Saving Schools, Mini-Course 3: Accountability and National Standards - Harvard University

This mini-course focuses on the question of accountability in public schools.

Who is accountable for student outcomes? Should we blame the schools or hold the students themselves accountable? Who determines the standards for accountability – the federal government or the individual states?

The demand for accountability in U.S. education resulted in No Child Left Behind and has shaped the Common Core debate. Throughout this mini-course, we will trace the origins of the accountability movement, the increased role of the federal government, the design of accountability interventions, and the impact of accountability programs on student performance.

This mini-course contains five lectures, with most lectures divided into three videos. The mini-courses also include assigned readings, discussion forums, and assessments.

• The evolution of the federal government’s role in education
• The extent that specific issues (such as bilingual education and the rights of special needs students) have changed education
• The methodological tools necessary to understand education research