The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the landmark educational reform legislation, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) on four specific areas within the local educational setting: (1) local curriculum decisions (2) teaching decisions as they relate to daily instruction (3) potential narrowing of the curriculum and (4) teacher job satisfaction. All public schools in the United States are now subject to the mandates of NCLB. This legislation marked a profound change in the relationship between the federal government and state and local educational agencies. NCLB represents an expansion of the federal role in education where federal control of education has reached deeper than ever before into the heart of state and local educational operations. As a result, NCLB has direct implications for what takes place educationally in the individual classroom. The local educational setting and the individual classroom is where this study focused its efforts. This study suggests that NCLB has had, and will continue to have, a major impact on curriculum decisions at the local level as well as classroom instructional decisions made either by the teacher or enforced upon the classroom teacher by local administrative or local school district mandates. The study also suggests that this impact will be driven by the requirement that schools achieve a specified rate of progress in the areas of mathematics and reading as measured through the use of standardized tests. Under NCLB a school's performance on state reading and mathematics tests will determine if the school and its district make adequate yearly progress, commonly referred to as AYP. Schools that fail to meet the annual achievement goals are subjected to an escalating series of sanctions. This study sought to determine if curriculum decisions at the district and administrative level have been driven by NCLB and the AYP component. The study sought to determine if curriculum decisions and classroom practices on the part of teachers were influenced by NCLB. Additionally the study sought to determine if NCLB and the AYP component have caused a narrowing of the curriculum and if so, to what extent. Finally, this study sought to determine if NCLB and the AYP component had any impact on teacher job satisfaction as it pertains to classroom instructional decisions and teacher autonomy.

The continuing improvement in standards and the associated direct school accountability has been at the forefront of school policy since the introduction of the Education Reform Act of 1988. Its introduction brought both top down curriculum control and the opening up of primary schools in England to neo-liberal market reforms. To facilitate direct market competition and raise standards, measures of performance were introduced, in the form of annually published national assessments (SATs) and from 1992 inspection by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education). These measures took on board the status of High Stakes Testing (HST), since their outcomes directly impacted upon the professional lives of all those working within primary schools. Prior to 1988, central government had started to address underachievement, for example, Better Schools (DfES 1985), but now, for the first time, individual schools and their leaders were to be directly responsible for the achievement, or otherwise, of their pupils through the publication of attainment data and regular inspection reports. The notion of performativity (Ball 2003) was introduced into English primary schools, where performance measures and judgements (HST) were used as a means of top-down regulation and policy enforcement. This study investigates current primary school headteachers’ perceptions of their own professional accountability. It further explores the continuing focus on standards and the constant pressures and conflicts heads currently face in terms of maximising pupil attainment outcomes. The fieldwork was carried out within thirty four state funded primary schools across the North of England. A questionnaire was used to survey headteachers’ current perceptions; this data located heads on to a conceptual framework (Figure 5.5). Heads are located into one of four positions regarding their perceptions of the Standards Driven Agenda (SDA) and HST. Heads from each of the positions were then interviewed, which formed the prime data collection tool. The research further examines the inter-relationship between socio-economic context and HST outcomes, addressing the question of the equality of the application of identical floor targets for all primary schools, regardless of circumstance. Schools falling within areas of high and low deprivation were identified, using the income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI); each area’s headteachers’ perceptions were then compared and contrasted, in order to identify any effects of context. Ranson’s (2003) typology and Ball’s (2003) conceptualisation of accountabilities were developed in order to explore the identified trend of heads resisting what they view as a ‘data dictatorship’, and seeking to reinstate a previous age of professionalism. A clear plea for a change was evident with a call for a shift away from the current focus on standards in English and maths to the adoption of a more balanced and creative curriculum, where both the academic and social needs of the children are being met. The desire to return to Grace’s (1995) notion of the cult of the ‘headmaster tradition’, with the reinstatement of higher levels of professional autonomy and trust, was evident within many of the participating heads, along with a strong sense of moral guardian and leadership. All heads are aware of the need to be accountable for the tax payers’ money used to fund their schools, accepting the need for accountability measures. However, both sets of heads acknowledge that when a school’s effectiveness is solely measured by means of HST, it fails to be a level playing field. Factors such as parental support and education, housing and income were all identified as significant contributing factors in pupil attainment, resulting in heads reporting that these factors were not taken into account when the performance of their school was judged. The study contributes to the knowledge of how serving heads balance the needs of their children, parents and staff, whilst ensuring that they continue to improve standards, as defined by successive governmental policy and thus meet the requirements of HST.

