A Closer Look at Standardized Testing

by Hayley Gundlach, Intern Summer 2013

Since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed in 2001, standardized tests have been a harsh reality for every public school district in the country. The tests are now a national requirement in order to receive federal school funding. They are meant to work toward closing the achievement gap by ensuring high-quality education for all students and providing yearly progress reports. In some states, students need to pass an exam to be promoted from one grade to another. In others, a passing grade is needed to graduate high school. The testing is designed to measure each student equally by basing exams on similar standards; government officials had high hopes that the tests would ensure better success and equality among students.

Nearly twelve years after NCLB was implemented throughout the country, groups of parents, teachers and school officials are criticizing an overdependence on standardized tests. In some cases, they are refusing the tests altogether. Some educators believe the preparation needed for the standardized tests takes away from class time that could be used on other, more important topics. Standardized tests also cost states up to millions of dollars to create, prepare and administer. School boards suggest that the money could be used elsewhere in more beneficial budgets. However, the impact the tests have on school curricula receives the most criticism. Parents and educators alike condemn the shift toward “teaching-to-the-test,” which, loosely interpreted, means “if it’s not on the test, it’s not getting taught.” The concern is that student instruction depends more on how to use knowledge to pass a test and less on how to use knowledge in realistic situations.

Recently, an active protest against standardized testing has taken shape. Parents nationwide are joining a new “opt-out” movement and refusing to allow their children to take the tests, claiming the experience has become traumatic and stressful rather than educational. Teachers, too, are joining the movement; at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington, instructors are refusing to administer the exams because they don’t think the exams are helpful anymore. Due to the outpouring of criticism and debate on the subject of these tests, state legislatures have been forced to examine the issue. Texas, as the most recent state to take a stand, follows Minnesota and a few other Midwestern states in passing a bill that greatly reduces the number of required standardized tests. In Texas, these numbers shrink from 15 to 5 required tests.

In many states around the country, the issue is just becoming a hot topic. Whether or not standardized tests will continue as the primary measure of progress has yet to be seen, but it has become clear that the current method is viewed as unacceptable to many. We may soon have to consider new ways of measuring our students’ and our schools’ success.


Did You Know?

It is widely known that an increase in standardized testing was a direct result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), holding schools responsible for making sure children are learning—but what about the other regulations and resources that were set into motion by NCLB? With the passage of NCLB under the George W. Bush administration, parents were provided with school district report cards that commented on which districts were the most successful and why, as a way to encourage school improvement. Supplemental educational services (SES) were introduced to provide free tutoring to those students whose schools noted they were in need of improvement for a minimum of two years. Bringing a focus to literacy, the program committed one billion dollars per year to help children learn to read. Further still, NCLB was intended to help teachers become better instructors, offering them funding to further their learning.

The Buddy System: Not Just For School Field Trips

by Jessie Miller, Intern Summer 2013

Bedtime stories aren’t just a relaxing way to fall asleep—reading to children actually helps them with literary comprehension in the future. Now, if you bring that same interactive reading style into the classroom, the results are equally impressive. Peer tutoring, or paired reading, has shown to be a very helpful teaching activity in both elementary and upper-level classrooms.

During peer tutoring, the teacher matches students into pairs and lets them read independently, using each other as a tool to improve their own reading comprehension and ability. Paired Reading is a mutually beneficial process—whether students read at the same or different levels. For students on the same level, they are able to help each other and review what they have learned from the teacher. If one student reads at a higher level (a sixth grader and a second grader, for example) the more advanced student becomes the tutor. The younger student receives one-on-one help, while the older student reinforces what they already know—building confidence and tutoring experience.

Gillian Hepburn, a teacher at a small elementary school in Scotland, designed her own peer tutoring experiment, including pairing students within the same age group and with an older student. Hepburn got the idea for the study from a similar study at Durham University, also performed in Scotland, that took place in 129 schools across the country and proved that even one 20-minute tutoring session per week can benefit students as young as seven years old. Overall, the trial proved very successful in the classroom and many teachers, including Hepburn, continued the practice because the students enjoyed reading together. Additionally, students were able to more fully comprehend what they read by discussing it with their partners. Not only does peer tutoring enforce reading comprehension, it also teaches children how to work and study together.

Paired reading is very accessible and easy for teachers to set up. Once paired, students choose a book or passage to read from, sometimes switching back and forth or repeating after each other. While reading, the tutoring “buddy” follows along and helps with pronunciation or other feedback. Teachers also encourage students to talk about what they read in order to make sure both partners understand the material. The teacher can then follow up in a discussion with the entire class, especially when students are first adjusting to peer tutoring.

If you want to get more hi-tech, there are many digital options to assist readers, including Scholastic’s new ebook reading platform called Storia. Teachers can sign up for an account and then receive up to 40 virtual bookshelves, which they can assign to students. Once assigned, students’ progress is tracked while they annotate, take reading comprehension quizzes and further interact with the text. Storia works for a wide range of students and can be customized for different reading levels, even within one classroom. Students can also work together from separate or shared devices the same way they would with paired reading.

However, digital options like Storia and its accompanying books are much more expensive than classic paired readings, which require few resources. Teachers would have to purchase new books within the app, not to mention the fact that most classrooms lack the technology—computers and tablets—that apps need in order to function. School systems are already strapped financially, and adding on extra costs seems perilous, especially while there are so many other pressing issues that need to be funded.

Improving literacy across the country is proving to be a major issue, and encouraging students to read starting at a young age is one of the best ways to combat illiteracy. There are many factors that contribute to a student’s reading level, from parental involvement to income level, but the responsibility comes down to the school system to make sure that students are learning the necessary skills as they go—especially avoiding getting behind in high school. According to a 2008 study by the National Commission on Adult Literacy, one in three young adults drops out of high school, which then inhibits their ability to get a job and can affect the reading aptitude of any future children.

The statistics are alarming. Countless studies have shown that an overwhelming percentage of students across grade levels are performing below the basic level for their grade. More than ever, schools and teachers need to recognize those students who are falling behind and help stop the spiral of illiteracy. Paired reading and interactive exercises are just a few examples of tools teachers can use to create a love of reading.


Did You Know?Approximately 14 percent of the US population is illiterate, as studies from the US Department of Education (ED) and the National Institute for Literacy show. Not only that, there are strong correlations between literacy and crime. For example, 85 percent of juveniles who face trial within the juvenile court system are “functionally illiterate,” which means that they lack the necessary skills required to manage daily living or employment tasks that involve more than basic reading skills. Further still, two-thirds of students who reach fourth grade and still have not reached proficient reading levels will end up on welfare or in jail—more than 70 percent of inmates in the US cannot read beyond a fourth grade level. (DYK by Emeli Warren)

Hiding from Harry Potter: The Pseudonym’s Calling

by Kate Carroll, Editorial Assistant


If you’re not a mystery lover or a shelf browser who gives new authors a try, would you purchase a debut mystery novel from an author named Robert Galbraith? Would you even pick it up to browse? What if it turned out that this new author, supposedly a former member of the Royal Military Police, was actually the beloved J. K. Rowling?

In what has been called “the best act of literary deception since Stephen King was outed as Richard Bachman back in the 1980s,” the recent discovery that the creator of Harry Potter had published The Cuckoo’s Calling under a different name back in April has shocked fans, publishers and booksellers alike.

For a debut novel in a specific genre, sales of The Cuckoo’s Calling were respectable at approximately 1500 copies. After the news of the author’s identity broke, however, getting ahold of a first edition copy proved near impossible within a very short window of time. With physical copies so high in demand, many fans were turning to the ebook version, a necessity that allowed sales of the Amazon Kindle version to increase 158,000 percent in less than a 48-hour period. The hardcover sales also made the title an almost instantaneous bestseller for lists reported by both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Preorders for the reprint of the novel are widespread, although the new copies will contain an addendum about J. K. Rowling’s pseudonym, making the original printing rare and worth far more than the newer editions. The book was originally intended as a series, and Rowling appears to want to continue with the plan, regardless of being seemingly displeased with the unveiling of Galbraith’s identity by a member of the law firm she was using at the time.

