The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results have long displayed student achievement in two ways: as points on a stable vertical scale that typically runs from 0 to 300 or 500 and as the percentages of test takers whose scores reach or surpass a trio of "achievement levels." These achievement levels--dubbed…

Results-based school accountability has been the linchpin of education reform in the United States for at least two decades. But the COVID-19 pandemic led many schools, states, and districts to put their testing and accountability programs on hold. Chester E. Finn, Jr., argues that it is time for the accountability holiday to end and makes…

"Assessing the Nation's Report Card" examines the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and outlines plans for improving and modernizing the organization. Educational policy analyst Chester E. Finn, Jr. imparts a rare inside analysis of the evolution of the NAEP program at key moments in its history, and…

When COVID-19 forced a hiatus in federally mandated assessments in spring 2020, it interrupted a quarter century of effort to track, disaggregate, and publicize achievement levels at the school level. The aborted school year put a big data gap where 2020 scores should have been. Combined with the already raging assaults on testing, state education…

With 25 years of experience, the charter sector has had enough time to experience a host of unanticipated and unresolved problems related to the complex ways in which charter school governance relates to school leadership. The time has come for the sector to revisit some fundamental decisions about how charter schools and networks are governed,…

This article probes ways in which the school-choice marketplace as it developed via chartering has not worked as well in practice as many had hoped. It includes reflection on the profoundly different operating principles and theories of action that separate the district and charter sectors in their pure forms. It also offers market-strengthening…

As states move to implement the Common Core State Standards, key challenges remain. One is how to make sure a high school diploma acknowledges what students have achieved. Should states adopt a two tiered diploma, in which students who pass internationally aligned Common Core exams at a career- and college-ready level receive an…

Of all the arguments that critics of school voucher programs advance, the one that may resonate loudest with the public concerns school accountability. Opponents say it's not fair to hold public schools accountable for their results (under No Child Left Behind and similar systems) and then let private schools receive taxpayer dollars--however…

Over the past year, the nation's governors and state school chiefs have achieved laudable consensus around a set of math and English standards, developed voluntarily and without federal involvement through the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). Most states have signed on to them. More recently, the states have again teamed up--this…

President Obama and congressional leaders have vowed to take action this year on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently reauthorized and rebranded as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. While most observers remain skeptical that everyone will actually see a signing ceremony in 2011, it does appear likely that at least…

Critics of school voucher programs argue that private schools that receive taxpayer dollars should be held accountable to the same standards as public schools. School choice supporters counter that private schools should be left alone to answer to the parents of their students. The authors advocate for a re-visit to the discussion of…

After five years of experience with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and with reauthorization looming, it is time to draw some conclusions about how the act has actually unfolded--and how it ought to be changed. A new book from the AEI Press by Frederick M. Hess and Chester E. Finn Jr., "No Remedy Left Behind: Lessons from A Half-Decade…

This book provides an overview of the thinking behind the charter schools movement, using information from over 3 years of immersion in the charter schools movement via the Educational Excellence Network. The first 2 years of the Network were devoted to research on charter schools in action. The research examined practical and policy issues…

Argues for more equitable and effective public funding of private schools serving the categorical needs of learners. (Author/WD)

The following obstacles to education reform are the most significant: (1) the system does not reward risk-taking; (2) the system resists oversight; (3) it is not accountable for failure; (4) too few resources are spent in the classroom; and (5) consumers of education are no match for the system. Old-fashioned bureaucratic monopolies continue to…