Ethical Test Preparation in the Classroom: (Prepare Students for Large-Scale Standardized Tests with Ethical Assessment and Instruction)

Large-scale assessment and standardized testing have the power to either open or close future doors for your students. Based on the latest research, this book by Robert J. Marzano, Christopher W. Dodson, Julia A. Simms, and Jacob P. Wipf clearly articulates the ethical challenges teachers face in preparing students for these tests and what can be done to ensure effective test preparation. You'll review a first-of-its-kind study of over 8,000 assessment items and receive specific recommendations for ELA, mathematics, and science.

Use this book to effectively prepare students while upholding ethics in assessment in education:

• Understand the role and profound impact large-scale assessment and high-stakes testing have in students' lives.
• Study an analysis of 8,804 items from state, national, and international standardized tests.
• Examine recommendations for item creation in ELA, mathematics, and science based on the analysis findings and ethical testing principles.
• Provide students with instruction and formative assessment designed to aid them in answering the types of items most likely to appear on large-scale assessments.
• Receive tools and templates to create formative and summative assessments to measure students' knowledge.
• Discover a process to create a school- and districtwide approach to help students understand item formats.

Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1: A Brief Overview of Large-Scale Assessments in the United States

Chapter 2: Analysis of English Language Arts Assessment Items

Chapter 3: Analysis of Mathematics Assessment Items

Chapter 4: Analysis of Science Assessment Items

Chapter 5: The Issue of Test Preparation

Chapter 6: A Systemic Approach to Ethical Test Preparation

Epilogue

Appendix A: Mathematics Templates

Appendix B: Science Topics

References

Index

Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is cofounder and chief academic officer of Marzano Resources in Denver, Colorado. During his fifty years in the field of education, he has worked with educators as a speaker and trainer and has authored more than fifty books and two hundred articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. His books include The New Art and Science of Teaching, Leaders of Learning, Making Classroom Assessments Reliable and Valid, the Classroom Strategies series, Managing the Inner World of Teaching, A Handbook for High Reliability Schools, A Handbook for Personalized Competency-Based Education, and The Highly Engaged Classroom. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are known internationally and are widely practiced by both teachers and administrators.

To learn more about Dr. Marzano, visit marzanoresources.com.

Christopher W. Dodson is a proficiency scale analyst at Marzano Resources. His primary focus is assessment and grading, with work in areas such as standards-based grading and classroom assessment. He helped develop both the Marzano Compendium of Instructional Strategies and the Critical Concepts proficiency scales, and is the author of the report The Critical Concepts in Social Studies.

Julia A. Simms is vice president of Marzano Resources. A former classroom teacher, Julia and her team develop research-based resources and provide support to educators as they implement them. Her areas of expertise include effective instruction, learning progressions and proficiency scales, assessment and grading, argumentation and reasoning skills, and literacy development. She has coauthored eight books, including Coaching Classroom Instruction, Vocabulary for the Common Core, Questioning Sequences in the Classroom, A Handbook for High Reliability Schools, and The New Art and Science of Teaching Reading.

Jacob P. Wipf is a proficiency scale analyst at Marzano Resources in Denver, Colorado. He helps develop resources for assessment and grading, with a particular focus on standards-based grading and classroom assessment. He was involved in the creation of the Critical Concepts proficiency scales and authored a report on the alignment of the Critical Concepts and NWEA’s MAP assessments.