In South Africa the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination is the capping external examination taken at the culmination of twelve years of schooling. Levels of success in the examination offer examinees access to a variety of career options. High levels of success in the mathematics examination are a pre-requisite for entry into studies linked to so-called elite careers. However, performance of examinees in the NSC Mathematics examination is not of a requisite standard and only a few examinees achieve results that fall within the high levels of the achievement bands. In order to give mathematics teachers and others insight into performance in the NSC Mathematics examination, various forms of feedback are provided. One purpose in doing so is to provide teachers with an understanding of the examinees' ways of working in order for them to adjust their classroom practice to address mistakes displayed in the work of the examinees. The feedback provided is primarily of a superficial kind with the mere listing of such mistakes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not it is possible to analyse the production of the responses of examinees in the NSC mathematics examinations more meaningfully.

This article explores how inservice teachers articulate and challenge notions of effective teaching as part of an environment of high-stakes teacher evaluation (HSTE) in Tennessee. Drawing on data from public forum speeches at school board meetings, policy documents, and interviews, we used thematic discourse analysis to investigate how teacher effectiveness is discursively constructed by teachers. Findings demonstrate how participants drew upon competing definitions of effective teaching to build a discursive case for potential areas for improvement regarding the observation of teaching as part of HSTE policies. Because measures of teacher performance are an issue of much debate in the United States, teachers’ descriptions of the relationships between teaching evaluations, observations, professional development, and student learning are critical to understanding how to develop effective procedures for observation and evaluation. Implications for developing evaluation informed by teachers’ experiences are discussed.

This is a doctoral dissertation centered on a qualitative research case study on teachers' perceptions of the effects of a particular high-stakes test--the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) on high school English and math curriculum and instruction. Specifically, this case study involved three focus group interviews at three Arizona high schools. Participants were experienced English and math teachers at each school site. To broaden the perspective gained from the focus group interviews, the study included classroom observations and document analysis. Two of the high schools chosen are located on the Navajo Reservation and were specifically chosen to include an important population of students in a discussion in which they are largely forgotten even though they face unique challenges. A review of the literature on high-stakes testing effects reveals almost no extant literature on the effects of the AIMS test. This study will contribute to the national dialogue on testing effects as well as make an important foundational research contribution to the Arizona state dialogue on AIMS effects.

Students with learning disabilities are increasingly included in state accountability systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate disability-based differential item functioning (DIF) on a statewide high-stakes mathematics test administered in the Spring of 2003 to all students seeking a high-school diploma in one state in the eastern part of the U.S. Overall performance scores for all students in grade 10 taking the test for the first time were examined. Item performance scores for students with specific learning disabilities who took the test with and without state mandated accommodations were compared with that for students without disabilities after matching on total test score. It was hypothesized that more DIF items will favor students who received packages of accommodations. The standardization method for DIF analysis by Doran and Holland yielded the presence of items in two directions. This study revealed that more DIF items favored students without disabilities, and with substantially high indexes that could be problematic for understanding the meaning of scores for students with specific learning disabilities.

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The purposes of this project were to introduce (1) the four main college level English tests used in the People's Republic of China to expatriate English language educators, researchers, curriculum developers, and program designers; and (2) the college English language teaching situation in China to expatriates and give them information on where and how to apply for teaching positions there. The project produced two products to fulfill these goals. First, a paper titled an introduction to major university English tests in China: Their nature, development and importance is now ready to submit for publication. It is a paper that introduces all four of the main college level English tests in China to the outside world. It explains these high-stakes English tests to scholars outside of China. Second, a website, http://www.tesolinchina.blog.com, was created to fulfill the second goal of the project. It is the first website that provides those who are interested in teaching English in China with a complete list of major universities in each geographical region of China as well as other necessary information, and links to these universities.

Today's focus on high-stakes standardized tests has had a massive impact on education throughout America, and standardized test preparation is one of the ugly, open secrets of education. Ever since 2001 when President Bush signed into law No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a bipartisan reauthorization of Johnson's landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, students have been bombarded with standardized tests from the earliest grades. Politicians believe these measures are the only way to remedy the perceived weaknesses in the education system because "stringent accountability mandates… [provide] vital levers of change, inclusiveness, and transparency of results" (Education Week, 2011, para. 15). Yet as time progresses, the quantity and importance of the exams increase to such proportions that, by the time students are in high school, their performance dictates whether they will graduate or attend college. While proponents of such exams say that they only test the skills that students ought to be learning anyway, the reality tends to be that teachers start to focus only on the specific questions the test will cover, and thereby lose the ability to provide full, comprehensive education. "Teaching to the test" is the much-maligned experience of most high schools. In order to combat the pressure students feel to perform and teachers feel to shortchange the learning experience, a "Build Your Own Adventure" manual designed around research-based principles demonstrated to improve student learning gains will allow students to focus on the key areas needed to improve test performance, demystify the test itself, and thus help students obtain score improvement. In so doing, students will not only perform better on standardized assessments, but ultimately be able to attend more elite colleges.

No description available.