“Students Get What Flows Downward”: District Leaders’ Rationalizations of the Standardized Testing of Children

References

• American Educational Research Association (AERA). (2000). Position statement of the American Educational Research Association concerning high-stakes testing in pre-K–12 education. Educational Researcher, 29(8), 24–25.
   Google Scholar
• Au, W. (2016). Meritocracy 2.0: High-stakes, standardized testing as a racial project of neoliberal multiculturalism. Educational Policy, 30(1), 39–62. doi:10.1177/0895904815614916
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Baines, L., & Goolsby, R. (2013). Mean scores in a mean world. In J. Bower & P. L. Thomas (Eds.), De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization (pp. 51–62). New York: Peter Lang Press. doi:10.1787/978926409l450
   Google Scholar
• Ballou, D., & Springer, M. G. (2015). Using student test scores to measure teacher performance: Some problems in the design and implementation of evaluation systems. Educational Researcher, 44(2), 77–86. doi:10.3102/0013189X15574904
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bolton, D.,L., & Elmore, J. M. (2013). The role of assessment in empowering/disempowering students in the critical pedagogy classroom. In J. Bower & P. L. Thomas, (Eds.), De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization (pp. 126–140). New York: Peter Lang Press. doi:10.1177/1469787417723244
   Google Scholar
• Booher-Jennings, J. (2005). Below the bubble: ‘Educational triage’ and the Texas Accountability System. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 231–268. doi:10.3102/00028312042002231
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brenner, M. E. (2006). Interviewing in educational research. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli, & P. B. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 357–370). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. doi:10.4324/9780203874769
   Google Scholar
• Campos-Holland, A., Hall, G., & Pol, G. (2016). Over-tested generation: Youth and standardized-state testing in a racialized educational context. In Y. Besen-Cassino & L. E. Bass (Eds.), Education and Youth Today (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth), Volume 20) (pp. 187–249). Bingley, England: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/S1537-466120160000020008
   Google Scholar
• Cantrell, S., & Kane, T. J. (2013). Ensuring fair and reliable measures of effective teaching: Culminating findings from the MET project’s three-year study. MET Project Research Paper. Retrieved from http://k12education.gatesfoundation.org/download/?Num=2572&filename=MET_Ensuring_Fair_and_Reliable_Measures_Practitioner_Brief.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Cobb, P., & Jackson, K. (2011). Towards an empirically grounded theory of action for improving the quality of mathematics teaching at scale. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 13(1), 6–33.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cobb, P., & Smith, T. (2008). District development as a means of improving mathematics teaching and learning at scale. In K. Krainer & T. Wood (Eds.), International handbook of mathematics teacher education: Vol. 3. Participants in mathematics teacher education: Individuals, teams, communities, and networks (pp. 231–254). Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
   Google Scholar
• Croft, S. J., Roberts, M. A., & Stenhouse, V. L. (2016). The perfect storm of education reform: High-stakes testing and teacher evaluation. Social Justice, 42(1), 70–92.
   Google Scholar
• Davis, J., & Martin, D. B. (2008). Racism, assessment, and instructional practices: Implications for mathematics teachers of African American students. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 1(1), 10–34.
   Google Scholar
• Dee, T. S., Jacob, B., & Schwartz, N. L. (2013). The effects of NCLB on school resources and practices. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 35(2), 252–279. doi:10.3102/0162373712467080
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Diamond, J. B., & Spillane, J. P. (2004). High-stakes accountability in urban elementary schools: Challenging or reproducing inequality? Teachers College Record, 106(6), 1145–1176. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9620.2004.00375.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Flores, A. (2007). Examining disparities in mathematics education: Achievement gap or opportunity gap?. The High School Journal, 91(1), 29–42. doi:10.1353/hsj.2007.0022
   Google Scholar
• Foster, J. B. (2016). The opt out revolt: Democracy and education. Monthly Review, 67(10), 1–7. doi:10.14452/MR-067-10-2016-03_1
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gotanda, N. (1991). A critique of “Our constitution is color-blind”. Stanford Law Review, 44(1), 1–68. doi:10.2307/1228940
   Google Scholar
• Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures, and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24(2), 105–112. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Grodsky, E., Warren, J. R., & Felts, E. (2008). Testing and social stratification in American education. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 385–404. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134711
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Gutiérrez, R. (2015). Nesting in Nepantla: The importance of maintaining tensions in our work. In N. M. Russell, C. M. Haynes, & F. Cobb (Eds.), Interrogating whiteness and relinquishing power: White faculty’s commitment to racial consciousness in STEM classrooms (pp. 253–282). New York: Peter Lang. doi:10.3726/978-1-4539-1716-9
   Google Scholar
• Hickey, D. T. (2015). A situative response to the conundrum of formative assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(2), 202–223. doi:10.1080/0969594X.2015.1015404
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hiebert, J. (2013). The constantly underestimated challenge of improving mathematics instruction. In K. R. Leatham (Ed.), Vital directions for mathematics education research (pp. 45–56). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6977-3-3
   Google Scholar
• Hursh, D. (2013). Raising the stakes: High-stakes testing and the attack on public education in New York. Journal of Education Policy, 28(5), 574–588. doi:10.1080/02680939.2012.758829
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Jackson, K., Cobb, P., Rigby, J. G., & Smith, T. M. (2018). District instructional leadership. In P. Cobb, K. Jackson, E. Henrick, T. M. Smith, & the MIST Team (Eds.), Systems for instructional improvement: Creating coherence from the classroom to the district office. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
   Google Scholar
• Jennings, J. L., & Bearak, J. M. (2014). “Teaching to the test” in the NCLB era: How test predictability affects our understanding of student performance. Educational Researcher, 43(8), 381–389. doi:10.3102/0013189X14554449
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kilpatrick, J., Swafford, J., & Findell, B. (Eds.). (2001). Adding it up: Helping children learn mathematics. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. doi:10.17226/9822
   Google Scholar
• Kitchen, R., Ridder, S. A., & Bolz, J. (2016). The legacy continues: “The test” and denying access to a challenging mathematics education for historically marginalized students. Journal of Mathematics Education at Teachers College, 7(1), 17–26.
