Dive Brief:

• A new study has confirmed what many already knew: The high-stakes accountability tied to test scores under No Child Left Behind didn't yield positive results, Chalkbeat reports.
• While modest gains, most notably among some disadvantaged groups, were seen early on after the 2002 law was passed, as time went on, states struggled to make gains. California and Vermont in particular saw big jumps in school failure rates by 2008, and there was no evidence of higher standards causing any improvements in 4th-grade math or reading.
• The new research seems to hew to a theory known as the “accountability plateau” — creating new bars to measure up against boosts performance initially, but ratcheting up the pressure leads to diminishing returns.

Dive Insight:

The researchers on the NCLB study maintain that the way the Every Student Succeeds Act is structured gives it greater potential to improve long-term outcomes — but only if performance requirements come along with additional support for educators. Indeed, the kind of pressure that was part and parcel of NCLB can lead educators to try to "game the system" out of desperation to avoid school closures or firings. Top-down mandates can also lead to an atmosphere where educators stick to the same old approaches for fear of rocking the boat. And that's a shame, since teachers are the most effective classroom innovators, a quality that is sought after in today's educational climate. 

Administrators can raise awareness of that catch-22 among policymakers. And they can also build solidarity with teachers by showing their own willingness to try something new that they're not entirely sure about. That can encourage teachers to take a chance on a new teaching model.