Sentences with phrase «on test preparation»

Although time spent on test preparation increased substantially after the institution of high - stakes accountability, it declined in subsequent years.

Teachers recognize test preparation as necessary in this era of high stakes standardized exams, but most can't afford to spend much precious class time on test preparation activities.

Participants expressed concern about integrating the new curriculum materials within their unique school environments, which included growing class sizes and an emphasis on test preparation.

Did they focus more on test preparation, or did they change how they taught or what they taught so that students learned more?

Among teachers in the lowest - performing schools, we estimated that the amount of time spent on test preparation increased from 14 hours in 1994 to 32 hours in 1999.

By 1999 almost two - thirds of all teachers in the 3rd and 8th grades reported spending more than 20 hours a year on test preparation.

Parents cite a range of concerns, including the amount of classroom time spent on test preparation at the expense of creative lessons and test - stress on their children.

The game show night focuses on student achievement and not specifically on test preparation.

At the same time, school districts must place a high priority on finding ways to minimize the costs associated with time spent on test preparation while maximizing the potential benefits of increased accountability.

Parents were kept in the loop on the test preparations and constantly updated on their children's progress.

And some schools have been able to close gaps by focusing heavily on test preparation.

In particular, observers have expressed concerns that the lowest - performing schools have responded to the policy by simply focusing on test preparation.

Before the implementation of high - stakes testing, an equal proportion of teachers in each grade (about 30 percent) reported spending 20 hours or more on test preparation each year.

Current and former teachers, reflecting on last year's progress, said they worried that they were spending too much time on test preparation and putting too much pressure on students.

The current overemphasis on test preparation and other misuses of standardized testing have taken much of this critical professional skill out of the classroom and away from teachers.

Better yet, you won't need to spend months on test preparation in the spring because your students will already have had a significant amount of practice on the same types of questions they will see on state high - stakes assessments.

From the survey data we estimated that in 1994 teachers were spending an average of about 10.5 hours a year on test preparation activities such as giving practice tests and teaching test - taking strategies.

However, despite the sharp increases observed between 1994 and 1999, in 2001 the proportion of teachers who reported spending more than 20 hours a year on test preparation declined somewhat: from nearly 50 percent in 1999 to 44 percent in 2001.

In addition to an increase in the number of poor students, the funding for schools declined, Common Core standards were introduced, the use of educational software increased, and, in many schools, time spent on test preparation expanded (which often detracts from learning).

The schools could have responded in either of two ways: improving the quality of the education they provided to their publicly funded students, or simply focusing their efforts on test preparation («teaching to the test»).

As 2014 neared, states were spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year on testing and on test preparation materials; the schools in some districts and states were allocating 20 percent of the school year to preparing for state tests.

It thus appears that Oceanside dropped an inadequate bilingual program, and at the same time focused nearly all its energy on test preparation.

I would like to think that our two organizations can be key players in facilitating a more progressive, democratic, and caring education for young children, at a time when too much focus around the world falls on test preparation, national rankings, shoving the curriculum of school into the preschool years, and focusing on science, mathematics and engineering, to the exclusion of the arts, humanities, and interpretive disciplines.

Whilst she accepts that schools and teachers need to be accountable, she said the emphasis was on test preparation because standardised tests were how performance was measured.

* over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning;

In addition, an instructional focus on test preparation narrowed the curriculum.

In many such schools, the pressure to increase reading and math scores led school leaders to mandate that an inordinate amount of time be spent on test preparation at the expense of instruction that would prepare students to succeed in life after school.

a) With a focus on the end of year testing, there inevitably will be a narrowing of the curriculum as teachers focus more on test preparation and skill and drill teaching [6].

The findings also don't appear to reflect «gaming» through an overemphasis on test preparation: At the high school level, the tests given to students were not required by the state and so were unfamiliar to teachers and students.

Although MTAS would like to see a reduction (and elimination in the early years) of standardized testing and time spent on test preparation in CPS, the high - stakes consequences of many standardized tests concern us equally as much.

Not surprisingly, for teachers and students in promotion-gate grades, time on test preparation increased substantially.

Survey items focusing on test preparation activities were much more weakly related to student achievement gains than items focusing on instructional quality.

Program focuses on test preparation, helping with homework, advocacy, parent leadership and more.

To answer these questions we used survey data to trace trends in teachers» reports of the time they spent on test preparation and on the content they emphasized in mathematics and language arts instruction before and after the implementation of the new promotion policy.

«So if we are going to spend a great deal of curriculum time on test preparation we should know why we're doing this and what the validity of the questions are.»

Programs like No Child Left Behind and Common Core — with their focus on «hard skills» and the mastery of content, both very «carpenter» - like approaches to education — have failed children, and teaching has regressed to an emphasis on test preparation.

It is the latest in an ongoing, intense public debate over the practices of the controversial charter network, which has seen a series of troubling incidents come to light amid longtime concerns over its strict approach to discipline, suspension rates, and focus on test preparations.

Teachers must spend precious instructional time on test preparation, despite their conviction that many of the standardized tests they administer inadequately assess what their students know.

Attendance is consistently high for the academic evening that focuses on test preparations and boosting math aptitude.

They say the overreliance on data has harmed education by narrowing curricula and focusing on test preparation to ensure that students pass mandated tests in math and English language arts.

The methods employed by charters to get higher test scores often focus on rigid compliance in a militaristic social environment, combined with a curriculum narrowly focused on test preparation.

As a result, he discovered a profound disconnect between what employers look for in potential employees (critical thinking skills, problem - solving skills, collaboration, creativity, and effective communication) and what our schools provide (passive learning environments and uninspired lesson plans that focus on test preparation and reward memorization).

It is in these schools where the curriculum will be narrowed to focus on test preparation — to the grave detriment of their pupils who need a broad, balanced and exciting curriculum to awake them to the joy, and importance, of learning.

The bill also would require a one - year, statewide survey of school administrators and teachers to assess the amount of time they spend on test preparation and its effect on the quality of instruction.

Accountability pressures focused on test preparation and leading to sanctions comprised the most frequently cited area of dissatisfaction, listed by 25 % of teachers who left.LPI analysis of the Teacher Follow - Up Survey (TFS), 2013, from the Schools and Staffing Survey, National Center for Education Statistics.