   Google Scholar
• Koretz, D. M. (2005). Alignment, high stakes, and the inflation of test scores. In J. L. Herman & E. H. Haertel (Eds.), Uses and misuses of data for educational accountability and improvement (pp. 99–118). Malden: Blackwell. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7984.2005.00027.x
   Google Scholar
• Ladson-Billings, G. (2016). And then there is this thing called the curriculum: Organization, imagination, and mind. Educational Researcher, 45(2), 100–104. doi:10.3102/0013189X16639042
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lavigne, A. L. (2014). Exploring the intended and unintended consequences of high-stakes teacher evaluation on schools, teachers, and students. Teachers College Record, 116(1), 1–29.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lipman, P. (2004). High-stakes education: Inequality, globalization, and urban school reform. New York: Psychology Press.
   Google Scholar
• Louis, K. S., Febey, K., & Schroeder, R. (2005). State-mandated accountability in high schools: Teachers’ interpretations of a new era. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(2), 177–204. doi:10.3102/01623737027002177
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Madaus, G. F., West, M. M., Harmon, M. C., Lomax, R. G., & Viator, K. A. (1992). The influence of testing on teaching math and science in grades 4-12. Chestnut Hill, MA: Center of Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy, Boston College.
   Google Scholar
• McDermott, M. (2013). The corporate model of schooling: How high stakes testing dehumanizes education. In J. Bower & P. L. Thomas (Eds.), De-testing and De-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization (pp. 78–95). New York, NY: Peter Lang Press.
   Google Scholar
• Mitra, D., Mann, B., & Hlavacik, M. (2016). Opting out: Parents creating contested spaces to challenge standardized tests. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(31), 31–23. doi:10.14507/epaa.v24.2142
   Google Scholar
• Mora, R. (2013). Standardized testing and boredom at an urban middle school. In J. Bower & P. L. Thomas (Eds.), De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization (pp. 96–104). New York, NY: Peter Lang Press.
   Google Scholar
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (2006). Large-Scale Assessment Task Force. Report of the Large-Scale Assessment Task Force. Retrieved from https://www.nctm.org
   Google Scholar
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (2016). Large-Scale Mathematics Assessments and High-Stakes Decisions. Retrieved from http://www.nctm.org
   Google Scholar
• Penuel, W. R., Fishman, B. J., Cheng, B., & Sabelli, N. (2011). Organizing research and development at the intersection of learning, implementation, and design. Educational Researcher, 40(7), 331–337. doi:10.3102/0013189X11421826
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Podgursky, M. J., & Springer, M. G. (2007). Teacher performance pay: A review. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 26(4), 909–949. doi:10.1002/pam.20292
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rooney, E. (2015). I’m just going through the motions: High-stakes accountability and teachers’ access to intrinsic rewards. American Journal of Education, 121(4), 475–500. doi:10.1086/681923
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ryan, K. E., Ryan, A. M., Arbuthnot, K., & Samuels, M. (2007). Students’ motivation for standardized math exams. Educational Researcher, 36(1), 5–13. doi:10.3102/0013189X06298001
   Google Scholar
• Segool, N. K., Carlson, J. S., Goforth, A. N., Von Der Embse, N., & Barterian, J. A. (2013). Heightened test anxiety among young children: Elementary school students’ anxious responses to high-stakes testing. Psychology in the Schools, 50(5), 489–499. doi:10.1002/pits.21689
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Smith, T. J. (2002). Course taking, test preparation, and career academy programs: Findings from a field study. New York: MDRC. Retrieved from http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_67.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Stein, M. K., Kaufman, J. H., Sherman, M., & Hillen, A. F. (2011). Algebra: A challenge. At the Crossroads of Policy and Practice. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 453–492. doi:10.3102/0034654311423025
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. doi:10.4135/9781452230153
   Google Scholar
• Triplett, C. F., & Barksdale, M. A. (2005). Third through sixth graders’ perceptions of high-stakes testing. Journal of Literacy Research, 37(2), 237–260. doi:10.1207/s15548430jlr3702_5
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Triplett, C. F., Barksdale, M. A., & Leftwich, P. (2003). Children’s perceptions of high stakes testing. Journal of Research in Education, 13(1), 15–21. doi:10.1207/s15548430jlr3702_5
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1992). Testing in American schools: Asking the right questions. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ota/Ota_1/DATA/1992/9236.pdf
   Google Scholar
• U.S. Department of Education. (2002). No Child Left Behind: A desk- top reference. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/nclbreference/reference.pdf
   Google Scholar
• U.S. Department of Education. (2015). Fact sheet: Testing action plan [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-testing-action-plan
   Google Scholar