Teaching in the Flat World will help school systems improve their teacher workforce by drawing important lessons from nations with high-performing educational systems, as well as from successful state experiments in the United States.The authors examine common features and differences in the approaches of high-performing systems that made education a top priority and developed high-leverage strategies to meet their goals. Their varied solutions offer valuable ideas for how to crea...

Something in Common is the first book to provide a detailed look at the groundbreaking Common Core State Standards and their potential to transform American education.This book tells the story of the unfolding political drama around the making of the Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts, which were adopted by 43 states and the District of Columbia over a six-month period in 2010, after decades of similar proposals had gone down in flames.As a senio...

In clear and concise language, veteran education writer Robert Rothman identifies nine instructional “shifts” encouraged by the new Common Core State Standards and provides examples of how teachers and school districts are overcoming challenges in implementation.He presents the research and rationale behind each change and provides examples of teachers making the shifts as well as sample test questions that could be used to gauge student progress in the future. Rot...

Try going a week without hearing a call for a massive overhaul of our educational system. Parents, students, educators, bureaucrats, pundits . . . everyone says something must be done. But what? And who should do it?In this environment, school leaders must build bridges for change. As the system now stands, many students spend great portions of their lives feeling inferior if they struggle, invisible if they already know the material, problematic if they're not a child of ...

"[The anti-testing] movement now has a guidebook. . . . Kamenetz shows how fundamentally American it would be to move toward a more holistic system." -- New York Times Book ReviewThe Test is an essential and critically acclaimed book for any parent confounded by our national obsession with standardized testing. It recounts the shocking history and tempestuous politics of testing and borrows strategies from fields as diverse as games, neuroscience,...

This book provides advice, guidance and sample questions for the new question format introduced for the March 2012 Part 1 MRCOG examination: single best answer questions (SBAs). Essential reading for all Part 1 MRCOG candidates, the book offers key insights into the new style of paper, including: • an introduction to SBAs and why they have been introduced • a guide to how to approach and answer SBAs • over 300 sample questions covering all domains and modules of the Part 1 curriculum • two...

Research shows that when English language learners understand the vocabulary used on tests, their scores soar—critical information for schools in an age of testing and accountability. This manual provides evidence-based, teacher-friendly lesson plans that will help English language learners deal with unfamiliar language features on standardized test questions. Teaching Your Secondary ELL Students the Academic Language of Tests supports English language arts teachers in grades 6-12 in provi...

This book takes a developmental perspective at the use of scoring rubrics to assess student work. Citing developmental characteristics of each age, the author presents examples and adaptations of assessment rubrics on a variety of subjects for teachers from kindergarten through adult/college. After a presentation of foundation information on rubrics, separate chapters are devoted to each grade level from primary through adult. Written so that each chapter can be addressed independently, th...

No more unproductive meetings! The complete guide to getting the most out of every gathering of educators.Do your meetings spiral angrily out of control? Or simply not make the most of the participants’ talents? Lemons to Lemonade by Robert J. Garmston and Diane P. Zimmerman is the playbook you need to promote civil, productive discourse, detailing:How to prepare yourself to facilitate the discussion and keep it on t...

Automatic item generation (AIG) represents a relatively new and unique research area where specific cognitive and psychometric theories are applied to test construction practices for the purpose of producing test items using technology. The purpose of this book is to bring researchers and practitioners up-to-date on the growing body of research on AIG by organizing in one volume what is currently known about this research area. Part I begins with an overview of the concepts and topics nece...

Education in the Balance explores the significant choices and opportunities worldwide that are opening up to school leaders of the future for the development of schools and school systems. It argues that the judgments of individuals in leadership positions in a wide range of settings, including ministries of education, schools, private companies and NGOs may, cumulatively, have unintended implications for schools and school systems. In failing to give sufficient consideration to a...

One of the areas of study students find most difficult to master--and are most fearful of--is math. Yet the core math skills acquired in the first four years of school form the basis of all future academic success. Get Ready for Standardized Tests, the first and only grade-specific test prep series, now features hands-on guidance on helping kids master the all-important basic math skills while arming parents with the tools they need to help their children succeed.