Preemption at the Crossroads: Exploring the Temporal Dimensions of Policy Implementation

• In Event: The Implications of Testing Teachers and Students

Abstract

Accountability policy is a central approach for addressing educational issues. However, accountability can prompt reactivity that alters the phenomena being measured, thereby corrupting the policies’ intended outcomes. Rather than treat implementation as beginning on the first day of a policy, I study the phase that occurs before a policy is formally implemented. I examine what one high-stress school did in anticipation of policy change. Through comparison of the pre-NCLB and pre-CCSS implementation phases, I demonstrate how anticipatory activities interfered with this school’s ability to effectively address present requirements while preparing for the future. I argue that these activities laid the foundation for policy implementation and that we should reconsider how we define policy cutoff points in implementation research.

Author

• Debbie Kim, NORC at the University of Chicago