Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing / Lorraine M. McDonnell.
2009
LB3060.83 .M33 2004
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Title
Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing / Lorraine M. McDonnell.
ISBN
9780674040786
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2009]
Copyright
©2004
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (264 p.)
Item Number
10.4159/9780674040786 doi
Call Number
LB3060.83 .M33 2004
Dewey Decimal Classification
371.26
Summary
In a story of reform and backlash, Lorraine McDonnell reveals the power and the dangers of policies based on appeals to voters' values. Exploring the political struggles inspired by mass educational tests, she analyzes the design and implementation of statewide testing in California, Kentucky, and North Carolina in the 1990s. Educational reformers and political elites sought to use test results to influence teachers, students, and the public by appealing to their values about what schools should teach and offering apparently objective evidence about whether the schools were succeeding. But mass testing mobilized parents who opposed and mistrusted the use of tests, and left educators trying to mediate between angry citizens and policies the educators may not have fully supported. In the end, some testing programs were significantly altered. Yet despite the risks inherent in relying on values to change what students are taught, these tests and the educational ideologies behind them have modified classroom practice. McDonnell draws lessons from these stories for the federal No Child Left Behind act, with its sweeping directives for high-stakes testing. To read this book is to witness the unfolding drama of America's educational culture wars, and to see hope for their resolution.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Dez 2022)
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Table of Contents
Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Tables and Figures
Abbreviations
1 Testing from a Political Perspective
2 Persuasion as a Policy Instrument
3 The State Politics of Testing
4 Local Testing Controversies: The Case of CLAS
5 Testing and Teaching
6 Aligning Politics, Policy, and Practice
Appendix: Sample Characteristics and Data Collection Instruments
Notes
References
Index
Contents
Acknowledgments
Tables and Figures
Abbreviations
1 Testing from a Political Perspective
2 Persuasion as a Policy Instrument
3 The State Politics of Testing
4 Local Testing Controversies: The Case of CLAS
5 Testing and Teaching
6 Aligning Politics, Policy, and Practice
Appendix: Sample Characteristics and Data Collection Instruments
Notes
References
Index