High-Stakes Teaching Practices That Improve Student Learning

Based on the research of 45 interviews conducted in Texas and Arkansas, High-Stakes Teaching presents strategies that successfully blend child- and test-centered teaching into one focus, creating a consistently high-quality instructional environment. The teachers interviewed offer their students an invitation to enter the realm of learning expectantly. Through their words, we can visualize the educational scaffolding process as students foster a love and appreciation of critical thinking that promises to remain long after the last test question has been answered. Reflective questions and commentaries provide educators an opportunity to investigate their own philosophies of accountability testing and its place in the classroom.