Purpose: The backdrop of the article is the emergence of an international and politically motivated ambition that aims at standardising the purpose and outcomes of teaching practices via various forms of outcome controls. This ambition of standardisation is discussed in a Swedish context in relation to social studies teaching, which, at its core,…

During the 2013-2014 school year, the New Jersey Department of Education established legislation which ensured a revision to the teacher evaluation system by attempting to accurately assess the effectiveness of teachers. The Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey Act (TEACHNJ) stimulated the implementation of the…

This article examines the ways neoliberal school culture mediates the schooling experiences of elementary emergent bilinguals. I draw upon narrative inquiry to privilege the voices and stories of the children who contributed to this work. With the exception of children in first grade, who were sheltered from the discourse of accountability,…

Today's grading practices mirror those of the early 1900s, and despite myriad research suggesting they are invalid, unreliable, and a hindrance to student learning, many teachers continue detrimental practices such as using 100-point percentage scales averaging all academic and nonacademic factors together into a single grade, and using grades to…

Morgan, Hodge, Trepinski, and Anderson (2014) have written an article that continues to confirm what we have known for some time-teacher effects on student achievement have limited stability. In this commentary, we address the other potential contributions this work can make to inform practice, policy, and research. While illustrating Morgan et…

A public Montessori school is expected to demonstrate high student scores on standardized assessments to succeed in the current school accountability era. A problem for a public Montessori elementary school is how to make sense of the school's high-stakes assessment scores in terms of Montessori's unique educational approach. This case study…

This study was conducted at an innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics high school, providing a rich contextual description of the teaching and learning at the school, specifically focusing on problem solving and inquiry approaches, and students' motivation, social interactions, and collaborative work. Data were collected…

This article provides an in-depth exploration of the language ecologies of two classrooms attempting to implement a two-way dual language (TWDL) program and its mediating conditions. Drawing on ethnographic methods and a sociocultural understanding of language, we examined both teachers' and students' language ideologies and language practices,…

This article explores how one specially prepared, accomplished teacher managed dilemmas that arose as she worked to enact responsive language arts instruction with English Learners in a policy context that privileged high-stakes accountability and standardization. Drawing on sociocultural learning theory, the article illustrates how the teacher's…

In a large, urban, high school district, secondary English-learning students are not achieving at the same rates as other identified subgroups on state and local standardized tests. This gap compounds economic and social inequities in the region. A solution to the problem is important to educators and policy makers in providing an equitable…

This article discusses the original development and subsequent updates and revisions made to the Teacher Observation Form (TOF). The TOF is a 12-item form to be used by evaluators in the observation of teachers of gifted and talented students. After nearly 25 years of use, the original TOF was revised based on input from content experts and…

Prior to the mandatory testing and reporting required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), school improvement efforts were shown to lack coherence (Newman, Smith, Allensworth, & Bryk, 2001) and often included conflicting programs (Hatch, 2002). Part of the theory of performance-based accountability in general, and NCLB in particular, was…

This report summarizes how school and district leaders and academic coaches in two Texas school districts used assessment and other types of data to assess the quality of teaching and learning, to coach and supervise teachers, and to guide management decisions. The report also describes how district and school leaders supported teachers' use of…

In recent years, the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has increasingly had a major impact on daily decisions in schools, especially for principals' performance. Depending on the accountability rating, schools are in jeopardy of closing, and principals and teachers are at risk of being fired (McGhee & Nelson, 2005). As a result, it is…

In educational practice, for the evaluation and diagnosis of learning disabilities (LD), it is advisable to use standardized tests together with observation questionnaires. When observation questionnaires are used in the study of LD, Cohen's (1960) kappa coefficient (k) is frequently applied as a measure of agreement between two raters when they…