Teacher professional development is a chief concern of states, districts, and schools in the wake of high-stakes accountability measures such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The goals and practices of professional development are often disconnected, and this misalignment affects art teachers in unique ways. Art teachers are often "left…

In this article, Richard Lee Colvin, provides an uplifting history of the current vice president and next President of the National Education Association (NEA), Lily Eskelsen García, the first Hispanic head of the nation's largest union. Colvin describes Garcia as a powerful labor and political leader. Colvin describes NEA's beginning in 1857 by…

The past year has seen the emergence of a broad consensus on raising the standards for entering the teaching profession. The NEA, AFT, and Council of Chief State School Officers all have said they want higher entry standards. Such an exam would be modeled after other professions and is a potential game changer. If sufficiently rigorous, the exam…

As policymakers and education advocates await details on how the Obama administration plans to move forward with its recently unveiled blueprint for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the chances of an ESEA renewal this year remain tough to gauge. Although the principles underlying the blueprint have drawn praise in many…

This study examines the impact of the school accountability laws "No Child Left Behind" and Indiana's Public Law 221 on Superintendents' perception of their relationship with the Teachers' Union Leader in their mandatory discussion meetings. Both school accountability laws contain provisions for the Indiana's Department of Education to…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 guides school policies on teaching and assessment and promotes school interventions that focus on learner-centered pedagogy. Despite this emphasis on learner-centered pedagogy, significant numbers of Title I elementary students in Florida achieved below state standards from 2006 to 2009. This study used…

The overall impact of unions and collective bargaining agreements on student achievement has produced a literature with decidedly mixed results. Unions are seen to have both positive and negative influences on a teachers' ability to perform the teaching act. This study researches the impact of unions on state level student achievement, controlling…

This article presents the text of Joanne Yatvin's presidential address, delivered at the NCTE Annual Convention in New York City in November 2007. The title of her presidential address, "Where Ignorant Armies Clash by Night," was taken from Matthew Arnold's (1867) poem "Dover Beach." Yatvin states that the federal government…

Union-management relationships have been filled with fear since the rise of capitalism; public education is no different. Workers fear exploitation by owners (profits depend on it) and capitalist/management has always worried that the working classes will organize and either take over the firm or strike and bring production to a screeching halt.…

Parent involvement is widely acknowledged as a central component in both overall school success and the academic success of individual children. Recognizing this, the federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates that states, districts and schools make extraordinary efforts to enhance effective parent involvement. Now, more than six years after the…

Charter schools, and other market-based reforms such as school vouchers and the student tutoring provision of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, are steeped in politics largely because they challenge the legitimacy of traditional power and funding arrangements in public education. The charter school reform is a significant public-private hybrid…

In this article, the author asks, what will it take to create and support a core teacher workforce in school systems that now must be redesigned for the high-stakes assessment environment of No Child Left Behind? School systems were beginning to address this question just as high stakes and high standards were being mandated across the nation. At…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Johnny Can Write...If We Challenge Him (Bill…

"ES Review" brings together in one publication recent Education Sector work that reflects both the reach of its policy projects and its commitment to translating the complexities of education policymaking for a wide range of audiences. Articles in this first edition of "ES Review" are: (1) Community College Confidential…