Commentary: Accountability Policy and Scholarly Research

Since 2001, considerations of school reform have been dominated by performance-based accountability. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has changed the way policymakers and educators talk about education, look at educational performance, and think about educational challenges. Nonetheless, NCLB and the state accountability systems it has spawned have been subjected to little careful scrutiny. This article discusses four recent research contributions and considers how they might inform policymaking on accountability. While scholarly scrutiny will not necessarily settle debates, it can help yield more constructive and informed decisions. In particular, research can clarify the actual consequences of policy decisions; highlight and refine approaches that may be more reliable, stable, and effective than those in use; flag the unanticipated or overlooked effects of design decisions; and ensure that both policymakers and the public are aware of the costs and benefits of accountability.     

Paying Teachers According To Student Achievement: Questions Regarding Pay-For-Performance Models in Public Education

In an effort to correct for perceived deficiencies in the No Child Left Behind Act, value-added models were proposed as a way to find out how much students learned in schools and classrooms throughout the school year. What has garnered much controversy regarding the value-added model, however, is the attempt to link pay and tenure to performance. In this article, a theoretical framework is introduced that examines the likely success of using value-added assessments as a pay-for-performance tool. After applying the theory, the author suggests that caution should be used when utilizing value-added assessments to pay teachers for student learning.     

Social Studies Education in the Age of Testing and Accountability

With 3 years and counting since its inception, the scope and impact of No Child Left Behind is now being felt in classrooms across the nation. Although some successes have been identified, concerns about the implementation and expectations of the legislation are emerging. As a result of the legislation's emphasis on the development of standards and assessment systems in reading, mathematics, and science, educators of other core and elective subjects are weighing the impact of being left out of the No Child Left Behind formula of testing and accountability. In an attempt to ascertain the perceptions and sentiments of social studies teachers concerning the impact of No Child Left Behind and the concomitant issue of state-level testing and accountability policy, a tristate study was conducted. The findings of this research indicate that although elementary, middle, and high school social studies educators recognize the negative consequences of being left out of No Child Left Behind, they are not convinced that being included would be better for them, their students, or social studies education in general.     

Education Through School and Community Coöperation

To a surprising degree, how you communicate determines your effectiveness as a teacher. Relationships are built on communication and easily destroyed by it. (Charles 2000, 48–49)     

NCME 2008 Presidential Address: The Impact of Anchor Test Configuration on Student Proficiency Rates

Examined in this study were the effects of reducing anchor test length on student proficiency rates for 12 multiple‐choice tests administered in an annual, large‐scale, high‐stakes assessment. The anchor tests contained 15 items, 10 items, or five items. Five content representative samples of items were drawn at each anchor test length from a small universe of items in order to investigate the stability of equating results over anchor test samples. The operational tests were calibrated using the one‐parameter model and equated using the mean b‐value method. The findings indicated that student proficiency rates could display important variability over anchor test samples when 15 anchor items were used. Notable increases in this variability were found for some tests when shorter anchor tests were used. For these tests, some of the anchor items had parameters that changed somewhat in relative difficulty from one year to the next. It is recommended that anchor sets with more than 15 items be used to mitigate the instability in equating results due to anchor item sampling. Also, the optimal allocation method of stratified sampling should be evaluated as one means of improving the stability and precision of equating results.     

美《不让一个孩子落伍法》又起新波澜——20个州联名要求联邦放宽学校绩效评价标准

美20个州联名上书要求联邦修改《不让一个孩子落伍法》,放宽学校评价标准,由州来判断学生进步与否与进步的时间问题。     

The Effects of State Decisions About NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress Targets

The No Child Left Behind Act allows states to vary (a) the trajectories they select to move from the baseline percent proficient or above in 2002 to the 100% proficient goal in 2014, (b) the minimum number of students required for reporting of disaggregated subgroup results, and (c) whether or not they will use confidence intervals when determining whether or not an annual measurable objective has been met. We use data from Kentucky for the years 2003 and 2004 to explore the consequences of different design decisions. The effect of design decisions on number and percentage of schools meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP) is large, with important implications for education practice.     

美国双语教育的历史演变与政策反思

美国双语教育近年来引起了我国学者的关注,但是少有学者对此掌握第一手的资料,因而缺乏系统的观点.本文根据笔者对美国双语教育项目的亲身参与,①系统阐述了美国双语教育的历史与现状,并对双语政策的演变进行了反思.笔者认为虽然移民潮、国际环境变化、国内政局交替等因素直接推动了双语教育政策的演变,但是这些外在条件只是起到了催化剂的作用,双语教育争辩的真正根源在于不同的语言取向和语言意识形态.     

Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea

In the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article provides reasons for the increased use in high-stakes testing and detail on the problems it causes. Also included are possible solutions to alleviate the concerns associated with high-stakes testing.     

Consistency of Standard Setting in an Augmented State Testing System

In this article we address the issue of consistency in standard setting in the context of an augmented state testing program. Information gained from the external NRT scores is used to help make an informed decision on the determination of cut scores on the state test. The consistency of cut scores on the CRT across grades is maintained by forcing a consistency model based on the NRT scores and translating that information back to the CRT scores. The inconsistency of standards and the application of this model are illustrated using data from the Maryland MSA large state testing program involving cut points for basic, proficient and advanced in mathematics and reading across years and across grades. The model is discussed in some detail and shown to be a promising approach, although not without assumptions that must be made and issues that might be raised.     

