An Age of Accountability: How Standardized Testing Came to Dominate American Schools and Compromise Education (New Directions in the History of Education) - Softcover

Rury, John L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1978832273 ISBN 13: 9781978832275

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2023

Synopsis

An Age of Accountability highlights the role of test-based accountability as a policy framework in American education from 1970 to 2020. For more than half a century, the quest to hold schools and educators accountable for academic achievement has relied almost exclusively on standardized assessment. The theory of change embedded in almost all test-based accountability programs held that assessment with stipulated consequences could lead to major improvements in schools. This was accomplished politically by proclaiming lofty goals of attaining universal proficiency and closing achievement gaps, which repeatedly failed to materialize. But even after very clear disappointments, no other policy framework has emerged to challenge its hegemony. The American public today has little confidence in institutions to improve the quality of goods and services they provide, especially in the public sector. As a consequence, many Americans continue to believe that accountability remains a vital necessity, even if educators and policy scholars disagree.

About this title

About the Author

JOHN L. RURY is a professor emeritus of education at the University of Kansas. He is the author of many publications, including Creating the Suburban School Advantage: Race, Localism and Inequality in an American Metropolis.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1978832273
• ISBN 13: 9781978832275
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 246