1st Edition

A Democratic Theory of Educational Accountability From Test-Based Assessment to Interpersonal Responsibility

By Derek Gottlieb Copyright 2020
    172 Pages
    by Routledge

    172 Pages
    by Routledge

    This insightful text offers a detailed account of the historical development of educational accountability in the US public education system. In doing so, it diagnoses the unforeseen consequences arising from a centralized, technocratic implementation of the concept, and calls for a radical re-thinking in how our democratic responsibilities translate into the provision, measurement, and conceptualization of education.

    Drawing from the works of scholars including Stanley Cavell, Linda Zerilli, Daniel Koretz, and James Scott,  A Democratic Theory of Educational Accountability illustrates the way in which "educational accountability" has foregrounded centralized measures of "success" to the point of perversity. Through nuanced political theory and philosophical arguments, the text demonstrates how test-based measures have rendered the holistic aims of education futile, resulting in an education system of "box-checking" and "rule-following". Ultimately calling for a new imagination of how our democratic responsibilities are enacted in schools and communities, Gottlieb illustrates how accountability can be used for good, to ensure that our schools nurture talent, cultivate social mobility, and engage with local needs.

    This text will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, and libraries in the field of philosophy of education, educational policy, assessment & testing and democratic theory.

    INTRODUCTION

    CHAPTER ONE: EVERYBODY WINS

    CHAPTER TWO: MEASUREMENT ERROR

    CHAPTER THREE: ON MODERN BLINDNESS

    CHAPTER FOUR: FORMS OF LIFE AGAINST HIGH MODERNISM

    CHAPTER FIVE: POLICYMAKING AND DEMOCRATIC CONSENT

    CONCLUSION: ACCOUNTABILITY AS LOVING ATTENTION

    Biography

    Derek Gottlieb is an assistant professor of educational foundations and curriculum studies at the University of Northern Colorado, USA.