Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Now that the age of assessment is upon us, a conversation ought to begin on assessment design, especially on assessing students entering introductory government classes. Since various positions exist concerning the purpose of the introductory classroom, there is no reason to expect agreement on what should be assessed, but I argue that we should focus on knowledge of the basic facts of American government. Such knowledge is a necessary precondition for critical thinking, but no mechanism exists that ties the knowledge base of high school graduates with what is expected in college. As a proxy, I use publicly available questions that were included in previous TAKS tests (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) as a pre test in order to determine what students had been taught in K-12 and what information they had retained. I not only find that my students are not able to perform at an adequate level, according to my criteria, I find that TAKS questions tell me that they can. This reminds us to be careful about the quality of the assessments we design. I argue that the purpose of the introductory classroom ought to be ensure that students can participate in the deliberation necessary for effective citizenship and that assessment instruments ought to focus on the knowledge which allows for such citizenship. In addition, the assessment test can be used as an effective device to study basic cognition.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The Texas State University System (TSUS) Math for English Language Learners (MELL) initiative is a multiyear effort funded by Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop instructional resources designed to increase the effectiveness of math instruction for ELL students in PK-12 schools. As a part of this study, the statistical analysis of Mathematics TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) data is needed to identify and develop instructional tools. Moreover, this analysis will be used to guide policymakers in the state of Texas. The TAKS is divided into objectives. For example, for the grade 11 exit-level there are 10 objectives. Within the categories of these objectives, there is one further grouping of the objectives themselves of Algebra I, geometry and measurement, percents and proportional relationships, probability and statistics, and mathematical process. In this study, the performance of ELL students as well as non-ELL students has been analyzed. It’s important to identify the categories where student tend to perform poor. Statistical analysis has been employed to identify those categories (objectives).