This study examined the relationship between perceived teacher support and overall life satisfaction (LS) in a sample of urban middle school students. Based on correlations between measures of student perceptions related to these constructs, results indicated that student perceptions of teacher support correlated significantly with LS, with the…

This study investigates whether adequate yearly progress (AYP) status, locale, and sector--common variables used to judge the quality of schools--accurately signal true differences in instructional practices in high school mathematics and science. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS), we find the school-to-school variation in…

Using assessment data to determine student growth has become an integral part of the accountability movement, and researchers and educators are currently examining how new rules impact the academic assessment of gifted learners. In 2008, the Association for the Gifted's Annual Symposium at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention focused on…

The short-term emphasis engendered by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused research predominantly on unraveling the complexities and uncertainties in assessing short-term results, rather than developing methods and assessing results over the longer term. In this paper we focus on estimating long-term gains and address questions important to…

This study examines the efficacy and moderators of New York State interventions for schools in need of improvement under NCLB, including: (1) school transfer, (2) supplementary education service (3) corrective action, (4) planning for restructuring, and (5) restructuring. Despite the fact that schools in increasingly aggressive treatment groups…

Following the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), states were required to develop a State Performance Plan (SPP; U.S. Department of Education, 2011) addressing 20 accountability indicators for students with disabilities, ages 3 to 21. First and arguably foremost among these is Indicator 1, the ''percent…

The recent policy focus on the turnaround of persistently low-achieving schools has generated considerable debate about the reforms needed to dramatically and quickly increase school performance. The purpose of this article is not to focus on specific turnaround interventions, but rather on the identification of schools slated to receive these…

The problem addressed in this cross-sectional, quantitative study was a continual stagnation in student achievement in one U.S. state, which is critical to stakeholders responsible for increasing student advancement in college and the 21st century workforce. Specifically, the objective was to identify the relationship between principal-perceived…

This quantitative survey-design research study examined elementary school principals' perceptions regarding the effect of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). A primary focus of the study was to determine how elementary school principals feel about the influence of NCLB on their role as instructional leader. A sample of 133 elementary school principals…

The purpose of this study was to examine principal leadership styles and their influence on school performance as measured by adequate yearly progress at selected Title I schools in South Carolina. The main focus of the research study was to complete descriptive statistics on principal leadership styles in schools that met or did not meet adequate…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation of 2001 increased the stakes for all schools to increase student achievement by mandating all students meet or exceed state standards by 2014. A small rural school responded 5 years ago to their failure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) by implementing professional learning communities (PLC) as a…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify conditions that are favorable in promoting the academic achievement of children living in poverty by comparing perceptions of teaching and learning conditions in Title I high schools in Alabama that achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Title I high schools that did not achieve AYP. The…

Policymakers target educational accountability primarily at public school administrators and teachers, rather than also include the broader society in which schools are housed and where poverty thrives. This article proposes a process through which community members can develop a report card to determine the educational capacity of a region and…

This article examines the role of student demographic characteristics in standardized achievement test scores at both the individual level and aggregated at the state, district, school levels. For several data sets, the majority of the variance among states, districts, and schools was related to demographic characteristics. Where these background…

The Texas Projection Measure (TPM) has grown out of the state's need to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). An examination of the state's method of predicting 8th grade mathematics scores reveals that several factors have been ignored in the process of developing the model, including assumptions in its underlying statistical…