However, in attempt to turn a disappointing situation into a celebration, Rowling decided to donate 100 percent of the settlement—or a “substantial donation,” as she’s calling it—from her lawsuit against the firm responsible for blowing her cover, as well as the net royalties from the book sales, to charity. In tribute to Galbraith’s faux military background, Rowling has selected The Soldier’s Charity to receive this major contribution. Over the next three years the charity will receive every penny of the royalties intended for the author, beginning with sales dating from July 14th, the day Galbraith’s true identity was revealed.

When the sales numbers pre- and post-reveal are compared, the wonders of the publishing industry are revealed. Rowling’s decision (as well as the decisions of King and countless others) to use a pseudonym displays just how much hype a name can create, a phenomenon that must affect the author’s idea of self-identity: Is Rowling a writer or a celebrity? The pseudonym certainly gave her a reminder of the difficulties of entering into the publishing world, and a glimpse at the realities of a new author’s struggle to succeed in the market despite good reviews.

In other circumstances, would The Cuckoo’s Calling ever have realistically earned a sequel . . . a series? We will never know. One thing for certain is that Rowling is blessed with a built-in audience, confirmed merely by the preorders for the novel’s reprint and presumably in the sales that will follow. How she morphed from a no-name author trying to sell a book about a young wizard to an international bestseller is one of the unanswerable questions of publishing. It’s that magic touch that all first-time authors hope they possess: the ability to capture an audience large enough to prevent them from remaining a needle in a haystack. A magic thousands may have never known existed between the covers bearing the unheard-of name Robert Galbraith.

Did You Know?
The use of male pseudonyms by female authors is nothing new—in fact, the Brontë sisters were some of the first to test the theory that writing under a male name sparks more interest in a wider audience. The three sisters penned poetry under male names, hoping to avoid bias toward “authoresses” . . . and publishers are still advising authors to choose names that ring more neutral in the gender department. J. K. Rowling, birthed Joanne Rowling, was suggested to choose two initials to use in place of “Joanne” as to be more appealing to young male readers. Other times, the advice is given to authors who want to jump between genres, such as when Nora Roberts, already famous for female-oriented romance novels, wanted to write detective fiction. Her publisher was reluctant to introduce her well-known name into another genre and suggested a pseudonym to help her break into the suspense novel genre dominated by male authors. More than 150 years after the Brontë sisters took on the names of “Ellis,” “Acton,” and “Currer,” Joanne Rowling saw it necessary to take it beyond the neutral “J. K.” initials and move to an unquestionably male name, all in hopes to free herself from the limitations of a celebrity author name and to join a genre dominated by men. (DYK by Emeli Warren)

Technology Paves the Way for US Publication of International Books

by Grant Bradley, Intern Summer 2013

This May the University of Rochester’s translation database Three Percent announced that 413 translated works of fiction and poetry were released in the United States in 2012, an increase from 370 titles the year before. While these small numbers may seem like a drop in the pond compared to the behemoth of American publishing, they point to a growing market for translated, international trade books.

This burgeoning sector of the industry owes much of its success to the proliferation of ebooks and ereading technologies in recent years. Chad Post of Open Letter, the University of Rochester’s international literary publishing house, notes that downloadable ebooks lower costs and increase access. “With the advent of ebooks and instantaneous worldwide distribution, it only makes sense that international publishers would redirect their financial resources from trying to court reluctant US/UK publishers and instead get the books translated themselves and sell them directly throughout the world,” Post said. “It may be cheaper, and it monetizes a lot of books that otherwise are just sitting there.”

