Instructor: Randy L. Hoover, Ph.D.
2210 Beeghly College of Education Credit Hours: 3 q.h. or 2 s.h. Graduate Credit
Grading: S/U

Office Hours: To be announced.

Prerequisites: Temporary or regular admission to YSU's School of Graduate Studies.
Note: Knowledge of statistical analysis is not required although statistical methods used in the research study will be presented. Likewise, the same is true of using computer programs and the Internet. Both will, however, be presented as appropriate to the workshop topics.

Readings:
Closed reserve readings in the Wilcox Curriculum Resource Center.
Internet hyperlinks given on the Proficiency Testing Workshop's WWW site. See: http://cc.ysu.edu/~rlhoover/ClassConnections
http://cc.ysu.edu/~rlhoover/OPTISM
"Forces and Factors Affecting OPT Performance: A Study of 593 Ohio School Distsricts." (2000) Hoover, R. L. (Available for download or online reading at http://cc.ysu.edu/~rlhoover/OPTISM)

Workshop Description:
   The workshop will deal with all aspects of Ohio Proficiency Tests, Ohio School Report Cards, and the effects of high stakes testing on the stakeholders. Participants will be taught the findings of Hoover's (2000 study of the performance of Ohio school districts across all levels of proficiency test scores and across 40 variables (E.g., income, class size, poverty, per pupil evaluation, class size, Etc.). Participants will be provided with the data and means for analyzing their local district and building level scores such that meaningful conclusions can be drawn regarding what can and can not be done to improve performance.

Purpose of the Workshop:
   This workshop will provide participants with in-depth, hands-on experiences in understanding the concrete realities of Ohio Proficiency Tests and the Ohio School Report Card scores as they affect local districts in a wide range of aspects. The bottom line of the workshop is to de-mystify the meaning of the associated scores and to provide practical understandings as to how those scores may be improved for the benefit of the local districts. Participants will deal directly with the data, analysis, and findings for their own districts and buildings. Access to all data will be provided for the participants.

Specific goals of the workshop are:

• To disseminate the findings of Hoover's (2000) study of Ohio Proficiency Test scores for local school district use.
  
• To demonstrate what variables affect the scores most significantly.
  
• To distinguish between those variables that are not related to what happens in school and those that are. Presage variables and process variables, respectively.
  
• To learn how much performance improvement is possible in the district/building.
  
• To identify specific curricular and instructional methods that can improve performance.
  
• To provide concrete interpretations of scores and variables for the participant's local district and buildings.
  
• To develop a plan for the participant's district/building for improving proficiency test scores based upon the real-world data analysis of their home districts.
  
• To value the motives and political realities behind high stakes testing and the effects on a variety of schooling stakeholders.
  
• To empower participants to share with others the problems and issues surrounding the realities of proficiency testing and the Ohio School Report Card both in general and in terms of their local districts.
  
• To develop a critically reflective stance toward the politics and pedagogy of high stakes testing in general and Ohio in particular.
  

Assignments and Assessment:
Option 1:
Participants will produce a thorough written analysis and prospectus of the problems and possibilities associated with improving their district or building level proficiency test scores based upon a critically reflective interpretation of the data presented in class. Conclusions and recommendations must be made in terms of their district's ratings on the Ohio School Report Card criteria. The prospectus must be grounded in both presage and process variables as discussed in class, readings, and other sources.

Option 2:
Specialized project relating to the workshop topics of your choice. Option 2 must be approved by Hoover prior to its being submitted. Individual participants will be permitted to do a project alternative depending on their own special needs as a function their role in a given district, their career professional development goals, or interest in working with Hoover in his continuing research.

Course Reference List:

Aronowitz, S., and Giroux, H. (1993). Education still under siege (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Aronowitz, S., and Giroux, H. (1991). Postmodern education: Politics, culture, and social criticism. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Beyer, L. E., and Apple, M. W. (eds.). (1988). The curriculum: Problems, politics, and possibilities. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Cherryholmes, C. H. (1988). Power and criticism: Poststructural investigations in education. Advances in Contemporary Educational Thought, 2. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Cohn, M. M., and Kottkamp, R. B. (1993). Teachers: The missing voice in education. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Doll, W. E. Jr. (1993). A post-modern perspective on curriculum. Advances in Contemporary Educational Thought, 9. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Donmoyer, R., and Kos, R. (1993). At-risk students: Portraits, policies, programs, and practices. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Giroux, H. A. (ed.). (1991). Postmodernism, feminism, and cultural politics. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Giroux, H. A. (1988). Teachers as intellectuals: Toward a critical pedagogy of learning. New York: Bergin & Garvey.

Giroux, H. A., and McLaren, P. (eds.). (1989). Critical pedagogy, the state, and cultural struggle. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Hoover, R. & Kindsvatter, R. (1997) Democratic Discipline: Foundation and Practice. NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kincheloe, J. L. (1993). Toward a critical politics of teacher thinking. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

McCutcheon, G. (1995). Developing the curriculum. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Minium, E. (1988). Statistical reasoning in psychology and education. NY: Wiley and Sons.

Noddings, N. (1993). Educating for intelligent belief or unbelief. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Ornstein, A. C., and Behar, L. S. (1995). Contemporary issues in curriculum. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Pratte, R. (1977). Ideology and education. New York, NY: David McKay Co.

Spring, J. (1986). The American school 1642-1985. New York, NY: Longman.

Tanner, D., and Tanner, L. N. (1980). Curriculum development: Theory into practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan.

Taylor, P. (1993). The texts of Paulo Freire. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Weis, L. (1990). Working class without work: High school students in a de-industrializing economy. New York, NY: Routledge.

Willis, P. (1977). Learning to labor: How working class kids get working class jobs. New York: Columbia University Press.