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James Noonan, Peter Piazza
Research Brief, issue 16, National Coalition for School Diversity, 2023
Research Brief, issue 16, National Coalition for School Diversity, 2023
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APA
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Noonan, J., & Piazza, P. (2023). Accountability Systems and the Persistence of School Segregation: Research Evidence and Future Directions. National Coalition for School Diversity.
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Noonan, James, and Peter Piazza. “Accountability Systems and the Persistence of School Segregation: Research Evidence and Future Directions.” Research Brief. National Coalition for School Diversity, 2023.
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Noonan, James, and Peter Piazza. Accountability Systems and the Persistence of School Segregation: Research Evidence and Future Directions. no. 16, National Coalition for School Diversity, 2023.
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@misc{noonan2023a,
title = {Accountability Systems and the Persistence of School Segregation: Research Evidence and Future Directions},
year = {2023},
issue = {16},
organization = {National Coalition for School Diversity},
series = {Research Brief},
author = {Noonan, James and Piazza, Peter},
howpublished = {}
}
Abstract
Passed in 2001, the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) codified the use of educational accountability systems that rely on largely quantitative measures -- standardized tests, especially -- to assess student learning outcomes, rank order districts and schools according to these outcomes, and prescribe sanctions for schools and districts not meeting achievement targets. At the same time, American public schools have rapidly resegregated (Frankenberg et al., 2019) since reaching the height of statistical desegregation in 1988 (Orfield et al., 2014). A 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that more than one-third of all K-12 public school students attend a school where at least 75 percent of the enrollment comes from the same racial background. This brief examines recent empirical research to consider what, if any, relationship exists between systems of accountability and the persistence of school segregation. It attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What does empirical evidence suggest about the relationship between contemporary accountability systems and trends in school segregation? and (2) How, if at all, might accountability systems be refined in order to contribute constructively to real integration?
Passed in 2001, the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) codified the use of educational accountability systems that rely on largely quantitative measures -- standardized tests, especially -- to assess student learning outcomes, rank order districts and schools according to these outcomes, and prescribe sanctions for schools and districts not meeting achievement targets. At the same time, American public schools have rapidly resegregated (Frankenberg et al., 2019) since reaching the height of statistical desegregation in 1988 (Orfield et al., 2014). A 2022 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that more than one-third of all K-12 public school students attend a school where at least 75 percent of the enrollment comes from the same racial background. This brief examines recent empirical research to consider what, if any, relationship exists between systems of accountability and the persistence of school segregation. It attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What does empirical evidence suggest about the relationship between contemporary accountability systems and trends in school segregation? and (2) How, if at all, might accountability systems be refined in order to contribute constructively to real integration?