Children at the Center: A Workshop Approach to Standardized Test Preparation, K-8 » (1st Edition)

Kathe Taylor is Associate Director of Fiscal and Policy Analysis at the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Sherry Walton is a faculty member of the Master in Teaching program at The Evergreen State College.

Do tests really matter? Whether they accurately reflect how much children have learned is a question many teachers would answer with an emphatic "No!" But as the movement for standardized testing sweeps the nation, it is clear that tests do matter: When children don't do well on them, they suffer.

Children at the Center provides solutions for resolving the ethical and practical dilemmas posed by this trend. It was written by teachers who have seen otherwise well-respected schools damaged by poor test scores . . . who have personally struggled with assessment that doesn't align well with curriculums . . . who have discovered that most teachers are ill-equipped to confidently interpret norm-referenced test scores, and therefore be effective advocates for students. Mostly, it is written from a pragmatic perspective geared toward the needs of children. To that end, readers will find:

• an innovative, ethical, inquiry-, and workshop-based approach to test preparation
• practical, teacher-ready workshops and student materials that have been field tested in several states; and refined based on classroom teacher feedback
• models of responses to real-life questions parents typically ask about testing
• a teacher-friendly review of norm-referenced test construction and interpretation.

As standardized tests continue to shape curriculums, and teachers are held more and more accountable for student performance, Children at the Center will prove essential in helping us pass the real test: preparing children for the future.

	Acknowledgments
	Introduction
Pt. 1	Building the Bridge Between Assessment and Instruction
Ch. 1	Co-opting Standardized Tests in the Service of Learning	3
Ch. 2	Who's "Norm" and What's He Doing in My Class? A Primer on Norm-Referenced Tests	13
Ch. 3	When Parents Meet "Norm": Helping Parents Understand Test Scores	35
Pt. 2	Making Tests Work for Children
Ch. 4	Creating Test-Friendly Environments	51
Ch. 5	Workshop One: Assessing Students' Expectations and Attitudes	61
Ch. 6	Workshop Two: Exploring Students' Reactions to Tests and Current Strategies	64
Ch. 7	Workshop Three: Thinking Allowed; Thinking Aloud	70
Ch. 8	Workshop Four: Figuring Out What Works and Why	74
Ch. 9	Workshop Five: Thinking Inside and Outside the Box	77
Ch. 10	Workshop Six: Solving the Mystery of Multiple-Choice Tests	82
Ch. 11	Workshop Seven: Thinking Like a Detective	89
Ch. 12	Workshop Eight: Assessing Students' Experiences and Reactions	94
Ch. 13	Stories from the Front: The Ethics and Practice of Test Preparation	95
	Preassessment of Children's Attitudes and Experiences: What Do You Think About Tests?	113
	Practice Test 1	115
	Overheads (4)	118
	Practice Test 2	122
	Answers to Practice Test Questions	125
	Postassessment of Children's Attitudes and Experiences: So, What Did You Think?	126
	Bibliography	129