High-Stakes Culture: Impact of Educational Accountability Reforms on High School Culture and Students' Mental Health

• In Event: Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: Curriculum Practice and Student Experiences

Abstract

This study examined how the increased pressure from educational accountability initiatives, Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind, have affected adolescents’ mental health through additional stress, creating a normed “high-stakes” culture in high schools. Youth are increasingly suffering from mental health issues, being prescribed medication, and/or taking their lives. Contextualized within the policy analysis of U.S. educational accountability reforms, this exploratory case study used student and school surveys to analyze the impact of these reforms on students’ levels of stress and school culture. Schools must construct spaces for empowerment and empathy where youth can learn how to manage their stress through mindfulness practices.

Authors

• Carmelia Silva, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth

• Elizabeth Janson, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth