Bidwell, Allie. "Report: Standardized Testing Debate Should Focus on Local Districts."U.S. News. U.S. News, 2014. Web. 2 Sep. 2015.
This article, found on usnews.com, was written to summarize a study released from Teach Plus and simplify the key points of the study to make it more understandable and accessible for a less exposed audience. The article claims that the movement to reform standardized testing should focus on its application on the district level because it is a lack of coordination with the curriculum that is detrimental to the students and teachers and consumes so much time of the year because it must be specifically taught to in order to reflect positively on the students. It is this less exposed group of people that she is writing for in an effort to increase understanding of statistics related to the debate of standardized testing and use those statistics to direct focus onto the school districts rather than the government. The study this article analyzes was a poll taken by 300 teachers across 12 districts asking about the time they and their students dedicate to standardized testing and how they feel it is a benefit and detriment to the school system. Some of the key points made by this article were the ratios of time students in different grade levels were required to dedicate to standardized tests. The article also explains why the standardized tests can be either beneficial or detrimental to the teachers based on how the students preform. It is an unbiased, objective summary of the study and is a useful source in understanding the impact of standardized tests on all those involved I will likely use this source as a quote reference due to its insightful quotes and analysis of those quotes taken from the Teach Plus study. The source quotes the opinions and statistics of teaching professionals taken from the survey, which are useful in a research paper looking to see credible opinions on both sides of the debate.
Canada, Geoffrey. "Our failing schools. Enough is enough!". YouTube. TED, 8 May. 2015. Web. 3 Sep. 2015
This TED talk is performed by Geoffrey Canada and is a testimony to the stagnation of the school system and the fact that we have remained practicing the same bad habits for the last 50 years. It's the goal of the speech to communicate the speakers understanding of first-hand exposure to the inequality and irrational of the school. He brings fourth multiple truly insightful ideas regarding the neglect of the system toward certain groups, as well as the impracticality of standardized testing, their expenses and their applications in the classroom (to him, nonexistent). His speech is much more useful as a resource for quotes a strong opinions for the side against standardized testing. It's always useful to represent an extreme of credibility to help a reader understand the typical base principles of one side of a dispute (in this case, the expenses, impractical use, and the time consumption of the exams).
Meader, Derrick. Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing. About Education, 2015. Web. 2 Sep. 2015.
The goal of this article is very simple and that is to inform the reader if the very fundamentals of the debate regarding standardized testing. It includes a five part description of the different topics related to the debate, such as No Child Left Behind. This source is incredibly useful for general information to offer to the reader for the sake of simple understanding of the topic. It is an objective, informative article with an understandable, easy to read format for readers, which makes it useful for me to introduce the topic to someone who has little to no exposure. I will likely use it as a reference for definitions and simplified arguments in favor and against standardized testing.
Horn, Catherine. "High Stakes Testing and Students: Stopping or Perpetuating a Cycle of Failure?" Theory into Practice. 42.1 (2003): 30-41. JSTOR. Web. 5 Sep. 2015
This journal article is written to inform a group familiar with the topic of standardized testing of very specific statistics and arguments that are both in favor and against general standardized testing. The key points of the article that I took away were the application of 21st century skills (technology, communication, etc.) and the statistics in regards to the weaknesses standardized testing has provided for the school system. The studies are too numerous for me to trace successfully, but most were conducted as polls and questionnaires to numerous districts and specific grade levels and faculty. The article finds that standardized tests have provided and continue to provide us with valuable information as to where students are struggling in specific schools and districts, as well as evaluates the fairness of applying so much pressure for students to be accountable for test that reflect the school. The article is evidently objective, which enforces its standing as something I will use in the future. I will likely use it for the sake of the statistics, because it's difficult to disagree with supported facts for one side of an argument, and even more convincing of a stance if you can prove that those statistics are either invalid or of little actual importance.
Kamenetz, Anya. "The Past, Present, and Future of High-Stakes Testing." npr.org. nprED. 22 Jan. 2015. Web. 9 Sep. 2015
A lengthy article which aims to address nearly every question surrounding standardized testing in an effort to clarify any and all questions of the audience. The article goes through piece by piece just what it is that composes the standardized testing debate and how people feel toward it. It is specifically the more emotional approach this article takes that makes it a useful source. I will likely use it to generate a response from my own reader to empathize with the experiences students and teachers are going through with the administering of standardized tests.
Kleeman, Sophie. "Watch an Impressive Fourth-Grader Call Out All the Problems with Standardized Testing." mic.org. Mic.News. 27 Mar. 2015. Web. 9 Sep. 2015.
