Toward a Pluralistic View of Accountability: Possibilities and Troublings.
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| Title: | Toward a Pluralistic View of Accountability: Possibilities and Troublings. |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Capper, Colleen A., Keyes, Maureen W., Hafner, Madeline |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 46 |
| Publication Date: | 1999 |
| Document Type: | Opinion Papers Speeches/Meeting Papers |
| Descriptors: | Accountability, Achievement Tests, Educational Administration, Elementary Secondary Education, Epistemology, Evaluation Criteria, Performance Based Assessment, Student Evaluation |
| Geographic Terms: | U.S.; Wisconsin |
| Abstract: | This paper examines ways to help administrators and scholars in administrator preparation make sense of the accountability debates. It links possibilities for accountability to one's epistemological lens and claims that administrators can enhance student success by taking a pluralistic view of accountability. The text recounts the historical context for epistemological perspectives, followed by an explanation of epistemological pluralism. It shows how various kinds of student assessments, whether they are traditional or progressive in structural-functional or feminist-poststructural ways, can be used. The article focuses on epistemological proliferation and examines three different ways to view epistemological pluralism: (1) exclusivism, where persons believe their perspective is the one correct perspective; (2) inclusivism, where persons believe that their view is so superior that it includes all other perspectives; and (3) pluralism, where persons hold that "truths" about learning and accountability cannot be captured by one particular perspective. The article offers a brief description of standardized, performance-based, and functional assessments along with examples of how each method can be employed in various manners. It is hoped that using traditional assessment under these perspectives will advance equity and justice, allowing educators to use alternative assessments to maintain the status quo. (Contains 24 references, 3 tables, and 3 handouts.) (RJM) |
| Notes: | Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the University Council of Educational Administration (Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 28-31, 1999). |
| Journal Code: | RIEAUG2000 |
| Entry Date: | 2000 |
| Accession Number: | ED438622 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper examines ways to help administrators and scholars in administrator preparation make sense of the accountability debates. It links possibilities for accountability to one's epistemological lens and claims that administrators can enhance student success by taking a pluralistic view of accountability. The text recounts the historical context for epistemological perspectives, followed by an explanation of epistemological pluralism. It shows how various kinds of student assessments, whether they are traditional or progressive in structural-functional or feminist-poststructural ways, can be used. The article focuses on epistemological proliferation and examines three different ways to view epistemological pluralism: (1) exclusivism, where persons believe their perspective is the one correct perspective; (2) inclusivism, where persons believe that their view is so superior that it includes all other perspectives; and (3) pluralism, where persons hold that "truths" about learning and accountability cannot be captured by one particular perspective. The article offers a brief description of standardized, performance-based, and functional assessments along with examples of how each method can be employed in various manners. It is hoped that using traditional assessment under these perspectives will advance equity and justice, allowing educators to use alternative assessments to maintain the status quo. (Contains 24 references, 3 tables, and 3 handouts.) (RJM) |
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