Swedish publisher Stockholm Text is taking advantage of these new digital opportunities. Claes Ericson, a founding partner of the small publishing firm, discovered that last year was the perfect time to launch this kind of company. “Swedish publishing is a small business, and to be honest it is growing smaller by the year,” said Ericson. “That’s why we felt that the moment was right now—after the Stieg Larsson trend, [the] Swedish crime [genre] is growing internationally.”

Because of the international success of thrillers like Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stockholm Text’s most popular titles have been crime novels—“[I]nterest for mysteries is even stronger among ebook readers, and . . . mystery is one of the few genres where there is a great appetite for foreign literature,” said Ericson—but the publishing house’s list spans multiple genres. Kajsa Ingemarsson’s women’s fiction novel Yesterday’s News, for instance, has sold over 20,000 copies.

So far, Stockholm Text’s business savvy has been paying off. In 2012, the company sold over 70,000 ebooks and raked in more than $1 million. Three of their titles have made Amazon’s and Barnes & Noble’s ebook best seller list: The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen, The Dead of Summer by Mari Jungstedt and Killer’s Island by Anna Jansson. Based on these positive figures, Stockholm Text is expanding its business, and in 2013 will release its first print books in the United States through a deal with Perseus Books Group.

Foreign language publishers are not the only people getting in on the international trade action. Australian-based Text Publishing is looking to mine age-old Oceanic classics for American readers as part of its Text Classics line. “Many of these books are lost gems,” said publisher Michael Heyward. “They might be set in Australia or New Zealand, but the stories they tell, the fears and desires they dramatize, are universal.”

An important part of Text Classic’s strategy has been to capitalize on its titles’ potential as salable ebooks, Heyward emphasized. “Availability is a key issue for us,” he said. “While it was hugely important that we make these books available in collectible and affordable print form, we also want to give readers a choice about how they can read the Text Classics, and so digital is an essential publishing format for us.” By the end of 2013, Text Publishing will release 70 Text Classics in print and 68 in digital.

The debate over the place of print and digital in a flagging twenty-first-century publishing industry will continue to rage on, but the insight and initiative of these international publishers show that there is still money to be made and market demands to satisfy.

Cursive: No Longer the "Write" Way

by Hayley Gundlach, Intern Summer 2013

Though it was years ago, I still vividly remember my third-grade cursive lessons. They were taught once per day, for an hour or so, and involved wide books full of examples and empty lines for tedious repetitions. After third grade, the decision was up to us: print or cursive, as long as it was legible. While I chose to keep a cursive hybrid, many of us abandoned cursive writing forever—a sign that, even then, the flowing script was on its way out.

Before 2010, when the Common Core State Standards (the Standards) had not yet been introduced, cursive was on a slow ride to extinction.  Now, with the Standards having been adopted in 46 states, cursive is dying—fast. The Standards for elementary schools omit, though they do not prohibit, a cursive standard, replacing it with computer keyboard proficiency. The inclusion of cursive lessons is now left up entirely to school boards and principals, and most are choosing to leave them out due to already tight curricula and limited resources.

The argument for keeping cursive in schools is limited. The strongest argument is to keep cursive for the sake of signatures, which are still used today for endorsing official documents. Most signatures are cursive based, and eliminating script means signatures will become printing based, putting people at risk for fraud and identity theft, since cursive signatures are harder to forge. Some of those who fight for cursive also vouch for the traditional and historical value of cursive and argue that the script is a part of our culture.

Those who are against keeping cursive in the curriculum have a more compelling argument. Since we’ve moved into the Digital Age, cursive writing isn’t necessary. Almost everything—even things that require signatures—can be done electronically. Plus, when pen-on-paper is necessary, unlike decades ago, most people choose to print rather than use cursive. Think about it—how often do you use the formal, looping script? Not only is cursive no longer necessary or frequently used, there is limited classroom time to teach it. Since there have been no conclusive studies that prove cursive is wholly beneficial to students’ education, most teachers have commented that they would rather spend the time focusing on other, more useful topics.

