The district and test preparation

BULKLEY, K., FAIRMAN, J., & MARTINEZ, M. C

The ambiguities of teaching to the test. Standards, assessment y educational reform

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Lugar: Mahwah; Año: 2004; p. 113 - 142

In order to understand the impact of New Jersey’s standards and assessment policies, we explore how district leaders responded to the state’s standards and the fourth grade ESPA, specifically in the area of mathematics. Building on earlier work exploring district responses to testing (Fairman & Firestone, 2001), this paper explores the relationship between district pedagogy around testing and the will and capacity in particular districts, including the physical capital (resources), human capital and social capital (Spillane & Thompson, 1997). The use of state assessment as an important tool to drive instructional change relies on multiple levels of the system to respond with substantive – rather than cosmetic – change. Literature on district reform suggests that district capacity – especially human capital – may have important implications for how the district level responds to these new demands.