Strong states, weak schools : the benefits and dilemmas of centralized accountability

Civic leaders around the globe now press educators to raise the performance of students and schools. Backed by a colorful array of odd bedfellows - from corporate interests to advocates for the poor - politicians seek to narrow the aims of learning, advance routine curricular packages, and tightly align standardized tests. Why are governments pushing to centrally regulate teaching and learning at this historical moment? Do these accountability mechanisms succeed in boosting student achievement? How are teachers responding to top-down rules, incentives, and the recasting of what knowledge counts inside school? These are the hotly contested ideological and empirical questions asked by this volume's contributors, a rich mix of sociologists, applied anthropologists, and education researchers. As public schools struggle to regain public confidence, political actors eagerly try to look strong and forceful. But do centralized accountability policies lift the motivation of teachers and students? Or, is this reform strategy a brilliant political remedy - but one that makes little difference inside the classroom.

Chapter 1 Overview: Liberal learning in centralizing states. Chapter 2 Accountability and teaching practices: School-level actions and teacher responses. Chapter 3 District leaders eroding school coherence? The interpretation of accountability mandates. Chapter 4 Tightening the ship or slowly sinking? Reshaping teachers' work conditions. Chapter 5 Raising achievement or closing gaps? Identifying effective accountability tools. Chapter 6 High stakes diplomas: Organizational responses to California's high school exit exam. Chapter 7 District capacity and accountability: professional development as reform tool. Chapter 8 Exit exams and organizational change in a vocational high school. Acknowledgments. About the Authors. Edited by. Edited by. Copyright page. Subject Index.