Standardized testing in many ways dictates the teaching of students. It determines how teachers teach and what is necessary for the students to know. If a school does not do well in the state wide test they may not receive funding and fall behind academically. This has pushed schools to teach toward the test. Teachers and students understand the importance of testing well and the impact if the students do not progress. The school and its stakeholders all play a large part in ensuring the success of the students.
“Most recently,the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; U.S. Congress, 2002) dramatically increased the prevalence and stakes of standardized testing for public school children in elementary, middle, and high school by requiring annual testing of statewide academic achievement assessments in the areas of reading and mathematics during Grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. NCLB test scores are publicly reported and linked to rewards and sanctions, such as school funding, administration, and employment decisions, making this testing high-stakes in nature for educators and communities” (Segool, N. K., Carlson, J. S., Goforth, A. N., von der Embse, N., & Barterian, J. A. (2013).
The Essay on To What Extent Should High School Students Be Allowed To
To What Extent Should High School Students be allowed to Exercise Freedom of Speech While on Campus I think that nowadays to deal with an issue of students free speech rights is a tough problem for High School administrators. The matter is that students free speech is protected by the First Amendment. Thus it means that students are allowed to exercise free speech while on campus. But what should ...
Statement of the Problem
In the District of Philadelphia’s Tanner Duckrey Elementary School 75% of the students are performing one to two years below grade level according to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) (“Clear”, 2014); however the students are being sent to the next grade level regardless, causing the proficiency gap to continually grow. If something is not done to solve this growing problem and increase outside knowledge of the subject, Tanner Duckrey like so many other Philadelphia elementary schools, may continue to fall behind, lose state funding, and eventually close. This issue will lead to an overcrowding of schools, students drop out rate rising, and potentially a growth in youth violence and criminal activity. Relation of the Problem to the Specialization
Low standardized test scores for a school directly affect the administrator of that school. The test scores determine how the school must operate, the funding it will receive, and the overall pressure the school feels to make certain the school passes and or improves the following year. Creating guidelines and an understanding of how to improve a school’s test scores will help to administrators and educators to acquire a skill set that leads toward student achievement in standardized testing and a successful school. Background and Context for the Problem
Tanner Duckrey resides in a low socio economic area of the city. The school has recently undergone budgetary cuts; these cuts included the dean, Vice Principal, security, hall staff, and left a single administrator in charge of 640 students. These cuts have created a lack of structured learning and negatively affected the schools PSSA scores. Standardized testing is a subject in education that is consistently analyzed and looked upon in research because it affects the way a school is run and how the state funds them. Although the research is evident there are limited effective guidelines and procedures in place that provide an overall outline of general ways to quickly increase these scores in an efficient way. As a result, this has led to an increased amount of schools being shut down within low socio-economic areas where funding is critical. Research Questions/Hypotheses
What are the current scores of Tanner Duckrey’s students? Where do the scores need to be to pass? What percentage of students are below basic what is the gap? How can the students below basic and or grade level be brought to grade level? What areas are students scoring low in? Are there any patterns? What are the areas of weakness? What percentages of students are of an economic disadvantage? What is the school size? What is the classroom size? What is the ratio of teachers to students? Does school size and classroom size play a role in the test scores? Are funds being allocated properly to help fix the problem? How do the scores compare to private schools? What variables and factors compare public vs private? Does teacher experience and salary factor in the success of the students? Importance of Significance of the Study
The Research paper on Perception on the Nursing Profession and Career Choice of High School Students
According to Wieck (2006), the nursing workforce seems to be at an exciting crossroad of change, both in recruiting and in curriculum. The environment of healthcare has changed and so has nursing, resulting in students asking, “What is nursing?” This question creates a challenge for nurse educators. In order to attract and retain bright, capable students in nursing, there must be changes in the ...
