ERIC Number: EJ737122
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 38
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 86
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-8312
Below the Bubble: "Educational Triage" and the Texas Accountability System
Booher-Jennings, Jennifer
American Educational Research Journal, v42 n2 p231-268 Sum 2005
This article uses two dominant traditions in the organizational study of schools--the neoinstitutional and faculty workplace approaches--to explain an urban elementary school's response to the Texas Accountability System. The findings indicate that teachers, guided by an institutional logic, sought to create the appearance of test score improvement by using a constellation of "educational triage" practices. Educational triage was manifest in the diversion of resources to students believed to be on the threshold of passing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills ("bubble kids") and to "accountable" students (those affecting the school's accountability rating). Teachers also attempted to remove any liabilities to the school's rating by referring these students for special education. To explain why teachers participated in educational triage, the author shows how the equation of good teaching with high test scores by the institutional environment and the district reconstituted both teacher professional identities and teacher-teacher relationships. (Contains 1 figure and 24 notes.)
Descriptors: Accountability, Educational Environment, Decision Making, Educational Change, Urban Schools, Organizational Change, High Stakes Tests, Federal Legislation, Educational Improvement, Scores
American Educational Research Association. 1230 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036-3078. Tel: 202-223-9485; Fax: 202-775-1824; e-mail: subscriptions@aera.net; Web site: http://www.aera.net.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Texas; No Child Left Behind Act 2001

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