• Login
    • Submit
    View Item 
    •   Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    • Repository Home
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    School social workers’ perceptions of the impact of high-stakes accountability testing in schools

    Icon
    View/Open
    RIORDAN-DISSERTATION.pdf (1.411Mb)
    Date
    2011-08
    Author
    Riordan, Christine Lagana
    Share
     Facebook
     Twitter
     LinkedIn
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    African American and Hispanic students and students from families with lower income are particularly at-risk for differential academic achievement and dropout. When students underachieve at school or dropout, they often face severe consequences such as increased risk of incarceration and unemployment. School social workers strive to prevent poor academic achievement and the associated negative outcomes. In recent years, federal and state education policy has focused on reducing disparities in academic achievement through the creation of policies that use high-stakes testing requirements to hold schools accountable for student learning. Research studies on teacher perceptions of high-stakes testing indicate that it is having a negative impact on their job tasks and on school systems. However, there are few studies that examine school social worker perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing. This study examines school social workers’ perceptions about high-stakes testing. Specifically, it assesses school social worker perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing on school systems and how school ratings and student performance might influence these perceptions. It also examines school social workers’ perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing on their abilities to perform their work tasks. The study sample is drawn from respondents to the Texas School Social Work Survey (n=177). Data were analyzed through secondary data analysis using factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings indicate that school social workers perceive high-stakes testing as having a largely negative impact on school systems and their job tasks. School social workers who predominantly worked with students from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to have negative opinions about the impact of high-stakes testing on their job tasks. School social workers from schools with lower school ratings and those who felt that the students on their caseload tended to struggle on high-stakes tests had more negative perceptions about the impact of high-stakes testing on school systems. Results indicate the need for school social workers to become more involved in education policy and macro practice, to connect their services to improved academic outcomes for students, and to find new ways to provide school social work services in the “age of accountability.”
    Department
    Social Work
    Description
    text
    Subject
    School social work
    High-stakes testing
    No Child Left Behind
    Education policy
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2011-08-4054
    Collections
    • UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin

    Browse

    Entire RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartmentThis CollectionDate IssuedAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDepartment

    My Account

    Login

    Information

    AboutContactPoliciesGetting StartedGlossaryHelpFAQs

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    University of Texas at Austin Libraries
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • youtube
    • CONTACT US
    • MAPS & DIRECTIONS
    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
    • Site Policies
    • Web Accessibility Policy
    • Web Privacy Policy
    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin