Description
Book SynopsisExamining the political economy of high-stakes educational testing
Trade Review
"The novelty of Objectifying Measures is the clarity with which an analysis of statistical discourse is mapped out to show its complex relationship to inequality. Johnson offers a reader-friendly ethnography that demands attention... Her analysis of assumptions and biases which frame and inform standardized testing as a method of defining and measuring failure/progress is timely and important. Highly recommended!"
—Katya Gibel Mevorach, Associate Professor, Anthropology Department & American Studies Concentration at Grinnell College
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Contextualizing Education within the Racial Politics of Texas
3. Statistical Objectification, Governmentality, and Race in High- Stakes Testing
4. Commodification, Privatization, and Political Economy of Statistical Discourse
5. Statistical Objectification, Truth, and Hegemony
6. Between Women and the State of Texas: Representation and the Politics of Experience
7. Conclusion
Chronology: Timeline of Testing in Texas, 1970– 2003
Notes
Bibliography
Index
