An Age of Accountability: How Standardized Testing Came to Dominate American Schools and Compromise Education

The book "An Age of Accountability" explores the use of test-based accountability as a policy framework in American education from 1970 to 2020, emphasizing its impact on schools and educators. Despite lofty goals of universal proficiency and achievement gaps, this approach has failed to deliver significant improvements, leading to distrust in institutions and the continued belief in accountability as a necessity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 246 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2023
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

The passage highlights the significant role of test-based accountability as a policy framework in American education from 1970 to 2020. For over half a century, the pursuit of holding schools and educators accountable for academic achievement has primarily relied on standardized assessments. The underlying theory of change in almost all test-based accountability programs posited that assessment with specified consequences could lead to substantial improvements in schools. This was achieved through political declarations of lofty goals, such as achieving universal proficiency and closing achievement gaps, which, however, repeatedly failed to materialize. Despite clear disappointments, no other policy framework has emerged to challenge the dominance of test-based accountability. Today, the American public has limited confidence in institutions to enhance the quality of goods and services they provide, particularly in the public sector. As a result, many Americans continue to believe that accountability remains a crucial necessity, even if educators and policy scholars disagree.

The passage highlights the significant role of test-based accountability as a policy framework in American education from 1970 to 2020. For over half a century, the pursuit of holding schools and educators accountable for academic achievement has primarily relied on standardized assessments. The underlying theory of change in almost all test-based accountability programs posited that assessment with specified consequences could lead to substantial improvements in schools. This was achieved through political declarations of lofty goals, such as achieving universal proficiency and closing achievement gaps, which, however, repeatedly failed to materialize. Despite clear disappointments, no other policy framework has emerged to challenge the dominance of test-based accountability. Today, the American public has limited confidence in institutions to enhance the quality of goods and services they provide, particularly in the public sector. As a result, many Americans continue to believe that accountability remains a crucial necessity, even if educators and policy scholars disagree.

Weight: 54g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978832275