High Stakes: Poverty, Testing, and Failure in American Schools

by Dale D. Johnson, Bonnie Johnson

Overview

High Stakes brings the voices of students and teachers to our national debates over school accountability and educational reform. Recounting the experiences of two classrooms during one academic year, the book offers a critical exploration of excessive state-mandated monitoring, high-stakes testing pressures, and inequities in public school funding that impede the instructional work of teachers, especially those who serve children of poorer families. Redbud Elementary has no playground, no library, no hot water, and no art classes. Ninety-five percent of the children qualify for a free breakfast or lunch. Most of the children live with a single parent or relative; some live in homes without electricity, running water, or floors. The authors, who moved from comfortable college professor positions to teach in a poor school district, offer an eye-opening examination of the daily school lives of children who live in crushing poverty and teachers who work under extraordinary stress. Their tale is at times heartbreaking, heartwarming, or infuriating. They explain why many recent educational reforms are off track and argue for more meaningful reforms that can empower teachers and students and better meet the challenges of our communities and the national interest. This second edition updates the story of Redbud Elementary and takes a hard look at the national expansion of accountability from preschool through college. A new final chapter focuses on the national effects of the No Child Left Behind Act as well as states' experiences with mandates and the role of big business in the testing process. This edition concludes with coverage of the so-called silent professionals and opposition to high-stakes testing, and a consideration of the future prospects for American education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461637301
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/13/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	948 KB

About the Author

Dale D. Johnson is professor of literacy education at Dowling College on Long Island. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin and was a profesor there for 16 years. Dr. Johnson has been an elementary and middle school teacher in Wisconsin and Louisiana and was on the faculties of Katsina College in Nigeria and the University of Louisiana. He is a past-president of the International Reading Association. Dr. Johnson has authored and co-authored 12 books, including Vocabulary in the Elementary and Middle School (2001, Allyn and Bacon). Bonnie Johnson is professor of human development and learning at Dowling College on Long Island. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin where she was granted the 'Distinguished Teacher of Teachers' award. Dr. Johnson has taught elementary school in Wisconsin and Louisiana and has been a professor at Texas A&M, the University of Louisiana, and Clarke College. She has published for children, adolescents, and adults. In addition to journal articles, she is the author of Wordworks: Exploring Language Play (1999, Fulcrum).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Realities of an Underfunded School
Chapter 2 September: The Children We Teach
Chapter 3 October: Regulating Teaching
Chapter 4 November: Drugs, Poverty, and Test Scores
Chapter 5 December: "Clamp Down"
Chapter 6 January: Test Preparation-The Pace Quickens
Chapter 7 February: Pep Rallies for Tests
Chapter 8 March: Test-Day Traumas
Chapter 9 April: Freedom to Teach and Learn
Chapter 10 May: "I Don't Want to Spend My Time on Paperwork"
Chapter 11 How Can We Build a Better Future? Recommendations for Policy Change
Chapter 12 Today a Nation of Testing
Chapter 13 Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

What is the effect on students and teachers of high-stakes testing and the current emphasis on accountability? To answer that question, Dale D. Johnson (Vocabulary in the Elementary & Middle School) and Bonnie Johnson (Wordworks: Exploring Language Play) offer a critical, passionate, firsthand account of the 2000-01 school year in a Redbud, LA, elementary school, where teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation and 98 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch. Under Louisiana's accountability bureaucracy, the school is regulated, monitored, assessed, and labeled. The authors challenge the effectiveness of using standardized tests to make decisions in a school that lacks basic amenities and suffers from excessive student and teacher stress. They provide numerous examples, clear descriptions, and a deep appreciation for the role of teachers to illustrate the dire consequences of this emphasis on testing. The closing chapter offers recommendations for concerned professionals, policymakers, and parents. Education collections in both public and academic libraries would be strengthened by the addition of this clear, research-based discussion. Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Spending a year as teachers at one of the poorest elementary schools in Louisiana, the Johnsons (both of the U. of Louisiana at Monroe) witnessed first hand the damages of the standards and accountability measures forced on poor children. They present their story in journal form, demonstrating how the poverty of the children, the lack of resources of the schools, the demoralization of teachers, and the imposition of the accountability "reforms" are some of the prime factors for the failure of American education. After presenting their experiences they offer advice for some real reform that would focus on the economic inequality of school districts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

High Stakes: Poverty, Testing and Failure in American schools, by Dale and Bonnie Johnson, is exceptional. The authors graphically yet dispassionately document the incongruities and inequities of poverty and high stakes testing in American schools. The book is a gripping report of first hand experience coupled with thoughtful analysis. It should be read widely, particularly by policymakers.

Peter Johnston

All of the graduate students in my educational psychology classes, many of whom are public school teachers, who read the first edition of this book called for every school board member, legislator, and taxpayer to read it. I felt the same way when I first read it. It deserves to be read widely, especially by policymakers.

PsycCRITIQUES

...an excellent first hand account of the impact of testing ...could inspire teachers, administrators, and parents not just to accept the message of those who advocate for high stakes testing and not to feel powerless.

Dr. Liz Keefe

...offers a timely and important account of the current policy climate and of the unfortunate consequences it inflicts on disadvantaged children and their teachers.

Journal Of Children and Poverty

This text reveals the detrimental impact of high-stakes standardized testing and other accountability measures on public schools serving poor communities. … New to the second edition is a chapter describing how accountability mandates have become the dominant influence in public education at all levels nationwide.

Reference and Research Book News

I know of no other book that so clearly shows how our fascination with testing, standards, and accountability fails miserably to deal with the daily realities of education and poverty in this country. High States provides a richly detailed picture of these realities and deserves to be read by anyone concerned with the educational lives of poor children.

Michael W. Apple

High Stakes represents the moral compass for school improvement that has been missing in the accountability discourse. High Stakes should be required reading for policy makers bent on equating school improvement with accountability measures.

Journal of Anthropological Research

A book so compelling that it just might become a classic.

American School Board Journal

High Stakes is a poignant look at the reality of public schools today.

The Louisiana Weekly

A unique and sobering case study of a single poor, rural school with many children left behind.

Future Survey

...offers a timely and important account of the current policy climate and of the unfortunate consequences it inflicts on disadvantaged children and their teachers.

September 2007 Journal Of Children and Poverty

...an excellent first hand account of the impact of testing ...could inspire teachers, administrators, and parents not just to accept the message of those who advocate for high stakes testing and not to feel powerless.--Dr. Liz Keefe, University of New Mexico

High Stakes: Poverty, Testing and Failure in American schools, by Dale and Bonnie Johnson, is exceptional. The authors graphically yet dispassionately document the incongruities and inequities of poverty and high stakes testing in American schools. The book is a gripping report of first hand experience coupled with thoughtful analysis. It should be read widely, particularly by policymakers.--Peter Johnston, The University at Albany

I know of no other book that so clearly shows how our fascination with testing, standards, and accountability fails miserably to deal with the daily realities of education and poverty in this country. High States provides a richly detailed picture of these realities and deserves to be read by anyone concerned with the educational lives of poor children.--Michael W. Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison; author,

From the Publisher