Measuring History

Measuring History complements the cases presented in Wise Social Studies Practices (Yeager & Davis, 2005). Yeager and Davis highlightthe rich and ambitious teaching that can occur in the broad context of state-level testing. In this book, the chapter authors and I bring the particularstate history tests more to the fore and examine how teachers are responding to them. At the heart of Measuring History are cases ofclassroom teachers in seven states (Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia) where new social studies standardsand new, and generally high-stakes, state-level history tests are prominent. In these chapters, the authors describe and analyze thestate's testing efforts and how those efforts are being interpreted in the context of classroom practice. The results both support and challengeprevailing views on the efficacy of testing as a vehicle for educational reform. Catherine Horn (University of Houston) and I lay the groundworkfor the case studies through a set of introductory chapters that examine the current environment, the research literature, and the technicalqualities of history tests.