Best Practices in Social Studies Assessment

Best Practices in Social Studies Assessment PDF Author: Mark Pearcy
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1681237636
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
The importance of social studies assessment is beyond question. The National Council of the Social Studies’ C3 Framework recognizes the importance of high?quality assessments—its major objective, a “deep understanding of the sociocultural world,” has as its underpinning the idea that students must be able to investigate the world, and that teachers much be able to assess their understanding of it. However, there is a comparative dearth of research that focuses on effective social studies assessment, particularly with regard to the impact of teacher practice on the development of best practices. Such research is vital to moving social studies away from an emphasis on testing and more towards using assessment as a means of educating our students. In Best Practices of Social Studies Assessment, we focus on an essential question: what is an "effective" assessment? Helping teachers develop practical, creative, curriculum?appropriate strategies is essential, especially in an era in which teachers are faced with the dilemma of creating inquiry?based assessments in the midst of preexisting regimes of standardized summative assessments. In this volume, research conducted between university professors and working teachers is described, focusing on innovative assessment practices. These practices include role?playing activities depicting historical events; Socratic seminars revolving around public policy issues; collaborative student projects on a wide range of social inquiries, including the implementation of UN programs; and the promotion of critical thinking and writing skills, on subjects as diverse as school violence and the impact of imperialism. These adaptive assessments highlight the essential role of the teacher in creating assessments that blend higher?order critical thinking, complex content knowledge, and an understanding of their own students. The strategies described in this volume focus on the ability of expert educators to “[acknowledge] the structures, power, and consequences of high?stakes testing regimes while simultaneously designing and sustaining classroom assessment methods that embody the social?participatory nature of learning and reflect research on effective practice” (p. 289). The volume also describes the shared characteristics of the teachers who created these assessments, especially their emphasis on self?reflection and student autonomy, as well as their professional willingness to take on challenges associated with performance?based assessments, even in the face of institutional pressures and external demands.

Best Practices in Social Studies Assessment

Best Practices in Social Studies Assessment PDF Author: Mark Pearcy
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1681237636
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 158

Get Book Here

Book Description
The importance of social studies assessment is beyond question. The National Council of the Social Studies’ C3 Framework recognizes the importance of high?quality assessments—its major objective, a “deep understanding of the sociocultural world,” has as its underpinning the idea that students must be able to investigate the world, and that teachers much be able to assess their understanding of it. However, there is a comparative dearth of research that focuses on effective social studies assessment, particularly with regard to the impact of teacher practice on the development of best practices. Such research is vital to moving social studies away from an emphasis on testing and more towards using assessment as a means of educating our students. In Best Practices of Social Studies Assessment, we focus on an essential question: what is an "effective" assessment? Helping teachers develop practical, creative, curriculum?appropriate strategies is essential, especially in an era in which teachers are faced with the dilemma of creating inquiry?based assessments in the midst of preexisting regimes of standardized summative assessments. In this volume, research conducted between university professors and working teachers is described, focusing on innovative assessment practices. These practices include role?playing activities depicting historical events; Socratic seminars revolving around public policy issues; collaborative student projects on a wide range of social inquiries, including the implementation of UN programs; and the promotion of critical thinking and writing skills, on subjects as diverse as school violence and the impact of imperialism. These adaptive assessments highlight the essential role of the teacher in creating assessments that blend higher?order critical thinking, complex content knowledge, and an understanding of their own students. The strategies described in this volume focus on the ability of expert educators to “[acknowledge] the structures, power, and consequences of high?stakes testing regimes while simultaneously designing and sustaining classroom assessment methods that embody the social?participatory nature of learning and reflect research on effective practice” (p. 289). The volume also describes the shared characteristics of the teachers who created these assessments, especially their emphasis on self?reflection and student autonomy, as well as their professional willingness to take on challenges associated with performance?based assessments, even in the face of institutional pressures and external demands.

Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School Social Studies

Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School Social Studies PDF Author: Bruce E. Larson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317539427
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 406

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Book Description
Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School Social Studies: Methods, Assessment, and Classroom Management is an exciting methods-based text that integrates appropriate management and assessment techniques with seven distinct teaching strategies. Writing explicitly for pre-service social studies teachers, veteran teacher educator Bruce E. Larson offers detailed descriptions of a range of instructional strategies, along with guidelines for deciding how and when to use each. Part I offers the foundations for teaching and learning in a social studies classroom, and explores contextual, theoretical, and policy factors that all teachers need to consider before entering the classroom. Part II delivers a range of comprehensive strategies for providing instruction that is appropriate for particular lessons, student abilities, and classroom environments. The practical strategies in Part II build upon the learning theories described in Part I, positioning Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School Social Studies to be the go-to, all-inclusive teacher’s guide to the social studies classroom. New to this Edition A list of goals before each chapter presents an overview of the chapter’s content focus, and provides an outline for the chapter review. Extensively revised Part I (chapters 1–4) provides an updated review of national standards developed for teaching history, geography, civics, and economics. In-depth applications of the Common Core State Standards for the social studies are also explored. New "Reality Check" feature provides directions for integrating field-based experiences into the chapters, and contextualizes the ideas in the book for a classroom setting. Each chapter in Part II (chapters 5–11) has been expanded to include a section labeled "Enhancing Student Learning with Technology," offering websites, links, and other resources for integrating recent technologies into the classroom. Chapters 5–11 include a new "Making Your Lesson More Meaningful for ELLs" feature, which provides ideas—based on current research and theories about learning language—for engaging ELLs, specific for each instructional strategy. Expanded discussion of the "Understanding by Design" model equips teachers to design learning experiences that promote student understanding by intentionally designing what happens in the classroom, and developing authentic formative assessments of student learning.

Practical Strategies for Teaching K-12 Social Studies in Inclusive Classrooms

Practical Strategies for Teaching K-12 Social Studies in Inclusive Classrooms PDF Author: Timothy Lintner
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1617355895
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
With the national push towards inclusion, more students with disabilities are being placed in general education settings. Furthermore, when placed, more students with disabilities are entering social studies classrooms than any other content area. Classroom teachers are being asked to “reach and teach” all students, often with little support. There are numerous texts on the teaching of social studies, an equal number on teaching students with disabilities. Blending best practice in social studies and special education instruction, this book provides both pre – and in-service educators simple, practical strategies that support the creation of engaging, relevant, and appropriate social studies opportunities for all students. Though the strategies presented are useful for all students, they are particularly beneficial for students with disabilities. From Universal Design for Learning, mnemonics, graphic organizers, and big ideas, to co-teaching, screen readers and the Virtual History Museum, this book offers hands-on, practical ideas general educators can use when teaching K-12 social studies in inclusive classrooms.

The Status of Social Studies

The Status of Social Studies PDF Author: Jeff Passe
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1623964148
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
A team of researchers from 35 states across the country developed a survey designed to create a snapshot of social studies teaching and learning in the United States. With over 12,000 responses, it is the largest survey of social studies teachers in over three decades. We asked teachers about their curricular goals, their methods of instruction, their use of technology, and the way they address the needs of English language learners and students with disabilities. We gathered demographic data too, along with inquiries about the teachers' training, their professional development experiences, and even whether they serve as coaches. The enormous data set from this project was analyzed by multiple research teams, each with its own chapter. This volume would be a valuable resource for any professor, doctoral student, or Master’s student examining the field of social studies education. It is hard to imagine a research study, topical article, or professional development session concerning social studies that would not quote findings from this book about the current status of social studies. With chapters on such key issues as the teaching of history, how teachers address religion, social studies teachers’ use of technology, and how teachers adapt their instruction for students with disabilities or for English language learners, the book’s content will immediately be relevant and useful.

Authentic Assessment in Social Studies

Authentic Assessment in Social Studies PDF Author: David Sherrin
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0429536704
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
This engaging book will show you how to move beyond tests and essay writing to implement authentic assessments in your middle or high school social studies classroom. Award-winning teacher David Sherrin explains the value of authentic assessments and offers practical ways to get started and dive deeper in your own practice. You’ll be encouraged and inspired by the real-life stories of classroom successes and failures that illustrate the points throughout the book. The chapters cover a range of categories, including different types of written, creative, and civic action assessments. The book includes: planning charts and rubrics showing how to use, grade, and give feedback on assessments so they truly aid student learning and progress specific examples, useful tips, and ready-to-go instructions that you can use immediately with your class open-ended assessments encourage scaffolding or adaptation for individual or group work to fit your classroom needs You will learn how to personalize instruction and provide students with avenues for creativity and the types of learning experiences they need to be prepared for a complex world.

