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High Stakes Testing Under NCLB Undermines
Quality Teaching
Associate
Professor Linda Valli College of Education University of Maryland:
“I
am now finishing up a five-year study on fourth and fifth grade reading and
math instruction, trying to better understand what good teachers do to help
students who are struggling at grade level. We started planning the study
in 2000, before the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the subsequent
emphasis on testing. We were simply looking for good teaching practices, but
what we found during the study was the shift to high-stakes testing
actually undermined the quality of teaching in reading and math. Our data
show that what we would call high-quality teaching decreased over that
period of time. There were declines in teaching higher-order thinking, in
the amount of time spent on complex assignments, and in the actual amount
of high cognitive content in the curriculum. We believe these declines are
related to the pressure teachers were feeling to "teach to the test."
Of course this runs counter to the stated idea of NCLB, which is for
students to achieve rigorous standards. It is not what we set out to find,
but it is what we discovered. “
QUALITY
COUNTS: 2008
Education Week launched a new report
card today, grading the states across six areas of education performance
and policy. While the U.S. posted a grade of C overall, the average state
earned a D-plus on public school achievement, the poorest showing of any
graded category. Marks were also low for state efforts to improve teaching,
where 10 states earned a grade of D or lower.
One of the six areas included in
Education Week’s report card, the teaching grades cover state efforts to
increase accountability, provide incentives for talented people to enter
and stay in the profession, monitor and allocate the distribution of
talent, and build the capacity of teachers and principals to improve
student learning. South Carolina earned the highest grade in the category,
an A-minus.
In addition, a new analysis by the
Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which is used as part of
the state report card, finds that the average U.S. public school teacher
makes only 88 cents for every dollar earned by individuals in 16 comparable
professions, such as accountants, architects, occupational therapists, and
registered nurses.
The analysis is included in the
report, Quality Counts 2008: Tapping Into Teaching, Unlocking the Key to
Student Success, which also found that workers in other occupations have a
greater chance to earn above-average salaries than teachers, whose wages
are more compressed. A state-by-state assessment shows that teacher
earnings fail to reach the parity mark in 40 states and the District of
Columbia. The least-competitive teacher salaries were found in North
Carolina and Missouri, where earnings are less than 80 percent of those for
comparable workers.
As part of the report, produced with
support from the Pew Charitable Trust’s Center on the States, Education
Week also developed a new framework for strengthening the teaching
profession, based on a yearlong analysis of the best thinking and current
practices in the field, finding that states could be doing much more than
they are now (see attached summary).
A Progress Report on Performance
In addition to the teaching grades
(where the nation received a C), Education Week’s report card includes
grades for five other areas of educational policy and performance—chance
for success (C-plus); achievement of K-12 schools (D-plus); standards,
assessment, and accountability (B); transitions and alignment (C); and
school finance (C-plus).
Some states perform consistently well
or poorly across the full range of categories, but a closer examination of
the rankings reveals that most states post a strong showing in at least one
area. The report was designed to be a useful tool in providing a broad
evaluation of state performance and to offer a more nuanced perspective on
the educational condition of the nation and of the 50 states.
“Retaining educated talent and
maintaining a good track record in overall performance and quality of
education programs is critical to a state’s future economic health,” said
Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States. “Children
adequately prepared in youth make more productive workers and more informed
citizens—in short they lead more successful lives.”
In the first of the report card’s
performance categories, the EPE Research Center’s “Chance-for-Success
Index” provides a cumulative look at the importance of education in a
person’s life from birth through adulthood. The index covers a set of 13
indicators highlighting whether young children get off to a good start,
succeed in elementary and secondary school, and hit key educational and
income benchmarks as adults. No state earned a perfect score, though
several did very well. Massachusetts leads the nation with the only A,
followed by New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, each earning an
A-minus.
States are also graded on a “K-12
Achievement Index” that focuses specifically on student learning in
elementary through high school. The achievement index evaluates how well a
state’s students perform compared with those in the top-ranked state on 18
separate indicators. The index takes into account current state
performance, improvements over time, and poverty-based achievement gaps.
Massachusetts again leads the nation, earning 82.5 points and a B. Maryland
was the only other state to receive a B, while New Jersey earned a B-minus.
