1st Edition

Measurement and Research in the Accountability Era

Edited By Carol Anne Dwyer Copyright 2005
    496 Pages
    by Routledge

    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    The subject of accountability warrants thoughtful and dispassionate attention in today's educational environment. The accountability and school reform policies that are put in place today will have wide-ranging and long-lasting consequences for all of the nation's learners.

    This volume stems from the 2003 Educational Testing Service Invitational Conference that convened leading scholars and practitioners from education, psychology, economics, statistics, and public policy to discuss the important topic of measurement and accountability. The book begins with a broad look at where measurement and research have been and then moves into an examination of technical and methodological issues in accountability systems, closing learner achievement gaps, teacher quality issues, econometric perspectives, and finally, the all-important matter of aligning curriculum, standards, and assessment. The chapters cover all significant aspects of the current accountability scene, with careful but not exclusive attention to the No Child Left Behind.

    Written by nationally recognized scholars with a mandate to write in a non-technical style, this volume appeals to anyone seriously interested in school reform and the educational accountability movement.

    Contents: Preface. Introduction. Part I: The Science of Education and Scientific Evidence. E.C. Lagemann, Toward a More Adequate Science of Education. R.L. Linn, Scientific Evidence and Interference in Educational Policy and Practice: Implications for Evaluating Adequate Yearly Progress. S. Lewis, Issues Related to Disaggregating Data in a New Accountability. L. Towne, Scientific Evidence and Interference in Educational Policy and Practice: Defining and Implementing "Scientifically Based Research." Part II: Closing the Achievement Gap. A.C. Porter, Prospects for School Reform and Closing the Achievement Gap. Part III: Improving Teacher Quality. C.V. Gipps, Accountability Testing and the Implications for Teacher Professionalism. R.M. Ingersoll, The Persistent Problem of Out-of-Field Teaching. G. Ladson-Billings, No Teacher Left Behind: Issues of Equity and Teacher Quality. Part IV: Test Linking: Technical and Conceptual Challenges. M.J. Feuer, E Pluribus Unum: Linking Tests and Democratic Education. P.W. Holland, Assessing the Validity of Test Linking: What Has Happened Since Uncommon Measures? Part V: Accountability Issues for English Language Learners. L.W. Fillmore, ELLs Caught in the Crossfire Between Good Intentions and Bad Instructional Choices. J. Lara, Report on an Informal Survey of ELL Educators at the State and Local Level. Part VI: Using Econometric Modes in School Accountability. S. Loeb, F. Estrada, Have Assessment-Based School Accountability Reforms Affected the Career Decisions of Teachers? S.G. Rivkin, Stricter Regulations of Additional Incentives? The Teacher Quality Policy Dilemma. C.E. Rouse, Accounting for Schools: Econometric Issues in Measuring School Quality. Part VII: Aligning the Elements of Accountability Systems. M.W. Kirst, Improving Preparation for Non-Selective Postsecondary Education: Assessment and Accountability Issues. E.L. Baker, Aligning Curriculum, Standards, and Assessments: Fulfilling the Promise of School Reform.

    Biography

    Carol Anne Dwyer

    "The collection of papers edited by Carol Ann Dwyer, a distinguished scholar at the Educational Testing Service (ETS),  and published under the title Measurement and Research in the Accountability Era, provide a sample of the contributions to measurement and education of this emerging culture of objectivity. The chapters included in this volume were presented at the 2003 ETS Invitational Conference....powerful collection of  papers."
    PsycCRITIQUES