Standardized testing is happening again this year. Researchers are talking about how to use the data more responsibly. We read an advising memo that describes some of the common problems with comparing testing data from this year to past years, so we can properly recognize the progress students have made this year.
Later, we discuss several studies that look at the impact later high school start times have on a variety of outcomes for student achievement and community health.
Finally, we talk In Your Classroom to think about our personal definition of success after a very difficult year.
- First Segment – 01:50 – Standardized Testing and Student Progress
- Second Segment – 22:46 – School Start Times / Bell Schedules
Cover image by Waifer X
Primary Citations
- Ho, A. (2021) Three test score metrics that all states should report in the COVID-19-affected spring of 2021. link
- Keown, H., Corrales, A., Peters, M., & Orange, A. (2020). Does Start Time at High School Really Matter? Studying the Impact of High School Start Time on Achievement, Attendance, and Graduation Rates of High School Students. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 17(2). link
Supplemental Citations
- States Still Must Give Standardized Tests This Year, Biden Administration Announces (EdWeek)
- A Plan for Standardized Test Scores During the Pandemic Has Gotten States’ Attention (Education Week)
- Harvard EdCast: Student Testing, Accountability, and COVID (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
- How Can Released State Test Items Support Interim Assessment Purposes in an Educational Crisis? (Klugman Sept 2020 Working Paper)
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- Sleepmore in Seattle: Later school start times are associated with more sleep and better performance in high school students (Dunster 2018)
- What is “Revenge Bedtime Procrastination”? (Sleep Foundation)
Featured Beverage
We drink Breakfast Stout, a double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout from Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, MI.