The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; 2001), mandating standardized testing in public schools, provides researchers with unprecedented opportunities for scientific comparison. At the same time, the climate of high-stakes testing encouraged by the law merits empirical scrutiny from psychologists across an array of specialties. If researchers wish to advance policy through psychological science, they must take care to construct research designs that are meaningful to policymakers and professionals in other disciplines. The present study used data from 1,450 Virginia schools to provide a model of scientifically grounded research that is also informed by current legal and political contexts. Results indicate that student poverty and geography are associated with differential access to highly qualified teachers, and that differential access to qualified teachers is uniquely associated with performance on high-stakes achievement tests. Psychologists, with their unique training, are encouraged to take a more active role in using NCLB data.
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