City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2016 A Convenient Myopia: SEEK, Shaughnessy, and the Rise of High- Stakes Testing at CUNY Sean Molloy The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1513 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] A CONVENIENT MYOPIA: SEEK, SHAUGHNESSY, AND THE RISE OF HIGH-STAKES TESTING AT CUNY by SEAN MOLLOY A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2016 © 2016 SEAN MOLLOY All Rights Reserved ii A Convenient Myopia: SEEK, Shaughnessy, and The Rise of High-Stakes Testing at CUNY by Sean Molloy This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in English in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________________ ________________________________________ Date Sondra Perl Chair of Examining Committee __________________ ________________________________________ Date Mario DiGangi Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Rebecca Mlynarczyk George Otte THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii A Convenient Myopia: SEEK, Shaughnessy, and The Rise of High-Stakes Testing at CUNY by Sean Molloy Advisor: Sondra Perl A great struggle for racial justice was fought at City College and CUNY from 1964 to 1978. In this archival history, supplemented with thirteen oral histories of students and teachers, and grounded in the larger context of racial segregation and exclusion within American public education and American higher education through 1970, I argue that this larger struggle for justice should be seen as two distinct but intertwined struggles that had very different results.