Joan L. Herman

Integrating Literacy and Science in Biology: Teaching and Learning Impacts of Reading Apprenticeship Professional Development

This study examined the effects of professional development integrating academic literacy and biology instruction on science teachers’ instructional practices and students’ achievement in science and literacy. The intervention consisted of 10 days of professional development in Reading Apprenticeship, an instructional framework integrating metacognitive inquiry routines into subject-area instruction to make explicit the tacit reasoning processes, problem-solving strategies, and textual features that shape literacy practices in academic disciplines. The study utilized a group-randomized, experimental design and multiple measures of teacher implementation and student learning and targeted groups historically unrepresented in the sciences. Hierarchical linear modeling procedures were used to estimate program impacts. Intervention teachers demonstrated increased support for science literacy learning and use of metacognitive inquiry routines, reading comprehension instruction, and collaborative learning structures compared to controls. Students in treatment classrooms performed better than controls on state standardized assessments in English language arts, reading comprehension, and biology.

Some effects of parent involvement in schools

This study examines the interrelationships among components of parent involvement at schools and investigates their effects on school outcomes. The study used data collected during an evaluation of Californias Early Childhood Education Program. Varinbles included socioeconomic status, the frequency of school-parent communications, parent awareness of school events, amount of parent involvement at the school, parent influence in school decision making, the nature of parent-teacher relationships, parent satisfaction with the school, and student achievement in reading and mathematics. The results indicated that there are positive effects associated with parent involvement at schools, and the interrelationships between the endogenous variables suggested ways in which such benefits may be maximized.

Evaluating Equity in Alternative Assessment: An Illustration of Opportunity-to-Learn Issues.

Abstract Based on the 1993 California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) Middle Grades Mathematics Performance Assessment, an innovative alternative assessment, the study explores whether all schools, regardless of the cultural, ethnic, or socioeconomic background of the students they serve, provide students with equal opportunity to learn that which is assessed. Opportunity to learn was defined to include a range of variables likely to influence student performance, including access to resources, access to high-quality instructional content and processes, extra-school opportunities, and direct preparation for the CLAS. Data collection efforts included teacher interviews, student surveys, student retrospective think-aloud interviews, and classroom observations of the assessment administration. Researchers chose 13 schools across the state to represent three broad categories of schools: affluent suburban; low-socioeconomic-status (SES) urban; and remote, mixed SES rural schools. Findings high-light some dif...

A Three-State Study of English Learner Progress

In this three-state study, the authors estimate the magnitudes of achievement gaps between English learner (EL) students and their non-EL peers, while avoiding typical caveats in cross-sectional studies. The authors further compare the observed achievement gaps across three distinct dimensions (content areas, grades, and states) and report patterns of EL–non-EL achievement gaps within and across states. The study findings suggest that linguistic barriers and long-term EL designation may contribute to the observed achievement gaps. The findings further suggest that the differences in the stringency of state reclassification criteria may influence the reported size of the EL and non-EL achievement gaps between states.

Measurement Issues in the Alignment of Standards and Assessments

Abstract This study examined the impact of rater agreement on decisions concerning the alignment between the Golden State Examination in High School Mathematics (California Department of Education, 2001a) and the University of California (UC) Statement on Competencies in Mathematics Expected of Entering College Students (Academic Senate of the California State University, 1997). The UC faculty and high school mathematics teachers (N = 20) rated the mathematics items of the Golden State Examination relative to the expectations identified in the UC competency statement, identifying item features related to content and dimensionality. Raters assigned values for a primary topic, a secondary topic, item/topic centrality, and depth of knowledge. Agreement within these criteria was the basis of the assessment of alignment. Results showed considerable variability in judgments across raters and different pictures of alignment depending on the particular subset of raters providing the ratings. A few differences emerged between rater types.

