School accountability and the language of public relations

Accountability and the Slippery Language of Public Relations
An Essay Review by Susan Ohanian

“Certainly language is a good place to
start reform. We could start by admitting that
the claims made for transparency are at best
laughable and hypocritical and at worst
deliberately deceptive.” Susan Ohanian.


Talk about the eye of the beholder! The authors view this scenario as something
to be desired. I am appalled by the casual assumptions presented in this positivist,
technocratic view of teacher decision-making. Such “planning” assumes:
• state standards cause learning
• achievement tests test those standards
• student scores on achievement test reveal something important about what
a student knows
• students learn what teachers teach


Accountability and the Slippery Language of Public Relations:
An Essay Review

Susan Ohanian

Kowalski, Theodore J. & Lasley II, Thomas J. (Ed.) (2008)
Handbook of Data-Based Decision Making in Education. NY:
Routledge

Pp. vii + 494 ISBN 0-415-96504-7
$90 (papercover) $198 (hardcover) $72 (Kindle)

Citation: Ohanian, Susan. (2009, June 5). Accountability and the slippery
language of public relations: An essay review. Education Review, 12(7).
Retrieved [date] from http://edrev.asu.edu/essays/v12n7index.html


Accountability and the Slippery Language of Public Relations
An Essay Review by Susan Ohanian

http://edrev.asu.edu/essays/v12n7.pdf