Skip to main content

Preparing Students for the New Tests

A recent post at Core Task Project details what teachers can do to better prepare their students for the new accountability tests rolling-out this Spring. Titled, 'How to and How Not to Prepare Students for the New Tests', the post cautions against skill-based test prep measures that interrupt instruction, instead offering research and resources to support learning aligned to the Common Core Instructional Shifts. For those of you interested in what you might do in anticipation of the next generation assessments, the post is linked here and is featured in full below. 

‘How and How Not to Prepare Students for the New Tests’Posted on November 18, 2014by  
A popular question, since Nevada officially adopted the SBAC Test for the 2014-2015, is how to best prepare students for the coming assessments. I certainly have an opinion and have consistently noted that if you take full advantage of well-vetted resources, including the Basal Alignment Project, Close Read Exemplars, Core Knowledge, We the People curriculum, Document Based Questions, and the resources at www.63000resources andwww.projecttahoe.org, you can feel confident that you are headed in the right direction. Yet, some vendors and national consultants outline a different strategy in which you diagnose skill deficits and remediate. Dr. Timothy Shanahan, the former President of the International Reading Association and work team member on the Common Core State Standards, challenges this strategy in a piece for The Reading Teacher. He writes:
Already, new test prep materials are starting to appear on the Internet, and teachers ask me all the time how they can best prepare students to respond to these new items. Many educators assume that, since these tests will be aligned to the CCSS, they will detect which standards the students are meeting: Johnny meets Reading Standard 4 but is still not getting Standard 7.
The problem is that it doesn’t work that way. It hasn’t in the past, and it won’t with these new tests, either.
Dr. Shanahan follows this claim with the research to buttress his assertion and suggestions for how best to prepare for the coming assessments. You can gain access to the full article here.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Focusing on the Core for All' - Session 1 for Science

Options Area science educators gathered this morning for their first session of   'Focusing on the Core for All' , the Options NVACS professional learning cycle for the 2015-2016 school year. This group includes teachers from Options Area schools, Implementation Specialists from MTSS and Student Support Services departments, Student Support Services area administrators, and Options Area school site principals, each of whom has chosen a content focus for the year (English Language Arts, History-Social Studies, Science, or Mathematics). The professional learning cycle for this year builds on that of past years (namely, the   High School Core Task Project   and   Shifting Instruction to the Core ) and is focused on  supporting teachers, implementation specialists, and administrators in the Options Area to expand and deepen alignment of instruction, materials, and programs  Common Core Standards  and  Instructional Shifts  so that all students are prepared for college and career.
Post a Comment
Read more

Shifting Instruction to the Core, ELA Session II: Writing to Sources

English Language Arts teachers and their administrators gathered this morning for the second session of Shifting Instruction to the Core. Participants continued their focus   Instructional Shift 2  and  Core Action 2  from their  previous session , this time with an emphasis on writing to sources. The session included a reflection on teacher's classroom use of Keep It or Junk It , a review of Core Action Two and Argumentative Writing, a careful annotation of "The Writing Revolution" , engagement in a lesson model for ranking evidence, and time to apply the lesson to their future lessons. Materials for the session are linked below. Presentation deck in  PDF Reflection Note Taker College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing ELA Writing Standards Grades 9-10 Instructional Practice Guides for ELA/Literacy   ELA/Literacy  Instructional Shifts Excerpted copy of "The Writing Revolution"  Annotation Guide : Annotating for Claim-Reasoning-Evidence
2 comments
Read more

The Importance of Curriculum, Part One

I have curriculum on the brain this summer. Most of my current work is focused on curriculum; reviewing it, curating it, or exploring it in some way. Simultaneously, there is an increasing amount of scholarship in the field on the importance of curriculum. Much of this work answers the questions; does curriculum really matter? And if it does, what can we do about it? Educators in the field, academics, publishers and supportive organizations are recognizing that quality curricular materials can support equity in our schools, be a significant force for reform, and act as a key ingredient in high performing classrooms. Of recent note is the Aspen Institute's report, "Practice What You Teach" , which provides relevant research, profiles of curricular implementation, and key recommendations. EducationNext has a great post by Chester Finn titled " Education Becomes a Reform Strategy ". The latest research report by StandardWork, " Curriculum Research: What We K
Post a Comment
Read more