The report found severe poverty disparities in many of the top-achieving
states.
Quality Counts 2008 also grades the
states in the following three areas:
Standards, Assessments, and
Accountability: With an average grade of a B, states make a stronger
showing in this area than in any other graded category. Indiana, Louisiana,
New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia earned an A.
Ten states earned an A-minus. An analysis conducted by the EPE Research
Center in 2006 found a positive relationship between states with strong
standards, assessments, and accountability systems and gains on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Transitions and Alignment: This
category tracks whether states have adopted a definition of school
readiness, require all high school students to complete a college-preparatory
curriculum to earn a diploma, and have adopted definitions of college and
workforce readiness. The top states—Arkansas, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan,
New York, Tennessee, and West Virginia—have implemented at least 10 of the
15 alignment policies tracked by the grades.
School Finance: A revised school
finance section grades states on school spending and the equitable
distribution of resources. The eight measures of equity and spending that
appear represent some of the most commonly used indicators in school
finance research. This year, only West Virginia earned an A, while New
Jersey earned an minus.
The national Report is here:
http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/qc/2008/18shr.us.h27.pdf
State
Reports are here:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/01/10/18shr.h27.html
Direct
Instruction Programs Found to Substantially Increase Test Scores for English-Language
Learners
A recent study of 170
English-Language Learners (ELL) and 148 English-only students found
generally higher gains for ELL students enrolled in Direct Instruction
interventions, according to a study from Juniper Gardens Children’s Project,
affiliated with Kansas University.
Some
of the ELL students performed as well as English-only participants on the
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) according to the
study.
The
full study:
http://www.sraonline.com/download/News/News/LDQ-summer.pdf
Special Education
Students at California Elementary School Achieve AYP with Direct
Instruction
Once Direct
Instruction's Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading were
adopted in Grades K–3 and Grades 4–5 respectively at Virginia Primrose
Elementary, students' reading proficiency improved. The school introduced Reading
Mastery and Corrective Reading in 2004–2005 into the
curriculum because the majority of Grade 5 students read on a Grade 2
level.
Since students have
been using curriculum, Virginia Primrose Elementary School became the only
school in the Fontana Unified School District in which special education
students achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in both 2005–2006 and
2006–2007.
Principal Darlene
Duquette said all students are achieving success because they are
developing skills needed to read. This includes special education students,
many of whom exit the special education program because of Direct Instruction.
The full study:
http://www.sraonline.com/download/DI/EfficacyReports/VirginiaPrimrose_DI_ER_FNL.pdf
Implementing
Policies to Reduce the Likelihood of Preschool Expulsion
This new study, based on data from the National
Prekindergarten Survey, found that children are much more likely to be
expelled from programs with high student-teacher ratios and in extended day
programs. The results also indicated that teacher job stress, which may be
connected to high student-teacher ratios and extended day programs, is
related to high rates of expulsion.
Read it here:
http://ziglercenter.yale.edu/publications/documents/PreKExpulsionBrief2.pdf
Early
Childhood Mental Health Consultation
This publication describes the results of a rigorous
random-controlled evaluation of the Early Childhood Consultation
Partnership (ECCP), a statewide system of early childhood mental health
consultation for early education and child care programs throughout
Connecticut. This study is the first evaluation of a large-scale early
childhood mental health consultation program, and its results will be of
interest to program developers, scholars, and decision-makers within
Connecticut and nationally. The evaluation was funded by the Children’s Fund of Connecticut.
You may read it here:
http://www.chdi.org/files/5162007_145018_183022_pdf.pdf
REPORT ON THE NATIONAL
SURVEY OF ALGEBRA TEACHERS FOR
THE NATIONAL MATH PANEL
This
report presents findings from a study of a nationally-representative sample
of public school Algebra I teachers, the National Survey of Algebra
Teachers (NSAT). A sample of 310 schools was selected from a comprehensive
list of public schools which included the eighth grade or higher. Of the
310 schools selected, 258 agreed to provide rosters of their Algebra I
teachers. A total of 1,026 teachers were identified on this basis, and 743
(72%) returned completed questionnaires by the July 1, 2007 close of data
collection.
