Quality Control =Guaranteed Obsolescence

Mandatory Standardized Testing=

Guaranteed Failure

The Goal of EducationTeach Students

How to Learn“The future belongs to the learning, not the

learned.”

“Human history is a race between education and catastrophe.”

H.G. Wells

How to Improve Your Test Scores

First, check to make sure weaker students live in your district.

Secondly, if you have a weak student encourage them to put in another teacher's name on the test form.

Thirdly, use a cooperative learning approach to the test by having the weaker students work closely

with the stronger ones.

Fourth, have a personal talk with some parents about the fact that the government

is going to use the test data in ways too horrible to mention. And, tell them they can opt-out.

Fifth, have the opt-out papers handy.

orHow to Empower Students and Raise Test Scores with Less Work

By

Alan HaskvitzNational Teachers Hall of Fame

National Awards in Economics, Technology, EnvironmentNational Middle Level Teacher of the Year

USA Today All American EducatorInternational Teacher of the Year

Reader's Digest Hero in EducationVoted 100 Most Important Educators in World

Three Golden Bells and a Pear Tree.

Never been observed by a superintendent or Department of Education official

Do less

Students standing at desk are probably a sign of one of five things:

The teacher wants to be the center of learning.

The teacher didn't explain the lesson well enough.

The teacher is lonesome.

The students are lonesome.

There is a shortage of restroom passes.

The teacher is preparing them to stand in line at Disneyland.

The bottom line

Cardinal Rule: Empower Your Students

The Best Way to Learn is to Teach Others

And RememberYou are helping students become

Self-Actualized and (insert current Pedagogical Innovation phrase here).

Doing Less Means

Students Learn More Process

Why not let them write some tests?

Why not let them prepare lessons?

Why not let them find resources?

Cast Down Your Bucket

Use resources in the community

Senior Citizens

Retired Teachers not Substituting

(if there are any)

College students and professors

City OfficialsGovernment Agencies

agriculture, censushttp://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0666000.html

http://www.campaignmoney.com/

Before I give some ideas that I use to improve standardized test scores…

Proof that they do work

In a school with seven sub-categories,

including three minorities: ESL,

and low income groups

My test scores have been nearly

100 points higher than neighboring schools.

2011California Standardized Test Score

Results for my students

Of 170 Students160 Finished in top two state

categories

2012 Top State Middle School Social Studies

Score: 469

Haskvitz Score474

And, My students do not cheat

Research has shownThat technology helps

Improve student performance

“In helping students prepare for tests, remember that performance deficits usually arise from failures of retrieval, not failure of storage or encoding. Simply encoding information is not learning it - retrieval and expression is what demonstrates learning. Testing enhances Long Term Memory much more so than just further study, unless the study time actually involves retrieval. So tell your students that "effortful retrieval" is the strongest learning tool. Self testing opportunities should be plentiful in test preparation. Remind your students, "don't just review, retrieve, retrieve, retrieve". Ralph Miller, PhD. Binghamton University- SUNY. "Functional Analysis of Learning and Its Failures: The Benefits of Imperfect Retrieval." Presented August 14, 2010 APA Annual Convention, San Diego, CA

The real secret is RETRIEVAL

Ideas Use old standardized tests as practice tests. http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/test-making.html

Use bookmark sites to list self help student work http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/bookmark_sites.html

Review material twice. Once at start of the year once in March. This builds up Confidence and helps as students mature* during the year.*allegedly

The second time through the students are empowered to help teach the lessons. Peer Pressure

A study out of Ohio State University shows students do better with more frequent testing. Weekly spot quizzes tended to have a greater effect on exam improvement than homework. Kass, S. 1999. APA Monitor, vol. 30(9).

Testing Works Best

http://brains.org/

Does guessing wrong on a practice test engrain the incorrect answer for the real test? Apparently not. In practice tests, some students were encouraged not to guess and others were required to guess. Guessing wrong had no effect on their test performance when given a week later. Kang, S. et al. 2011. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 103(1), 48 - 59.

Guessing

http://brains.org/

Use the Fry Writing

Formula to Increase

Writing Level

Of course this doesn’t always work

Fry Formula

How it Works

• Students write one page on any topic

• Show students how to use Graph

• Review what a syllable is and how to count them

• Have them “grade” their work

• They keep the results to themselves

• All future work must be at grade level

• Students place grade level next to their name

• Have a thesaurus or ten in the room

And Work on Topic Sentence

• It should not start with A, And, The, or a pronoun, and the sentence could also include a phrase.

• Underline all one syllable words

• This forces the students to adjust their writing process.

• Integrate the writing….library visit for setting.

Teach students how to write questionsStem:Two sentences. One explaining contentand other stating the question.

For example, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamationfreed some slaves. Which states did the Proclamation impact?

Distracters or possible answers should not be none of some or all of the above. There should also be four of them.Use Scantrons or other fill-in type answer sheets to get the students used to this system.

Relate to Them

• Students learn best when they can relate the questions and concepts to their own lives

• For example, current events resulted in newsletter for hospitals

• Improving imagery in writing resulted in audio tapes for the blind

• Geography resulted in games around the world

What Happens Next

• Students don’t tell anyone their level.

• They need to rewrite it at grade level and give them a few days.

• They should have access to a thesaurus

• Show them how to use it.

• All written work must now have a writing level next to the name.

When you are done with a test

Have a student group look them over to see which questions were the most frequently missed.

Their answers could provide you with feedback on what to review.

Use your test results as your best guide to improving.

Give lots of tests during the year...small tests, easy to grade

Tests are a learning tool.

Have peer grading done for the smaller ones

Give tests that count as you like, but I do it basedon the homework. Homework does help if it reinforces skills taught in class

Go over your student scores on last state tests.

