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Eric.ed.gov – Alternative Assessments in Math and Science: Moving toward a Moving Target. A Joint Study.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Given the restructuring of curriculum and instruction and the changing state of assessment in Virginia and nationally, a study group of 22 Virginia teachers from elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools throughout the state chose to examine and revise their assessment practices. They wanted to reflect changes in thinking and practice in teaching that include active learning, cooperative learning, and critical thinking strategies. After 6 months of developing and implementing alternative assessments in their classrooms, study group members concluded that implementation strategies should include: (1) planning assessment as instruction is planned; (2) having a partner with whom to share ideas; (3) developing generic rubrics; (4) expecting to learn by trial and error; (5) attempting student peer assessment; and (6) using cooperative grouping for completing assessment tasks.… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – The PISA calendar: Temporal governance and international large-scale assessments

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: Abstract Abstract This article analyses international large-scale assessments in education from a temporal perspective. The article discusses and compares the different conceptions of time in the early international assessments conducted in the 1960s and 1970s by the IEA with the PISA studies conducted by the OECD from the year 2000 onwards. The paper argues that there has been a shift in the ways that the assessments structure time. The early IEA surveys were characterized by a relative slowness, lack of synchronization and lack of trend analyses. PISA, by contrast, is characterized by high pace, simultaneous publication of results around the world and regular and recurrent studies making the analysis of trends possible. The emergence of this new time regime, it… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Designing Professional Development around Key Principles and Formative Assessments to Improve Teachers’ Knowledge to Teach Mathematics

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The authors’ hypothesis is that if teachers (as experts) understand and teach concepts from the position of expertise teacher quality will improve. They believe that focusing on the key ideas will deepen both teacher and student understanding and allow learners to build the concepts necessary to form solid foundations for the application of mathematics both in and out of school. But such methods of instruction often require that teachers learn to reorganize and teach fundamental concepts in more expert-like ways. Because many teachers were taught in a system that stressed procedure rather than conceptual understanding, and the dearth of guidance on how teachers might change their teaching in this manner, such change may be difficult. Building on the expert-novice literature, and the findings by Carpenter, Fenamya, Levi,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Development of Curricula, Teacher Supports, and Assessments for Pre-Kindergarten Mathematics and Science

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The “MTP-Math/Science” curricula specifically target the teaching and learning of children at risk of early school failure, a population for whom achievement gaps in mathematics and science are visible even in Pre-K years. “MTP-Math” is based on Focal Areas defined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2006) for Pre-K through the 8th grade and developmental trajectories for Mathematics from Pre-K to grade two advanced by Clements (2004), and further focused through a review of state Pre-Kindergarten standards. In the authors’ earlier research with the “MTP” model to support language and literacy (Pianta, Mashburn, Luckner, Myers, & Kilday, 2008), the “MTP” teacher professional development program improved the quality of classroom interactions that Pre-K students experience, which in turn, promoted children’s development of language and literacy… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Career and Technical Education Professional Development and Formative Performance Assessments

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: In the winter and spring of 2012-2013 the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) partnered with representatives from the Office of Secondary/Postsecondary Transitions at Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon Department of Community Colleges Workforce Development (CCWD) to guide secondary and postsecondary instructors in the development and implementation of formative performance assessments. The instructors recruited for this project included both secondary and postsecondary educators from the fields of Career and Technical Education (CTE), English/language arts (ELA), and mathematics. EPIC’s goal during the project was to create a process for educators to collaboratively develop high-quality performance tasks that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and are consistent with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s (SBAC) model of performance tasks. A group of instructors from across… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – The shaping of pre-service teachers’ professional knowledge base through assessments

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Today teachers and their professional knowledge base have become important, since knowledge has become a pivotal aspect of modern society. This study investigates the shaping of pre-service teachers’ knowledge base by studying the assessment practice in teacher education programmes for primary level teachers. The analytical focus lies on pedagogic discourses and what skills and competencies are legitimized in and through the assessment tasks. The results show that Swedish primary school pre-service teachers are primarily trained to work with subject didactics, and focus is placed on being able to plan, carry out, and evaluate teaching in light of descriptive and normative learning theories, as well as the current curricula. One possible effect of this strong subject didactic focus is… Continue Reading

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tandfonline.com – De-scandalisation and international assessments: the reception of IEA surveys in Sweden during the 1970s1View all notes

tandfonline.com har udgivet en rapport under søgningen “Teacher Education Mathematics”: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT This article is concerned with the early phase of international large-scale assessments. Drawing on media discussions before and after the release of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) surveys of 1973, the chapter discusses the relationship between international assessments, scandalisation, and de-scandalisation, with a specific focus on the interpretation of the comprehensive school reform in Sweden. The first section of this article deals with the early years of the 1970s, a time in which international data on education played a minimal role in educational discourse, creating space for other ways of discussing the perceived quality of schooling. The second section covers the effects of the IEA surveys released in 1973, whose positive results took… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Right Trajectory: State Teachers of the Year Compare Former and New State Assessments

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: “The Right Trajectory” brings to the forefront an often-overlooked voice in the debate about new state assessments developed in consortia: that of the best teachers in the country. This research suggests, despite challenges still to overcome, that these front-line experts believe that the new consortia tests are an improvement on the former assessments and so represent movement in the right direction for students and for education in their states. What do great teachers think of the new assessments compared to the previous ones? As part of state transitions to college and career ready (CCR) standards, including the Common Core State Standards in more than 40 states (NGA & CCSSO, 2010), states are for the first time administering new summative assessments aligned to those standards and aiming for… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Effect of Summer on Value-Added Assessments of Teacher and School Performance

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study examines the effects of including the summer period on value-added assessments (VAA) of teacher and school performance at the early grades. The results indicate that 40-62% of the variance in VAA estimates originates from the summer period, depending on the outcome (i.e., reading or math achievement gains). Furthermore, when summer is omitted from the VAA model, 51-61% of the teachers and 58-61% of the schools change performance quintiles, with many changing 2-3 quintiles. Extensive statistical controls for student background and classroom and school context reduce the summer effect, but 36-47% of the teachers and 42-49% of the schools are still in different quintiles. Furthermore, besides misclassifying teachers and schools, the results show that including summer tends to bias VAA estimates against schools with concentrated poverty.… Continue Reading