TEACHER
BACKGROUND
The
Algebra I teachers are predominately female (66%), white (91%), and had a
median age of 41 years old. The median years of teaching experience was 9
years and they had taught algebra for a median of 6 years. In terms of
education, all had at least a baccalaureate degree and 51% had an MA/MS or
other advanced degree. About 44% majored in mathematics and another 24%
minored in mathematics during college; 8% earned an advanced degree in
mathematics. About 28% of the Algebra I teachers were teaching at the
middle or junior high school level, while almost all of the other 72% were
teaching in high schools (less than 5% are in combined middlehigh schools).
STUDENT
PREPARATION
Research
Question #1: How do the teachers rate the preparation of students coming
into their Algebra I classes? Are there widespread problems, or are
problems confined to individual students? The teachers generally rated
their students’ background preparation for Algebra I as weak. The three
skill areas in which teachers report their students have the poorest
preparation are rational numbers, word problems, and study habits. The
teachers’ ratings of student preparation generally did not vary much by
school demographic. The main point of difference was that teachers of
classes that primarily enroll 7th or 8th graders rated their students’
backgrounds more highly, by 0.87 standard deviations (p<.001). The grade
level of the class is likely to be a proxy for the ability level of the
class, with 8th grade being the advanced group, 9th grade the average
group, and 10th and higher the lower groups.
Research
Question #2: To the degree that the teachers believe students need to be
better prepared, what are the major shortcomings? The teachers were asked
to rate the importance of a “solid foundation” in the each the 15 skill/knowledge
areas asked about with respect to their target class students’ background
preparation. Since the same background skills and knowledge for which the
teachers rated student background as inadequate were also rated as
important, the following areas emerge as the major shortcomings: rational
numbers, word problems, and study habits.
Research
Question #3: Given their experience with in-coming students, would they
change the level of emphasis placed on mathematics topics at the elementary
level? If so, how would they change it?
Would
they put more or less emphasis on basic understandings or arithmetic and
whole number, fraction and decimals operations? Would they put more or less
emphasis on helping students master basic concepts? These questions are
covered to some extent in the open-ended item III.2, “Please provide a
brief description of any changes you would like to see in the curriculum
leading up to Algebra I in your district.” Of the 743 teachers who returned
completed questionnaires, 578 provided verbatim responses to this item.
The
most frequent type of suggestion among the 578 respondents was a greater
focus in primary education placed on mastery of basic mathematical concepts
and skills.
CURRICULUM
AND INSTRUCTION
Research
Question #4: How do they rate their state and local district curricular
expectations in algebra for PK-12? How do they rate the state or local
school district mathematics standards and math tests that they currently
use?
The
modal response (67%) from teachers is that they feel that local
expectations for student proficiency in Algebra I are “about right”, while
about equal numbers rated them as “too high” (8%) or “too low” (11%).
The
teachers were also generally favorable about content standards for Algebra
I in their state or local district. A majority (53%) of teachers feel that
the content standards are good and 16% rate them as excellent. Only about
5% rated their content standards as poor (see Figure 4). Teachers were less
positive about state and local assessment standards, but the modal response
(43%) was still that they were “good”. About 9% rated them as excellent and
15% rated them as poor.
Research
Question #5: How do they rate their textbook (or textbooks in general)
regarding algebra instruction? The questionnaire included several items
asking for the teacher’s evaluation of the textbook they use in the target
class (items I.8a-i). For the most part, teachers were satisfied with their
texts’ topics. The teachers rated their textbook least positively on the
degree to which it is well suited for the needs of a diverse population of
students.
Full
report:
http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/final-report-algebra-teachers.pdf
Mathematics
Coursetaking and Achievement at the End of High School: Evidence from the
Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002)
This report documents and examines the relationship
between the number and types of math courses taken in the 11th and 12th
grade and growth in mathematics proficiency over the same time period.
Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), the
analysis identifies the coursetaking sequences most prevalent among
contemporary high school students in their junior and senior years,
sociodemographic characteristics of the students who follow these course
sequences, and the association between specific courses and course
sequences and mathematics gains over the last two years of high school.
