Detours on the Road to Reform: When Standards Take a Back Seat to Testing

Abstract

The research that informs this report indicates that, in Delaware, the standards have indeed been overshadowed by accountability and that several “detours on the road to reform” have resulted in a system that is measurement-driven as opposed to standardsbased. By placing our major findings in a context that includes comparisons to the ideals posited by standards-based reform more generally and Delaware’s New Directions initiative more specifically, we illustrate how disconnects between the ideals and current realities manifest themselves in Delaware schools and classrooms.