special Topics in Measurement and Evaluation; Seminar in Educational and Psychological Measurement in the departments of Educational Psychology, Measurement and Evaluation, Psychology, and others.

First published in 1980, Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom assesses the performance of primary schoolchildren in a range of study skills as well as on the more conventional tests of mathematics, language use and reading. The findings indicate that the more successful styles are used by the more experienced teachers, who manage to increase the amount of contact with the pupils by a variety of organizational strategies. While pupils who receive the greatest amount of class teaching do best on mathematics, there is no evidence to suggest that the characteristics of teaching valued by critics of modern primary practice exert any significant influence on pupil progress. The relationship between pupil progress and behaviour shows some remarkable patterns. For example, it was found that children who work on average one day per week less than other children still make the same progress in basic skills as the others. Such findings suggest that there is a need to examine how far teaching in the junior school is sufficiently stimulating and challenging, while at the same time acknowledging the difficulties of improving the situation while class sizes remain relatively high. This book will be of interest to students of education and pedagogy as well as to teachers.

"Just the kind of bridge we need to span the ideological wars and make schools work for teachers and their students."
Ann Lieberman
Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Visiting Professor, Stanford University

Assessment and evaluation have always been an integral part of educational process. Quality and purposeful assessment can assist in students' learning and their achievement. While there has been a rapid growth in international, standardized student assessments in the past few decades, a large number of education systems participating in these assessments are now focusing their attention on developing new national, within-country assessments to evaluate educational standards and to modify the curriculum to better suit to the demands of the 21st century. Education systems that are successful in linking the national curriculum and assessments directly to international standards are performing better on international standardized assessments of reading, mathematics, and science. This book covers studies related to educational assessment in addressing quality of education and performance improvement. The book presents the distinguished and exemplary works by educators and researchers in the field highlighting the contemporary trends and issues, creative and unique approaches, innovative methods, frameworks, pedagogies and theoretical and practical aspects in assessment processes in various educational settings.

Research on Schools, Neighborhoods, and Communities: Toward Civic Responsibility focuses on research and theoretical developments related to the role of geography in education, human development, and health. William F. Tate IV, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and former President of the American Educational Research Association, presents a collection of chapters from across disciplines to further understand the strengths of and problems in our communities. Today, many research literatures--e.g., health, housing, transportation, and education--focus on civic progress, yet rarely are there efforts to interrelate these literatures to better understand urgent problems and promising possibilities in education, wherein social context is central. In this volume, social context--in particular, the unequal opportunities that result from geography--is integral to the arguments, analyses, and case studies presented.Written by more than 40 educational scholars from top universities across the nation, the research presented in this volume provides historical, moral, and scientifically based arguments with the potential to inform understandings of civic problems associated with education, youth, and families, and to guide the actions of responsible citizens and institutions dedicated to advancing the public good.

How do school leaders build a collaborative, cohesive culture to ensure high quality learning for all students? This book provides a practical, succinct guide for educators on "how" the core elements of the accreditation process can unite a school in its transformative, continuous improvement journey. The authors explain "what is accreditation" and elaborate on using the core elements for schoolwide involvement and collaboration in determining the effectiveness of a school's program and systems and the impact on student learning through a perpetual cycle of assessing, planning, implementing, monitoring and reassessing. The authors clarify the "why" of accreditation and provide case studies of schools that have used accreditation as a coherent framework to build the capacity for change. The lessons learned from many educators embracing accreditation also provide further insights. Readers will deepen their understanding of how the accreditation process honors educators' desire to be self-directed in their passion for learning and well-being for all students. They will understand how accreditation builds and strengthens the trust, engagement, ownership and dialogue among all, viewing the school as a professional learning community. Educational leaders will value the book for its realistic approach to connecting the dots of leadership, coherence, continuous improvement through accreditation.

Networked by Design brings together work from leading international scholars in the learning sciences that applies social network theory to teachers' social interactions and relationships. The volume examines the direct and indirect relationships and communities that teachers navigate, as well as the models, plans, and other interventions that allow them to exercise control over these networks. Each chapter draws from case studies or latitudinal research to investigate a different intervention and its outcomes. By presenting research conducted in a variety of scales and contexts, this book offers scholars, future teachers, and leaders diverse insights into how interventions in social capital and social networks can create impactful, meaningful teaching and learning.