Because most students (94 percent) entered the second
half of high school with a mastery of basic mathematics skills such as
simple arithmetic and operations, most learning during this time was in
intermediate-level mathematics skills and concepts. For example, the
percentage of students with an understanding of simple problem solving
skills grew from 53 to 65 percentage points over the two year period.
In terms of learning in specific content areas, the
largest gains in intermediate skills such as simple operations and problem
solving were made by those who followed the geometry–algebra II sequence.
The largest gains in advanced skills such as
derivations and making inferences from algebraic expressions were made by
students who took precalculus paired with another course. The smallest
gains were made by students who took one mathematics course or no
mathematics courses during their last 2 years.
Full report:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008319
NCLB
Progress
One
day before the sixth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, President
Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings discussed this landmark
education law at Horace Greeley Elementary School in Chicago. As the 2007
Nation's Report Card shows, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is helping raise
achievement for all kinds of children, in all kinds of schools, in every
part of the country. Students are achieving record success, with minority
students, poor students, and students with disabilities reaching all-time
highs in a number of areas. As a result, the achievement gap is beginning
to close.
The results achieved by students at Horace
Greeley prove that with high expectations and dedication, we can meet the
goal of NCLB and help every student reach grade level or above. Horace
Greeley was recently named a NCLB-Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department
of Education, an honor given to schools that are academically superior or
that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement. Most of the
students at Horace Greeley come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and many
speak English as a second language. Yet test scores are soaring – from 2003
to 2007, student proficiency in reading increased 25 points to 76 percent,
while student proficiency in math rose 26 points to 85 percent.
The Nation's Report Card, released this fall, shows
across-the-board improvement in 4th and 8th grade reading and math
nationwide.
·
In
reading, scores for 4th graders were the highest on record.
·
In
math, scores for 4th and 8th graders were the highest on record.
·
African-American
and Hispanic students are making significant progress, posting all-time
highs in a number of categories.
·
In
4th grade reading, the achievement gap between white and African-American
students is at an all-time low.
·
In
math, 4th and 8th grade African-American students achieved their highest
scores to date.
· In 4th grade reading
and in 4th and 8th grade math, Hispanic students set new achievement
records. In reading, Hispanic 8th graders matched their all-time high.
Physical
education and active play help teens maintain normal weight as adults
Adolescents
who participate in physical education at school are more likely to maintain
a normal weight as young adults, according to a study by researchers at the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For each weekday of
physical education at school the odds of being an overweight adult decreased
by 5 percent. Participation in all five days of physical education
decreased the odds of being an overweight adult by 28 percent. The study is
published in the January 2008 edition of the journal, Archives of
Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
“These
findings underscore the important role that school-based and
extracurricular physical activities play in reducing the likelihood of
becoming an overweight adult,” said Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD, the
study’s senior author. “While physical education was not a good weight-loss
mechanism over time, it appears to have a positive impact in helping
teenagers maintain a healthy weight into young adulthood,” added Blum, who
is the Bloomberg School’s William H. Gates Sr. Professor and Chair in
Population and Reproductive Health.
The
Hopkins team studied 3,345 teens in grades eight through 12 who took part
in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health at which time the
teens were surveyed on their participation in physical education and
physical activities outside of school. The researchers then followed up
with the participants five years after leaving school to check their height
and weight.
The
researchers found that increased participation in physical education and
certain extracurricular physical activities decreased the likelihood of
being overweight as an adult. The likelihood of being an overweight adult
was most reduced among teens who participated in wheel-related
extracurricular activities, such as rollerblading, biking or skate-boarding
more than 4 times per week. These teens were more than twice as likely to
maintain a normal weight as adults compared to their less active peers.
However, no impact was detected when physical activities were performed
fewer than three times per week.
The
American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services recommend physical education at all grade levels. Studies show
that less than half of high school students are enrolled in physical
education courses. Only 6 percent of junior high schools and 5 percent of
senior high schools offer daily physical education, according to the
Institute of Medicine.
“Sixteen
percent of adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese and 85
percent of obese teens will become obese adults. School-based physical
education could be a low-cost strategy and a long-lasting solution to adult
obesity,” said Blum.
To
Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence.
