Accountability, Assessment, and Teacher Commitment
Lessons from Kentucky's Reform Efforts
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This book provides the basis for thoughtful reflection and discussion of school accountability by critically examining Kentucky's groundbreaking educational reform strategy of statewide student assessment and teacher accountability.
Description
Accountability, Assessment, and Teacher Commitment offers a vantage point to draw lessons from, and ponder alternatives to, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), a state school reform effort based on a system of statewide student assessment and high-stakes accountability for teachers. It documents classroom realities and probes the consequences of this type of reform through case studies, comparisons to alternative models, and thought-provoking responses from national experts.
Contributors include Lola Aagaard; Terry I. Brooks; Jan Calvert; Pamelia Coe; Dick Corbett; Letitia Hichstrasser Fickel; Donna Gaus; Marilyn Hohmann; Ken Jones; Patricia J. Kannapel; A. Richardson Love Jr.; Christy D. McGee; Lynne Miller; Beverly D. Moore; Cynthia A. Reeves; David Ruff; Gordon Ruscoe; Linda Shelor; Debra Smith; John Snyder; Patricia A. Wasley; Anne Wheelock; and Betty Lou Whitford.
Betty Lou Whitford is Professor of Education and Director of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the coauthor, with Gordon Ruscoe and Letitia Fickel, of Knitting It All Together: Collaborative Teacher Education in Southern Maine. Ken Jones is Mathematics Specialist at Gheens Academy/Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville.
Reviews
"A rich examination of the impact of restructuring policy on the day-to-day lives of teachers and students in schools, this book deepens the understanding of the complexity of reform—especially the role of assessment and the desire for accountability—in a manner that is respectful of public goals and insightful about educational practice." — Gretchen Guiton, University of Southern California
"…very compelling reading about Kentucky's failure to realize the vision of reform it set out to achieve. I was immediately hooked and fascinated to learn about the hopes of these educators, the distortions that ensued from the high-stakes consequences, and the personal stories that make these issues come alive." — Elizabeth Larkin, University of South Florida