ERIC Number: EJ1214093
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0159-6306
EISSN: N/A
Risky Teachers: Mitigating Risk through High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation in the USA
Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, v40 n3 p399-411 2019
As a post-structural critique of US teacher evaluation policy, this paper aims to disrupt accepted conceptualizations of teachers by (1) identifying discursive constructions of teachers in political talk, action, and legislation; (2) unpacking the ways that these constructions operate to legitimize punitive accountability policies and practices; and (3) mapping the associated accountability practices used by one school district to understand how they function to manage teachers and shape teacher subjectivities. Drawing on data that include official federal- and state-level policy documents, policy supplemental materials, and local teacher evaluation materials, this analysis demonstrates how teachers have been discursively positioned as 'risky' subjects. By doing so, the means to mitigate such 'risks' are rationalized, insofar as high-stakes accountability policies and practices 'make sense' to protect the well-being of students and the country. This has enabled a set of intrusive and punitive mechanisms that assess and discipline teachers to behave as low-risk subjects.
Descriptors: Risk, High Stakes Tests, Criticism, Teacher Evaluation, Educational Policy, Discourse Analysis, Political Attitudes, Accountability, State Policy, Educational Practices, Punishment, Teacher Behavior, Compliance (Psychology), Well Being, Value Added Models, Audits (Verification), Elementary Secondary Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A