Early education of young children is important in preparing them for the future. Over the years, many organizations have developed programs to help young children from low-income households to help resolve the issue of poverty and educate children as young as three years old. Today, prekindergarten remains an important aspect in the United States…

The American public school curriculum has narrowed as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Music is being eliminated in public schools so more time and resources can be spent on "tested" subjects like reading and math. However, research has shown that both the intrinsic and extrinsic values of music may improve reading…

Rates of agreement among alternative definitions of reading disability and their 1- and 2-year stabilities were examined using a new measure of agreement, the affected-status agreement statistic. Participants were 288,114 first through third grade students. Reading measures were "Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills" Oral…

The ESEA Blueprint for Reform states that teachers need "effective, ongoing, job-embedded, professional development that is targeted to student and school needs… [and] aligned with evidence of improvements in student learning." Unfortunately, the professional development approaches advocated, though sensible and compelling in theory,…

For the past decade, governments around the world have put an unprecedented focus on educational policy, to ensure the acquisition of literacy skills for all students (e.g., No Child Left Behind in the United States; the National Literacy Strategy in the United Kingdom; Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools in Ireland). Such initiatives…

The "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act of 2001, Public Law 107-110 (U.S. Congress), was passed by Congress in response to perceived failure of the public school system to effectively educate students, particularly disadvantaged students in the United States. The relationship of NCLB school choice to student achievement has not been…

The basics of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--adequate yearly progress benchmarks, provision of supplemental services, and a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom--are known. The intense scrutiny of the "how to" of those basics has resulted in a mix of impassioned criticism and effusive praise. What has been left largely…

The intent of No Child Left Behind is to close the achievement gap. However, in this article, the authors point out, the teachers working with the students who have the farthest to go also have the fewest resources and the poorest working conditions. Districs across the San Francisco Bay area and the nation are slashing budgets, teachers, and…

Gaps in academic achievement between students from various racial and ethnic groups and from low-income families are a cause for national concern. The advent of high stakes testing and the increased awareness of high dropout rates have rekindled the search for ways to help all children succeed in school. Many strategies to address lagging…