School examinations of student responses to literature often present poetry blind or "unseen", inviting decontextualised close reading consistent with the orientation-to-text associated with Practical Criticism (originating in the UK) and New Criticism (originating in the USA). The approach survives in the UK after curricular reforms and…

Describes a test to determine students' understanding of poetry that avoids the difficulties of objective tests and involves the students with poetry on the test. (TJ)

Urging teachers of poetry writing to better understand themselves as writers and readers, this book "interrogates" a strategy teachers might employ in reading and evaluating student poems. A thoughtful study of a teacher is presented while in the process of evaluating student poetry through the lenses of four different contemporary…

To determine whether a test to evaluate high school students' ability to understand and appreciate poetry could be constructed, two equivalent forms of a poetry test for grades 11 and 12 were developed using the recommendations of leading textbook authors, selected course content, anthologies, and literature and poetry tests. Aspects of poetry…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to interpret and evaluate complex works of music, dance, theater, visual arts,…

Two studies illustrate the concern that the connection between teachers' beliefs and their instructional practices can be a troublesome one if beliefs are informed by formalist thinking related to truth and caring in the teaching conversation. Subjects, 21 middle school language arts teachers and 216 eighth-grade students were asked what they…