Tanner Duckrey Elementary School resides in a low-socio economic area of North Philadelphia where violence and crime are ever present and understood by the students at a young age. The children of the school deserve a chance at succeeding. This can be accomplished by further exploring the problem of low test scores in order to bridge the gap and by taking action now. This solution will allow a better future for many of these students and an opportunity to succeed in an otherwise harsh reality while also providing a template for other schools to improve and develop as well. Topics in the Literature Review
Per the literature review for this study the first of the major themes will focus on standardized testing in public schools vs standardized testing in private schools. This theme will provide a background of data concerning public schools and private schools, the various schools size, how well these schools have done in the past on standardized testing. The subthemes for this research will dive deeper into an understanding of various public schools vs. private schools including classroom size, teacher to student ratio, teacher salaries, and teacher experience. This information will provide an understanding and comparison of various schools to determine if students with more one on one attention and teachers who are of more experience and higher pay effect the student scores.
The Term Paper on What Factors Influence High School Students
It is also a growing industry in all parts of the world starting from kindergarten to the tertiary level. Parents and students today are much more awarded than they used to be few decades ago and realize the significance of a good education in their lives and how a good education from a reputed and well placed university can help them prosper in their professional careers. The education industry ...
The second major theme will be a focus on the socio-economic status of the students. Do more affluent students tend to score higher? Does a school with a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students score lower? The subthemes will include money allocation, school programs, activities and success rates of low socio economic schools. Where is money allocated in both of these schools? Do schools with more funding provide better programs? How can schools with an economic disadvantage succeed?
Methodology
The study will be conducted using quantitative data. A descriptive research design will be utilized in order to gather data that describes the various reasons why the school is scoring low on the PSSA and what the important variables seems to be that are leading to this. Also a correlation research design will be used while conducting this study, data will be gathered and relationships will be found between two or more variables and then investigated further in order to find an appropriate solution. Data Collection
The quantitative data collection will be completed by teachers, administrators, counselors, and students of Tanner Duckrey. It will be located in school and also found online. The data collected includes, past and present PSSA test scores, past and present report cards, benchmark scores, observations of student behaviors (Tanner Duckrey students only), school size, classroom size, teacher salaries, and teacher experience from Tanner Duckrey. Research and data will also be collected on schools in similar low socio-economic areas of the School District of Philadelphia. These schools will have 50% or more economically disadvantage students.
In addition data will be collected from one or more private schools that have less than 10% economically disadvantaged students. This data will be collected weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually from Duckrey staff. In addition, the data will be collected quarterly and annually (or as available) from other schools needed for comparisons. Permission for information may be obtained from subject school’s administration (for Philadelphia School District) and or only public based information will be utilized for the study if necessary. Data Analysis
The quantitative data collected will then be analyzed in order to determine if the variables found are a factor in the low test scores at Tanner Duckrey. This data will be compiled and compared in order to determine trends, and patterns that will demonstrate areas of focus in order to increase test scores. The statistical information will determine the effect of variables on the PSSA scores. Variables such as economic disadvantage vs affluent students; teacher salary, teacher experience, class size, school size, etc will be compared and analyzed in order to create a statistical analysis of Tanner Duckrey. The statistical analysis will provide a clear understanding of the variables that may be affecting the student’s scores and insight as to improving them. The analysis will be providing data to correspond to answer the research questions posed?
Public Schools Preparing Students for the Real World
Nation article, that even with a high school diploma, students find themselves unprepared for college’s academic challenges. He states that it is a tough lesson to learn the hard way “through experience” for many students now arriving on campus. To support his suggestion he includes a study that one in three students entering college have to enroll in remedial courses in order to continue with ...
References
Clear Standards (2014).
Pennsylvania Department of Education, Standards Aligned System. Retrieved from http://www.pdseas.org
Segool, N. K., Carlson, J. S., Goforth, A. N., von der Embse, N., & Barterian, J. A. (2013).
HEIGHTENED TEST ANXIETY AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ANXIOUS RESPONSES TO HIGH-STAKES TESTING. Psychology In The Schools, 50(5), 489-499. doi:10.1002/pits.21689
Tajalli, H., & Opheim, C. (2005).
Strategies for Closing the Gap: Predicting Student Performance in Economically Disadvantaged Schools. Educational Research Quarterly, 28(4), 44-54.
