In this state, one constant that students with disabilities have experienced has been the lack of accessibility to the high-stakes standardized test, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). The purpose of this Action Research study was to investigate and improve the access, to MCAS testing for students with disabilities in…

Calls for educators to promote student voice and agency in classrooms often overlook the importance of the policy milieu in which teaching and learning is performed. In this article we interrogate the constitution of student, teacher and researcher subjectivities within student voice research. Working with Stephen Ball's neoliberal technologies of…

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze how middle schoolers developed a critical awareness of language while participating in a curricular unit informed by systemic functional linguistics (SFL). This unit was developed to understanding and taking action to protect a local bat population in the context of school reforms shaping teaching and learning…

The use of standardised tests as a central tool in education policy has in recent decades become a common feature of many national education systems. In 2002 the Israeli Ministry of Education introduced new mandatory state tests for primary and middle schools. The article describes the adoption of these low-stakes tests and assesses their impact…

Discretion is described as a hallmark of professional work. Professional discretion rests on trust in the ability of certain occupational groups to make sound decisions 'on behalf' of societal authorities. It has been suggested that in Europe, managerialist-influenced policies with increased focus on control and accountability have placed pressure…

In this article, James Noonan uses portraiture to examine how the administrative team and the teachers at a small, urban middle school approach school improvement. He illustrates the ways in which the pressures associated with attempting school reform in our current high-accountability environment make it difficult for school personnel to engage…

Background: Many elementary schools have policies requiring a minimum amount of physical education (PE). However, few schools comply with local/state PE policy and little is known about how to improve adherence. We evaluated changes in PE among fifth-grade classes, following participatory action research efforts to improve PE quantity and policy…

This qualitative multiple-case study focused on administrators who are educational leaders at four separate schools in a school district located in a rural area of the State of Pennsylvania. The problem addressed was a lack of formal education and training in the field of special education among public school administrators. Administrators often…

The gap in achievement in mathematics between at-risk students and their more advantaged counterparts is a persistent problem of the U.S. education system. Although some research-based curricula and pedagogy have demonstrated promise in supporting students from diverse backgrounds to develop conceptual understanding and procedural fluency in…

In this paper, teachers' enactment of assessment policy within demands for accountability and consistency of teacher judgements is considered. Evidence is drawn from a qualitative study involving 50 middle school teachers from Queensland, Australia, who participated in online social moderation meetings with teachers located in dispersed areas…

Purpose: Against the backdrop of a new governance regime of schools in Austria, which combines policies of decentralisation and school autonomy with an accountability program of standardised outcome control, this article explores how the so called "agents of change"--teachers and headteachers--take up these ideas and corresponding…

Using a learning design perspective on No Child Left Behind (NCLB), I examine how accountability policy shaped urban educators' instructional sensemaking. Focusing on the role of policy-rooted classifications, I examine conversations from a middle school mathematics teacher team as a "best case" because they worked diligently to comply…

This document describes the model used by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to measure student growth for institutional accountability in New York State for the 2016/17 school year. In 2016/17, growth models were implemented for institutional accountability in Grades 4-8 ELA and mathematics. All models are based on assessing each…

This document describes the model used by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to measure student growth for institutional accountability in New York State for the 2015/16 school year. In 2015/16, growth models were implemented for institutional accountability in Grades 4-8 ELA and mathematics. All models are based on assessing each…

This paper provides a history of the standardized testing and accountability movement, the curriculum standards attached to the accountability movement, and the attempted shift to common core. Student poverty and its impact on student achievement the focus of this paper. Recognizing the impact of poverty on student achievement as measured by…