High-Stakes Reform: The Politics of Educational Accountability

Performance accountability has been the dominant trend in education policy reform since the 1970s. State and federal policies set standards for what students should learn; require students to take "high-stakes" tests to measure what they have learned; and then hold students, schools, and school districts accountable for their performance. The goal of these policies is to push public school districts to ensure that all students reach a common threshold of knowledge and skills. "High-Stakes Reform" analyzes the political processes and historical context that led to the enactment of state-level education accountability policies across the country.

High-stakes testing. Mandated content standards and benchmarks. Public scrutiny of student and school performance. Accountability. Teachers today are challenged to provide instruction that will measure up: to the expectations of administrators, parents, and taxpayers; to their own professional standards; and, most essentially, to the needs of students.

Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education

This book reviews and synthesizes relevant research from economics, psychology, education, and related fields about how incentives work in educational accountability systems. The book helps identify circumstances in which test-based incentives may have a positive or a negative impact on student learning and offers recommendations for how to improve current test-based accountability policies. The most important directions for further research are also highlighted.

Moralizing the Corporation: Transnational Activism and Corporate Accountability

`The argument of this book is so powerful and convincing because it focuses on global subpolitics: the corporate (ir)responsibility, the power of its critics, and the consuming citizen. This shift of perspectives and its sophistication makes Moralizing the Corporation a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamics of globalization.' 
- Ulrich Beck, University of Munich, Germany

Accountability for Learning

Accountability for Learning equips teachers and leaders with the ability to transform educational accountability policies from destructive and demoralizing accounting drills into meaningful and constructive decision making in the classroom, school, and district.
This book is about what you can do right now to improve learning, teaching, and leadership.