Mrs. Stevens has been teaching for eleven years. She has ...

[MirandaLo]

Mrs. Stevens has been teaching for eleven years. She has administered standardized tests every year and studied her students' scores. Over the years she has become quite frustrated with the whole process. If she is like many other teachers who have voiced objections, what are most likely herobjections?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Suppose you are teaching eighth grade math to a small class of nine students who perform below grade level. Most of these students attribute their failure to unchangeable factors and exhibit self-handicapping strategies. In essence, these eighth graders function in failure-avoiding mode. You want to help them change their thinking and create a culture of learning among these students  keep them from reaching a state of failure acceptance. Describe what you will do to achieve this goal. Address students' view of ability, attributions for successes/failures, and self-efficacy for doing math tasks.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[upturnedfurball]

Answer to Question 1

Suggested Response: Mrs. Stevens is certainly not alone in feeling frustrated about high-stakes testing. Many teachers have voiced objections, and Mrs. Stevens' objections may mirror those of others.
 Test results are returned to teachers too late in the school year for them to use the results to plan instruction for their current students.
 Teachers complain about the mismatch between the curriculum and the content and skills covered on the tests.
 Teachers often feel that the amount of time spent preparing for and administering the tests is inappropriate. They feel that test content narrows and defines their curriculum.
 Many districts use test results to judge the effectiveness of schools and individual teachers. They often based decisions about allocations of funds on the results of standardized tests.
 Teachers feel that other tests should be included in the picture of their students' achievement rather than placing great significance on results of a single battery of tests. Students' abilities may be judged wrongly on the basis of these tests.
 Teachers may see parents and colleagues make decisions about retaining a student on the basis of high-stakes test scores. They prefer to look at multiple factors and do everything possible to help students gain ground through remediation rather than retention.
Text Reference: Standardized Testing

Answer to Question 2

Suggested Response:
Here is my plan for addressing students' view of ability, attributions for successes/failures, and self-efficacy for doing math tasks.
 I will address students' view of ability in several ways. First, I believe all students can learn and improve. I will send this message to students every day by telling them they can learn and by giving specific feedback that helps them make progress. When students see progress, they are more likely to be motivated to persist. I will discuss the unstable nature of ability in ways that they understand that they are in control of their learning. By teaching them new strategies and altering their thinking about ability, I can help them stop using self-handicapping strategies.
 I will attribute students' successes and failures to their effort and persistence. When I monitor their work and help them with learning tasks, I will remind them that their efforts pay off. I'll provide role models they can identify with to help them feel encouraged. I will tell them about my own struggle or failure with a similar aspect of learning and show them that I had to work to learn.
 I will help them develop self-efficacy for math tasks by ensuring successes. Tasks can be broken into small steps that allow students to succeed at small goals. By achieving small goals, students are likely to persist. As students work on math tasks, I will scaffold learning as needed with tips, extra examples, and illustrations. I will teach from a mastery goal orientation and support students in developing mastery goals. I will focus on learning and progress rather than grades.
Text Reference: Beliefs and Self-Perceptions

[MirandaLo]

Excellent

[bulacsom]

TYSM