As demonstrated through the experiences of executive administrators who lost their jobs, higher education leaders experience pain when they fail. Leaders at any stage of their life and career can process the pain of failure in constructive ways using a recovery formula built on a "half-life of pain" concept. The time it takes for a…

Performance-based accountability systems that rank schools based on their effectiveness produce 'winners' and 'losers'. Substantial evidence has pointed to the (side)effects of these classifications, particularly in the most disadvantaged communities. Whilst previous studies have compared schools under different effectiveness categories within and…

Because learning from failures is just as important as learning from successes, we used qualitative case study data gathered in the Netherlands and the United States to examine instances in which data teams struggle to contribute to school improvement. Similar factors in both the Dutch and U.S. case hindered the work of the data teams, such as…

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) industry is a billion-dollar software industry with two prominent higher education ERP companies bringing in a combined $14.27 billion the third quarter of their 2024 fiscal years (Oracle, 2023; Workday, 2023). ERP systems stemmed from materials resource planning (MRP) systems in the manufacturing industry…

For the past 20 years Massachusetts has used a high-stakes, test-based accountability system for the state's public schools. The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are standardized tests administered in Grades 3-10 which account for the majority of district and school accountability measures, and the Grade 10 tests serve as an…

The ongoing attempts to measure educational quality, to hold schools responsible for their performance against these measures, and to use the resulting data to design improvement initiatives have yet to yield the promised results. A universal definition of "good education" seems to elude our grasp. Despite broad public support for…

According to Lorrie A. Shepard, claims that testing will serve equity very often are not true. From minimum competency tests in the '70s; basic-skills tests in the '80s; "tests worth teaching to" in the '90s; high-frequency, high-stakes tests in the '00s; and added layers of commercial interim tests in the '10s, it seems it has…

Purpose: Concerns about variation in the quality of preservice preparation provided by many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs) has led to calls to use outcomes of program graduates to hold PPPs accountable. Little research, however, has assessed the degree to which different outcomes for PPP graduates in fact vary…

Using longitudinal data from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era, I applied regression techniques and found a positive association between school failure to reach "adequate yearly progress" in mathematics and subsequent changes in the quality of middle grades mathematics instruction in districts where district leaders adopted robust…

An educator, who compiled teachers' stories of accountability era reforms into a book, explains why teacher voice is central. The book, "Inside Our Schools: Teachers on the Failure and Future of Education Reform," is organized around the recurring buzzwords the mainstream education reform movement has used to define its policies:…

California's youth correctional institutions are failing young people and their communities. The system--currently known as the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)--exposes youth to a violent, prison-like environment that should shock the consciences of California lawmakers, advocates, and residents. Since the 1890s, the state's youth correctional…

Background and Context: Statewide test-based accountability in the United States began with minimum competency assessments in public schools during the 1970s, starting in Florida and other Southern states. Controversies over IQ (intelligence quotient) testing contributed to the development of "criterion-referenced" exams that became the…

This article considers the cost of poor decision making in school psychology, especially with regard to determining eligibility for special education under the category of specific learning disability. One common costly decision made by school psychologists is failing to use evidence-based assessment and intervention procedures that are likely to…

Purpose: Concerns about variation in the quality of pre-service preparation provided by many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs) has led to calls to use outcomes of program graduates to hold PPPs accountable, which the recent growth of state administrative data systems has made feasible. Little research, however, has assessed…

Background: Virtual schools--free, state-funded, credit-awarding elementary and secondary schools offering curricula and programs exclusively online--are a rapidly expanding sector of U.S. education. Some of the largest of these schools have low graduation rates and receive "failing" rankings on state accountability metrics. They…