Most pre-service education students are enthusiastic about the progressive, constructivist, and student-centered theory and practice advocated in many teacher education programs and by the National Council of Teachers of English. Yet in actual day-to-day practice, teachers often have trouble thinking of ways in which such student-centered and constructivist practices in literacy instruction can be implemented in classrooms which are increasingly driven by high stakes tests, increased accountability, and mandated and even 'teacher proof' scripted curricula. Teaching Authentic Language Arts in a Test-Driven Era provides a powerful and much-needed counterargument to the assumption that test-driven curricula preclude meaningful instruction and authentic student engagement within a Language Arts curriculum. Providing teachers with the theoretical stances and pedagogicals tools to develop a Language Arts practice which can be personally rewarding as well as beneficial to students,Teaching Authentic Language Arts in a Test-Driven Era empowers teachers to be effective even within the confines of a testing- and accountability-driven curriculum.

This book provides ways of thinking for preservice and new teachers to transition from the theory behind curricular design to engaged teaching and learning in the classroom. It offers a comprehensive framework for the creation and implementation of one’s own authentic and effective ELA curriculum. In addition to strategies for preservice teachers to develop their own pedagogies, lessons, and teaching techniques, Costigan also demonstrates how to design tools for teaching in the current testing- and standards-driven context of the educational reform movement. Containing real-life examples of reading and writing instruction, this book empowers preservice teachers to translate the concepts of curriculum design to actual ELA classroom practices that will engage students.

This edited collection will stand as the first volume that specifically describes service-learning programs and courses designed as part of teacher education programs in the fields of literacy education, secondary English education, elementary language arts education, and related fields. The contributing authors describe the programs they have developed at their universities and/or in their local communities, providing information about the rationale for their initiative, the design of the course, the outcomes of the experience, and other matters that will help literacy educators develop similar courses and experiences of their own. Additionally, this edited collection will fill a great gap in the field’s knowledge of alternative forms of teacher education. It will provide descriptions of service-learning initiatives that have been field-tested with demonstrable results. Thus far the field has produced widely scattered articles in journals covering a variety of disciplines, but no definitive collection of papers in which service-learning designed to promote literacy instruction is housed in a single volume edited for cross-referencing and thematic categorization. The two editors have developed courses and received grants to support service-learning initiatives at their universities and believe that others might develop similar programs if they had better understandings of their value and design. Their intention with this volume is to promote service-learning more broadly among literacy educators.

This volume reviews the background of mandated teacher performance assessment with an emphasis on policy, privatization, and professionalization. The authors discuss the potential impact of mandated teacher performance assessments on teacher education in the content areas of mathematics, English, and social studies. The perspectives and empirical research examined in this conceptual analysis illustrate the various ways in which the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) promises to restructure teacher education in the United States. The authors consider both the affordances and the constraints that teacher performance assessments offer for teacher preparation programs, and conclude by discussing the implications of the intersections among policy, privatization, professionalization, and performance assessments of teachers, as well as the relationship between performance assessments and teacher education. The impact of the edTPA on the development of signature pedagogies in teacher education is also discussed.

This timely book explores what is often overlooked in policy debates about the education of English language learners: how the day-to-day dynamics of the classroom are affected by high-stakes testing and the pressures students and teachers experience and internalize as a result. The author presents and analyzes classroom observations, student work, and test scores, as well as interviews with students and teachers. A disturbing picture of today’s overtested public school classroom emerges from the events and practices described in this book. While hard to believe, all the depictions presented took place in a real elementary school classroom and reflect the current culture of extreme accountability. Overtestednot only describes the flaws in our current accountability system, but it also provides real-world solutions that can have an immediate and positive effect at the classroom, state, and national level. Chapters address key debates such as how to measure proficiency, the validity of various language assessment tools, the overuse of assessment, and the risks and benefits of teaching language arts to English language learners via mandated, structured curricula. Jessica Zacher Pandyais an Associate Professor in the Departments of Teacher Education and Liberal Studies at California State University, Long Beach. “This book tells an important tale that cannot be conveyed by numbers and tables.... It is important information for teachers; for those who depend on, employ, and train teachers; and for those who create the policies under which teachers are required to operate.” —From the Foreword byRobert Rueda, University of Southern California, author ofThe 3 Dimensions of Improving Student Performance: Finding the Right Solutions to the Right Problems “How many more dire tales of ‘schooling for assessment’ must be told before we realize that teaching and testing are not the same and that scores on standardized, multiple choice achievement tests are a sorry substitute for an engaging learning environment? In this book, Jessica Zacher Pandya reaches across ideological and institutional borders to offer reasonable, pragmatic solutions for change.” —Linda Valli, Jeffrey & David Mullan Professor of Teacher Education & Professional Development, College of Education, University of Maryland “Zacher Pandya’s invaluable book exposes the injustices and absurdities of our high-stakes accountability era. Just as importantly, it limns a more academically robust and culturally relevant instructional vision for English language learners.” —Gerald Campano, University of Pennsylvania

Teaching Recent Global History explores innovative ways to teach world history, beginning with the early 20th century. The authors’ unique approach unites historians, social studies teachers, and educational curriculum specialists to offer historically rich, pedagogically innovative, and academically rigorous lessons that help students connect with and deeply understand key events and trends in recent global history. Highlighting the best scholarship for each major continent, the text explores the ways that this scholarship can be adapted by teachers in the classroom in order to engage and inspire students. Each of the eight main chapters highlights a particularly important event or theme, which is then complemented by a detailed discussion of a particular methodological approach. Key features include: • An overarching narrative that helps readers address historical arguments; • Relevant primary documents or artifacts, plus a discussion of a particular historical method well-suited to teaching about them; • Lesson plans suitable for both middle and secondary level classrooms; • Document-based questions and short bibliographies for further research on the topic. This invaluable book is ideal for any aspiring or current teacher who wants to think critically about how to teach world history and make historical discussions come alive for students.