High Stakes: Children, Testing, and Failure in American Schools - Softcover

Johnson, Dale D.; Johnson, Bonnie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742517896 ISBN 13: 9780742517899

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002

Synopsis

High Stakes brings the voices of students and teachers to our national debates over school accountability and educational reform. Recounting the experiences of two classrooms during one academic year, the book offers a critical exploration of excessive state-mandated monitoring, high-stakes testing pressures, and inequities in public school funding that impede the instructional work of teachers, especially those who serve children of poorer families.

About this title

About the Author

\Dale D. Johnson is professor of literacy education at Dowling College on Long Island. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin and was a profesor there for 16 years. Dr. Johnson has been an elementary and middle school teacher in Wisconsin and Louisiana and was on the faculties of Katsina College in Nigeria and the University of Louisiana. He is a past-president of the International Reading Association. Dr. Johnson has authored and co-authored 12 books, including Vocabulary in the Elementary and Middle School (2001, Allyn and Bacon). Bonnie Johnson is professor of human development and learning at Dowling College on Long Island. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin where she was granted the "Distinguished Teacher of Teachers" award. Dr. Johnson has taught elementary school in Wisconsin and Louisiana and has been a professor at Texas A&M, the University of Louisiana, and Clarke College. She has published for children, adolescents, and adults. In addition to journal articles, she is the author of Wordworks: Exploring Language Play (1999, Fulcrum).

Reviews

What is the effect on students and teachers of high-stakes testing and the current emphasis on accountability? To answer that question, Dale D. Johnson (Vocabulary in the Elementary & Middle School) and Bonnie Johnson (Wordworks: Exploring Language Play) offer a critical, passionate, firsthand account of the 2000-01 school year in a Redbud, LA, elementary school, where teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation and 98 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch. Under Louisiana's accountability bureaucracy, the school is regulated, monitored, assessed, and labeled. The authors challenge the effectiveness of using standardized tests to make decisions in a school that lacks basic amenities and suffers from excessive student and teacher stress. They provide numerous examples, clear descriptions, and a deep appreciation for the role of teachers to illustrate the dire consequences of this emphasis on testing. The closing chapter offers recommendations for concerned professionals, policymakers, and parents. Education collections in both public and academic libraries would be strengthened by the addition of this clear, research-based discussion. Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0742517896
• ISBN 13: 9780742517899
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240