Undermining teaching: How education consultants view the impact of high-stakes test preparation on teaching

The outcomes of high-stakes tests (HST) in New York schools have consequences for teachers and administrators, as students’ results became quality indicators for school administration and instruction. Education consultant’s views offer an independent perspective of the HST environment. Data were collected from education consultants through a survey and interviews. Findings linked HST with reduced teacher control in instructional planning, curriculum narrowing and increased test preparation. These practices were associated with decreased collaboration and increased teacher and administrator stress. Foucault’s “governmentality” and concepts of neoliberal education policy framed aspects of the study. This study indicates that the consequences of HST require critical interrogation as HST practices have adverse impacts on teacher and administrator agency and student outcomes.

The Association of Role Conflict and Ambiguity with Administrator Stress and Burnout

Many of the recent studies on school administrator stress and burnout have failed to investigate the connection between stress and burnout with role conditions such as role conflict and role ambiguity. The present study assessed the association of role conflict and ambiguity with the administrative stress cycle. Seventy-four percent of the 1000 principals and superintendent completed the Administrator Work Inventory which consisted of the Administrator Stress Index, Maslach Burnout Inventory and Role Questionnaire in addition to demographic and organizational questions. The results of the multiple correlations between the variables resulted in the following conclusions: (1) Role conflict and ambiguity contributes specifically to conflict-mediating stress; (2) Burnout in administration is associated closely with role structure of administrative positions; and (3) Administrators must manage the role conflict and ambiguity in order to filter some of the stress and emotional exhaustion from their occupations. Implications for training institutions were also drawn from the study.