Reform, Resistance,. .. Retreat? The Predictable Politics of Accountability in Virginia

Abstract

but the implementation of such regimes produces visible costs that tend to be more politically salient than the accompanying educational benefits. The benefits are diffuse and long-term while the costs are immediate and concentrated, creating a political dynamic that tends to aid critics of highstakes accountability.3 The Allure of Outcome Accountability In seeking to ensure school quality, policymakers have two fundamental methods at their disposal. The traditional approach has been to govern by focusing on the inputs, instead of on the outcomes, of schooling. Policymakers often seek to ensure school quality by requiring that schools spend specified amounts of money per pupil, have facilities that meet set criteria, employ teachers with certain certifications, and so on. Because inputs may not be used in a way that translates into results, input monitoring is characterized by regulation and micromanagement. Public schools and school personnel have traditionally been judged on the basis of whether or not they comply with regulations and mandates governing inputs. Policymakers have evaluated schools based upon their fealty to policy directives, not upon student performance or progress. In large part, this approach emerged as a lowest common denominator compromise among policymakers reluctant to resolve disputes about the relative merit of com71 Frederick M. Hess *F.Hess 2/22/02 10:13 AM Page 71