This
report is a new and comprehensive analysis of reading patterns of children,
teenagers, and adults in the United States. To Read or Not To Read
assembled data on reading trends from more than 40 sources, including
federal agencies, universities, foundations, and associations. The
compendium expands the investigation of the National
Endowment for the Arts' landmark 2004 report, Reading at Risk, and
reveals recent declines in voluntary reading and test scores alike,
exposing trends that have severe consequences for American society.
Complete report:
http://www.nea.gov/research/ToRead.pdf
Evolution
education is a 'must' says coalition of scientific and teaching
organizations
17
organizations report on national survey to determine public views of
evolution education
A
coalition of 17 organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences,
the American Institute of Physics, and the National Science Teachers
Association, is calling on the scientific community to become more involved
in the promotion of science education, including evolution.
According
to an article appearing in the January 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal, the
introduction of “non-science,” such as creationism and intelligent design,
into science education will undermine the fundamentals of science
education. Some of these fundamentals include using the scientific method,
understanding how to reach scientific consensus, and distinguishing between
scientific and nonscientific explanations of natural phenomena.
“In
an age when people have benefited so greatly from science and reason, it is
ironic that some still reject the tools that have afforded them the
privilege to reject them,” says Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of
The FASEB Journal.
The
article is based on a national survey of 1,000 likely U.S. voters. Survey
respondents were queried on their attitudes toward science and scientists,
their views on evolutionary science in the context of education, and their
opinions regarding the means through which the scientific community can
effectively bolster support for teaching evolution and related subjects.
The survey revealed that respondents favored teaching evolution over
creationism or intelligent design. The survey also revealed that
respondents were more interested in hearing about evolution from
scientists, science teachers, and clergy than Supreme Court Justices,
celebrities, or school board members. The survey also found that there is a
relationship between people’s understanding of science and their support
for teaching evolution. Respondents were asked three questions: one related
to plate tectonics, one related to the proper use of antibiotics, and one
related to prehistory. Those who accurately answered questions on these
subjects were far more likely to support the teaching of evolution in
schools.
“The
bottom line is that the world is round, humans evolved from an extinct
species, and Elvis is dead,” Weissmann added. “This survey is a wake-up
call for anyone who supports teaching information based on evidence rather
than speculation or hope; people want to hear the truth, and they want to
hear it from scientists.”
The
coalition of scientific societies that authored the article represent
teachers, biologists, physicists, astronomers, chemists, and social
scientists. These organizations include: American Association of Physics
Teachers, American Astronomical Society, American Chemical Society,
American Institute of Biological Sciences, American Institute of Physics,
American Physical Society, American Physiological Society, American Society
for Investigative Pathology, American Society for Pharmacology and
Experimental Therapeutics, American Society of Human Genetics, Biophysical
Society, Consortium of Social Science Associations, Geological Society of
America, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology,
National Academy of Sciences, National Science Teachers Association, and
Society for Developmental Biology.
The
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology comprises 21
nonprofit societies with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest
coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States.
Spider-man,
Hulk, and Wild Girl Help First Graders with Language and Reading
Primary
school teachers routinely read to their students, but it took an innovative
first-grade teacher to interest Portland State University professor Jason
Ranker in studying how comic books helped young English-language learners
with reading and writing.
Ranker,
whose research interests include visual literacy and marginalized learners,
joined sixteen bilingual students one to two mornings each week to observe
how their teacher developed sophisticated literacy skills by reading comic
books to her class.
“Several
researchers have noted the use of simplistic or reductionistic pedagogy
when teaching reading to English-language learners,” Ranker suggested.
“This teacher didn’t settle for that approach. Instead, she demonstrated
that comic books can help students understand story structure, distinguish
between dialogue and narration, and explore broader media issues—in this
case, gender stereotypes.”
To
demonstrate, Ranker highlights three lessons. The teacher used a Spider-Man
story to illustrate how problem-solution scenarios make a story
interesting, a technique students put to use in generating their own
stories, some about super-heroes, some not. It was the tale that featured
both the Hulk and Catwoman that opened the issue of gender. A student’s
question, “Who is stronger, Catwoman or Hulk?” led to an extensive
discussion about how strength is portrayed and a search for a female
superhero, Wild Girl, whose version of strength differed from the Hulk’s.