Fun and Games: Their Contribution to Basic Skills Instruction in Elementary School

Indicators of instructional program effectiveness have been expanded to include both the range of instructional options and cognitive and affective performance measures. Within the context of a statewide evaluation of educational reform, this research studied the relationship of diverse instructional materials with student performance indicators. The study sampled 72 schools from a geographically, socioeconomically, and linguistically representative frame, and two classrooms each in second and third grades of each school provided data. Observation and teacher survey data were collected, and students were tested in reading, mathematics, and attitudinal areas. Our study reports significant performance decrements associated with the use of diverse instructional resources. Explanations are provided within a framework that includes time-on-task and motivational variables.

Differential Improvement in Student Understanding of Mathematical Principles following Formative Assessment Intervention.

ABSTRACT The authors describe results from a study of a middle school mathematics formative assessment strategy. They employed a randomized, controlled design to address the following question: Does using our strategy improve student performance on assessments of key mathematical ideas relative to a comparison group? Eighty-five teachers and 4,091 students were included. Students took a pretest and a transfer measure at the end of the year. Treatment students completed formative assessments. Treatment teachers had exposure to professional development and instructional resources. Results indicated students with higher pretest scores benefited more from the treatment compared to students with lower pretest scores. In addition treatment students significantly outperformed control students on distributive property items. This effect was larger as pretest scores increased. Results, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Assessing the Effects of Standardized Testing on Schools.

This study brings empirical data to the debate about the efficacy of standardized tests. A teacher questionnaire containing 81 Likert-type items was mailed to 450 upper elementary school teachers in 48 schools. Questions of interest included (a) What are the effects of these tests on the teaching and learning process in schools? (b) What is the meaning of test score gains? and (c) Does such testing have differential effects in schools serving students at different socioeconomic status (SES) levels? Approximately 75% of the teachers (n = 341) completed the questionnaires. Results of Cronbachs alpha and principal components analyses indicated that items within specified subscales were internally consistent. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis showed that the interitem correlations within subscales were stronger than those across subscales. The results of multiple discriminant analysis (DA) using categories of TREND (schools with increasing vs. stable or decreasing test scores) as the grouping variable indicated that only two subscales were significantly different across TREND categories. However, the results of a second multiple DA showed that many subscale scores significantly discriminated groups formed by student SES levels. The DA by SES findings suggest that teachers of lower SES students are under greater pressure to improve test scores and focus more on test content in their classroom instruction than teachers of higher SES students.

American Students’ Perspectives on Alternative Assessment: do they know it's different?

ABSTRACT This study used the 1993 California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) Middle Grades Mathematics Performance Assessment as a platform to examine alternative assessment in actual practice in the United States. Reported here is information gathered using the CLAS regarding student attitudes and approaches toward this new type of assessment. At issue is whether students find alternative assessments to be more motivating and interesting than traditional types of tests, and whether they appreciate the difference between traditional and alternative tasks. Data were collected in 13 schools across the state of California, involving more than 800 students. Instrumentation used in data collection included student surveys as well as in‐depth student retrospective interviews. Findings suggest that students do indeed understand the differences in approaches necessitated by novel, open‐ended versus more familiar multiple‐choice tasks. In addition, student attitudes toward these two types of tasks are discussed ...

Using Portfolios for Large-Scale Assessment

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of portfolios for large-scale assessment. In recent years, educational policy makers have expressed growing concern about the quality of traditional large-scale testing programs and their possible negative effects on curriculum and instruction. Increasing numbers of educators believe greater emphasis on portfolios rather than multiple-choice tests can improve state testing efforts. Portfolio advocates argue that such a change will both increase the validity of state testing programs and improve their value to schools. They believe the addition of genuine student work products into the formal assessment system will increase confidence in the inferences drawn from testing results. The chapter examines the current research on portfolio assessment and considers the strengths and weaknesses of portfolios for large-scale assessment. Such an assessment has various advantages, which are discussed here. Finally, it outlines the potential for portfolio use in large-scale assessment. And the discussion concludes that portfolios will have to be altered and upgraded as per the needs of the teachers. In the coming times, these needs may play into the strengths of portfolios and it may be as classroom assessment tools that portfolio assessments realize their greatest potential.