Trick or treat: new ecology of education accountability system in the USA

Abstract

This study tracks American states’ policy choices under the No Child Left Behind Act and explores their consequences for student achievement. Using the path analysis of relationships among state‐level policy input, context, and outcome variables, the study portrays a Halloween‐like ‘trick‐or‐treating’ game between the federal and state governments in the new ecology of the test‐driven education accountability system. States that chose the ‘trick’ path with a calculative policy negotiation and manipulation strategy made significant gains on their own state assessments but not on the national assessment. In contrast, states that followed the ‘treat’ path with a faithful policy implementation for funding strategy have not yet brought about significant gains on either the national or state assessments. The first‐generation accountability states with a prior history of high‐stakes testing tended to employ both strategies at the same time. However, neither effective illusion nor ineffective implementation serves the goal of long‐term, sustainable academic improvement. Implications for research and policy are discussed.