Testing for Order and Control in the Corporate Liberal State*

The Development of Interactive-Dynamic Approaches to Assessment of Learning Potential

“…Historians (e.g., Karier, 1976) have suggested that the testing movement grew as a function of its role as an instrument of "order and control in the corporate liberal state." Haney ( 1981) suggested that testing has succeeded because of its status as an applied science of psychology.…”

What can Examinations Contribute to School Evaluation?

“…Broadfoot, 1981). Some would argue that such control extends beyond the boundaries of a purely educational debate and can be interpreted in terms of the reproduction and legitimation of capitalist social structure (see, for example, Karier, 1972;andvarious papers in Young &Whitty, 1976 andGleeson, 1977). Less cataclysmically but equally trenchantly, MacDonald (1974) has argued that the clarification of objectives is an inherently political activity.…”

Explaining Educability: an investigation of political support for the Children with Learning Disabilities Act of 1969

“…The fact that there were differing, and even conflicting, interpretations means that we can not explain support for PL 91-230 in terms of simple models which see theories of educability only as serving the interests of dominant classes (e.g. Bowles &Gintis, 1976;Karier, 1973). Rather, as I shall show, many people interpreted and came to support the basic brain dysfunction model in terms of rather narrow personal or professional interests.…”

“…In this paper I will look at political support for one of these categories, brain dysfunction (similar to dyslexia), support culminating in , the Children with Learning Disabilities Act of 1969, an act which, among other things, added learning disability to the list of educational abnormalities recognised by the federal government and authorised federal expenditure for research and pilot school programmes. As I shall show, the construction of this category of educability and the bases of its political support, are much more complex than is suggested by the simple Marxian reading that Karier (1973), for instance, gives in his discussion of the spread of intelligence testing in the United States. A full discussion of the nature and development of the idea of brain dysfunction is beyond the scope of this paper. Here, in order to provide the necessary background I will present the roughest of outlines of the scientific research behind it (I have dealt with this at greater length in Carrier (1977) and Carrier (forthcoming)).…”

“…However, in spite of this breadth the relevant American literature looks almost exclusively at intelligence (e.g. Bowles & Gintis, 1976;Karier, 1973).…”