This article reflects on the two subsequent articles--the first by Mike Davies and the second by David Taylor--that provide exhilarating challenges to the diminishing and demeaning status quo of current education policy and practice in England.

The author is a long-time advocate inside the Labour Party for ending selective education and the 11-plus. She outlines how Labour Party frontbenchers routinely ignore or deflect calls from Party members to stand up for comprehensive education in both word and deed. As UKIP, whose policy is to extend selective education more widely, rises in the…

To be recognized and adopted, the promise and potential of national standards must validate the instructional role of the school librarian and build formative knowledge through authentic process and products. Inquiry is a direct link to those dimensions. Standards that are rigorous and relevant optimize the developing brain's affinity for building…

Efforts to improve student performance on high-stakes assessments in mathematics place teachers in the epicenter of multiple reform expectations. While studies have documented how teachers implement single reforms, very little is known about teachers' implementation processes when multiple expectations are imposed. With a focus on how…

There is no one-size-fits-all way to keep pace with the changes affecting students and those who educate them. That's why Joan Lazarus has gathered here the insights of hundreds of theater teachers and teaching artists on how they have responded to the shifting demands of theater education in today's schools. She paints a portrait of active,…

The "National Physical Activity Plan", as well as professional and government agencies (NASPE, 2008a; US Department of Health and Human Services, 2000) acknowledge pre-kindergarten (pre-K) children should be part of comprehensive school physical activity initiatives anchored in quality physical education programming. These…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

Interest in setting high educational standards is at the forefront of many school reform programs in the United States. States' pursuit of high standards can be advanced through implementation of programs such as High Schools That Work ("HSTW"), which emphasizes high expectations and rigorous academics for all students, including Career…

For the first time in the nation's history 46 States and the District of Columbia have agreed that all K-12 students will be educated along a common continuum of high academic expectations known as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having clear, consistent standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics will help ensure that all…

This article discusses some of the various school-reform strategies that have been implemented since the publication of A Nation at Risk. It opens with an examination of standards-based accountability and some of the concerns and objections surrounding this movement. It asks whether standards are achieving their purpose, looks at the role of state…

The New Designs for the Comprehensive High School (NDCHS) project was conducted to develop design processes and specifications for developing new comprehensive high schools, and for restructuring existing schools in accordance with the comprehensive high school model. The project's impact on student learning at two early adapters of the…