Standards Books - Page 2

The Truth About Testing: An Educator's Call to Action

W. James Popham

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With public and political demand for educational accountability never higher, educators are under enormous pressure to raise students' scores on standardized achievement tests. Policymakers are backing large-scale, high-stakes testing programs as the best way to determine which schools are failing and which schools are succeeding, and the only way to ensure the quality of students' schooling.

Nonsense, says distinguished educator and author W. James Popham.

In The Truth About Testing: An Educator's Call to Action, Popham explores both the absurdity and the serious destructive consequences of today's testing programs. He uses actual items drawn from current standardized achievement tests to show what these tests really measure and why they should never be used to evaluate school quality or teacher ability.

But, Popham insists, there's a way out of this measurement mess. And it's up to educators to take the first steps. Throughout this commonsense and conversational resource, the author appeals to educators to build their own assessment literacy, spread the word about harmful testing, and reexamine how they use test data in the classroom. He provides advice for distinguishing between sound and unsound large-scale tests, guidelines to help teachers maximize the instructional benefits properly constructed classroom tests can bring, and evidence-gathering strategies for teachers and administrators trying to survive and thrive in an accountability-driven environment.

The book closes with a series of action items for educators interested in ending the score-boosting game, halting the erosion of educational quality, and establishing the kind of testing that can improve student learning.

National Science Education Standards

National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment, National Research Council

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

superb book 5 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

This book gave a comprehensive overview of the issues facing national science standards. Not only did it go over the history of standards, but it delved into the complex issues of teacher participation, community support, and school support equipment. I really enjoyed the organization of the book. it was divided into very coherent and logical arrangement, which enabled easy understanding of the complex issues even to a first-timer like me!

Editorial Review:

This volume offers a coherent vision of what it means to be scientifically literate, describing what all students regardless of background or circumstance should understand and be able to do in science as a result of their learning experience. The standards reflect the principles that learning science is an inquiry-based process, that science in schools should reflect the intellectual traditions of contemporary science, and that all Americans have a role in science reform.

Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Teaching Beyond the Facts

H. Lynn Erickson

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

using facts, not memorizing them 5 out of 5 stars.
21 of 52 people found this review helpful.

As a teacher and ex-curriculum expert, I found the title of the book very interesting. In a world where is possible to access and learn almost every piece of information and fact, it is the duty of the teacher and curricularist to focus on thinking on facts, not memorizing them.

A Book that Changes Traditional Lesson-Planning 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the most engaging and useful books I've read on curriculum. I've been trying to attach concepts to my lesson plans but I've always been uncertain on how effective these plans are. The most useful part of this book was its main theme. That is, how to teach beyond facts. The book is constantly clarifying concepts developed by the author; and uses many models to visualize a concept-based curriculum. It is a must for every teacher and educator working at any level in education.

Editorial Review:

The author defines a concept-based learning program and includes strategies to help create a seamless agenda to teach students the skills they need most to think conceptually and solve problems in today’s complex world.

Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade

Linda Perlstein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A “vivid, unpredictable, fair, balanced and . . . very entertaining” look at how education reforms have changed one typical American elementary school over the course of a year (Jay Mathews, The Washington Post)

The pressure is on at schools across America. In recent years, reforms such as No Child Left Behind have created a new vision of education that emphasizes provable results, uniformity, and greater attention for floundering students. Schools are expected to behave more like businesses and are judged almost solely on the bottom line: test scores.

To see if this world is producing better students, Linda Perlstein immersed herself in a suburban Maryland elementary school, once deemed a failure, that is now held up as an example of reform done right. Perlstein explores the rewards and costs of that transformation, and the resulting portrait—detailed, human, and truly thought-provoking—provides the first detailed view of how new education policies are modified by human realities. 

Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom

H. Lynn Erickson

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"I love the author’s delineation of her own understanding of concept-based teaching over an 18-year period. Somehow that humanizes the work of teaching and helps us understand that only as we risk growth will we be able to guide our students in that way as well."
-Carol Ann Tomlinson, Professor of Educational Leadership
Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

"A worthwhile and important contribution to the field."
-Jay McTighe, Educational Author and Consultant
McTighe and Associates

"Reader friendly, lots of illustrations and examples, personal in tone, and down to earth."
-Kathy Hargrove, Associate Dean
School of Education and Human Development
Southern Methodist University

Teach higher-order thinking while you’re teaching concepts, skills, and content!

This indispensable guide combines proven curriculum design with teaching methods that encourage students to learn concepts as well as content and skills for deep understanding across all subject areas. Synthesizing Lynn Erickson’s past 15 years of field work with teachers, curriculum developers, teacher educators, and instructional leaders, this resource offers a complete guide to designing curriculum and instruction that foster the continuous growth and development of a student’s critical, abstract, and creative learning skills. Educators will learn how to:

• Bring coherence and clarity to high-quality curriculum design and instructional planning
• Teach the way that students’ minds learn best
• Encourage students’ creative and abstract thinking, regardless of level or subject area
• Gain the support of principals and district administrators

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The New Kindergarten: Teaching Reading, Writing, & More

Constance Leuenberger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

So Much In One Book 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 25 people found this review helpful.

Constance Leuenberger's book is an excellent combination of educational philosophy coupled with ideas, ideas, and more ideas!
An easy read that would be a GREAT resource for ALL new Kindergarten teachers and a wonderful resource to help experienced teachers remember how important developementally appropriate strategies are.
This book is full of great ideas, strategies, and tips that are simple and ready to implement. Another strength is how the author shares thoughts for teachers of half day and/or full day programs.
Constance understands how young children learn. She knows that we must teach the "whole" child....from their academic to their social well being.
This book is an excellent addition to your professional library.

Great resource for new classroom ideas 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

I love how this teacher writes about how she sets up her classroom and keeps it organized. She also has some helpful strategies for setting up learning centers, journal writing and how to make your morning message fun, and much more!
I think the ideas in this book will be really helpful in the years to come.

CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide (Exam 640-801)

Richard Deal

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Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Most Complete CCNA Software Exam Preparation Package Available! This study guide provides 100% complete coverage of all objectives for the newly revised CCNA exam, and also covers exam objectives for the INTRO and ICND exams. The book includes an interactive CD containing powerful network simulation tools and exam preparation software powered by Boson Software. The CD contains more than 20 Labs from the book and features hundreds of commands, more than Four Hundred practice exam questions and answers with full explanations, and more than Eight hours of CertCam video training on how to perform complex configurations with IOS commands. All of the step-by-step exercises from the book function with the simulator and give you critical hands-on experience along with the end-of-chapter lab questions that challenge you to think critically and apply knowledge from the chapters. The CD also includes Flash cards for PC, Pocket PC, or Palm (Three hundred original questions and answers), and a free Subnet Calculator and Configuration Register.

History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past

Gary Nash

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A great national controversy over the setting of voluntary standards for the teaching of history in our elementary and high schools erupted in 1994, opening up a new front in the nation's culture wars. As the authors Gary B. Nash, Charlotte Crabtree, and Ross E. Dunn show, this phenomenon was not unfamiliar in the United States. Public debate over history has frequently occurred during the past two centuries, usually involving a clash of views, along the ideological spectrum, regarding the objectives of education in a democratic society. What, the authors ask, is the purpose of teaching history to children? Do we revise and reinterpret the past to tell previously ignored stories because they reflect present-day democratic values and speak to the issues of our own time? Or do we believe that the primary role of schools, textbooks, and museums is to preserve traditional versions of the past, to teach the basic facts, and to instill patriotism in our students? How has this country grappled with these questions and developed its standards in contrast to other nations?

As head of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 through 1992, Lynne Cheney funded the creation of national standards in various disciplines. History was assigned to an office  at the University of California, Los Angeles--designated the National Center for History in the Schools-- where Nash and his colleagues began to gather ideas and opinions from all sectors of the educational community.