Ranker
sees an important connection that students can make using their pop culture
knowledge as a frame of reference for in-school literacy activities. “Movies,
music, comic books, and video games tell stories in their own ways. They
create familiar territory for students to learn about how stories are told.
As the teacher guides them through the story, students also get insights
into their own reading and writing practices.”
Ranker
also addresses several other issues connected to the use of comics, but
clearly sees a value beyond their use to motivate reluctant readers.
“Because they have the capacity to increase interest and motivation, comic
books are an effective way of increasing reading comprehension and
comprehension strategies."As highly visual texts, they are especially
effective for second language learners, who can use visual support even
when they may not have the aspect of the relevant target language that they
might need in the given instructional context."
Software
That Grades Handwritten Essays May Boost Comprehension, Too
A
computational tool that not only dramatically reduces the time it takes to
grade children's handwritten essays, but that also may help boost students'
reading comprehension skills has been developed by researchers at the
University at Buffalo.
The
software has special relevance to the school systems and teachers involved
in administering the standardized English Language Arts exams that are
given every year, usually in January, by public school systems in every
state. This month, every New York school district will administer these
assessments to their students in grades three to eight.
The
National Science Foundation recently awarded the UB researchers a $100,000
grant to develop new algorithms that could eventually allow computers to
take over the grading of children's handwritten essays.
The
UB team's preliminary results with the software are scheduled for
publication in the February/March issue of Artificial Intelligence. The
paper was published earlier in the online version of the journal.
"It
surprised us that we were able to do as well as we did, especially since
this was our first attempt," said Sargur N. Srihari, Ph.D., SUNY
Distinguished Professor in the UB Department of Computer Science and
Engineering and principal investigator on the project.
The
project focused on handwritten essays obtained from eighth graders in the
Buffalo Public Schools who responded to this question from a New York State
English Language Arts exam: "How was Martha Washington's role as First
Lady different from that of Eleanor Roosevelt?"
Three
hundred of the essays were scored by human examiners and used as a
"gold standard" against which 96 computer-scored essays were
judged.
Essays
were graded on a scale of 0-6, with six being the highest score.
In
70 percent of cases, the UB researchers reported, the computer program
graded the essays within one point of those assigned by human examiners.
The
UB research tackles two significant artificial intelligence problems, said
Srihari, director of UB's Center of Excellence in Document Analysis and
Recognition (CEDAR), the world's largest research center devoted to
developing new technologies that can recognize and read handwriting.
"We
wanted to see whether automated handwriting recognition capabilities can be
used to read children's handwriting, which is essentially uncharted
territory," he said. "Then we took it one step further to see if
we could get computers to score these essays like human examiners."
In
the pilot study, the essays were first scanned into a computer. Each line
of text was broken down into individual words. In this step, the system's
goal was word recognition, which it accomplished using contextual
information from the rest of the sample, the answer rubric and the
question.
Once
the majority of words were recognized, the essay was turned into a digital
text file.
For
the automated scoring step, the UB researchers used an artificial neural
network approach.
"In
this method, the system 'learns' from a set of answers that were scored
already by humans, associating different values or scores with different
features in the essays," explained Srihari.
Computational
tools designed to evaluate essays that are typed, not handwritten, already
exist, Srihari explained.
"But
these are all based on electronic text that the test-taker types in, using
a computer keyboard," he said. "In this case, we are working
toward developing a computational tool to read and evaluate the many
thousands of handwritten essays written by schoolchildren as part of
statewide mandated reading comprehension tests."
The
sheer speed with which the program works -- literally seconds per essay --
is the most obvious advantage, the UB researchers said.
Handwritten
essays are an important part of every standardized reading comprehension
test given in every state. But because grading all of those handwritten
essays is such a huge task requiring many hours of work by human examiners,
students who take the exam in January do not find out how they did until
almost the end of the spring semester.
"Judging
this quantity of handwritten essays is very laborious," said Srihari.
"It would be nice to automate this process so perhaps students could
take the test in May, having received more instruction, and then have the
results in June."
And
while some teachers may be wary of computers' ability to properly grade
essays, James L. Collins, Ed.D., professor in the UB Department of Learning
and Instruction in the UB Graduate School of Education and a
co-investigator, is quite confident.
