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1 Policy Context
Pages 1-8

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From page 1...
... Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy noted, in explaining the impetus for the workshop series, NCLB has shined a "spotlight on the incredible variability of state test scores, both within and among states." Several groups, including the Commission on No Child Left Behind, the Education Trust, the Fordham Foundation, and the American Federation of Teachers, have argued in favor of voluntary national, or common, standards as a means of improving both achievement and equity (Goertz, 2007; Massell, 2008)
From page 2...
... VIEW FROM THE STATES The purpose of Massell's interviews was to solicit opinions from a range of experienced policy makers who have been engaged in standardsbased education reform, the catch all term for measures that states have taken to improve instruction and learning by organizing both policy and practice around clear, measurable standards. Massell and her colleagues hoped to trace both common themes and insights and possible differences, and to flag views that may be developing in response to current events.
From page 3...
... The logic of systemic reform was that the primary elements of an educational system -- such as curriculum, instruction, teacher preparation, professional development, and assessment -- must all be aligned to carefully developed content and performance standards in order for those standards to affect teaching and learning. In this view, educators would still retain significant flexibility in meeting expectations but be held accountable for the results.
From page 4...
... Yet despite tension around a number of issues, Massell noted that the leaders she and her colleagues interviewed generally take standardsbased reform and accountability for granted, viewing this approach as a "central framework guiding state education policy and practice." Even the leaders from North Dakota, where standards were adopted largely under federal duress, viewed this approach as a part of the landscape that is not likely to change. The other four states had made a stronger commitment to standards, and the leaders from those states described them in such terms as "even more central over time" and "integral" to policy initiatives.
From page 5...
... Discussant Brian Stecher reinforced the concern that improvement has been modest, pointing out that "under the threat of severe sanctions from ‘No Child Left Behind,' there is an unknown amount of inflation in test scores, and what we see in terms of gap closing on state tests is not always replicated in other low-stakes assessments." Many participants viewed the challenge of providing a truly equitable education for disadvantaged students as a central purpose of standardsbased reform. CAPACITY The interview subjects viewed states' capacity to carry out all the improvements envisioned in standards-based reform as the most significant challenge to improving equity and achieving the other goals of s ­ tandards-based reform, and workshop participants were quick to agree.
From page 6...
... Yet as discussant Brian Stecher and others pointed out, teachers, administrators, and policy makers frequently lack either the training or the time -- or both -- to use the data they receive wisely. Few teachers have been adequately trained to use data to make improvements in instruction, and the annual testing data that is the most typical product of accountability systems are not particularly useful for that purpose.
From page 7...
... Researchers and policy makers from several states suggested that there is far more variation in both content and performance standards in practice than may be evident in states' written plans. As discussant Rae Ann Kelsch explained: "People are very reluctant to give up control." Although she spoke on the basis of the experience in North Dakota, which has not embraced standards wholeheartedly, others echoed her view.
From page 8...
... Participants described legislators and other policy makers who have viewed the development of a new core curriculum or the raising of high school graduation standards as all that is required to pursue ­standards-based reform. Disputes over the significance of testing results, and the effects the reporting of these results can have, have further clouded the discussion.


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