This video and brief summary of the current standardized testing debate are intended to gain the attention of readers through the sheer impressiveness of the speaker, seeing how young she is. It is the goal of Ms. Smoot, the young fourth-grader who addressed her school board, to show just how impactful these tests are and how she, and her fellow students feel about them. Her speech makes strong arguments in reference to the irrational of testing late in the year, as well as the extreme nature and implication of the exams. The article goes on to describe some of the details which support Smoots claims and provides the audience with some general data regarding score flaws. I will likely use some of the direct quotes from Smoot to articulate just how far reaching the effects and feelings of these exams go, and enforce it with the fact that even a fourth grader can articulate the flaws in the system.
Reuters. "Pencils Down: More U.S. Colleges Drop Standardized Testing." New York Times. New York Times. 16 Aug. 2015. Web. 9 Sep. 2015.
This brief article is written to address the rising number of universities who are no longer requiring (or putting as high stakes into) standardized tests for admissions. The article produces a number of statistics regarding the numbers taking the exams and how well they are fairing, and provided several quotes from students and administrators regarding their feelings toward the changes. Some of the most valuable information was that surrounding the sheer magnitude of students taking the ACT and SAT. I will likely use these numbers as a way to put the vastness of standardized testing into perspective, as well as use some of the quote to demonstrate the genuine relief students feel toward the lightening of stock put into these exams.
Robinson, Ken. "Changing the Education Paradigm". YouTube. RSA animate. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. 3 Sep. 2015
The goal of this speech preformed by Ken Robinson is to prompt the listener to respond to three key detrimental trends in the school system, which are the dwindling arts focus, a rise in drop-outs, and the addressing of students who lack focus. His analysis specifically of the overall unchanging approach our school system has on every student relates directly to my debate in regards to standardization. Robinson argues that we have taken the same approach to educating students without adapting to how times and technology has changed. Some of the most beneficial insight from the video for my argument is around minute 7 when Robinson addresses the standardization of the system and the fact that it does not take into account the differing strengths of students and actively dedicates its efforts to making a standard form of student from a production line. I will likely use his argument against standardized testing specifically because it addresses a study on a skill (divergent thinking) that cannot be measured on a standardized test and that is demonstrative of the fault in the system, which looks over these great skills because they are so focus on the collective group rather than the individual.
Stokes, Kyle. "Testing Revolt in Washington State Brings Feds Into Uncharted Waters." npr.org. nprED. 16 Jul. 2015. Web. 9 Sep. 2015
The article summarizes the recent situation in Washington state involving the mass boycotts of standardized testing, demanding at least a cutback in the "redundant" testing procedures. The article looks into who is involved with the boycott, the response from the government and public reaction to this. The key facts that I will likely use will be the governments threats of intervening, should an opt-out bill pass, as well as the economical effect the opt-out bill will have on the state.
"Test Should Be a Priority, But Not at the Expense of Other Skills." The Indianapolis Business Journal (2007) LexisNexis. Web. 4 Sept. 2015
The goal of this brief article is to expose a group of people to a debate that they likely have little exposure to while trying to convince them of the weakness of standardized testing. The key points the author makes is the critical need for standardized testing to understand the weaknesses in students and schools. He additionally includes the important information that these exams are an imperfect method of understanding every aspect of students and exactly what a school should be accountable for teaching to. The author does not convey a bias but does posses a clear opinion on the topic, rather than an objective analysis. I will likely use this source as a brief quote reference for simple, but opinionated idea that I can then support with evidence from other sources.
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After reading Isaak and Chloe's annotated bibliographies, I realized that styles really can differ. Chloe and I both did MLA format, the citation style I've been taught all throughout my education. When I ready Isaak's AMA citations, I found them incredibly different than what I ever considered typical citations. I even went on to read through more bibliographies to find an MLA format. This proved to be surprisingly harder (or I have terrible luck) than I thought and drove the point further home that there are extensive types of citation styles for all the different disciplines for so many different reasons.
I believe your citations are done correctly in the MLA format. Your citation style was different than mine. I had to do AMA format which no one else had to do. They aren't all extremely different though. You still need to always include the author, title, webiste it was found on, link and date accesses. Not everyone included the date the source was published where as this was needed for mine. I think you could cut down on the summaries a little just so they aren't as bulky and easier to scan. Besides that you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteYou formatted your annotated bibliography exactly like they had it in the book on pgs. 111-113. Is LexisNexis supposed to be italicized? I could be wrong though. Your summaries under each source was very concise but detailed. Also, I think you're supposed to indent all the lines under the first line of the citation. I know when I tried to do it on blogger it wouldn't work so I had to put it on my google drive. Otherwise everything else looks great!
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