Past as Prologue: Accountability as an Educational Reform Agenda in 1960s Michigan

• In Event: Roundtable Session 124
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Reform and Free Markets

Abstract

Long before the Obama and Bush administrations, politicians have called for the need to hold schools more accountable. The Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was given during William Milliken’s inaugural administration as Michigan’s 44th Governor. Using evidence from 1960’s-1970’s artifacts, agenda setting theory (Kingdon, 2003), and research literature on accountability, this paper demonstrates that the political entrepreneurship of Milliken is a case for understanding how accountability has been articulated as a means for bringing about educational reform. Because accountability is interwoven in national and state educational agendas, this research has the potential to aid educators in shaping political agendas in ways that truly leave no child behind.

Author

• Valencia Moses, Michigan State University