tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/1965-elementary-and-secondary-education-act-17843/articles1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act – The Conversation2022-11-14T13:26:48Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1938172022-11-14T13:26:48Z2022-11-14T13:26:48ZHow much can public schools control what students wear?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493929/original/file-20221107-3609-gsgzt4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C20%2C3346%2C1900&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are some shirts too distracting for school?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RelaxingSchoolDressCodes/b94019590f444249a31ec8b0a5033257/photo">AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>School dress codes can be <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105348.pdf">harmful to LGBTQ students and students of color</a>, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. These codes can lead school officials to punish these two groups for simply who they are or for expressing themselves.</p>
<p>However, it has long been held by the Supreme Court that students do not “<a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-tinker-v-des-moines">shed their constitutional rights</a> to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” as a 1969 ruling put it. But that’s not carte blanche for students to go wild and wear just anything.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=jtyw3-sAAAAJ">professor of education policy</a> who studies students’ constitutional rights – such as <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hplp43&div=5&id=&page=">their expressions through clothing</a> – I believe it’s important for students, parents and school staff to know what the law says about how much control a school can have over the kinds of clothes a student may decide to wear.</p>
<h2>Federal and state jurisdiction</h2>
<p>Public education is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, so it falls to the states to regulate, under the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/tenth_amendment">10th Amendment</a>. But since the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/29/2016-27985/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965-as-amended-by-the-every-student-succeeds">Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965</a>, Congress has provided federal funding for education in exchange for states and school districts enacting certain policies. An example is <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html">Title I funding to boost education in schools</a> that serve low-income communities.</p>
<p>The Bill of Rights, including the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/">First Amendment</a>, governs publicly funded efforts, such as public education. </p>
<p>The legal standard for dress codes is, therefore, that amendment’s declaration that citizens’ free expression should generally be free from government regulation – and therefore, students’ appearances should largely be outside school officials’ jurisdiction.</p>
<h2>Tinkering with education</h2>
<p>But the First Amendment wasn’t always applied. It was only a few decades ago that federal courts debated whether students in public schools had any rights at all under the Constitution. In 1965, five students wore black armbands – a form of silent political protest – to school, objecting to the Vietnam War. The oldest three students were <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/21">suspended from school for wearing them</a> and refusing to take them off when ordered to do so by their schools’ principals.</p>
<p>That case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, made its way to the Supreme Court, which in a 1969 ruling declared that <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/21">students do have First Amendment rights</a> as long as their exercise of those rights does not disrupt teaching or learning.</p>
<p>In subsequent cases, courts clarified what those educational disruptions were. They included promoting illegal behavior, such as <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2006/06-278">drug use</a>, and using <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/478/675/">profane or vulgar language</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, courts allowed schools to restrict student publications that were <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1987/86-836">school-sponsored or school-promoted</a>, because courts deemed that speech to belong to the school, not the students. </p>
<p>Those cases arose because the Supreme Court viewed those rights as expansive, but schools tended to take a narrower view. As I have found, principals and superintendents were <a href="https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/policypractice/vol43/iss1/3">quick to prohibit expression they disliked</a>, on the grounds that it was disruptive.</p>
<h2>Are blue jeans really an expression of rights?</h2>
<p>Generally, the Supreme Court has declined to take up issues of dress codes and has largely left those issues to state courts. This means there is not any binding federal case law to follow, and different states have applied the law differently. </p>
<p>However, one federal case is binding on schools in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee – states under the jurisdiction of the <a href="https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/">U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals</a> – though not necessarily in other states. That case, decided in 2005, is <a href="https://casetext.com/case/blau-v-fort-thomas-public-school-dist">Blau v. Fort Thomas Public School District</a>. A parent had objected to a new school dress code because, as the complaint said, their child “wants to be able to wear clothes that ‘look nice on [her],’ that she ‘feel[s] good in’ and that express her individuality.”</p>
