Educational Equity and Accountability Paradigms, Policies, and Politics

Despite the intense political attention that has been focused on accountability, on standardized testing, and on the equity effects of both accountability and testing, the great majority of recent debate in education policy circles has failed to attend to either the dynamism or complexity of these issues and has, instead, been carried out in a dualistic, good versus evil, fashion. In contrast, the scholarship collected in this important new volume is designed to move beyond the prevailing dualism and to push the discourse about accountability, testing, and educational equity in public schools usefully forward, and to provide a much-needed resource for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners.

1. Introduction, Linda Skrla and James Joseph Scheurich Part I: The Equity and Accountability Conversation 2. Thinking Carefully about Equity and Accountability, James Joseph Scheurich, Linda Skrla, and Joseph F. Johnson, Jr. 3. Let's treat the Cause, Not the Symptoms: Equity and Accountability in Texas Revisited, Richard Valencia, Angela Valenzuela, Kris Sloan, and Douglas Foley 4. Continuing the Conversation on Equity and Accountability, James Joseph Scheurich and Linda Skrla Part II: The Effect of Accountability Policy on Educational Equity 5. Accountability for Equity: Can State Policy Leverage Social Justice?, Linda Skrla, James Joseph Scheurich, Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., and James W. Koschoreck 6. Response to Skrla et al: The Illusion of Educational Equity in Texas: A Commentary on Accountability for Equity, Walter Haney 7. Response to Skrla et al: Is There a Connection Between Educational Equity and Accountability? Stephen P. Klein 8. Complex and Contested Constructions of Accountability and Educational Equity, Linda Skrla, James Joseph Scheurich, Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., and James W. Koschoreck Part III: Equity-Focused Research and Responses to Accountability 9. Displacing Deficit Thinking in School District Leadership, Linda Skrla and James Joseph Scheurich 10. Can State Accountability Systems Drive Improvements in School Performance for Children of Color and Children from Low-Income Homes? Edward J. Fuller, and Joseph F. Johnson, Jr. 11.Accountability and Educational Equity in the Transformation of an Urban District, James W. Koschoreck 12. Using an Aligned System to Make Real Progress for Texas Students, Susan Sclafan 13. Statewide Assessment Triggers Urban School Reform: But How High the Stakes for Urban Minorities? Laurence Parker 14. Promoting Educational Equity in a Period of Growing Social Inequity: The Silent Contradictions of the Texas Reform Discourse, Gary L. Anderson 15. Polar Positions on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS): Pragmatism and the Politics of Neglect, Henry T. Trueba Part IV: Critiques and Commentaries on the Equity-Accountability Debate 16. Educational Accountability for English Language Learners in Texas: A Retreat from Equity, Bill Black and Angela Valenzuela 17. The Unintended Consequences of the Texas Accountability System, Kathryn Bell McKenzie 18. Intersections in Accountability Reform: Complexity, Local Actors, Legitimacy, and Agendas, Andrea K. Rorrer 19. Accountability for Special Education Students: Beginning Quality Education, Antoinette F. Riester 20. Conclusion: Keeping Equity in the Foreground, Linda Skrla and James Joseph Scheurich

Linda Skrla is an associate professor in the Educational Administration and Human Resource Development Department at Texas A&M University.James Scheurich is associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin. He is also coordinator of educational programs.