Title: Unequal by design : high-stakes testing and the standardization of inequality /
Authors: Au, Wayne, 1972-
Publisher: Routledge,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Educational tests and measurements Social aspects United States; Test bias United States.; Educational equalization United States.
Abstract: "Unequal By Design critically examines high-stakes standardized testing in order to illuminate what is really at stake for students, teachers, and communities negatively affected by such testing. This thoughtful analysis traces standardized testing's origins in the Eugenics and Social Efficiency movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries through its current use as the central tool for national educational reform via No Child Left Behind. By exploring historical, social, economic, and educational aspects of testing, author Wayne Au demonstrates that these tests are not only premised on the creation of inequality, but that their structures are inextricably intertwined with social inequalities that exist outside of schools."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: The zip code effect: educational inequality in the United States -- We are all widgets: standardized testing and the hegemonic logics of the educational assembly line -- The educational enterprise: NCLB, Neoliberalism, and the politics of equality -- Steerage at a distance: high-stakes testing and classroom control -- Devising inequality: high-stakes testing and the regulation of consciousness -- Standardizing inequality: the hidden curriculum of high-stakes testing.