<p>Ultimately, the 6th Circuit held that students could largely wear what they wanted, so long as it was making a statement – as was the case with the armbands opposing the Vietnam War. But they were not protected by the First Amendment for wearing something they just felt like wearing. The court concluded the claim was a “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/blau-v-fort-thomas-public-school-dist">generalized and vague desire</a> to express her middle-school individuality” and said the First Amendment does not protect every piece of clothing that an adolescent may choose to wear on any given day.</p>
<h2>Gender identity expression</h2>
<p>There have not been any U.S. Supreme Court cases on gender expression and dress. However, a 2001 ruling from the Superior Court of Massachusetts might shed some light on how a court may treat a case.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://casetext.com/case/pat-doe-v-yunits">Doe v. Yunits</a>, a student at South Junior High School in Brockton, Massachusetts, had been diagnosed with a gender identity disorder – as the court put it, “<a href="https://icj2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Doe-v.-Yunits-et-al-Superior-Court-of-Massachusetts-United-States.pdf">which means that, although she was born biologically male, she has a female gender identity</a>.” She sought to wear the clothing conforming to her gender identity. However, the principal sent the student home to change when she arrived wearing girls’ clothing. The school cited incidents between the student and male students such as blowing kisses as disruptive.</p>
<p>The court concluded that the student intended to send a message, and by virtue of the hostility she received from the faculty and student body, that message was received. Second, the court stated the school intended to suppress the speech itself, but had no substantial government interest in doing so. Finally, the court held that the student’s manner of dress, as a form of expression, was separate from her disruptive conduct. </p>
<p>The school contended that it would discipline other students who dressed in this manner. However, the court disagreed because the school’s argument hinged on gender orientation: A student born female and wearing the same clothing as this student would go unnoticed, so this student’s clothes should not have been a distraction either.</p>
<h2>No real certainty</h2>
<p>Ultimately, how people dress is a form of self-expression, but students’ choices <a href="https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/policypractice/vol43/iss1/3">may not always be protected</a>. It is important to realize that students in a public school are not entitled to the same freedoms of speech and expression as adults in a public space.</p>
<p>Schools can enforce a dress code if they have sound reasoning to do so, especially when the rules are legitimately tied to preventing disruption and protecting health and safety. However, with expanded definitions of gender and identity, more court cases are on the horizon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Boggs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether school dress codes are protected under the law.Brian Boggs, Assistant Professor of Policy and Educational Leadership, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/748072017-04-27T01:51:13Z2017-04-27T01:51:13ZFederal role in education has a long history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166909/original/file-20170426-2838-1b35jhj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C307%2C3062%2C2342&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Though many of Thomas Jefferson's educational policies were never passed during his lifetime, they became the foundation of federal education today.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AThomas_Jefferson_by_Mather_Brown%2C_1786_-_DSC03165.JPG">Portrait by Mather Brown / Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/26/record-press-call-education-federalism-executive-order">has directed</a> the United States Department of Education to evaluate whether the federal government has “overstepped its legal authority” in the field of education. This is not a new issue in American politics.</p>
<p>Ever since the Department of Education became a Cabinet-level agency in 1979, opposition to federalized education has been a popular rallying cry among conservatives. <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ684842.pdf#page=2">Ronald Reagan advocated</a> to dismantle the department while campaigning for his presidency, and many others since then have called for more power to be put back into the states’ hands when it comes to educational policy. In February of this year, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/899/text">legislation was introduced</a> to eliminate the Department of Education entirely.</p>
<p>So, what is the role of the state versus the federal government in the world of K-12 education?</p>
<p>As a researcher of education policy and politics, I have seen that people are divided on the role that the federal government should play in K-12 education – a role that has changed over the course of history.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166910/original/file-20170426-2831-4oqj0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Donald Trump holds the signed Education Federalism Executive Order. Wednesday, April 26, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Growth of public education in states</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript">10th Amendment</a> to the United States Constitution states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This leaves the power to create schools and a system for education in the hands of individual states, rather than the central national government. Today, all 50 states provide public schooling to their young people – with 50 approaches to education within the borders of one nation.</p>
<p>Public schooling on a state level began in 1790, when Pennsylvania became the first state to <a href="https://isminc.com/pdf/free/administrators-faculty/history_education.pdf#page=3">require free education</a>. This service was extended only to poor families, assuming that wealthy people could afford to pay for their own education. New York followed suit in 1805. In 1820, Massachusetts was the first state to <a href="https://www.raceforward.org/research/reports/historical-timeline-public-education-us">have a tuition-free high school for all</a>, and also the first to require compulsory education.</p>
<p>By the late 1800s, public education had spread to most states, in a movement often referred to as the <a href="http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1871/Common-School-Movement.html">common school movement</a>. After World War I, urban populations swelled, and vocational education and secondary education became <a href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/lkatz/files/why_the_united_states_led_in_education_lessons_from_secondary_school_expansion_1910_to_1940_1.pdf">part of the American landscape</a>. By 1930, <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/ae4.html">every state</a> had some sort of compulsory education law. This led to increased control of schools by cities and states.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166911/original/file-20170426-2843-iflrcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=594&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Massachusetts was the first state to offer tuition-free schooling for all students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_English_High_School#/media/File:EnglishSchool_KingsBoston1881.png">Artist: George Clough / Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Federal role in education</h2>
<p>As for the federal government’s role, education is not specifically addressed in the Constitution, but a historical precedent of central government involvement does exist.</p>
<p>In 1787, the Continental Congress, the central government of the United States between 1776 and 1787, passed the <a href="http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/northwest-ordinance/">Northwest Ordinance</a>, which became the governing document for Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. </p>
<p>The ordinance included a provision encouraging the creation of schools as a key component of “good government and the happiness of mankind.” Just two years earlier, the <a href="http://www.in.gov/history/2478.htm">Land Ordinance of 1785</a> required land to be reserved in townships for the building of schools.</p>
<p>The role of the federal government in general grew much larger after the Great Depression and World War II, but this growth <a href="http://lwv.org/content/history-federal-government-public-education-where-have-we-been-and-how-did-we-get-here">largely excluded K-12 education</a> until the 1960s. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X024003004">included education policy</a> in his vision of a “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/lyndonbjohnson">Great Society</a>.”</p>
<h2>Elementary and Secondary Education Act</h2>
<p>In 1965, President Johnson signed the <a href="https://federaleducationpolicy.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/1965-elementary-and-secondary-education-act/">Elementary and Secondary Education Act</a> (ESEA) into law. This law <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/the-nations-main-k-12-law-a-timeline.html">decidedly changed the role of the federal government</a> in the world of K-12 education. </p>
<p>ESEA doubled the amount of federal expenditures for K-12 education, worked to change the relationship between states and the central government in the education arena, called for equal treatment of students no matter where they reside and attempted to improve reading and math competency for children in poverty. </p>
<p>ESEA was passed with the intention of bridging <a href="http://prde.upress.virginia.edu/content/WarOnPoverty">a clear gap</a> between children in poverty and those from privilege. <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html?exp=0">Title I</a> of the ESEA, which is still referenced frequently in K-12 education policy, is a major provision of the bill, which distributed federal funding to districts with low-income families.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166912/original/file-20170426-2822-1qvk8t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President George W. Bush passed one of the most well-known reauthorizations of ESEA in 2001, with No Child Left Behind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>ESEA today</h2>
<p>ESEA is still the law of the United States today. However, the law has required periodic reauthorization, which has led to significant changes since 1965. One of the most well-known reauthorizations was President George W. Bush’s <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/1">No Child Left Behind</a> (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB called for 100 percent proficiency in math and reading scores nationwide by 2014, and expanded the role of standardized testing to measure student achievement.</p>
