University education partners have great potential to facilitate schools' moving from a school led traditional approach for family involvement to an asset based, empowerment approach to partnerships. On this journey, educators grapple with the cognitive dissonance of change as they engage their emerging multilingual families in the lives of their…

Using Head Start as an example of a compensatory social program based on a liberal egalitarian view of justice, this paper shows how all such programs are fundamentally flawed. In spite of any good intentions, by creating a discourse of deficiency and attempting amelioration through segregation this approach contains the seeds of its own failure.…

Even before withstanding one of the most devastating economic crises in American history, families living in poverty have battled a dominant discourse that labels them as lacking personal responsibility, initiative, and the ability to make "good" choices. This discourse is reflected in the parent-involvement mandates of the No Child Left…

Relying on life history and memory as methodology, this essay unearths the memories of schooling of five Mexican American teachers at a dual-language school in San Antonio, locating their memories of trauma within the history of language oppression and cultural exclusion in U.S. public schools. In re(membering) their schooling experiences as…

It's no surprise that, 28 years after the publication of "A Nation at Risk," school-reform efforts have generated so little effect. The nation's schools have proven, over the past century, adept at resisting change. Recent attempts to inject accountability and innovation have brought an important opportunity. No Child Left Behind helped…

The need to improve math education around the country has been well documented, especially in urban school systems like Philadelphia. In Spring 2010, only 56.6% of students in Philadelphia Public schools scored proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (PSSA). In Philadelphia Empowerment Schools, the 107 lowest…

Purpose: The No Child Left Behind Act laudably brings social justice and equity issues to the forefront; however, the act's threat- and sanction-driven methods are not only increasing stress levels but potentially causing a rigid response, especially in the growing population of schools labeled "program improvement" (PI). Specifically,…

Creation of biases and stereotypes has led to individual and institutional discrimination of students who are emotionally and behaviorally disturbed (EBD). The lack of supports and under utilized research based techniques by educational staff has major implications on the success of students with EBD in various settings. Providing appropriate…

Leadership expectations for school principals have dramatically changed since the 1983 report to Congress, "A Nation at Risk", inspired a renewed focus on the persistent educational underachievement of minority students in the United States. Today, school leaders must get out from behind the desk and actively empower an increasingly…

On the heels of the President's call in his State of the Union Address for Congress to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, which turned five in January 2007, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has released this report, which is designed to provide additional tools to schools and educators to help American students read and do…

Based on Foucault's discourse on freedom and empowerment, this article addresses his understanding of power and knowledge. By critically examining the negative impact of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" on education, the author discusses the transformative power of Foucault's pedagogy for educational reform in which students,…

This booklet is designed for parents of school-aged children to introduce the concept and benefits of "No Child Left Behind" ("NCLB") legislation. Calling for a highly qualified teacher in the core subjects in every classroom, the goals of "NCLB" are centered in four principles: (1) holding schools accountable for…

This article presents questions regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulations and the No Child Left Behind Act. The author's answers to these questions are presented.

In this examination, 194 K-12 school counselors completed the Self-Perceptions of Effectiveness as Educational Change Agent (SPECA) survey. Analyses uncovered that Primal Leadership and personal power or empowerment both play a significant role in counselors' potential effectiveness to effect change regardless of gender or building level. Personal…

On October 27, 2004, the National Education Association (NEA) joined with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) to host "Moving from Research to Practice: A Summit on Indian Students." Over 100 American Indian and Alaska Native education practitioners and researchers from Alaska to Mississippi gathered to share their knowledge…