This article forecasts potential legal problems emerging from the use of new teacher evaluation systems in the states. This research was a policy analysis that combined three types of data to forecast the states and the legal challenges they might encounter: state policy data, selected case law, and problems from the literature of teacher…

Public schools failing to meet accountability standards have been shut down, taken over by charter organizations, or undergone reconstitution. This article challenges deficit views of students as passive and complacent in a schooling context dictated by accountability sanctions. Drawing from counterpublic theory, it describes a case study that…

Education policy makers have long searched for a system that will recognize and reward outstanding practice, support educators to improve their performance, and, most importantly, increase student achievement. For states and school districts to secure grants from the $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund, President Barack Obama is requiring…

It is well established that teacher quality makes a difference in student learning. Since the implementation of No Child Left Behind in 2002, staffing every classroom with a high-quality teacher has been an official national priority. That goal entails an implicit requirement to assess teacher and teaching quality more rigorously than has been the…

The demands of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) increase each year, requiring all students to be proficient in all subjects by 2014. Due to NCLB legislation, schools sense additional pressure to meet national and state standards. This legislation not only expanded the role of the federal government, but it also increased the pressure on schools to…

The Principal's Legal Handbook contains information and recommendations for practice in four areas. Section 1, "Students and the Law," yields interesting and informative answers on a number of issues related to students and the law: recent issues in schools relative to students' rights; the use of technology; and the latest case law and…