Teacher Praxis and Competency in an Age of Standards: Four Case Studies From Los Angeles

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  In Roundtable Session: Understanding and Contesting Neoliberalism

Abstract

During the past thirty years, the significance of standardized tests for measuring student and teacher competence has increased radically in California. As evidenced in popular media and political discourse, standardized test results have become the primary measure of student and teacher performance statewide. Using critical race theory as a theoretical framework, this paper investigates the impact of standardized testing on teachers and teaching, based on case studies of four Los Angeles schools. The paper focuses on changes to the quality of teacher practice, as understood by teachers, in the following four areas: attunement to diversity, personal and professional engagement with issued of race and education, application of prior and ongoing learning, and teaching as an act of community.

Author

• Arlo Kempf, University of California - Los Angeles