High-stakes tests are the most heavily weighted measures in accountability systems developed in response to No Child Left Behind. While some studies show high-stakes accountability being related to test score gains, others suggest these policies do not improve achievement and often result in unintended consequences. To understand mechanisms…

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…