Chapter 14: Measuring History Through State-Level Tests: Patterns and Themes

Although one of the first volumes to deeply explore the effects of state-level history testing, the chapter authors and I can make no grand claims. Standardized tests of all stripes have gotten considerable attention in both the academic and popular presses, yet relatively little of that attention has taken the form of empirical work. What people think could or should or may happen is interesting. But what does happen, as the quote above suggests, though more difficult to describe, ultimately may be more revealing. For in and around teachers’ responses to history tests is evidence that confirms and challenges both policymakers’ hopes and critics’ fears.