No Child Left Behind: Values and Research Issues in High‐Stakes Assessments

Abstract

High‐stakes testing and mandated assessments, which are major outcomes of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; 2002) contain multiple embedded values that affect the lives of students, their families, teachers, and counselors. A primary embedded value within the NCLB is the privileging of quantitative science over other methods of inquiry and assessment. Thus, accountability, a cornerstone of NCLB legislation, has come to be understood in a narrow way and is valued primarily as a feature of quantitative assessment. This restricted view of accountability has had significant effects on how teachers and counselors organize their work with students.