“Our Kids Are #MoreThanATest”: Framing & Reframing Literacy Assessment in Public Policy Debate

• In Event: Literacy, Power, and Public Discourse

Abstract

This interpretive case study examines public debate about a test-based third-grade retention policy in Tennessee, which mandated retention based on state standardized test results. Using a data corpus of 23 legislative hearings, school board meetings, and community actions, we drew on qualitative and discourse analysis to analyze how the policy was framed by opponents and proponents, tracing how proponents were able to effectively reframe the opponent’s critiques about the use of high-stakes literacy testing.

Author

• Laura Taylor, Rhodes College