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Testing And De Grading Schools : Authentic Alternatives For Accountability And Standardization

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Alex Guerrero July 4, 2015 EDDL 941 Book Review Bower, J., & Thomas, P. L. (Eds.). (2013). De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. Synopsis: I found De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization by Bower and Thomas, an interesting read and consistent with the critiques of high stakes testing and assessment we’ve read about and watched in this class. It is a collection of essays from educators and stakeholders in the field. The book is broken up into distinct sections, the first focused on testing and the second on grading. A historical context regarding failures of testing and grading is also provided to give context to the current problems with high stakes assessment and grading. The main message presented in this book is that high stakes testing and assessments (grading) are not working and alternatives should be considered. Specifically, the law of No Child Left Behind is critiqued through out, especially in the first few chapters. Each essay in this book gives its own perspective along with their own arguments and case studies to demonstrate that high stakes testing and assessment are failing American kids. Some empirical evidence is used but it’s mainly arguments with specific examples from the field. This begins early on, literally in the introduction, when Kohn makes the argument that grades and tests predict
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