News and Communications

ABSTRACT

The author examined how local charter school educators respond to the accountability measures being imposed on them. Encouraged by early indications of increased test scores, state and federal policymakers continue to support accountability as an effective means to improve schools. Surprisingly, there has been little research on local educators’ experiences with and responses to such reforms. This lack of research is striking because teachers, principals, and superintendents are directly responsible for the implementation of accountability mandates, including administering tests, teaching to the state standards, and implementing state-approved curriculum packages. In an effort to understand teachers’ and administrators’ experiences with public school accountability, the author explores how educators in 4 charter schools in Michigan understand recent accountability mandates with respect to school reform.     

美国中小学暑期阅读计划

美国联邦教育部近期发布的中小学暑期阅读计划是为了防止中小学生暑期阅读能力下降，巩固提高其阅读能力，达到《不让一个孩子落后》法案所提出的确保每个儿童到三年级都能阅读的目标而制定的。     

What Does the No Child Left Behind Act Mean to Early Childhood Teacher Educators?: A Call for a Collective Professional Rejoinder

This article is a call to become more critically aware of the new law commonly referred to as No Child Left Behind Act, which was put into effect in 2002 in the United States. The article is also an invitation to early childhood educators worldwide to engage in a dialogue that raises several questions: (a) How does such legislation affect early childhood educators and teacher preparation programs?; (b) How might teacher educators react and respond to the new law as they continuously practice informed decision-making about teacher preparation that is socially responsible? In view of these questions, it is a hope that we can see the initiation of nationwide dialogue regarding the issue of the No Child Left Behind Act. Primarily, how does the new law affect teacher educators and teachers? It is inevitable for us to be united and politically informed to prevent further scrutiny of questionable politically and economically driven educational practices in the United States, not to mention “test-heavy” evidence-based education reform.     

Using Diagnostic Profiles to Describe Borderline Performance in Standard Setting

In test-centered standard-setting methods, borderline performance can be represented by many different profiles of strengths and weaknesses. As a result, asking panelists to estimate item or test performance for a hypothetical group study of borderline examinees, or a typical borderline examinee, may be an extremely difficult task and one that can lead to questionable results in setting cut scores. In this study, data collected from a previous standard-setting study are used to deduce panelists’ conceptions of profiles of borderline performance. These profiles are then used to predict cut scores on a test of algebra readiness. The results indicate that these profiles can predict a very wide range of cut scores both within and between panelists. Modifications are proposed to existing training procedures for test-centered methods that can account for the variation in borderline profiles.     

Adding Objectivity to Standard Setting: Evaluating Consequence Using the Conscious and Subconscious Weight Methods

Standard setting is arguably one of the most subjective techniques in test development and psychometrics. The decisions when scores are compared to standards, however, are arguably the most consequential outcomes of testing. Providing licensure to practice in a profession has high stake consequences for the public. Denying graduation or forcing remediation has high-impact consequences for students. Unfortunately, tests that classify individuals are subjected to false positive and false negative misclassifications. When determining a standard, standard setting panelists implicitly consider the negative consequences of the decisions made from test use. We propose the conscious weight method and subconscious weight method to bring more objectivity to the standard setting process. To do this, these methods quantify the relative harm of the negative consequences of false positive and false negative misclassification.     

从奥巴马政府修订NCLB法看美国教育均衡发展

2010年3月以来,奥巴马政府着手修订《不让一个孩子掉队》法,提出了一系列均衡发展美国教育的措施。这些措施既源自美国民众对教育均衡发展始终如一的追求,是美国政府因势利导的政策选择,又源自《不让一个孩子掉队》法没有完成既定目标,各州教育标准低下,教育差距在拉大,以及美国民主党的教育理念等。因此,推进教育均衡发展不仅应该有切实可行的目标,还要根据实际情况优先实施关键措施,缩减贫困地区学校班额,并为均衡发展教育提供持续的经费支持。     

Urban School Principals and the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act

This exploratory study investigated how six practicing school principals responded to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law (United States Congress Public Law 107–110, 2002, January, No Child Left Behind Act, ) in light of the multicultural leadership demands presented by an urban setting. It examines perspectives of principals on the legal aspects of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and what they did to manage its requirements. Multicultural leadership literature provided a framework to understand the perspectives of school leaders. The findings suggest three principals were engaged in meaningful and practical work to both fulfill the requirements of NCLB and meet the needs of their students. Three principals were focused on the requirements of the law and did not see the connection between multicultural leadership and NCLB. The study’s recommendations include a multicultural leadership approach to current NCLB school reform. An earlier version of this study in progress was presented to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Montreal, Canada 2005.     

The Anti-Black Order of No Child Left Behind: Using Lacanian psychoanalysis and critical race theory to examine NCLB

During a period in which institutions have been refashioned to meet the demands of a complex social and political economy, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has helped to alter the public educational system. As scholars and researchers examine the material effects of NCLB, efforts to improve the educational system and its effects must also explore the relationship between policy and racial ideologies including discursive fantasies. This article examines the relationship between NCLB and racial fantasies of Black youth as problematic others in order to help education reform scholarship and advocacy examine the violence of NCLB.