The use of standardized testing in NCLB arises from reforms that were initiated in the 1980s. These reforms were heavily influenced by business leaders who were concerned with the rising productivity of international competitors and believed that improving education would aid USA competitiveness. Corporate leaders who had orchestrated company turnarounds stressed the importance of setting explicit goals, performance or outputs, use of benchmarks or standards, and organizational restructuring. Policy makers needed support from the business leaders for the additional “nancial resources needed for widespread education reforms they wished so it is not surprising they adopted these business ideas as they devised ways to make teachers and students more accountable.
According to Susan Fuhrman (2004) a theory of action” underlies these new accountability systems that contains the following assumptions:
- Schools' primary focus should be student achievement in the key areas of math, reading and science. Clear content standards developed by each State for each subject area and grade level help schools in this focus. If rewards and sanctions are based on the basis of students' meeting the content standards in that school then the teachers and administrators will devote energy and resources to improving student achievement.
- Standardized tests that are aligned with the content standards can accurately and authentically measure student performance. Well designed tests are reliable and valid and so other measures such as classroom observations are not needed to determine if teachers and schools are doing a good job.
- Meaningful consequences will not only motivate teachers, students, and administrators but also improve instruction. Positive consequences include bonuses for teachers and administrators and negative consequences include denial of graduation or promotion for students, or school take over and restructuring. Because these consequences are real, teachers will work harder to teach and be more likely to additional professional development to improve their skills. Students will also work harder to learn so teacher-student interactions around content will improve. Frequent assessment will provide meaningful feedback on student performance which in turn will promote improved teaching.
- There will be minimal unintended consequences if the systems work as intended. For example, instruction will improve rather then becoming narrowly focused on test taking skills, and high school graduation tests will promote learning not increase drop out rates.
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