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Sector Spotlight
Kevin Carey on Washington Journal
Policy Director Kevin Carey appeared on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" to talk about the education proposals put forth during President Obama's State of the Union address.
Co-founder Andrew Rotherham is featured in CBS's "Where America Stands," a news special on the current state of the nation's schools.
For Release: New Education Sector Report Offers a New Look at High School Accountability
"College- and Career-Ready" focuses on using outcomes data to hold high schools accountable for student success.
Holding Colleges Accountable: Can Success Be Measured?
TIME magazine education reporter Gilbert Cruz sits down with Policy Director Kevin Carey to discuss why parents and public officials should demand more accountability from colleges.
Miller on Federal Student Loan Changes
Education Sector Policy Analyst Ben Miller talks with Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education about changes to the federal student loan program.
Research and Reports
Education Sector Reports
Margins of Error: The Testing Industry in the No Child Left Behind Era
- Author:
- Thomas Toch
- Publication Date:
- January 31, 2006
- Read more about
- K-12 Accountability Systems/NCLB
State standards and standardized tests have become dominant forces in American public schooling. For most of its history, public education in the U.S. was a local matter, with local schools and school systems setting their own educational priorities. But in the wake of mounting evidence that the preparation most students received from public schools wouldn't suffice in a postindustrial economy, and with the conscience of the nation having been transformed by the civil rights movement, policymakers began to pursue a new paradigm, one that sought to establish statewide public school standards and hold local educators accountable if their students fell short of these standards. Standardized tests, used to measure student performance against the new state expectations, are the linchpin of this strategy of standards-based reform.
"Margins of Error" reveals how factors such as the scale of standardized testing required by NCLB, competitive pressures in the testing industry, tight regulatory deadlines, a dearth of testing experts, and lax state oversight are resulting in tests that in many states undermine NCLB's pursuit of higher academic standards. The report provides recommendations for both state and federal policymakers to strengthen the nation's testing infrastructure.
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Margins of Error: The Testing Industry in the No Child Left Behind Era (305K)
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