Student Responses to Accountability Pressures: Evidence From No Child Left Behind Implementation

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Examining the Impact of Accountability Systems on Both Teachers and Students

Abstract

On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act into law. One of the headline goals of NCLB was to ensure that 100% of students were “proficient” in math and reading by 2014. In this study, we use a simulated stringency measure of state level implementations to estimate the impact of accountability under NCLB on student achievement. Overall, we find variation in accountability stringency across states in response to NCLB, but the same gains are not observed in students’ math and reading achievement scores, as measured by NAEP test scores.

Authors

• Anandita Krishnamachari, University of Virginia

• Vivian Wong, University of Virginia

• Coady Wing, Indiana University - Bloomington

• David Martin, University of Virginia