<p>Under President Barack Obama, <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/index.html">Race to the Top</a> was established, requiring states to compete for federal grants through a point system, which rewarded certain educational policies and achievements. This resulted in nationwide changes in the way teachers are evaluated, and placed even more emphasis on test results.</p>
<p>In 2015, Obama signed the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1177">Every Student Succeeds Act</a> (ESSA) into law. This is the latest reauthorization of ESEA, and <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/12/07/the-every-student-succeeds-act-explained.html">returns some federal power</a> over education back to states, including evaluation measures and <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-new-education-law-allow-for-teachers-with-lower-qualifications-54999">teacher quality standards</a>.</p>
<h2>The debate continues</h2>
<p>Since the 1980s, a growing trend in the field of K-12 education has been the growth of <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/choice/">school choice and charter schools</a>. Every state has its own policy regarding these issues, but during the presidential campaign of 2016, President Trump assured that his administration <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/08/trump-pitches-20-billion-education-plan-at-ohio-charter-school-that-received-poor-marks-from-state/">would provide federal money</a> to help students attend a school of their choice. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-is-betsy-devos-70843">has dedicated her career</a> to the cause of school choice.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166908/original/file-20170426-2834-k98kof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of Trump’s first budget proposals called for significant reductions to the Department of Education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jon Elswick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On April 26, President Trump signed the “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/26/record-press-call-education-federalism-executive-order">Education Federalism Executive Order</a>,” which requires the United States Department of Education to spend 300 days evaluating the role of the federal government in education. The <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2017-04-26/donald-trump-to-order-education-department-to-study-government-overreach">purpose of the order</a> is to “determine where the Federal Government has unlawfully overstepped state and local control.” This comes on the back of a proposed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trump-seeks-to-slash-education-department-but-make-big-push-for-school-choice/2017/03/15/63b8b6f8-09a1-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.896aa1c3cf95">13.5 percent cut</a> to the national education budget.</p>
<p>It’s not yet known what the results of this study might conclude. But, in my opinion, it may impact ESEA and the current funding structure that has been the norm for over 50 years, dramatically impacting funding for students in poverty and with special needs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74807/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dustin Hornbeck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump has ordered a task force to look into the federal government’s role in schools. Where does this executive order fit in the country’s long history of federal versus state educational policies?Dustin Hornbeck, Ph.D. Student in Educational Leadership and Policy, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/444982015-07-13T10:22:19Z2015-07-13T10:22:19ZThe calamity of the disappearing school libraries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88114/original/image-20150710-17478-ou3b84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lower-income students benefit the most from libraries. Yet, budget cuts are leading to a decline in their numbers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/peskylibrary/407779909/in/photolist-C2YL6-aBpQzA-bSidyF-4DiFh-hEnJNa-6f8r52-6573FT-7tmPPK-743Sdj-bqHA8Z-3BqQCE-7tmPX4-brK835-r4ydw-cW5cXG-3ajJub-zCQEo-bmPZau-aspQch-6jtwev-8EFdiQ-9sHwcQ-743Rzb-jeP57L-8Jfwof-jeRzQG-8Dkgqa-4npQn4-8ww6qj-5zPUYo-9f4udZ-97Yski-d7224j-5qGm6e-6233yC-9sEwMc-7fj5Ft-5xbUho-7Ap9zi-g5pkZ-g5cyq-bSidtK-5Ga7Za-984jVU-bBr2E3-6YX7Ly-9fn2ya-8BF4ar-8JcsPr-8BJbtE">Pesky Librarians</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From coast to coast, elementary and high school libraries are being neglected, defunded, repurposed, abandoned and closed. </p>
<p>The kindest thing that can be said about this is that it’s curious; the more accurate explanation is that it’s just wrong and very foolish.</p>
<p>A 2011 survey conducted with my graduate students of <a href="http://sl-it.mansfield.edu/upload/MU-LibAdvoBklt2013.pdf">25 separate statewide studies</a> shows that students who attend schools with libraries that are staffed by certified librarians score better on reading and writing tests than students in schools without library services. And it is lower-income students who benefit the most.</p>
<p>This clear empirical evidence has had little impact on budget cutters, however. They act – mistakenly – as though there is no link between libraries and educational achievement.</p>
<p>Here are the numbers and the arguments to which they need to pay attention. </p>
<h2>A dramatic decline in school libraries and librarians</h2>
<p>The number of school libraries in New York City has dropped from <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/03/18/number-of-libraries-dwindle-in-nyc-schools.html">nearly 1,500 in 2005 to around 700 in 2014.</a> </p>
