Description
Book SynopsisParents had questions about the tests their children took at school. They considered them to be common sense questions. They posed them to the businesspeople, publishers, and politicians who championed tests. They also posed them to the school administrators, teachers, and union leaders who criticized them. This book examines the questions the parents posed, the answers they elicited, and the changes they prodded.
Trade ReviewA wonderful and straightforward resource for parents seeking jargon-free answers and guidance about educational tests. This useful resource enhances understanding about the purpose of standardized testing and explains how various types of assessments relate to what is going on in classrooms. Most important, Dr. Giordano provides an accessible resource that can promote knowledgeable parental advocacy for valid, reliable, and common-sense educational assessment in our schools. -- Michael S. Rosenberg, PhD, dean and professor, School of Education, State University of New York at New Paltz
In this volume, Giordano provides a common sense framework for understanding the morass of contemporary high stakes testing. Multiple viewpoints are considered in an effort to provide both the educator and lay person with a broad sense of the political, sociological, and practical issues surrounding the testing movement. -- Larry G. Daniel, PhD, dean, Zucker Family School of Education, The Citadel
Issues about the value of testing students in schools has been an age-old conundrum. How non-educators, particularly parents, understand the meaning of test results has been clouded in educational jargon. The author provides a text that can allow parents to have issues addressed, information provided, and questions regarding what tests really mean answered. -- Elliott Lessen, PhD, dean and professor emeritus, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
The volume is not propaganda and does not lay out the path to true and right. It does not try to make up people’s minds but rather tries to open them to what lies ahead. It invites readers to consider the questions that have been raised about tests and carefully judge the answers that have been provided. (From the Foreword) -- Raymond P. Lorian, PhD, dean, College of Education, Towson University
Table of ContentsPreface: Who Needs Another Book about Tests? Foreword: (by Raymond P. Lorion, Ph.D.) Chapter 1: Why Ask Common Sense Questions about Tests? Chapter 2: Why Give Straightforward Answers to Questions about Tests? Chapter 3: Why Give Bad-Faith Advice about Tests? Chapter 4: Are School Administrators Driven by Tests? Chapter 5: How Much Blame Do Teachers Deserve for Low Test Scores? Chapter 6: Do Educators Game Tests? Chapter 7: What Do Students Expect from Tests? Chapter 8: What Do Business Leaders Want from Tests? Chapter 9: How Does Technology Affect Test Scores? Chapter 10: Do Testing Enthusiasts Mask their Motives? References
