Decades of federal and state education legislation enacted to increase student academic achievement and enhance school quality have pronounced impacts on teachers and their instructional practice. That impact is captured in the term intensification. Intensification is multifaceted and manifests as additional tasks accomplished simultaneously, with…

This article examines how elementary public school teachers in South Texas are implementing a balanced literacy approach in light of the expectations of accountability for student performance. For more than three decades, Texas schools have felt, and continue to feel, the pressure of accountability. Therefore, it becomes essential to investigate…

Beginning in 2002, researchers developed, implemented, and evaluated the efficacy of an English reading intervention for first-grade English learners using multiple randomized control trials (RCTs). As a result of this efficacy work, researchers successfully competed for an IES Goal 4 effectiveness study using the same intervention. Unlike the…

Considerable research indicates that high-stakes accountability policies have the capacity to influence language arts instruction, particularly in urban, high-needs schools where pressure to increase test scores tends to be most acute. This article utilizes Cultural Historical Activity Theory to critically examine the constraints and affordances…

During the 2004-05 school year, Parkview Elementary School experienced a dramatic shift from a focus on authentic assessment and responsive, individualized teaching to a one-size-fits-all approach to literacy assessment and instruction. In an effort to boost test scores, the district mandated the use of Open Court Reading, a scripted language arts…

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB), signed by President George W. Bush was supported overwhelming by both political parties and signified a major overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The introduction of NCLB led to a series of accountability measures in English Language Arts and mathematics in grades 6-8 beginning in…

Many changes in schools and teacher training must be made before honest accountability of teachers can become a reality in the reading and language arts instruction of black children. (MB)

Examines why seven third-grade teachers modified their skills-based reading and language arts program, and describes the instructional changes they made over a two-year period. Examines changes in students' reading and language arts standardized achievement test scores (increases in 4 classrooms), special education referrals (81% decrease), and…

This paper discusses the growth of open education programs that were developed first in Britain and then in the United States, and it notes conflicts between the open education movement and demands for accountability that emerged in England and later in the United States. The paper then describes a study in which 23 teachers in England and 25…

This interim report, the first of three requested by Congress from NIE, is in response to Congress' instructions to NIE via the 1974 ESEA amendments to (1) conduct a study of compensatory education programs which would examine the fundamental purposes and effectiveness of the programs, (2) analyze ways of identifying children in greatest need of…

The Guam Education Policy Board initially adopted the Guam Public School System District Action Plan in May 2003. The DAP established the direction and details for improving academic performance in reading, math, and language arts by using the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act as a framework. The adopted DAP was also used as a basis for…