<p>Over a recent five-year period, <a href="http://www.slj.com/2013/10/schools/lacking-district-vision-or-mandate-houstons-school-librarian-numbers-continue-to-shrink/">43% of school librarian positions</a> in the Houston Independent School District evaporated. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.slj.com/2015/01/legislation/oh-department-of-education-will-vote-to-purge-school-librarian-requirement/">Ohio has lost more than 700 school library positions</a> over a decade. </p>
<p>California has hemorrhaged school librarians to the point where it now has <a href="http://edsource.org/2014/school-librarians-a-rare-find-in-california-public-schools/62226#.U4ZLhXa2XFw">the worst ratio</a> – <a href="http://www.slj.com/2014/01/schools/california-school-librarians-look-to-higher-ed-during-advocacy-overhaul/#_">1-to-7,000 librarians-to-students</a> – of any state in the nation. </p>
<p>And, finally, in my own home state of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia provides a dramatic story. In 1991, there were 176 certified librarians in Philadelphia public schools. <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20150201_Shelved.html">Today there are 10</a>. It appears that 206 out of 218 classroom buildings in the school district of Philadelphia have no librarian. Two hundred Philadelphia schools do not have a functional library book collection. A majority lack the technology to access necessary e-resources. And <a href="http://www.williampennfoundation.org/newsroom/30-million-investment-aims-improve-literacy-outcomes-48000-children-school-district">85% of these children</a> come from homes in poverty. </p>
<h2>Proven impact</h2>
<p>This is happening despite the fact that we know school libraries are highly effective. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.slj.com/2011/09/industry-news/something-to-shout-about-new-research-shows-that-more-librarians-means-higher-reading-scores/">A 2011 study</a> using data from the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/">National Center for Education Statistics</a> revealed that “..states that gained librarians from 2004–2005 to 2008–2009 — such as New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming — showed significantly greater improvements in fourth grade reading scores than states that lost librarians, like Arizona, Massachusetts, and Michigan.”</p>
<p>So why, in the face of readily available evidence, are so many budget cutters targeting school libraries? </p>
<h2>A vulnerable institution</h2>
<p>One reason they cut is because they can. </p>
<p>For example, look at my state of <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20150201_Shelved.html">Pennsylvania</a>, where schools are not required to have libraries. Prisons must have them. Barber and cosmetology schools must have them. They are <a href="http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2014/11/philadelphia-teacher-carol-heinsdorf.html">compulsory</a> in nursing programs. But in public schools they are optional. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88115/original/image-20150710-17482-loeb3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why are budget cuts targeting school libraries?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/scrc/6307493694/in/photolist-aBny8h-e4T2Wr-e4T56K-e4YJrm-e4T5We-e4T5rv-bJkmUV-bvqzfN-bvqyTo-bJkmzn-e4T52g-92FmHu-j366bw-hYcuBE-bPDTKt-9SeVSB-77XDLs-92Vshx-3rLG3W-bAKeW1-5hdRNK-bPDTJp-6b6kuh-JsQda-hijUps-77XDQL-bPDTGP-btw3TK-c7aJjS-9LdX64-c7dXYY-c7dXLo-4pA3xE-5V8StD-eHZkc2-3UUACG-6fSTAK-5STK33-98VAEn-aCuS7K-dyN3BD-dyTwaY-9tLwdH-98VAxn-98YJrQ-7kw78j-8ry7Wh-8wwyyJ-7jq62r-7jq5Q8">W&M Swem Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Or consider the city of <a href="http://www.slj.com/2013/10/schools/lacking-district-vision-or-mandate-houstons-school-librarian-numbers-continue-to-shrink/">Houston, Texas</a>, where decisions on school staffing for certain positions, including certified librarians, are left to the discretion of school principals. It is not alone in that. </p>
<p>Also at work in the minds of budget cutters may be the hoary falsehood that the internet has made the need for libraries obsolete. </p>
<p>But those who think that the internet replaces a library must think it is okay to use WebMD instead of going to a doctor. </p>
<p>Librarians teach information literacy – how to separate the useful from the less useful, the credible from the inaccurate, and how to navigate the internet safely.</p>
<h2>Capitol Hill to the rescue?</h2>
<p>There is some hope, however, and it comes from legislation unanimously passed on July 8 by the US Senate. </p>
<p>In a bipartisan <a href="http://hottytoddy.com/2015/07/10/senate-approves-cochran-amendment-supporting-school-libraries-modernization/">amendment</a> – sponsored by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) – to Senate Bill 1177 that reauthorizes the <a href="http://www.ed.gov/esea">Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (renaming it the ESEA)</a>, school districts would be authorized to use federal funds “…to develop and foster effective school library programs…programs with certified school librarians at their core.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.psla.org/">Pennsylvania School Librarians Association</a> and the Pennsylvania PTA, who have been active on this issue, lobbied both of their state’s senators aggressively. But presumably party pressure played a factor, as 100% of the senators voted unanimously for the amendment. </p>