While
he noted that human examiners might still be necessary for grading on very
specific criteria, the majority of evaluations could probably be done just
as well by computers.
"Computational
linguistics has made great leaps over the past decade and it turns out that
for judging the overall quality of a paper, computers are indeed as
reliable as human graders," Collins said.
That's
an important development, he said, because writing practice and feedback
from readers are the key aspects of learning to write at every grade level.
"The
problem is, 'How do teachers respond helpfully to all of the writing
produced by their students?'" he said. "Right now, teachers spend
a lot of time getting their students ready for these standardized tests,
then the students take the exam and get their scores back months later.
With computer scoring, students could get back their scores much faster at
a time when the results can still be addressed. The assessment scores
wouldn't just be going into a 'black hole.'"
The
software program developed at UB was 'trained' to evaluate essays based on
six specific writing traits: ideas, organization, word choice, sentence
structure, voice and conventions like spelling, usage and punctuation.
Collins
said that the software now under development could be used as an important
teaching tool.
"We
envision a program where a student would handwrite an essay, scan it into
the computer, which would then 'read' it and analyze it for the specific
traits we trained it to evaluate," he said.
That
feedback would be available immediately to both teacher and student as a
typed essay, which has been analyzed for the six traits, allowing for more
fruitful lessons on how to edit and revise, Collins said.
The
software program also provides new opportunities for education researchers
like Collins, who is working with colleagues at UB on a three-year, $1.5
million project called Writing Intensive Reading Comprehension funded by
the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education.
The study involves more than 2,000 fourth and fifth graders in 10
low-performing urban schools. So far, Collins said, the results show that
students can improve their reading abilities significantly through the use
of assisted writing.
"Once
a handwritten essay has been 'read' by a computer, we can ask the computer
to look for certain features of the writing so that we can spot general
patterns and discover what kids are having trouble with," Collins
continued.
Study:
Length of children's sleep duration varies; can influence their weight,
behavior
The
duration of a child’s sleep can vary, depending on the time of day, week
and year. Further, children who don’t get enough nightly sleep are more
likely to be overweight and have behavioral problems, according to a study
published in the January 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
The
study, authored by Professor Ed Mitchell, of the University of Auckland in
New Zealand, focused on 591 seven-year-old children whose sleep duration
was assessed by actigraphy (a non-invasive method used to study sleep-wake
patterns and circadian rhythms by assessing movement) at four different
stages of their young lives: at birth, at one year, at three-and-a-half
years and at seven years.
According
to the results, the average time spent in bed was 10.1 hours. Sleep
duration was shorter:
·
On
weekends than on weekdays.
·
In
the summer, compared with spring, autumn and winter.
·
In
those with no younger siblings.
·
When
bedtime was after 9:00 p.m.
Children
who slept less than nine hours were more likely to be overweight or obese
and to have a 3.34 percent increase in body fat than those who slept for
more than nine hours. Short sleep duration was also associated with higher
emotional liability scores.
"Sleep
is important for health and well-being throughout life,” said Professor
Mitchell. “Few studies have objectively measured sleep duration. In this
large study of sleep in seven-year-olds, there was considerable variation
in duration of sleep. Sleep duration was 40 minutes longer in winter than
summer and was 31 minutes longer on weekdays than on the weekend. Short
sleep duration was associated with a three-fold increased risk of the child
being overweight or obese. This effect was independent of physical activity
or television watching. Attention to sleep in childhood may be an important
strategy to reduce the obesity epidemic."
It
is recommended that children in pre-school sleep between 11-13 hours a
night and school-aged children between 10-11 hours of sleep a night.
The
American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) offers some tips to help your
child sleep better:
Follow
a consistent bedtime routine. Set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child
ready to go to sleep each night.
·
Establish
a relaxing setting at bedtime.
·
Interact
with your child at bedtime. Don’t let the TV, computer or video games take
your place.
·
Keep
your children from TV programs, movies, and video games that are not right
for their age.
·
Do
not let your child fall asleep while being held, rocked, fed a bottle, or
while nursing.