Look at how many questions are asked in each segment.

When reviewing stress those areas. For example, in social studies

it is the Civil War and the Constitution.Teach the process.

How to learn is the most important thing. Have them teach others.

What process did you use? Use Linking

Use Three transfers and reading does not countExamples from Bloom plus teaching others,

mnemonic devises, Indian story beads, lesson acting

Research-based specific things that teachers Can do to improve test scores.

To Improve Elementary Reading Test Scores

•Make reading a fun and enjoyable activity.

•Research shows that students who perform well on standardized reading tests enjoy reading and find it fun.

•Focus on building student vocabulary.

•Provide time for silent reading

Raising Middle School Reading Test Scores

•Projects based on what a student reads

•Making predictions

•Having group discussion on what is read

•Writing journal entries on what is read

I teach them to read the last chapter first and to speed read

Raising High School Reading Test ScoresReading for enjoyment•Reading is a favorite activity•Positive teacher attitude•Writing about what you read at least once a month•Books read outside of school

Factors that Do Not Influence Reading Scores at High School•Assigning homework that students must complete with parents•Using parents as aids in the classroom•Making predictions•Reading aloud•Silent reading

Awesome Stories as Resource for Common Core Language Arts

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3 Analyze how incidents in a story propel the action

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.7 Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.9 Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.

http://www.awesomestories.com/

Awesome StoriesSome Videos with Explanations

300 - Battle of Thermopylae ARGO Aviator Beautiful Mind, A Beowulf Black Hawk Down Braveheart Charlotte's Web Four FeathersThe Hunger Games I Am DavidKing Arthur Quiet American, The Red Tails Remember The Titans Seabiscuit Shadow of the Vampire: The Real Dracula Shadowlands The Lorax The Raven

Argo

Real Story of ArgoWaiting for the delay to be lifted was mentally exhausting for the six. Without thinking, Joe - who understands Farsi, picked-up a newspaper and started reading. Mendez was shocked. Who would believe that a Canadian movie-maker could understand Farsi? At about the same time, Joe realized what he was doing and put the paper down. He'd avoided what could have been a disastrous unraveling of the escape plan. Once the flight was ready to go, the escaping Americans had to clear security checkpoints again. Crossing the tarmac, in the airport bus, the "ARGO" crew members were stunned to see "Aargau” written on the airplane. Perhaps a good omen for their escape? The joy of escape was slightly diminished when they learned they were not going home. No one could know about their escape, for fear of what would happen to the hostages still in Iran. They lived in hiding in Florida until all the hostages were released.

e

.To Improve Elementary Level Math Test Scores:

•Spend 3-5 hours on math a week.

Avoid excess homework. Research shows that an excess of 15 minutes of math homework each day might actually hinder the goal of improving test scores.

•Ability grouping is helpful as well

Strategies that Have No Impact on Elementary Math Test Scores

The frequency in which teachers assign written responses has little impact, but assign some

•Individual and group assignments

•Multiple choice tests

•Use of the computer to play math games

•Use of the computer for drill or practice in math

•Math specialist to provide enrichment

•Math specialist to provide remediation

.

Strategies that can have a negative impact on state standardized math test scores

While it may seem counter intuitive, students who spend more than 5 hours a week on math actually have lower scores than those who spend 3-5 hours a week in math class.

Additionally, for middle school students, having up to an hour of homework can be very helpful, but more than this can negatively impact test scores.

•Using the computer in math class can actually hurt scores

•Use of a calculator during class can hurt test scores significantly

•Drill and practice for basic facts has a negative impact

on middle school math test scores

Get into the head of the assessment writer

Teach key words to look for such as not, all, except.Teach the students to anticipate from the question. Look for clues...all, you only need to know ONE insect to get the answer correct.

What features do all insects have? A) 2 legs and 4 body parts B) 4 legs and 2 body parts C) 6 legs and 3 body parts D) 8 legs and 3 body parts

Teach from today backwards. Make connectionsIntegrate lessons with other teachers. PoemsMnemonic devisesMake more hands-on lessons (not puppets)Use current events.Use quality circlesJig Saw large amounts of materialHave students create their own textbookhttp://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/united-states-history/52327

And PowerPointshttp://userwebs.inreach.com/~s-uzweb/main

And publish themhttp://www.octa-trails.org/learn/resources/powerpoints/wagons.pdf

Use a variety of methods to teach basics.

Give them the Answers. They provide the questions.

Finding free resources

Reach Every Child

10,000 free resources updated every two weekshttp://www.reacheverychild.com

Practice Test PracticeFrom Kathie Nunley's Educator's NewsletterDoes guessing wrong on a practice test engrain the incorrect answer for the real test? 

According to new research in practice tests, some students were encouraged not to guess and others were required to guess (in order to advance to the next question)..….

1/24/12

MORE IDEAS-Triage -Listen to the students wrong answers“Lost Scout Approach”-Living Spread Sheet history-math-whatever-Use visual clues. Research has shown that drawing helps students -Give parents practice tests to help their children-Proper Noun Cards

On Test Day

Make the room comfortable...try to have tests given in the room where the topic is studied

When taking the test remind them to leave questionsthey don't understand to last. Sometimes another question can provide the answer.

Don't test on Monday

Don't test first period

Don't test after lunch

Lie to the students...Use lucky pencil. Research that has shown it works.

The Bottom LineResearch has shown test scoreswill improve the first three to four years and level off or go down slightly after.

it is called gravity

Google Fight Data

School test scores improve 5,190,000 resultsSchool test scores fall 5,160,000 results

Resources/Articles

http://teachers.net/gazette/JUN09/haskvitz/

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/index.html

http://www.awesomestories.com/

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/assessment.html     Links to testing resource sites

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Articles I have written

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