Standards, Curriculum, and Performance: A Historical and Comparative Perspective

Resnick, Daniel P.; Resnick, Lauren B.

doi:10.2307/1175701

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…In fact, many of students' experiences with school environments, and particularly with standardized performance assessments, have the effect of arresting or distorting further growth. This concern has contributed to growing debate over appropriate criteria for assessing "authentic" student performance (Bliss, Firestone, & Richards, 1991;Newmann, 1992;Porter, 1983;Resnick & Resnick, 1985). While we support fully the notion that schools must be assessed on student performances that demonstrate enhancing rather than deadening experiences, the large body of research on school effectiveness is based on students' performance on standardized tests.…”

Section: The Importance Of Educational Values and Normative Understanmentioning

confidence: 84%

Chapter 5: The Organization of Effective Secondary Schools

Lee

Bryk

Smith

1993

Review of Research in Education

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From its inception in the 1960s, the major focus of large-scale quantitative investigations of school effects has been on the issue of equal opportunities in education for disadvantaged and minority students. For two decades, school effects research attempted to identify the best way to deploy new federal resources for advancing educational equity. Beginning with the publication of the Equality of Educational Opportunity Report by James Coleman and others in 1966, this type of research was based on two different (but not inconsistent) conceptual frameworks. One, with an economic orientation, focused on school effectiveness as a series of input-output analyses (i.e., production functions) that were meant to estimate the impact of such fiscal resources as average teachers' salaries, books in the library, and class size on the average achievement of students in particular schools. Another strand, involving mainly sociologists, pursued issues of social stratification. Work using this second framework examined the role of education in status attainment. With years of schooling as the key independent variable, the primary focus was on the consequences of schooling for occupational and social mobility. 1 Both strands of school effects research in its early manifestation were conceptualized with a functionalist orientation based on human capital theory. Although seeking answers to ostensibly different questions, these two streams of work shared a common viewpoint: They conceived the organizational structure of a school as a "black box." As such, the in-

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Section: The Importance Of Educational Values and Normative Understanmentioning

confidence: 84%

Chapter 5: The Organization of Effective Secondary Schools

Lee

Bryk

Smith

1993

Review of Research in Education

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“…Once my gaze focused only on those works that could be identified as research, however, empirical support for the claim that state-mandated testing positively influences teachers' beliefs and practice (e.g., Popham, 1987;Resnick & Resnick, 1985) seemed to vanish.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

State-Mandated Testing and Teachers' Beliefs and Practice

Cimbricz

2002

EPAA

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In this article, I examine the relationship between state-mandated testing and teachers' beliefs and practice. The studies reviewed suggest that while state testing does matter by influencing what teachers say and do, so, too, do other things, such as teachers' knowledge of subject matter, their approaches to teaching, their views of learning, and the amalgam of experience and status they possess in the school organization. As a result, the influence state-mandated testing has (or not) on teachers and teaching would seem to depend on how teachers interpret state testing and use it to guide their actions. Moreover, the influence state testing may or may not have on teachers and teaching expands beyond individual perceptions and actions to include the network of constructed meanings and significance extant within particular educational contexts. Consequently, although a relationship between the state-mandated testing and teachers' beliefs and practice does exist, testing does not appear to be an exclusive or a primary lever of change. There is further suggestion that it might not be a substantive one either. Studies that provide a richer, more in-depth understanding of the relationship between state-mandated testing and teaching in actual school settings, therefore, not only point toward important directions for future research in this area, but are greatly needed.

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“…My findings also support the assertions of Resnick and Resnick (1985), that, despite the rhetoric that emphasizes a comprehensive curriculum, in reality there is considerable tracking in the high schools, even when it is not formally labeled. The enormous variation in the expectations and standards enforced in the different levels of courses offered within the school points to the de facto maintenance of tracks.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Equity policy, educational practice, and limited english proficient (LEP) students in two high schools in Miami

Acherman-Chor¹

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Most studies of language minority students' performance focus on students' characteristics. This study uses qualitative methodology to examine instead how educational policies and practices affect the tracking of language minority students who are classified as limited English proficient (LEP). The placement of LEP students in core courses (English, Math, Social Studies, and Science) is seen as resulting from the interaction between school context and student characteristics. The school context includes factors such as equity policy requirements, overcrowding, attitudes regarding immigrants' academic potential, tracking, and testing practices. Interaction among these factors frequently leads to placement in lower track courses. It was found that the absence of formal tracks could be misleading to immigrant students, particularly those with high aspirations who do not understand the implications of the informal tracking system.Findings are discussed in relation to current theoretical explanations for minority student performance.vi

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Standards, Curriculum, and Performance: A Historical and Comparative Perspective

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Chapter 5: The Organization of Effective Secondary Schools

Chapter 5: The Organization of Effective Secondary Schools

State-Mandated Testing and Teachers' Beliefs and Practice

Equity policy, educational practice, and limited english proficient (LEP) students in two high schools in Miami

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