It might be time to tuck away any of those cursive letters, essays or other papers, for soon enough they’ll be seen as historical artifacts: relics of penmanship’s past.

Further Reading

Jimmy Bryant, “Room for Debate: Is Cursive Dead? A Cultural Tradition Worth Preserving,” Room for Debate in The Opinion Pages of The New York Times, April 30, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/04/30/should-schools-require-children-to-learn-cursive/cursive-handwriting-is-a-cultural-tradition-worth-preserving.

Morgan Polikoff, “Room for Debate: Is Cursive Dead? Let It Die. It’s Already Dying,” Room for Debate in The Opinion Pages of The New York Times, April 30, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/04/30/should-schools-require-children-to-learn-cursive/let-cursive-handwriting-die.

Rob Furnman, “The Great Handwriting Debate,” The Blog in The Huffington Post, May 8, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-furman/the-great-handwriting-deb_b_3237152.html.

Barnes & Noble Losing Money, Casts Off Color Nooks

by Grant Bradley, Intern Summer 2013

This past June, Barnes & Noble released its financial report for the fiscal year, and things are not looking particularly bright and sunny for the national book chain. The bookseller reported a net loss of $154.8 million, more than double last year’s net loss. Total sales fell 4.1 percent to $6.84 billion.

Although Barnes & Noble’s mainstays such as print books, toys and games have remained essentially flat, and digital content sales have even gone up, its floundering Nook segment, which makes up the bulk of the year’s losses, has become such a dead weight that the company has decided to discontinue its production of color Nook tablets altogether.

In the wake of the implosion of Borders, whose collapse many blamed in part on its lack of a comprehensive digital content strategy, Barnes & Noble’s decision to create a line of e-readers to compete with the likes of the Kindle seemed like a good business strategy. Barnes & Noble manufactures and sells these devices to consumers, who in turn buy digital content from BN.com to read on their devices, all while avoiding profit-snagging third parties like Amazon’s Kindle Store or Apple’s iBookstore.

To a certain extent, this business model has worked with black-and-white, e-ink devices. But as full-color, high-definition tablets surged in popularity, Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD and Nook HD+ began to face some serious competition from the Kindle Fire and the Apple iPad with Retina display. Barnes & Noble tried to climb its way out of a slippery slope of flagging profits, only to see Nook sales decline 16.8 percent from last year’s figures, losing $475.4 million this year compared to $261.7 million last year. Eventually, the Nook-sized hole in Barnes & Noble’s pocket grew too big to sustain it any longer, and the bookstore chain decided to cut back by halting its production of color tablets.

CEO William Lynch admits that Nook losses were “much higher than expected” and, following the decision to cease tablet production, resigned his position of nearly three years. Before he left the company Lynch made it clear that Barnes & Noble’s “aim is to sell great tablets connected to our best content catalog and high-quality bookstore services we’ve done, but [to] do so without the sizable upfront risk.”

Barnes & Noble says in the future it will work with third parties to make color tablets in exchange for co-branding opportunities, but will continue to make its own black-and-white, e-ink devices. In the meantime, savvy consumers can buy existing tablets from Barnes & Noble’s retail locations and web store at a sizeable discount through the 2013 holiday season.

Beat Summer Brain Drain with Educational Websites

by Jessie Miller, Intern Summer 2013

Summer: time to kick back, put those textbooks away, and push school out of mind. But research has shown that this education avoidance contributes to the loss of previously learned knowledge in students, essentially leaving them unprepared for the upcoming school year. How to combat this brain drain malady? Get online—American Library Association’s (ALA) Great Websites for Kids has one such solution.

Since its establishment by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) in 1997, Great Websites for Kids has compiled carefully reviewed websites that are appropriate and educational for users up to fourteen years old. Websites are evaluated on several criteria, including content, purpose, subject matter and design. Their list covers a wide array of topics from history to animals to literature, providing both specific and more general information.

