Assess student knowledge of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Reading and Mathematics with two full-length Assessments for each subject. Questions provide students with the necessary practice needed to achieve academic success on STAAR. Chapters on test-taking strategies and test anxiety build students’ confidence and test-taking skills. Glossaries familiarize students with vocabulary terms and concepts found on state proficiency tests. Answers are provided in the Parent/Teacher Edition only.

Kindergarten has changed. Many believe that it no longer reflects a nurturing environment but, instead, has become a race for children to learn skills so they are ready for the academic achievement tests that they will take continuously throughout their time in school. Resisting the Kinder-Race examines how the race came about, why it must change, and how all stakeholders in the early childhood and elementary school communities must take part in the reform process. The author draws on his own research to consider how the Kinder-Race might be reimagined through more democratic principles of schooling. Brown offers both practical and political strategies that can alter the day-to-day practices of the kindergarten classroom and the policies that currently define PreK–12 education in the United States. This resource will help readers see kindergarten as an educational environment that expands the learning of every child. Book Features: Provides an in-depth glimpse into a typical day in the Kinder-Race.Examines how kindergarten devolved from a garden that nurtures children into a race that dashes them from skill to skill.Brings together what are often siloed conversations among stakeholder groups.Highlights how kindergarten is now primarily defined through an economic lens and how this framing of learning, earning, and consuming might be rethought. Employs varied conceptual frameworks to investigate how stakeholders across different levels of public education make sense of the changed kindergarten.Illuminates the complexity of what is occurring in today’s kindergarten and puts forward practical and achievable ideas for change.

This hearing focused on the subject of teacher recruitment and preparation. The hearing began with opening statements by several Congressmen (the Honorable Frank Riggs, Matthew Martinez, William Gooding, George Miller, and Robert Scott). Following the opening statements were statements by the Honorable Eugene Hickock, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Mr. E.D. Hirsh, Jr., President, Core Knowledge Foundation, Charlottesville, VA; Dr. Eric Hanushek, Director, W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy, University of Rochester, NY; Dr. Richard Ingersoll, Professor of Sociology, University of Georgia, Athens; Ms. C. Emily Feistritzer, President, National Center for Educational Information, Washington, DC; Dr. Dale Ballou, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, MA; Ms. Kati Haycock, President, the Education Trust, Inc., Washington, DC.; Mr. Paul F. Steidler, Director, Alexis de Toqueville Institution, Arlington, VA; and Mr. Barnett Berry, Associate Director for Policy and State Relations, National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, Columbia, SC. Statements and written testimony are appended. The appendixes also include two reports by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future: (1) "What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future"; and (2) "Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching." (SM)

Teach students how to practice reading skills independently – so learning sticks Simply Stations: Independent Reading shows how to ensure that elementary students are purposefully and effectively practicing reading comprehension, reading fluency, selecting books, decoding, inference, and summarizing every day. Your students will soon be purposefully engaged and making critical steps to owning their learning. Debbie Diller has been refining literacy stations (sometimes called centers) for more than 40 years, working with thousands of teachers and students. In this book, she guides you step-by-step through planning for instruction that incorporates reading standards, setting up and launching independent reading stations, varying and refreshing content, to reflection and ongoing modification. What stands out in this book is the full integration of instruction; Debbie shows how whole-group lessons transfer to stations work so students are practicing key skills independently – and gives you everything needed for success: Recommendations by grade level at every step, including grade-appropriate materials and book choices, fiction and informational texts, for each station; Whole-group lesson plans, differentiated by grade level and based on key reading standards, to introduce and support independent and partner work; On-the-spot formative assessment ideas and troubleshooting tips; Ideas to improve English Language Learners’ reading skills, including online Spanish-language materials; 30 time-saving downloadable resources for teachers and students to ensure success; and Dozens, real-classroom photos so you see the possibilities first-hand. Simply Stations: Independent Reading gives you invaluable tips, solutions, and insight that can transform the way your students learn and practice reading skills. It’s time to boost the impact of your literacy stations!