Urban legends are plausible stories--told as truths--that revolve around the complexities and challenges of modern life. Sociologists have not managed to pin down exactly how and why these stories get started, but they are clearly spread by word of mouth and there is usually a grain of truth in them (and sometimes, as it turns out in the case of…

The structure of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), whether the NCLB tests are appropriate or not and the adequate yearly progress (AYP) of public school students are discussed. Accountability systems implemented with inappropriate achievement tests are harming students more than helping them.

To educate themselves, a group of 16 Massachusetts school leaders has devoted an afternoon monthly during the past year to examining, describing, and wondering about student work. The Collaborative Assessment Conference protocol has revealed that educators hold different, often contradictory, assumptions about teaching and learning. (MLH)

To gather information on how No Child Left Behind's testing mandates have affected students and schools, Wisconsin ASCD conducted an electronic survey of administrators in every school district in the state. A total of 171 districts responded. Their responses indicated that the very resources that are central to the goals of NCLB--instructional…

In this article, the author draws attention to the fact that in school evaluations, students will improve on state-mandated tests, but the improved scores will not influence a school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) status because those students' scores do not cross the proficiency point. A state's proficiency point on each of its standardized…