Best Practices for State Assessment Systems, Part I

Best Practices for State Assessment Systems, Part I PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309159121
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 95

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Book Description
Educators and policy makers in the United States have relied on tests to measure educational progress for more than 150 years. During the twentieth century, technical advances, such as machines for automatic scoring and computer-based scoring and reporting, have supported states in a growing reliance on standardized tests for statewide accountability. State assessment data have been cited as evidence for claims about many achievements of public education, and the tests have also been blamed for significant failings. As standards come under new scrutiny, so, too, do the assessments that measure their results. The goal for this workshop, the first of two, was to collect information and perspectives on assessment that could be of use to state officials and others as they review current assessment practices and consider improvements.

National Standards for History

National Standards for History PDF Author: National Center for History in the Schools (U.S.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This sourcebook contains more than twelve hundred easy-to-follow and implement classroom activities created and tested by veteran teachers from all over the country. The activities are arranged by grade level and are keyed to the revised National History Standards, so they can easily be matched to comparable state history standards. This volume offers teachers a treasury of ideas for bringing history alive in grades 5?12, carrying students far beyond their textbooks on active-learning voyages into the past while still meeting required learning content. It also incorporates the History Thinking Skills from the revised National History Standards as well as annotated lists of general and era-specific resources that will help teachers enrich their classes with CD-ROMs, audio-visual material, primary sources, art and music, and various print materials. Grades 5?12

Knowing What Students Know

Knowing What Students Know PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309293227
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.

Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education

Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education PDF Author: Jane Marie Souza
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000978834
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
Co-published with “While assessment may feel to constituents like an activity of accountability simply for accreditors, it is most appropriate to approach assessment as an activity of accountability for students. Assessment results that improve institutional effectiveness, heighten student learning, and better align resources serve to make institutions stronger for the benefit of their students, and those results also serve the institution or program well during the holistic evaluation required through accreditation.” – from the foreword by Heather Perfetti, President of the Middle States Commission on Higher EducationColleges and universities struggle to understand precisely what is being asked for by accreditors, and this book answers that question by sharing examples of success reported by schools specifically recommended by accreditors. This compendium gathers examples of assessment practice in twenty-four higher education institutions: twenty-three in the U.S. and one in Australia. All institutions represented in this book were suggested by their accreditor as having an effective assessment approach in one or more of the following assessment focused areas: assessment in the disciplines, co-curricular, course/program/institutional assessment, equity and inclusion, general education, online learning, program review, scholarship of teaching and learning, student learning, or technology. These examples recommended by accrediting agencies makes this a unique contribution to the assessment literature.The book is organized in four parts. Part One is focused on student learning and assessment and includes ten chapters. The primary focus for Part Two is student learning assessment from a disciplinary perspective and includes four chapters. Part Three has a faculty engagement and assessment focus, and Part Four includes four chapters on institutional effectiveness and assessment, with a focus on strategic planning.This book is a publication of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), an organization of practitioners interested in using effective assessment practice to document and improve student learning.

Social Studies for the Elementary and Middle Grades

Social Studies for the Elementary and Middle Grades PDF Author: Cynthia S. Sunal
Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
ISBN: 9780205518876
Category : Constructivism (Education)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Replete with lessons, best practices in teaching strategies, and the latest on the constructivist approach, this text demonstrates how to help diverse students construct important social studies concepts and skills. Packed with activities, up-to-date technology, teaching strategies, and a constructivist approach, this text demonstrates how to use developmentally appropriate strategies to help students construct important social studies ideas and skills. Building on the success of previous editions, Social Studies for the Elementary and Middle Grades discusses flexible strategies for teaching today's diverse learner, the structure of the knowledge to be learned, how to help students reconstruct present ideas, and how to translate theory and recent research into lesson plans and units.Social Studies Methods with a constructivist approach. Designed as a main text for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in both Elementary and Middle School social studies methods in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction