States' Expressed vs. Assessed Education Goals in the Era of Accountability

This article addresses the shifting educational priorities in the accountability era by examining states' expressed and assessed educational goals in relationship to those goals enjoying historical and popular support. We argue that curricular restriction in response to federally influenced educational priorities limits individual and social growth, concluding that the 2014 NCLB ultimatum provides a ready catalyst for reorienting educational priorities to address more holistic aims grounded in research from positive psychology.
An examination of how state and federal educational goals, particularly in terms of accountability, might have counterproductive effects on students and teachers by hindering individual and social growth.
This paper argues that changing educational priorities coming from state and federal policies (such as the No Child Left Behind) often results in stakeholders’ (e.g. teachers) beliefs about the purposes of education being at odds with states’ expected student outcomes, limiting individual and social growth. The authors also discussed what other educational goals, beyond accountability, should be part of a 21st century education.