Seeing Red.....Tape

I have found that cutting through the red tape of a bureaucracy can be a more difficult task than formulating a project, or completing it. The implementation phase can be the most difficult. Rather than blathering on, fuming from frustration, I refer you to an excerpt from a recent research paper I wrote about High Stakes Testing that talks about some of the research difficulties I faced.



In designing the research methodology for this investigation, it seemed that a two pronged approach would produce the most accurate results. This investigation was initially designed to look at the effects of high stakes testing through the evaluation of prevailing educational literature as well as being driven by data gathered through surveying current educators (teachers of all levels including collegiate teachers in the field of education, administrators, etc.) as to how they viewed the effects, if any, of high stakes standardized testing. However, what was learned from attempting such an approach was how highly volatile and politicized the subject was. There are strict procedures set in place to ensure the validity of such an investigation, and due to the importance of the subject at hand, it is with good cause. Quintessentially, our literature review led us to develop certain questions which, when asked to such educators, would provide an accurate, realistic, and somewhat less biased portrait of the situation.