<p>However, in the narrowly passed reauthorization of its version of ESEA (<a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2015/07/House_passes_ESEA_rewrite.html">the Student Success Act</a>), the House of Representatives included no language about school libraries or librarians. </p>
<p>When the Senate finishes its deliberations and (presumably) passes S1177, a conference committee will need to meld the House and Senate versions together. </p>
<p>Will the language supporting school libraries and librarians survive this process?</p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address">State of the Union Address</a>, President Obama said that “In the 21st century, one of the best anti-poverty programs is a world-class education.” </p>
<p>The research is clear. School librarians are an integral part of a world-class, 21st-century education. </p>
<h2>Congress needs to step up</h2>
<p>It is time for a rethinking and redirection of federal policy in education. Former President George W Bush and President Barack Obama have <a href="http://pdk.sagepub.com/content/96/7/41.abstract">called</a> education the civil rights issue of our time. </p>
<p>However, allowing each state and each school district to decide how funds should be expended to educate students and provide library services has brought about huge inequities particularly in impoverished communities with resource-starved schools. </p>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, the now 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) pumped millions of dollars into building school library collections for school students. Since then, only a few competitive grant programs have been available from the federal level to fund any improvements to school library programs. </p>
<p>With the defunding of the <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/federallegislation/eduleg/schoollibraries">Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program</a> in 2011, today there are no <a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/federallegislation/eduleg/schoollibraries">federal programs</a> for school library funding. Clearly, the states, taking the lead from the feds, continue to ignore the funding of school libraries.</p>
<p>Yet, until now, federal education policy and legislation have neglected to support the role of school librarians. That needs to change. We need a national agenda and our elected officials to take a stand and ensure equity of library services and certified school librarians to teach the next generation to find and apply information to solve problems, think critically, and develop innovations.</p>
<p>Until such time, we shortchange our students and our future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debra Kachel previously received grant funding from the Institute for Museums and Library Service to administer a Pennsylvania school library research grant project. She is affiliated with the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association, the Assn. for School Librarians, and the American Library Association.</span></em></p>The number of libraries is dropping drastically across almost all states. Will a revised No Child Left Behind law make a difference?Debra E. Kachel, Professor of School Library and Information Technologies Program, Mansfield University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425852015-06-15T10:05:31Z2015-06-15T10:05:31ZTest data misuse reaches absurd levels<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84742/original/image-20150611-11441-179isgo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There have been some serious fallouts from standardized testing.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/2266590287/in/photolist-4shSjT-m1aKsC-m1aExs-aqJhAx-raW3sT-6F4K57-6Mk4hm-rsguGe-di1LZa-9ZWKZv-htUmhf-htUjsS-htTHho-htV3f8-htUjzW-gxWHEx-gxVFsu-gxWHYD-gxWcUo-gxWcb9-gxVFgC-gxWbtg-gxWHTt-gxWbBT-gxWJbc-gxWbFv-gxWHmX-htVEGX-gxWSth-gxWRRK-gxXoEg-gxXozB-gxXoHx-gxWRwX-5qQvgh-5DM8ej-hykPNx-hymvwQ-hykPvi-hykKM6-hykMoH-hymvV5-hykHnr-hykWM3-hykKHP-hykLMT-hymAs1-hymviU-hynqnD-hynsyT">Judy Baxter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The promise of the bipartisan <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml">No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 2001 legislation</a> was, as the name says, that no child would be left behind. A key piece of this legislation is the annual testing of every child from third through eighth grade and then once in high school.</p>
<p>The data from these tests were intended to provide policymakers and educators with evidence to improve educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged students. But instead of promoting equity and social justice, the <a href="http://ocrdata.ed.gov/">data</a> are being used, in some cases, to further punish and disenfranchise the most <a href="http://www.nyclu.org/news/high-stakes-tests-harm-students-and-teachers-undermine-equity-new-yorks-schools">vulnerable students</a>. </p>
<p>As an educational researcher, teacher and mom, I understand the potential as well as the unintended impacts of the annual testing regime. I also know that it doesn’t have to remain this way. We, as a nation, can do better. </p>
<h2>Fallout of standardized testing</h2>
<p>NCLB is a reauthorization of the <a href="http://www.ed.gov/esea">1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act</a>. Many efforts have been made to reauthorize NCLB since 2007, with a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/no-child-left-behind-reauthorization/">big push this spring</a> to get it revised and reauthorized before the fall campaign season. </p>
<p>NCLB’s use of standardized testing has been widely criticized for its inability to improve learning outcomes, especially for the most vulnerable students. It’s not just excessive testing, but an inappropriate use of the results that are now <a href="http://www.fairtest.org/dangerous-consequences-highstakes-standardized-test">threatening</a> the quality of public education.</p>
