Abstract
This chapter reviews educational reform efforts in the United States beginning with the National Commission on Excellence in Education in 1981 and traces how student assessment has come to be associated with large-scale, centralized, high-impact testing. This approach has been instrumental in aligning curriculum to standards and disaggregating results to focus attention on student groups. However, unintended consequences have narrowed the curriculum, decreased time for instruction, and pushed students out of school.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Associated Press. (2003, May 8). Bill would limit elementary testing days. Retrieved October 16, 2004, from http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031769526146
Black, P., & Dylan, W. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kapan, 80(2), 139–148.
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Dylan, W. (2004). Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1), 9–21.
Bush, G. W. (2002, January 8). President signs landmark no child left behind education bill. Retrieved May 22, 2008, from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108-1.html
Center for Responsive Politics. (2009). Centre for responsive politics. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.opensecrets.org/
Commission on Presidential Debates. (2000, October 3). Unofficial debate transcript. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000a.html
Darling-Hammond, L. (1994). Performance-based assessment and educational equity. Harvard Educational Review, 64(1), 5–31.
Dobyns, L., & Crawford-Mason, C. (1991). Quality or else. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
ED.gov website http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/4pillars.html
Education Austin. (2007). Legislature’s 10% cap could mean relief: Putting the lid on overtesting in AISD. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.steamybowl.com/ea/legislatures10cap.pdf
Eisner, E. W. (2001). What does it mean to say a school is doing well? Phi Delta Kappan, 82(5), 367–372.
Epstein, N. (2004). Who’s in charge here? The tangled web of school governance and policy. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States.
Gallagher, C. W. (2007). Reclaiming assessment: A better alternative to the accountability agenda. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gallagher, C. W. (2008). Democratic policy making and the arts of engagement. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(5), 340–346.
Glasser, W. (1990). The quality school: Managing students without coercion. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Glickman, C. (2004). Letters to the next president: What we can do about the real crisis in public education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Goals. (2000). Educate America Act of 1994. Retrieved August 27, 2011 from http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/GOALS2000/TheAct/index.html
Heilig, J. V., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Accountability Texas-style: The progress and learning of urban minority students in a high-stakes testing context. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 75–110.
Heldsinger, S. (2008). Using a measurement paradigm to guide classroom assessment processes. Presentation at the International Perspectives on Student Assessment Lecture Series, University of Calgary and University of Alberta, Canada.
Hilliard, A. G. (1991). Do we have the will to educate all children? Educational Leadership, 49(1), 31–36.
Hilliard, A. G. (1998). The standards movement: Quality control or decoy? Rethinking Schools: An Urban Educational Journal Online, 12(4).
Holland, R. (2000, June). NAEP becoming an offer states can’t refuse: ‘Godfather’ strategy usurps state sovereignty. School Reform News: The Heartland Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.heartland.org
Institute for Education Sciences. (2009). National assessment of educational progress: The nations report card. National Center for Educational Statistics, US Department of Education. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/
Kohlberg, L., & Mayer, R. (1972). Development as the aim of education. Harvard Educational Review, 42(4), 449–496.
Kornhaber, M. (2004). Appropriate and inappropriate forms of testing, assessment, and accountability. Educational Policy, 18(1), 45–70.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). The Education Debt. Educational Researcher, 35(7), 3–12.
Leithwood, K. (2008, February). School leadership, evidence-based decision making and large-scale assessment. Lecture at the International Perspectives on Student Assessment Lecture Series, University of Calgary.
McNeil, L. M. (2000). Creating new inequalities: Contradictions of reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(10), 729–734.
McNeil, L. M., Coppola, E., Radigan, J., & Vasquez Heilig, J. (2008). Avoidable losses: High-stakes accountability and the dropout crisis. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 16(3), 1–45.
National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A nation at risk: The imperative for education reform. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html
Nelson, S., & McGhee, M. (2004). Time off task: How test preparation is siphoning instructional time for students of color and students of poverty. Paper session presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Kansas City, MO.
Nelson, S., McGhee, M., Meno, L., & Slater, C. L. (2007a). Fulfilling the promise of educational accountability: A unique perspective. Phi Delta Kappan, 88(9), 702–709.
Nelson, S., McGhee, M., Reardon, R., Gonzales, K., & Kent, C. (2007b). Supplanting teaching with testing: Does it raise test scores? Paper session presented at the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration, Alexandria, VA.
Rothstein, R. (2004). Class and schools: Using social, economic, and educational reform to close the black-white achievement gap. New York: Teachers College Press.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.
Shepard, L. A. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4–14.
Shepard, L., & Smith, M. L. (1986). Synthesis of research on school readiness and kindergarten retention. Educational Leadership, 44(3), 78–86.
Slater, C. L. (2005). What does it mean to be an educated person? The School Administrator, 8(62), 56.
Summary of Goals. (2000). Educate America Act. Retrieved August 27, 2011 from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/stw/sw0goals.htm
Texas Education Agency. (1998, September 1, 1998). Chapter 113. Texas essential knowledge and skills for social studies. Subchapter A. Elementary. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter113/ch113a.html#113.6
US Department of Education. (2009a). No child left behind. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml
US Department of Education. (2009b). Reading first. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/index.html
US Department of Education. (2009c). Early reading first. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/programs/earlyreading/index.html
US Department of Education. (2009d). Title I – Improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.html
Valenzuela, A. (1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S. Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Waite, D., Boone, M., & McGhee, M. (2001). Last volley in the culture wars? A critical sociocultural view of accountability. Journal of School Leadership, 11(3), 182–203.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Slater, C.L., McGhee, M.W., Nelson, S.W., Meno, L.“. (2011). Lessons Learned: The Promise and Possibility of Educational Accountability in the United States. In: Webber, C., Lupart, J. (eds) Leading Student Assessment. Studies in Educational Leadership, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1727-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1727-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-1726-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1727-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)