Scrolling through their approved history list, you can find everything from Abraham Lincoln to women’s suffrage. Great Websites for Kids is an excellent tool for homework help during the school year or for curious minds, but as the Chicago Tribune notes, it can also help ensure that students don’t experience learning loss over the summer. Educational websites give children a fun and interactive way to continue their learning.

Some of the many “Most Popular” sites listed on Great Websites are Eric Carle (author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar), Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, Thomas the Tank Engine, National Gallery for Kids and NASA. Another site, Generation On, focuses on spreading the youth service movement and helping teens find more ways to volunteer and give back. There truly is something for everyone among the expansive database, even websites for parents and teachers.

However, sticking children in front of a computer screen for the entire summer does have negative effects, including higher rates of obesity. The solution comes in the healthy balance between indoor and active time. As long as it is not a constant stationary activity, access to educational websites not only supplements school, but can also teach kids initiative and spark further interest in different subjects. Additionally, because it can be challenging for some students to learn in a typical classroom setting, access to interactive learning sources provides an alternative for those who struggle.

The Internet can be a dangerous place for kids when unmonitored, but it also opens up endless possibilities that enhance limited learning experiences. Furthermore, longstanding print and television broadcast media have established an online presence: National Geographic, Highlights, PBS and Sesame Street, to name a few. All are on Great Websites’ approved list.

This summer, instead of mindless video games or television show repeats, consider the interactive learning available through Great Websites and other kid-friendly websites, each designed to enrich children’s education and prevent learning loss.

Establishing Financial Intelligence

by Chelsea Cooper, Intern Summer 2013

One of the most anticipated moments in a young adult’s life is getting his or her driver’s license. Most teenagers equate having a license with becoming an adult, making it a rite of passage. So if taking drivers’ education classes and tests to get one’s license already seem like a hassle, what if there were also questions on the test to assess financial life skills? Would young adults be able to pass? In his op-ed article “How the DMV Could Make Teens Learn About Money,” Adam Levin discusses how learning basic financial life skills is equally as important as learning how to drive. He proposes that if you “don’t understand the difference between a credit card and a debit card? Can’t name the five top factors that determine your credit score (which governs whether you can even get a loan)? Call me the Soup Nazi of the DMV: No license for you! Next!” Levin believes that a credit card and a car loan can look harmless but can turn into a financial danger for some teens. However, he thinks that students with financial literacy are more likely to put more money into savings and pay their credit card balances, and are less likely to max out their credit card.

Even though he does not say teens should be taught this in driver’s education classes, Levin does say that high schools should be involved in teaching these skills. New York Times reporter Tara Siegel Bernard also wrote an article concerning this topic. In her 2010 article “Working Financial Literacy in With the Three R’s,” Bernard agrees that these lessons should be taught in school. However, it’s not a new concept. Currently, there are only 13 states that require students to take a personal finance course before they can graduate from high school. And although there are 34 states that make personal finance a part of their curricula, Bernard states she does not believe that the course will always be taught. She writes: “It’s no secret that state budgets are tight, and courses not seen as core are more likely to be cut than added."

Yet another place where students should be learning about personal finance is from their parents. In a recent Huffington Post Canada article, “Generation Y and Personal Finance: Understanding the World of Money More Important Than Ever,” Stephanie Chan quotes Investor Education Fund President Tom Hamza as saying, “I’d like to be able to say (it’s) 100 percent of a parent’s [responsibility to teach their children], but without parents modeling this behavior, we have to rely on schools more often than not.” Chan agrees with Hamza and writes that relatives may not have all the answers to teach the youth everything they need to know.

Based on these articles, there is a definite need for the youth to learn financial skills. Whether it’s implemented through DMV testing, enforced throughout high schools, or even parents finding and sharing more information, teenagers need to learn how to protect themselves not only from car accidents but from financial crises as well.

Further Reading

Susan B. Garland, “Personal Business; Reading, Writing and Now Checkbook Balancing,” The New York Times, June 22, 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/business/personal-business-reading-writing-and-now-checkbook-balancing.html.