At
bedtime, do not allow your child to have foods or drinks that contain
caffeine. This includes chocolate and sodas. Try not to give him or her any
medicine that has a stimulant at bedtime. This includes cough medicines and
decongestants.
It
is important to make sure that your child gets enough sleep and sleeps
well. The value of sleep can be measured by your child’s smiling face,
happy nature and natural energy. A tired child may have development or
behavior problems. A child’s sleep problems can also cause unnecessary
stress for you and the other members of your family.
Parents
who suspect that their child might be suffering from a sleep disorder are
encouraged to consult with their child’s pediatrician or a sleep
specialist.
NEW NATIONAL
POLL: NEARLY 40 PERCENT OF “ETHICALLY PREPARED” TEENS BELIEVE LYING,
CHEATING, OR VIOLENCE NECESSARY TO SUCCEED
A
significant percentage of teenagers who are confident in their ability to
make ethical decisions regard dishonest and even violent behavior as
necessary for success, according to the fifth annual Junior
Achievement/Deloitte Teen Ethics Survey, which polled teens across the
country.
The
majority of teens surveyed (71 percent) say they feel fully prepared to
make ethical decisions when they enter the workforce. Yet 38 percent of
that group believe it is sometimes necessary to cheat, plagiarize, lie or
even behave violently in order to succeed. Nearly one-quarter (24 percent)
of all teens surveyed think cheating on a test is acceptable on some level,
and more than half of those teens (54 percent) say their personal desire to
succeed is the rationale.
In
a particularly alarming finding given recent cases of school violence,
nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of all teens surveyed think violence toward
another person is acceptable on some level. Of those who think so, the
justifications for violence include settling an argument (27 percent) and
revenge (20 percent).
"The
high percentages of teenagers who freely admit that unethical behavior can
be justified is alarming,” said David Miller, Ph.D., executive director of
the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) of
Business Ethics, who reviewed the findings. “It suggests an attitude of
ethical relativism and rationalization of whatever actions serve one's
immediate needs and purposes.
“This
way of thinking will inevitably lead to unethical if not illegal actions
that will damage individual lives and ruin corporate reputations,” he said.
Pressure
to succeed in school seems to be driving many teens’ opinions that
unethical behavior is an acceptable means to an end. Of the teens who think
plagiarism is acceptable on some level, 37 percent think a personal desire
to succeed is justification—that number climbs to 51 percent among the
students who feel overwhelming pressure to succeed.
The
survey also found that teens have difficulty in understanding that
unethical behavior transcends the boundaries between private life, school
or work life, and online behavior. More than a quarter (27 percent) of all
teens surveyed said it is not fair for an employer to suspend or fire
employees for unethical behavior outside of their jobs and another quarter
(26 percent) said they weren’t sure if it was fair or not.
Additionally,
more than half (57 percent) of all teens surveyed believe it is not fair
for employers to make hiring or firing decisions based on material they
have posted to the internet and another 19 percent weren’t sure if it was
fair or not. Illustrating teens’ perception of different ethical standards
for online versus “real world” behavior, nearly half (47 percent) of teens
said it was acceptable on some level to illegally download music without
paying for it, but only 5 percent said it was acceptable to steal something
from a store.
The
survey also found that despite self-confidence in their own ethical
behavior, teens take a pessimistic view of their peers. When asked to
evaluate the behavior of a number of groups - business leaders, religious
leaders, doctors, lawyers, police officers, teachers, professional athletes
and fire fighters - teens ranked high school students second to last. In
their view, only politicians are more unethical than they are.
Methodology
This
Junior Achievement/Deloitte Teen Ethics Survey was conducted online within
the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Junior Achievement
between September 19 to September 26, 2007 among 725 U.S. 13-18 year olds.
13-17 year old results were weighted as needed for age, sex,
race/ethnicity, parental education, urbanicity, and region. 18 year old
results were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education,
region, and household income. Harris Interactive was responsible for the
data collection and Junior Achievement/Deloitte were responsible for the
analyses of the data.
With
a pure probability sample of 725 one could say with a ninety-five percent
probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-4
percentage points. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples may be
higher and may vary. However, this does not take other sources of error
into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and
therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
All
sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are
subject to multiple sources of error which are m | 
