William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Social policy today 607

A more recent debate concerning the national government’s role in education policy

has focused on standards-based education reform: Should the national government

establish standards and impose accountability as a way to improve public schools?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 required yearly statewide standardized testing

in math and reading. If the test results showed that a school was not meeting annual

academic benchmarks, it was labeled a “failing school,” which meant that it lost some

federal funding and its students could transfer to another public school. Critics argue

that standardized test results are a poor measurement of progress because top-down

standards incentivize schools to “teach to the test” and manipulate other aspects of the

evaluation system. Responding to these concerns that one size does not fit all, Congress

enacted the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. The new law maintains annual testing

but gives states more control over setting student performance targets and school ratings.

The latest example of a nationwide, state-based effort to shape education is the

Common Core standards that were developed by the National Governors Association

in response to concerns that American schools were falling behind. This relatively

modest set of standards in math and English was quickly adopted by 46 states between

2010 and 2015 but became a lightning rod for concern about national control of

education. Conservative radio host Glenn Beck said that the standards “are breeding

an entire new generation of slaves”; then–Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal compared

the standards to central planning in the Soviet Union; and Florida state representative

Charles Van Zant said the Common Core’s goal is to “attract every one of your children

to become as homosexual as they possibly can.”^74 So far, the backlash has led six states

to rescind their adoption of the Common Core standards, and repeal efforts are under

way in at least 28 more states.^75

President Obama’s Race to the Top grant program used a “carrot” rather than a

“stick” approach to educational innovation, dedicating $4.35 billion to competitive

grants from 2010 to 2013 to encourage schools to adopt more challenging standards

and better tools of assessment, promote better leadership and methods for assessing

and rewarding excellent teaching, create better data systems for tracking students’

progress, and obtain stronger commitments for improving the worst-performing

schools. These grants were aimed at strengthening the quality of public education

while also improving accountability.^76 The emphasis on accountability was criticized

In December 2015, the Every Student

Succeeds Act replaced No Child Left

Behind, giving states more discretion

over testing.

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