A Complexity Model of Testing Integrity Violations

• In Event: Perspectives on Chaos and Complexity Theories in Education

Abstract

Periodically, testing integrity violations accompany contemporary educational accountability policies. This study builds on a prior analysis of six cases of school system testing integrity investigations from which a complex systems model of testing violations was inductively derived (Author, 2019). Using a seventh, large district case (Bowers, et al. 2011), we consider the relations between the model’s control parameters and its attractor states of compliance and noncompliance, including the bifurcation of the latter into one of two categories of violation (student assistance and exclusion). The findings illustrate the model’s deductive application to a case that spans individual, school, and district units-of-analysis. We conclude by considering the promise and challenges of a complex systems model of school testing integrity violations.

Authors

• Melissa Gayle Kuhn, Old Dominion University

• Joanna K. Garner, The Center for Educational Partnerships