Constrained Professionalism: Dilemmas of Teaching in the Face of Test-Based Accountability

by John S. Wills & Judith Haymore Sandholtz — 2009 (From the Teachers College Record)

Background/Context: In response to state-level test-based accountability and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school administrators increasingly view centralized curriculum and prescribed instructional strategies as the most direct means of increasing student performance. This movement toward standardization reduces teachers’ autonomy and control over their classroom practices. The consequences of test-based accountability on teacher practice are often conceptualized as a tension between teacher professionalism and standardization.
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