Here is an interesting one for you.
A new study showing a link between one international test score and improvements to a nation’s GDP.
For the United States, the research suggests, modest gains in student achievement as measured by one international assessment could cumulatively boost the country’s gross domestic product by tens of trillions of dollars over [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Educational Policy'
Study links economic improvements to test scores
January 25th, 2010 No Comments
Tags: accountability · international tests
Making the most of the tests that won’t go away!
December 8th, 2009 No Comments
ASCD has a nice little series going called “Multiple Measures.” Here is a quote from one article:
Asked to name the biggest obstacle their school is facing this year, 41 percent of responding educators in a recent informal ASCD SmartBrief poll picked “pressure on students and teachers to improve test results.” The general public has a [...]
Tags: national standards · national tests · standardized testing · testing
Community input on school issues: Are we just too busy?
December 5th, 2009 1 Comment
I found this brief news article on a community forum from one of Wyoming’s larger school districts (Large is a relative term in Wyoming! I did a keynote address on technology and social media in education to a group of superintendents and one superintendent in the room had twice as many students in his district [...]
Tags: communication · community forums · community input · school politics
Stimulus money in education
December 1st, 2009 2 Comments
Frequent readers here know that I typically blog about schools, technology, pedagogy and other school related topics. I haven’t talked as much about the political forces that drive our business.
However, I came across this short piece about the stimulus package and some of the issues it creates for schools.
One interesting phrase is a reference to [...]
Tags: funding · grants · stimulus dollars
Fresh-start: Opportunity or Threat?
November 9th, 2009 4 Comments
This is Heather, and I’m delighted to act as guest blogger for Dr Stock, while he is off in the wilds of Alaska hunting. Stay safe, Mark, and keep away from crevasses!
We’ve chatted recently about climate and culture, and I’d be interested in your views on this article that dropped into my mailbox this afternoon.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091108/NEWS04/911080384/1970
Quoting [...]
Tags: climate · culture · fresh-starting
National Assessments on the Horizon
October 21st, 2009 3 Comments
A former colleague of mine returned from a big meeting of Chief State School Officers and their Departments. The topic was the Common Core of Standards. Today this release came out informing everyone about a competition to create a “Common Assessment” to go with the “Common Standards.”
Word on the street has it that officials feel [...]
Tags: national standards · national testing · Race to the Top
What would you tell a group of superintendents about the use of technology and social media in education?
October 14th, 2009 4 Comments
I am waiting in the airport (fog delays in Denver) to fly to Houston, Texas. I will be the keynote speaker for the Houston area school superintendents at their annual fall conference.
What message would YOU share with superintendents if you had the chance, especially as it relates to Social Media and the use of technology [...]
Tags: school superintendents · social media · technology
A real story about formative vs summative assessment
October 11th, 2009 2 Comments
The tension in the room was real. As a new professor to the university setting, my colleague had drug me along to a statewide task force meeting to discuss our statewide assessment problems. It was clear from the anxious faces around the room that people weren’t seeing eye-to-eye on how our statewide assessment system was [...]
Tags: accountability · assessment · national standards · school improvement · standardized testing · testing
James Popham on formative assessment
October 8th, 2009 5 Comments
I am blogging live from the Snow King Resort in Jackson, Wyoming at the Northern Rocky Mountain Education Research Association Conference.
Dr. James Popham was the keynote speaker. Here are a few key points for you to chew on.
Formative assessment cannot raise scores sufficiently on instructionally insensitive accountability tests such as those so widely used these [...]
Tags: assessment · formative assessment · testing
More on Charters
October 4th, 2009 1 Comment
I don’t know how you feel about charter schools, but for the most part the research on them is quite mixed. Certainly it is safe to say that there haven’t been too many studies that have convinced the scholars that simply labeling something “charter” makes it better.
But a new study from New York that appeared [...]
Tags: charter schools · public schools
