Innovation and research discussion

There's an interesting discussion going on over at the National Journal online around the ideas of innovation and research in education.
I found particularly compelling some of what Steve Peha had to say:

For example, high-stakes testing ironically sends education backward toward the
old paradigm with more force than its “new paradigm” data-driven nature can
propel us into the future. Why? Because high-stakes testing policies don’t take
into account the preternaturally risk-averse tendencies of education culture.
High-stakes testing works only at first, when the fear factor is at its maximum
and most schools are performing so poorly they have little to lose by trying
something new. After this period, however, high-stakes testing renders teachers
and administrators increasingly less tolerant of innovation. Why? Because for
every unit of progress they make out of fear, the more they fear losing the
progress they have made. Instead of moving briskly forward with the next change
initiative, they hunker down and become ever more averse to what now seems like
the irrational risk inherent in innovation. At this point, the desire to
conserve progress precludes the ability to progress much further.