Testing and Inclusive Schooling provides a comparative perspective on seemingly incompatible global agendas and efforts to include all children in the general school system, thus reducing exclusion. With an examination of the international testing culture and the politics of inclusion currently permeating national school reforms, this book raises a critical and constructive discussion of these movements, which appear to support one another, yet simultaneously offer profound contradictions. With contributions from around the world, the book analyses the dilemma arising between reforms that urge schools to move towards a constantly higher academic level, and those who practice a politics of inclusion leading to a greater degree of student diversity. The book considers the types of problems that arise when reforms implemented at the international level are transformed into policies and practices, firmly placing global educational efforts into perspective by highlighting a range of different cases at both national and local levels. Testing and Inclusive Schooling sheds light on new possibilities for educational improvements in global and local contexts and is essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in international and comparative education, assessment technologies and practices, inclusion, educational psychology and educational policy.

Networked by Design brings together work from leading international scholars in the learning sciences that applies social network theory to teachers' social interactions and relationships. The volume examines the direct and indirect relationships and communities that teachers navigate, as well as the models, plans, and other interventions that allow them to exercise control over these networks. Each chapter draws from case studies or latitudinal research to investigate a different intervention and its outcomes. By presenting research conducted in a variety of scales and contexts, this book offers scholars, future teachers, and leaders diverse insights into how interventions in social capital and social networks can create impactful, meaningful teaching and learning.

Preparing teachers to work in our nation's classrooms presents an array of challenges for teacher educators. Recently, organizations such as the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released reports calling for change, supporting clinical teacher preparation, and encouraging links between university faculty, clinical faculty (P-12 educators), and pre-service teachers. This book (as well as its companion text, The Power of Clinical Preparation in Teacher Education: Embedding Teacher Preparation within P-12 School Contexts) responds to calls for change in teacher education. Sponsored by the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) and its Commission on Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation, the book includes program descriptions, theoretical frameworks, and research studies. Initiated in response to Dr. Nancy Zimpher's keynote speech at ATE's 2011 Annual Meeting, the Commission on Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation set out to identify exemplary programs of teacher education, promising practices within those programs, and research related to the programs' clinical practices. This text represents the Commission's findings.

Reflecting the internationalization of the field of second language writing, this book focuses on political aspects and pedagogical issues of writing instruction and testing in a global context. High-stakes assessment impacts the lives of second language (L2) writers and their teachers around the world, be it the College English Test in China, Common Core-aligned assessments in the U.S., English proficiency tests in Poland, or the material conditions (such as access to technology, training, and other resources) affecting a classroom. With contributions from authors working in ten different countries in a variety of institutional contexts, the chapters examine the uses and abuses of various writing-related assessments, and the policies that determine their form and use. Representing a diverse range of contexts, methods, and disciplines, the authors jointly call for more equitable testing systems that consider the socioeconomic, psychometric, affective, institutional, and needs of all students who strive to gain access to education and employment opportunities related to English language proficiency.

Steven Schneider's newly revised second edition of How Parents Can Help Kids Improve Test Scores: Taking the Stakes Out of Literacy Testing highlights the most recent literacy initiatives in America since the federal act of No Child Left Behind. His book has been redesigned to further help teachers and parents navigate through the maze of newly developed state standardized testing in reading and writing, so students may be able to achieve greater success. By using the proactive methods shown in this book and by following easily understood step-by-step instructions, parents and teachers can begin to help their children take the first steps down the road to literacy and to understanding the Common Core language arts subjects. This book features time-tested activities, suggestions, and a plethora of practical advice to assist teachers and parents in raising children's scores on standardized state reading tests. By utilizing the highly prescriptive "Pinpoint Reading Program," newly revised in this second edition, parents and teachers will gain new insights into the format, style, and objectives of these tests and how they can assist children to score higher. Most importantly, this book instills the confidence that children need to achieve the success that they rightfully deserve and for which their parents and teachers have come to expect.

Preparing teachers to work in our nation's classrooms presents an array of challenges for teacher educators. Recently, organizations such as the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released reports calling for change, supporting clinical teacher preparation, and encouraging links between university faculty, clinical faculty (P-12 educators), and pre-service teachers. This book (as well as its companion text, The Power of Clinical Preparation in Teacher Education: Embedding Teacher Preparation within P-12 School Contexts) responds to calls for change in teacher education. Sponsored by the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) and its Commission on Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation, the book includes program descriptions, theoretical frameworks, and research studies. Initiated in response to Dr. Nancy Zimpher's keynote speech at ATE's 2011 Annual Meeting, the Commission on Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation set out to identify exemplary programs of teacher education, promising practices within those programs, and research related to the programs' clinical practices. This text represents the Commission's findings.

