The growth of high-stakes testing in state accountability systems necessitates further examination of their impact on stakeholders. Prompted by broader state-level reform in Kentucky, this evaluation aims to provide insight into a new accountability system's effect on social studies teachers. Using a goal-free evaluation model and case study design, the researchers examined the content and instructional decisions made by a group of U.S. history teachers in response to a new end-of-course exam designed by ACT-QualityCore. The evaluation incorporated a content analysis (...) of teacher materials, observation of a professional learning community meeting, and teacher interviews. The results of this evaluation indicate that teachers generally support the changes in the new assessment system but find specific elements frustrating and hesitate to completely revamp their instructional practices. Considering these assessment system changes occurred to advance Kentucky's goal of college and career readiness for all, this evaluation provides insight into what is actually happening in classrooms and should assist teachers and administrators as they assess the impact of these reforms on classroom practice. (shrink)

States are beginning to restructure their U.S. history assessments from previous multiple-choice based assessments to include written-response questions that have higher levels of academic language demands. These higher-order thinking and analytical items pose challenges to linguistically and culturally diverse students. The purpose of the current study is to investigate how the restructuring of a U.S. history state assessment is associated with English Learners’ (ELs) achievement over time. The author incorporates 3 years of data from the Tennessee Department of Education, and (...) utilizes multi-level modeling (Hierarchical Linear Modeling) to examine and compare the association between school percentage ELs and U.S. history achievement on Tennessee's (TN) U.S. history state assessment. Findings indicate that the restructuring of the TN U.S. history state assessment in the 2015–16 school year is significantly and inversely associated with ELs’ achievement on this assessment. At the same time, there are no significant associations for the 2012–13 and the 2013–14 school years. This suggests a negative inverse association between the restructuring of the TN U.S. history state assessment and ELs’ performance. In addition, this suggests that ELs’ lack of U.S. history reading and writing ability may have contributed to the negative association. (shrink)

Using a critical analysis approach, I investigated the dominant narrative of slavery and African Americans prior to the Civil War in the 2011 South Carolina Social Studies Academic Standards Support Document for the 11th grade U.S. History course. Findings indicate that the Support Document does not offer a complete narrative of slavery and African Americans, perpetuates a negative image of African Americans, excludes themes of African American heroism, and maintains myths related to slavery. The dominant narrative found in the Support (...) Document was compared to the scholarship of historians to construct a counter-narrative for teacher leaders to consider during curriculum development. (shrink)