School Accountability Systems Seen as Unlikely to Face Major Overhaul

Los Angeles

Policy experts and scholars gathered here last week cited chapter and verse about the negative consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act’s reliance on state tests to judge schools.

But there was less agreement about what a better alternative might look like, and even less optimism that one would come to pass.

At a conference at the University of California, Los Angeles, on the future of test-based accountability systems, participants did offer some ideas for how to address the unintended consequences of such systems. Those perceived effects range from a narrowing of the curriculum to a focus on low-level skills at the expense...