Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind

Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind

Author: Brian M. Stecher

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2010-04-08

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 0833049852

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Studies suggest that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001's goal of 100 percent of U.S. students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 will not be met. The authors recommend more-uniform state academic standards and teacher requirements and broader measures of student learning, including more subjects and tests of higher-thinking and problem-solving skills.


No Child Left Behind?

No Child Left Behind?

Author: Paul E. Peterson

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2003-11-18

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780815796206

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The 2002 No Child Left Behind Act is the most important legislation in American education since the 1960s. The law requires states to put into place a set of standards together with a comprehensive testing plan designed to ensure these standards are met. Students at schools that fail to meet those standards may leave for other schools, and schools not progressing adequately become subject to reorganization. The significance of the law lies less with federal dollar contributions than with the direction it gives to federal, state, and local school spending. It helps codify the movement toward common standards and school accountability. Yet NCLB will not transform American schools overnight. The first scholarly assessment of the new legislation, No Child Left Behind? breaks new ground in the ongoing debate over accountability. Contributors examine the law's origins, the political and social forces that gave it shape, the potential issues that will surface with its implementation, and finally, the law's likely consequences for American education.


Many Children Left Behind

Many Children Left Behind

Author: Deborah Meier

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2004-09-29

Total Pages: 115

ISBN-13: 0807004596

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Signed into law in 2002, the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) promised to revolutionize American public education. Originally supported by a bipartisan coalition, it purports to improve public schools by enforcing a system of standards and accountability through high-stakes testing. Many people supported it originally, despite doubts, because of its promise especially to improve the way schools serve poor children. By making federal funding contingent on accepting a system of tests and sanctions, it is radically affecting the life of schools around the country. But, argue the authors of this citizen's guide to the most important political issue in education, far from improving public schools and increasing the ability of the system to serve poor and minority children, the law is doing exactly the opposite. Here some of our most prominent, respected voices in education-including school innovator Deborah Meier, education activist Alfie Kohn, and founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools Theodore R. Sizer-come together to show us how, point by point, NCLB undermines the things it claims to improve: * How NCLB punishes rather than helps poor and minority kids and their schools * How NCLB helps further an agenda of privatization and an attack on public schools * How the focus on testing and test preparation dumbs down classrooms * And they put forward a richly articulated vision of alternatives. Educators and parents around the country are feeling the harshly counterproductive effects of NCLB. This book is an essential guide to understanding what's wrong and where we should go from here.


Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind

Standards-Based Accountability Under No Child Left Behind

Author: Laura S. Hamilton

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2007-05-24

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 083304270X

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Since 2001-2002, standards-based accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 have shaped the work of public school teachers and administrators in the United States. This book sheds light on how accountability policies have been translated into actions at the district, school, and classroom levels in three states.


The Ordeal of Equality

The Ordeal of Equality

Author: David K. Cohen

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010-02-28

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9780674053649

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American schools have always been locally created and controlled. But ever since the Title I program in 1965 appropriated nearly one billion dollars for public schools, federal money and programs have been influencing every school in America. What has been accomplished in this extraordinary assertion of federal influence? What hasn't? Why not? With incisive clarity and wit, David Cohen and Susan Moffitt argue that enormous gaps existed between policies and programs, and the real-world practices that they attempted to change. Learning and teaching are complicated and mysterious. So the means to achieve admirable goals are uncertain, and difficult to develop and sustain, particularly when teachers get little help to cope with the blizzard of new programs, new slogans, new tests, and new rules. Ironically, as the authors observe, the least experienced and least well-trained teachers are often in the most needy schools, so federal support is compromised by the inequality it is intended to ameliorate. If new policies and programs don't include means to create the capability they require, they cannot succeed. We don't know what we need to enable states, school systems, schools, teachers, and students to use the resources that programs offer. The trouble with standards-based reform is that standards and tests still don't teach you how to teach.


Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap

Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap

Author: Adam Gamoran

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2008-04-01

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 0815730349

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The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the latest in more than two decades of federal efforts to raise educational standards and an even longer stream of initiatives to improve education for poor children. What lessons can we draw from these earlier efforts to help NCLB achieve its goals? In Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap, leading scholars in sociology, economics, psychology, and education policy take on this critical question. Armed with the latest data and up-to-date research syntheses, the authors show that standards-based reform has had some positive effects, particularly in the area of teacher quality. Moreover, some of the critics' greatest fears have not been realized: for example, retention rates have not shot upward. Yet the overall pace of improvement has been slow, owing in part to poor implementation. Based on these findings, the contributors offer recommendations for the implementation and impending reauthorization of NCLB. These proposals, such as national testing and a rethinking of achievement targets, are sure to be at the center of the upcoming debate. Contributors include Thomas Dee, Laura Desimone, George Farkas, Barbara Foorman, Brian Jacob, Robert M. Hauser, Paul Hill, Tom Loveless, Meredith Phillips, Andrew C. Porter, and Thomas Smith.


From Silos to Systems

From Silos to Systems

Author: Sally B. Kilgore

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2010-11-16

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1452296278

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"Educators and policymakers need to add to their toolbox for implementing reform this outstanding new book by Kilgore and Reynolds. It is rare to find such a well-written volume that explains how to reorganize schools into more effective enterprises using clear examples grounded in rich scientific studies. For those faced with how to make things happen and work smarter, this excellent book delivers on both." —Barbara Schneider John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University Transform your school′s culture from the inside out You′re stunned by the increase in student absenteeism this year and wonder what is causing it. There may be multiple factors, but few administrators have the luxury of investigating them all. From Silos to Systems provides specific application steps for engaging all staff in a systematic approach to dealing with the various causes of schoolwide problems. School leaders who have used this approach find numerous benefits: Teachers have a way for their voices to be heard. Principals spend less time trying to integrate all the concerns of various advisory groups. Strong cross-cutting ties that spur collaboration emerge among teachers. Educators realize more dramatic results from their efforts. The book also includes current research on developing a positive school climate, improving professional learning opportunities, utilizing data analysis to identify and resolve instructional and behavior issues, and the effective use of technology in schools.


Teacher Preparation

Teacher Preparation

Author: Cornelia M. Ashby

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-03

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13: 1437917569

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In 2005-2006, students with disabilities comprised 9% of the student population in the U.S., and English language learners comprised 10%. This report examines: (1) the extent to which teacher preparation programs require preparation for general classroom teachers to instruct these student subgroups; (2) the role selected states play in preparing general classroom teachers to instruct these student subgroups; and (3) funding and other assistance provided by the U.S. Dept. of Educ. to help general classroom teachers instruct these student subgroups. To address these issues, the author conducted a nationally representative survey of teacher preparation programs and interviewed officials from state and local educational agencies in four states. Illus.