<p>Professional organizations such as the <a href="http://www.eval.org/p/cm/ld/fid=76">American Evaluation Association</a> and the <a href="http://www.aera.net/AboutAERA/AERARulesPolicies/AERAPolicyStatements/PositionStatementonHighStakesTesting/tabid/11083/Default.aspx">American Educational Research Association (AERA)</a> have put out public statements about how “high stakes” decisions based on test data violate the <a href="http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.weraonline.org/resource/resmgr/a_general/aera.pdf">code of ethics</a> to “do no harm.”</p>
<p>AERA’s statement lists a <a href="http://www.aera.net/AboutAERA/AERARulesPolicies/AERAPolicyStatements/PositionStatementonHighStakesTesting/tabid/11083/Default.aspx">set of conditions</a> under which testing programs need to be implemented: alignment of curriculum with the test items, adequate resources and opportunity to learn, validation of the passing scores and means to address the needs of students with language and learning differences. </p>
<p>In addition, <a href="http://www.aera.net/AboutAERA/AERARulesPolicies/AERAPolicyStatements/PositionStatementonHighStakesTesting/tabid/11083/Default.aspx">AERA has said</a> that test scores should follow a strict ethical code when it comes to evaluations. Much of this is currently missing. </p>
<h2>A range of tests</h2>
<p>Let’s take stock of just how many tests are currently “out there” and what their different purposes are.</p>
<p>For instance, there are NCLB mandated “accountability” tests, such as <a href="http://sbac.portal.airast.org/">Smarter Balanced Assesment (SBAC)</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-standardized-test-this-one-called-parcc-but-heres-whats-different-40056">Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)</a>; “diagnostic” tests used by districts to assess students and inform instruction, such as <a href="https://www.nwea.org/">Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEAs)</a>; and course-level tests for high school students, such as <a href="http://readysetgo.state.mn.us/RSG/AP/index.html">Advanced Placements</a> and <a href="http://www.ibo.org/">International Baccalaureate</a>.</p>
<p>There are also college entrance tests, such as <a href="http://www.princetonreview.com/college/sat-act">SAT and ACT</a>. And there is the national sampling for comparison across states – <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/">National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)</a> and, for international evaluations, there is <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)</a>. </p>
<p>This is all on top of the classroom- and school-level assessments that actually support the daily teaching and learning process between a teacher and a student. </p>
<p>As a result, what has happened is that there is too much testing and not enough learning. </p>
<p>The testing industry that has emerged from this is now a formidable lobby. Over the past five years it has spent over US$20 million to secure the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/30/report-big-education-firms-spend-millions-lobbying-for-pro-testing-policies/">$2 billion annual industry of standardized</a> testing in the US.</p>
<h2>Misuse of data</h2>
<p>The data generated from this testing are being used to make critical decisions about students, teachers and schools. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, test data have <a href="https://theconversation.com/tests-dont-improve-learning-and-parcc-will-be-no-different-40289">not been used</a> to improve teaching. Instead, data from the NCLB mandated accountability tests are being terribly misused.</p>
<p>There are now several court cases related to the misuse of standardized test scores in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OUWOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=class+action+suits+on+high+school+graduation+test+requirements&source=bl&ots=G2jtVYo1sz&sig=KFd9n2tLt7W-eRPEbJm_Wu7YTe0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=O8JyVeaQDsffsAWdh4OYCg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=class%20action%20suits%20on%20high%20school%20graduation%20test%20requirements&f=false">teacher evaluations and high school completion tests</a>. Teachers’ job positions, careers and salaries are being determined by test scores of students they don’t even teach. </p>
<p>US Secretary of Education <a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/statement-us-secretary-education-arne-duncan-tennessee-making-changes-teacher-licensure-policy">Arne Duncan has pushed</a> for teacher evaluation to be based in part on students’ standardized test scores despite the experiences of <a href="http://addingvalue.wceruw.org/Related%20Bibliography/Articles/Sanders%20%26%20Horn.pdf">Tennessee</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/30/houston-teachers-sue-over-controversial-teacher-evaluation-method/">Houston</a> and <a href="http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment">Florida</a>, where misuse of test data has been seen and challenged in court. </p>
<p>In these states, art and physical education teachers were evaluated on students’ English and math test scores. This error has already led to <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2015/02/05/teachers-union-sues-use-scores-evaluations/22946247/">lawsuits in Tennessee</a> and in <a href="https://feaweb.org/teachers-file-federal-736-lawsuit">Florida</a>. </p>