Bringing together international authors to examine how diversity and inclusion impact assessment in higher education, this book provides educators with the knowledge and understanding required to transform practices so that they are more equitable and inclusive of diverse learners. Assessment drives learning and determines who succeeds. Assessment for Inclusion in Higher Education is written to ensure that no student is unfairly or unnecessarily disadvantaged by the design or delivery of assessment. The chapters are structured according to three themes: 1) macro contexts of assessment for inclusion: societal and cultural perspectives; 2) meso contexts of assessment for inclusion: institutional and community perspectives; and 3) micro contexts of assessment for inclusion: educators, students and interpersonal perspectives. These three levels are used to identify new ways of mobilising the sector towards assessment for inclusion in a systematic and scholarly way. This book is essential reading for those in higher education who design and deliver assessment, as well as researchers and postgraduate students exploring assessment, equity and inclusive pedagogy. Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

This book provides the basics of student self-assessment and implementation challenges, and it offers practical solutions and examples for navigating the use of student self-assessment in various subject disciplines in primary schools, secondary schools and higher education. It provides an informed approach for educators to understand the complexities and subtleties involved in implementing self-assessment, and how this might include and impact on teachers and students. Involving students in assessment is not a new idea nor is student self-assessment a new assessment tool in schools. Despite the advantages and the necessity for including it in our pedagogic processes explicitly, the use of student self-assessment has been far from commonplace and consistent in classrooms, schools and universities. This book makes clear the choices of what, how and why student self-assessment is important and usable in the classroom. This book is designed for educators at different levels, and educational researchers. It will provide food for thought for pre- and in-service teachers and school leaders who are interested in nurturing independent and self-directed learners by involving students in the assessment process and maximising student learning through the use of student self-assessment.

Statistics is defined as the science and practice of developing knowledge through the use of empirical data expressed in quantitative form-that is, in numbers. In Live Stress-Free with Statistics and Numbers, Dr. Vasant Cjapnerkar illustrates how statistics and numbers play a vital role in our everyday lives. He explains how you can use statistics can help to alleviate the stress in your life because they provide practical, objective ways of viewing your problems.

One of the first examples he uses is the way in which he asked his children to have their children. If they allowed for at least two to four years between each child, they and the grandparents would have the chance to spend time with them at the ages when they would get the most from it. He built on the statistic that most children begin playing with their friends around age four-a theory that enabled him and his wife to fully enjoy their grandchildren.

Since he has traveled to over eighty-seven countries, using his educational background, he has realized that people make statements based upon minimal information and hence are stressed out when they are pressed to quantify their statements. Live Stress-Free with Statistics and Numbers was written to provide them with a greater comfort level with statistics and numbers-a vital part of everything we do. There is very little in life that has no number associated with it.

"The authors skillfully present the many ways a PAR approach can be tailored to a given district or school. This book provides a wealth of material to assist any principal, school, or district with its teacher improvement needs."
Peter Airasian, Professor
Boston College
Boston, MA

 "If you are ready for peer review, Anderson and Pellicer offer the model. If you are trying to make the decision, Teacher Peer Assistance and Review offers a realistic look at the pros and cons, the do?s and don?ts of this hot topic. A wonderful and unique addition to the literature!
Anna Hicks McFadden
Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations
Western Carolina University

"Anderson and Pellicer offer a thoughtful and fair analysis of peer review as it relates to teaching performance. This is the place to start if improving the overall quality of instruction is important in your school district."
Dal Lawrence, Past President
Toledo Federation of Teachers
Toledo, OH

"In their book, Teacher Peer Assistance and Review, Anderson and Pellicer present a compelling case for involving teachers in the instructional supervision process. They also point out the challenges associated with peer assistance and review and provide the reader with a step-by-step guide for overcoming them. Written in a clear, straightforward style, this book is a must-read for teachers, administrators, and policymakers who are serious about implementing effective peer assistance and review programs."
Aretha B. Pigford, Chair
Department of Educational Leadership and Human Services
Florida A&M University

Elementary and secondary educators are discovering what higher education faculty have always known?Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) programs work! Both new and veteran teachers can improve and update their knowledge and skills by linking with "consulting" teachers who provide support through observation, modeling, and sharing of information. PAR programs can strengthen teacher professionalism, improve teacher quality, and ultimately enhance student learning, if done well.

