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Through Tyler Heights Elementary School under principal Tina McKnight, the article describes intensive instructional and behavioral changes tied to Maryland School Assessment results. 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They also wonder whether the strategies used sacrifice too much for a single score.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":116,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":118,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":120,"site_id":62},591392,1792789400,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":123},{"doc_id":120,"user_id":124,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":131,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":132,"faqs":133,"seo_title":134,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":135,"read_time":52,"preview_page_count":4},962088006270,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Unintended Consequences  \nHigh Stakes Can Result in Low Standards  \nBy Linda Perlstein  \nAperson could live in Annapolis,  \nMaryland, for a lifetime unaware  \nof its poverty.  \nThe city of 40,000 is best known as an exemplar of preppy, nautical affluence; it is home to the buttoned-up U.S. Naval Academy, the pristine, historic State House perched on a hill, and an array of yacht clubs. Those who visit from Washington or Baltimore, 45 minutes away, probably don’t know that tucked blocks away are rows of garden apartments that  \nLinda Perlstein is the public editor for the Education Writers Association and writes the Educated Reporter blog; her articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Nation, and the Columbia Journalism Review. Previously, she covered education for the Washington Post. This article is excerpted from her most recent book, Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade. Copyright (c) 2007 by Linda Perlstein. Reprinted by arrangement with Henry Holt and Company, LLC.  \nare modest at best, dilapidated at worst, and two glum housing projects known to few beyond their residents and the police.  \nWhen Tina McKnight* became principal of nearby Tyler Heights Elementary School in 2000, she found the front office crammed with misbehaving children, like emergency-room patients awaiting triage. The test results were so dismal—a schoolwide index suggested that only 17 percent of students performed satisfactorily on the state exam her first year—that at county principals’ meetings, she wanted to disappear.  \nWell aware of the stakes, McKnight wasted little time at Tyler Heights before introducing what she called a “laser-sharp focus” on improvement. Her changes, as well as those imposed by the county’s new, hard-charging superintendent, looked alot like those taking place across America. Students at Tyler Heights began receiving at least two and a half hours of reading and  \n*While students’ names are pseudonyms, the staff members chose to use their real names.  \n90 minutes of math instruction each day. Floundering children who once might have been allowed to flop undetected from grade to grade were pulled aside daily for special attention. Students were taught strategies for taking tests, including a formula for crafting written responses, and given all manner of rewards for good answers and good behavior. Anything seen as irrelevant to the Maryland School Assessment (MSA)—field trips, talent shows, Career Day—got pushed back until after the March testing dates.  \nMcKnight, a workaholic even before the laser-sharp focus, usually stayed at school until 10:30 p.m. on weeknights, when the custodians went home, and until dark on Saturdays. (She used to stay later, until a bullet zinged through the office window.) Since she arrived at Tyler Heights her social life had disappeared, as did her season tickets to the theater. McKnight, who was 56, never used up her vacation time; it vanished atthe end of each calendar year with the Christmas trash.  \nIt was worth it to her when she thought  \n6 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SUMMER 2010  \nof how much Tyler Heights had accomplished on her watch. The place was no longer as dangerous as during her early years, when the police were a regular presence. Students by now had been taught new rules, a new school culture, a new vocabulary for learning. But in this era of provable results in education, where“increasing achievement,”“improving student learning,” and “demonstrating progress” are just synonyms for upping test scores, McKnight knew that little of that would matter if the numbers didn’t comedown in her favor.  \nOn the day they finally did, bouquets of flowers arrived at Tyler Heights. The marquee out front was changed to read: OUR MSA SCORES ARE GREAT.  \nThe scores would secure McKnight a place as one of five finalists for county principal of the year. The school’s improvement merited articles in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and both t","cbCailg1xwG80Bez","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailg1xwG80Bez","pdf",550958,"English","# Background and stakes\n## Tyler Heights and initial conditions\n# McKnight’s improvement strategy\n## Laser-sharp focus and instruction changes\n## Rewards and test preparation\n# Results and public recognition\n## Finalist for principal of the year\n# Growing concerns\n## “No excuses” and student value\n# Benchmark assessments\n## Benchmarks as proxies for MSA","[{\"question\":\"Why do some teachers doubt the meaning of improved test scores?\",\"answer\":\"Teachers question whether the tests capture what students actually need, noting that students must pass despite hunger, abuse, or learning disabilities. They also wonder whether the strategies used sacrifice too much for a single score.\"}]","Unintended Consequences - High Stakes Can Result in Low Standards - By Linda Perlstein | PDF",1792071765]