Univ. of Massachusetts-Lowell Professor Makes Claim that ESSA is too Fixated on the Accountability Movement
October 9, 2016
James Nehring, an associate professor of education at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, authored an opinion piece on the regulatory problems facing ESSA, stating that the implementation of the law will “inevitably corrupt the law’s intent.” The use of “standards as regulatory tools,” or accountability systems, according to Nehring, can have a “deadening impact on schools and classrooms” due to a “narrowing curriculum.” These tools have also increased the focus on testing data to answer research questions among educators. Nehring argued that ESSA is too heavily fixated on the accountability movement.