Anderson and Pellicer, two nationally renowned educators, chart a course for developing and implementing an effective PAR program based on long-standing successful programs. Easy-to-read sections highlight:

• What is teacher peer assistance and review?
• Ten essential questions to ask before you begin
• Criteria, standards, and data
• Key players and their roles, relationships, and responsibilities
• Reporting and using the results

Useful Web sites, sample forms, job descriptions, and applications, and an example of an educational policy trust agreement offer practical how-to help. Both administrators and teachers interested in understanding and incorporating a Peer Assistance Review program will find this book an essential guide.

This book is an authoritative text that explores best classroom practices for engaging adult learners in beginner-level foreign language courses. Built around a diverse range of international research studies and conceptual articles, the book covers four key issues in teaching language to novice students: development of linguistic skills, communicative and intercultural competence, evaluation and assessment, and the use of technology. Each chapter includes teaching insights that are supported by critical research and can be practically applied across languages to enhance instructional strategies and curriculum designs. The text also aims to build intercultural competence, harness technology, and design assessment to stimulate effective learning in formal instructional settings, including colleges, universities, and specialist language schools. With its broad coverage of language pedagogy at the novice level, this book is a must read for graduate students, scholars, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of language education, second language acquisition, language teaching and learning, and applied linguistics.

This timely collection explores the role of digital technology in language education and assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. It recognises the unique pressures which the COVID-19 pandemic placed on assessment in language education, and examines the forced shift in assessment strategies to go online, the existing shortfalls, as well as unique affordances of technology-assisted L2 assessment. By showcasing international examples of successful digital and computer-assisted proficiency and skills testing, the volume addresses theoretical and practical concerns relating to test validity, reliability, ethics, and student experience in a range of testing contexts. Particular attention is given to identifying lessons and implications for future research and practice, and the challenges of implementing unplanned computer-assisted language assessment during a crisis. Insightfully unpacking the 'lessons learned' from COVID and its impact on the acceleration of the shift towards online course and assessment delivery, it offers important guidelines for navigating assessment in different instructional settings in times of crisis. It will appeal to scholars, researchers, educators, and faculty with interests in educational measurement, digital education and technology, and language assessment and testing.

This book provides an authoritative overview of the criteria and standards of the doctorate across a wide range of international settings, with a particular focus on the practices of examining. Presenting case studies and research from 13 universities in 13 countries across Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia, and Europe, the book is based on in-depth interviews and comparative analyses of the PhD examining experience. It reveals the variations and similarities in different academic traditions and investigates the extent to which there are comparable expectations and standards across countries. It suggests that criteria and standards - both written and unwritten - are broadly similar, but shows that there is a need for much more explicitly formulated criteria and standards for an internationalised approach to doctoral assessment. Following on from the 2019 book The Doctorate as Experience in Europe and Beyond, this book will be of great interest to current and potential doctoral examiners, researchers of higher education, and university administrators.

Constructing test items for standardized tests of achievement, ability, and aptitude is a task of enormous importance. The interpretability of a test's scores flows directly from the quality of its items and exercises. Concomitant with score interpretability is the notion that including only carefully crafted items on a test is the primary method by which the skilled test developer reduces unwanted error variance, or errors of measurement, and thereby increases a test score's reliability. The aim of this entire book is to increase the test constructor's awareness of this source of measurement error, and then to describe methods for identifying and minimizing it during item construction and later review. Persons involved in assessment are keenly aware of the increased attention given to alternative formats for test items in recent years. Yet, in many writers' zeal to be `curriculum-relevant' or `authentic' or `realistic', the items are often developed seemingly without conscious thought to the interpretations that may be garnered from them. This book argues that the format for such alternative items and exercises also requires rigor in their construction and even offers some solutions, as one chapter is devoted to these alternative formats. This book addresses major issues in constructing test items by focusing on four ideas. First, it describes the characteristics and functions of test items. A second feature of this book is the presentation of editorial guidelines for writing test items in all of the commonly used item formats, including constructed-response formats and performance tests. A third aspect of this book is the presentation of methods for determining the quality of test items. Finally, this book presents a compendium of important issues about test items, including procedures for ordering items in a test, ethical and legal concerns over using copyrighted test items, item scoring schemes, computer-generated items and more.