<p>Luke Flynt, an Indian River County teacher, in public testimony to the school committee, discussed how absurdly unreasonable these models of testing are. Flynt was a teacher in Florida who received unsatisfactory ratings because the computer model predicted that his students would score above a perfect score.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-I0Z7T0ZVVw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Luke Flynt, an Indian River County teacher, goes on the record.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, last year, Sheri Lederman, a fourth grade teacher in New York’s Great Neck Public School district, has <a href="http://dianeravitch.net/2015/06/01/good-news-legal-challenge-to-new-york-teacher-evaluations-will-proceed-in-court/">challenged</a> the inappropriateness of her teacher evaluation rating. The case will be heard by the New York Supreme Court. </p>
<p>As it is, teachers are frustrated. Testing has only added to it. <a href="http://hechingerreport.org/half-teachers-leave-job-five-years-heres/">Between 40% and 50% of new teachers</a> are <a href="https://theconversation.com/crisis-in-american-education-as-teacher-morale-hits-an-all-time-low-39226">leaving</a> the profession within five years. This is leading to a <a href="http://all4ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/PathToEquity.pdf">huge loss of social capital</a> and institutional capacity in the highest-need schools, where the rate of teacher exodus is highest. The annual cost of teacher dissatisfaction, expressed in the high turnover, is estimated to be <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/30/395322012/the-hidden-costs-of-teacher-turnover">$2.2 billion</a>.</p>
<p>This misuse of data is also one of the reasons behind the <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-opting-out-of-testing-how-did-we-get-here-40364">national</a> <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/04/what-happens-when-students-boycott-a-standardized-test/390087/">opt out movement</a>, as parents and teachers say no to testing. </p>
<p>This misuse of data is also driving states to opt out of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). </p>
<p>At least 10 states have already dropped the CCSS, and <a href="http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/states-fighting-back-map/">similar legislation is pending</a> in most other states. Several states are “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/some-states-rebrand-controversial-common-core-education-standards/2014/01/30/a235843e-7ef7-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html">rebranding</a>” the standards by having more local input and revising elements of the standards. </p>
<h2>Testing has not worked</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12521">National Academies</a>, the premier source of expert advice on pressing societal challenges, have documented that the current test-based accountability models of incentives and sanctions has not been effective for improving learning or achievement.</p>
<p>They have also called for reformed models of accountability that would consider broader-based measures of progress.</p>
<p>As is evident in these details, the true failure of education, as stated by the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/217916454/ASA-VAM-Statement-1">American Statistical Association (ASA)</a>, has been in preparing our legislators and educational policymakers in the ethical use of statistics. </p>
<p>In particular, the <a href="http://www.rand.org/topics/value-added-modeling-in-education.html">Value Added Model (VAM)</a>, a complex statistical tool, is being inapproriately used for assessing teachers’ performance. </p>
<p>The ASA has cautioned that these data are not an accurate measure, as standardized test scores are not “causational.” In other words, test results are affected by many factors – not just the teacher. Results need to be interpreted with caution. </p>
<p>And also, for this reason, no high-stakes decisions such as job termination should be made based on the test results. </p>
<p>The basic scientific premise of quality assessment and evaluation is taking multiple measures, using multiple methods, and making use of multiple opportunities for a more accurate representation of anything being studied, particularly something as <a href="https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/creating-comprehensive-system-evaluating-and-supporting-effective-teaching.pdf">complex as teaching</a>. </p>
<p>The aspirations of “No Child Left Behind” are essential for our nation’s success. However, the current models based on limited standardized test scores significantly underrepresent the complexity of learning. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/strengthen-evaluation-to-improve-student-learning-says-oecd.htm">Other nations</a> have developed <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/46927511.pdf">models of educational accountability</a> that are aligned with standards, reduce the number of tests, and help ensure equity and improve educational outcomes by <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/synergies-for-better-learning.htm">strengthening teaching and learning</a>. They also cost a lot less.</p>
<p>The question is: do we, as a nation, have the political will to leave behind the illusion of a quick fix from test scores?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42585/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flynn Ross does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Art teachers have been evaluated on English test scores. There seems to be no limit to how test data are being used to punish students, teachers and schools.Flynn Ross, Associate Professor of Education, University of Southern MaineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.