Teachers' Perceptions of High-Stakes Accountability in Florida's Title I Elementary Schools

Abstract

Teachers are catalysts to the success of high-stakes accountability policies, yet noticeably absent from previous studies is an examination of teachers’ responses toward being held accountable for their students’ performance on state-mandated, high-stakes assessments in low socioeconomic status (SES) school settings.  An on-line survey instrument was used to determine how third grade, Title I classroom teachers in two southeastern Florida school districts believed they were capable of being held accountable for their students’ knowledge of reading and mathematics standards assessed on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.   Open-ended survey responses received from 61 respondents acknowledged the need for teacher accountability in terms of contingencies, students’ academic growth, and teachers’ instruction, but raised significant concerns regarding the fairness of high-stakes accountability policy and shared accountability for student achievement.