Local School District Is Compared

¶ … local school district is compared to state and national scores? These trends were be graphed for district, state, and national scores. SAT mathematics, NEAP, and MCAS data are available from 1998-2006. These trends were analyzed qualitatively for pattern differences across the years.

The limitations of this study are reflective of all research data which relies heavily upon the self-report style of evidence gathering. Self-report evidence can be skewed in a variety of ways, specific to many factors, not the least of which is the perceptions of how subjects think the materials might be used and who subjects believe will have access to such materials. This research study attempts to resolve some of this potential skewing by allowing educator subjects to respond to questions, without formulating specific answers to such questions. The work, rather, asks the participants to respond to scaled generic options, which reduces and nearly eliminates identifiable characteristics that may sway answers. Additionally, self-report, evidence could indicate the manner in which the participant buys in to the ideals of a particular standard, rather than how they really see it effecting the classroom. To assist with this potential limitation the work addresses the question through a comprehensive framework that asks questions that are specific enough to result in realistic answers but general enough to be reflective of the actual events in the classroom, rather than those associated with ideals or desire, on the part of the participants and/or anyone they believe may review the material in the future.

A second limitation of this work is reflective of the fact that though educators are integral in real observational characteristics in the classroom, students and administrators are also important participants in change or status quo and should in the future be included in some way in future research to show a correlation or contradictory standard of real change, associated with MERA and/or NCLB. This aspect of added material could be more difficult to implement but might give a broader understanding of the real change associated with the overall systems change. Though it must also be mentioned that administrators tend to have a less reflective and more ideal view of classroom and policy change application, owing to the fact that they are often more involved in the development (top down) of policy changes as well as more "sold" on policy change, as a rule when it come to them. (McNeil 2000) Administrators are limitedly included in this work but more could be said about the differences between teacher and administrators perceptions in the context of the classroom. Students are completely absent from the survey materials, likely owing to the fact that a different (but comparable) research tool would need to be used to poll student perceptions of change.