Please complete this exam and return it to me by e-mail, or bring it to class on the second weekend. You may use any resources you find appropriate, although I would ask that you work on these individually. The purpose of this exercise is to give you some experience in reading, understanding, and evaluating a secondary source, along with assessing your ability to do this.
Question
As you know, the basic purpose of this course is to help you become critical consumers of educational research and reflective decision makers. Please read the review article "State-Mandated Testing and Teachers' Beliefs and Practice" by Sandra Cimbricz. The article is available online - just click on the link above to get it. As you read the article, answer the following questions:
- Do you agree or disagree with the author? What evidence in the article leads to that conclusion? Please limit your answer to just pointing out a couple of major points that leads to your conclusion. (5 points)
- What is the main point of the article? (4 points) **Note: this question has changed.
- Select three references that appear to be primary sources. Why do you think so? In addition, indicate whether they appear to be peer-reviewed or not. (1 point for each source; 3 points total)
- Do you think her conclusions would still apply? Would they apply in Iowa? How would you know? (3 points)
Please answer these in order, specifically indicating the question and providing your answer.
Total points: 15
Further information on the topic:
For those of you interested in looking further at this issue, you might want to take a look at another interesting research study conducted by Amrein and Berliner from Arizona State University. The study is also in EPAA, at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n18/ They conclude that high-stakes testing either has an indeterminant effect, or actually decreases student achievement.
Last updated 9/15/2002