ABSTRACT
‘Testing’ and ‘accountability’ have always been linked; teachers and others administered tests the results of which held students to account. That account might involve a passing grade for a course, moving up to the next grade, or providing information to policymakers on the success of a curriculum reform. Beginning with the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and hitting full stride with the Race to the Top funding (2009), however, the connection between testing and accountability increasingly included teachers. Initially popular, holding teachers accountable for their students’ test scores has become increasingly controversial. The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) maintained some of the accountability measures associated with standardized testing, but relaxes measures of teacher accountability.
