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Jack Schneider

Beyond Test Scores: A Better Way to Measure School Quality Hardcover – August 14, 2017

by Jack Schneider (Author)

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When it comes to sizing up America’s public schools, test scores are the go-to metric of state policy makers and anxious parents looking to place their children in the “best” schools. Yet ample research indicates that standardized tests are a poor way to measure a school’s performance. It is time―indeed past time―to rethink this system, Jack Schneider says.

Beyond Test Scores reframes current debates over school quality by offering new approaches to educational data that can push us past our unproductive fixation on test scores. Using the highly diverse urban school district of Somerville, Massachusetts, as a case study, Schneider and his research team developed a new framework to more fairly and comprehensively assess educational effectiveness. And by adopting a wide range of measures aligned with that framework, they were able to more accurately capture a broader array of school strengths and weaknesses. Their new data not only provided parents, educators, and administrators with a clearer picture of school performance, but also challenged misconceptions about what makes a good school.

With better data, Schneider shows, stakeholders at the federal, state, and local levels can undo the damage of present accountability systems and build greater capacity in our schools. Policy makers, administrators, and school leaders can better identify where assistance is needed. Educators can engage in more evidence-based decision making. And parents can make better-informed choices for their children. Perhaps most importantly, better data can facilitate communication among all these groups, allowing them to take collective action toward shared, concrete goals.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harvard University Press
Publication date

August 14, 2017
Dimensions

5.8 x 1 x 8.4 inches
ISBN-10

0674976398
ISBN-13

978-0674976399
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“In the K–12 arena, I recommend Jack Schneider’s Beyond Test Scores: A Better Way to Measure School Quality for an approach that gets us past the testing charade and reintroduces some of the values we used to associate with ‘good’ schools.”―John Warner, Inside Higher Ed

“Everyone cares about ‘good’ schools but, as Schneider makes painfully clear in this well-written book, almost no one agrees on what constitutes a ‘good’ school. By broadening the story to talk about what we mean when we discuss school quality, he makes a critical contribution to policy, discourse, and the public good. This is a great book about an important subject that gets at the heart of American inequality.”―Tressie McMillan Cottom, author of Lower Ed

“In this engaging, provocative, and at times inspiring book, Jack Schneider not only asks how we can go beyond standard measures of scholastic achievement―he details an approach that is at once original and practical.”―Howard Gardner, author of The App Generation

“A clear-eyed, thoughtful step forward in an endeavor everyone should care about: finding out more about how our schools are doing.”―Anya Kamenetz, author of The Test

“In this thoughtful and thorough account, Schneider writes about issues that are critical to the future of education and our efforts to ensure that all students have access to good schooling. For those who are ready to move beyond the polarized debates over standardized testing, this book will be enlightening and a breath of fresh air.”―Pedro Noguera, author of Schooling for Resilience

“In this important book, Schneider asks us to reconsider the purpose of schools and how we evaluate them. He reminds us that public schools are a public good, and that their original purpose was to foster the development of good citizens.”―Diane Ravitch, author of Reign of Error

“By rooting the discussion in what we value, [Schneider] creates a true framework for making informed choices, challenging the ‘failing schools’ narrative by putting test scores in their proper, limited place.”―John Warner, Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Jack Schneider is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he leads the Beyond Test Scores Project. The author most recently of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door (with Jennifer Berkshire), he writes regularly for outlets like The Atlantic and The Nation and cohosts the education-policy podcast Have You Heard.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press (August 14, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674976398
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674976399
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.8 x 1 x 8.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #879,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #926 in Common Core
- #1,221 in Statistics (Books)
- #1,517 in Education Assessment (Books)

Customer Reviews:
17 ratings

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Jack Schneider

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Jack Schneider is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he leads the Beyond Test Scores Project. An award-winning scholar and teacher, his work broadly explores the influence of history, culture, and rhetoric in education policy. The author of four books, Dr. Schneider has explored why particular ideas gain policy traction, how public perception of schools takes shape, why education reform so often fails, and how organizations improve. He writes frequently about education in outlets like the Atlantic, the New York Times and the Washington Post, and (along with Jennifer Berkshire) is co-host of the educational policy podcast "Have You Heard."

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17 global ratings

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Keeper's mom

A valuable resource for policy makers and educators

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

Not the most unique set of conclusions about the shortcomings of traditional measures of school quality such as standardized test scores nor the reasons why these are not valid in many settings, but a novel proposal for an alternative system for measuring school quality piloted in the Somerville, MA school district ("The Somerville Framework"). The challenge is collecting data on these alternative indicators. Worthwhile for policy makers and educators to read.

4 people found this helpful

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Seamus O'Connor

This thoroughly-researched work serves as a "field guide" to anyone interested in promoting new and better definitions of what schools should do

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Schneider's work is on the cutting edge of school evaluation reform. This thoroughly-researched work serves as a "field guide" to anyone interested in promoting new and better definitions of what schools should do, and how to know if they're succeeding. Teachers and administrators will also find thought-provoking discussion of how to design and deliver better summative assessments, and how to make accountability flow in both directions from schoolhouses to statehouses.

3 people found this helpful

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Duane P.

Good read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

If you don't know, this will tell you all you need to know.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 27, 2017

Verified Purchase

Must read for anyone seriously interested in school quality, and how to pursue it.

2 people found this helpful

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EH

A timely book and an important read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 26, 2017

This is an critically important and timely book. As Schneider makes clear, for far too long when Americans have talked about 'good schools' they haven't been so much engaging in a conversation about what defines a good school so much as they have been arguing over the meaning of test scores. This is ironic considering that nearly everyone agrees that test scores are, at best, an imperfect measure of students' academic abilities let alone school 'quality' (and to say nothing of other important dimensions of schooling--citizenship, belonging, personal development, community building, exposure to diverse people and experiences, etc, etc). Usually critiques of test scores end there or with the inevitable reply 'ok, but what else would we use?' Beyond Test Scores stands out among other crtitiques by taking this question head on--outlining exactly what else, and how else, we could go about answering the question of how to measure school quality. Whether you ultimately agree or disagree with Schneider's approach you will be grateful for the opportunity to deepen your thinking about the central education policy issue of our time.

5 people found this helpful

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Sarah Bruhn

Insightful new book about school quality

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 27, 2017

Schneider writes compellingly about the most critical issues facing our public schools - how our over reliance on test scores perpetuates misconceptions about the quality of our schools, ultimately contributing to segregation. His insightful analysis provides new perspectives on how to address these issues and ensure that parents, students, educators, and community members better understand how our schools really work. A highly recommended new work that makes valuable contributions to the national conversation about public education.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Setting the record straight

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 7, 2017

If you want to cut through the clichés, hype, and hysteria surrounding school quality, here is the most sensible, moderate, and tempering voice on how educators, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders can work together for the success of students and for the welfare of the greater community. The approach is wide-ranging and analytical, yet grounded in and driven by a commitment to social justice.

3 people found this helpful

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Heather Curl

Schneider makes important links between quantitative measures for educational success ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 2, 2017

Schneider makes important links between quantitative measures for educational success and the perpetuation of social inequality. His attention to the complex relationship between individual choice and persistent (and increasing) segregation is insightful - particularly when individual decision making is often grounded in (mis)perception.

4 people found this helpful

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