After the standards were written and published in 1994, Cheney attacked them in the Wall Street Journal for being too politically correct, for not adequately recognizing some of the great figures of the past, and for giving too much attention to women and minority groups. Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, and other conservative  voices denounced the standards and their writers in a media war that continued for more than a year and culminated in action by the U.S. Senate. History on Trial tells the story of this rancorous debate, how changes in the standards were made, and how the resulting documents are now being widely used in our schools to further the accessibility and relevance of history.

Good-Bye, Mr. Chips

James Hilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

sentimental drivel 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The real problem with this book is that there is no substance to it. I wouldn't even call it fluff because there is no fluff to it either. There's nothing to this book at all.

"Because all things are forgotten in the end." And this shouldn't be. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

"Because all things are forgotten in the end." And this shouldn't be.
The life of a Latin teacher at an English grammar school, "a good school of the second rank," doesn't seem to be the most promising foundation for a novel, but Hilton creates a wonderful character in GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS. In this slim novel, a life of service is examined, and with each vignette, the gentle nature of Chips and the sadness and triumphs of his life are gradually revealed without fanfare, rather they take on an air of grace reflecting the character's own personality. With its brevity and lack of detail, this doesn't fall into the category of a "great novel," but rather a great character is revealed, one that deserves to be remembered.

a GREAT way to spend two hours, but dangerously FLAWED! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love this book. Before I address its weaknesses, let me sing its praises:
1) It is seamlessly written - magically so. Hilton wrote it in a single passionate week, and it reads that way. Apparently he wrote a slew of other books, but this one alone puts him in the top tier of novelists.

2) Mr. Chips (the character, not the book) is ultra-lovable. He is the classic unsung hero who wins the contest in the end: rises above his lostness, insecurities, and weakness and gains admiration, respect, and even self-respect

3) The attention to detail is just phenomenal. It really is a marvel of a book, about a time and place so removed from my present world, yet still so metaphorical for it.

But the flaws (I hate to write this about a book I love so much, but so be it):

1) This book is a homage to mediocrity - the mediocrity (comfort, emotional blindness, averageness) that is killing our planet. Mr. Chips represents the mediocrity in us all. But if we think we can remain mediocre and create a healthy future for our planet, we are sorely mistaken.

2) Thus, I suspect that my love for this book is really about me wanting to believe the fantasy that the side of myself that is stuck can become a hero without growing. Not true!

3) The book rationalizes some abusive behavior of children (i.e. constantly humoring "thrashing" kids) and a certain degree of pandering to the norm (idealizing romance, marriage, comfort, and having kids). Yuck.

4) The book is a metaphorical tale of redemption. That's all good and well, but in this world of crisis the time for metaphor is over. Now is the time to change the world directly - not to strive to live in comfort to the age of 85. The challenge now is to write a book this good doesn't lean on metaphor.

How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards

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Teachers: Are You Grading for Learning? 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

This book is a great resource for anyone looking to make changes to their grading system to be more informative to teaching. It is one of those books that can lead to an epiphany in teaching. You know the kind, "What was I doing before I read this book? Why!?!" This is a great, quick read that can lead you to make a meaningful change in your classroom that will directly benefit your students.

Editorial Review:

Teachers will never look at grading the same way again. In this new edition of a SkyLight best seller, O`Connor shows how to link grades and standards. He updates his eight models, which assist teachers in designing and conducting grading practices that help students feel more in control of their academic success. This comprehensive resource defines the purpose of each guideline, illustrates an example, discusses and analyzes key elements, and supplies overviews of various grading programs and calculation strategies.

`In How to Grade for Learning, Ken O`Connor combines the thoroughness of a scholar with the pragmatism of a veteran educator as he explains the relationship among content standards, performance standards, assignments, assessments, and grades.` –Jay McTighe, Author and Consultant