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Politics, Persuasion, and Educational Testing / Lorraine M. McDonnell.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2009]Copyright date: 2004Description: 1 online resource (264 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780674040786
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 371.26 22
LOC classification:
  • LB3060.83 .M33 2004
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
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
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.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780674040786

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

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

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.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Aug 2024)