TY - GEN AB - 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. AU - McDonnell, Lorraine M., CN - LB3060.83 DO - 10.4159/9780674040786 DO - doi ID - 1478588 JF - HUP eBook Package Archive 1893-1999 JF - Harvard University Press eBook Package Backlist 2000-2013 KW - Education KW - Educational evaluation KW - Educational tests and measurements KW - EDUCATION / Organizations & Institutions. LA - eng LA - In English. LK - https://univsouthin.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674040786 N2 - 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. SN - 9780674040786 T1 - Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing / TI - Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing / UR - https://univsouthin.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674040786 ER -