In August 2012, the White House released the report "Investing in Our Future: Returning Teachers to the Classroom" to bolster President Obama's call for massive new education spending. The report suggests that, absent an enormous infusion of more tax dollars, the nation's public schools will lose teachers and programs, damaging American…

A number of studies have examined the impact of school accountability policies, including No Child Left Behind (NCLB), on student achievement. However, there is relatively little evidence on how school accountability reforms and NCLB, in particular, have influenced education policies and practices. This study examines the effects of NCLB on…

With the advent of No Child Left Behind legislation in 2002 and its mandates for annual yearly progress for all students, many districts and schools in Texas have had difficulty elevating African American and Hispanic students' scores. The current study examined these students' achievement on the annual Texas high-stakes measure as a function of a…

This study examined the adequacy of education financing in three regions of New York State by comparing the cost of per-pupil education in high schools that meet the No Child Left Behind standard of 90 percent graduation rate and those high schools with 80 percent or less graduation rate in 18 counties of New York State. Also examined were the…

This issue brief details shortcomings of the current Title I comparability provision and provides recommendations for how to improve it. The paper includes a detailed examination of the inequities within school districts, the loopholes in the law that allow these inequities, the repercussions of unequal distribution of resources, and…

This study examines factors affecting test scores in a sample of thirty-seven Texas public high schools from 2003 to 2007 since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The schools were chosen based upon similar tax rates and district sizes. The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test was implemented in 2003…

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, schools have been looking for resources that are proven, through research, to improve student achievement. The purpose of this article is to determine if there is a relationship between class size and student achievement among 137 school systems in Tennessee. The authors provide a review of the literature…

An education gap between white students and their black and Hispanic peers is something to which most Americans have become accustomed. But this racial division of education--and hence of prospects for the future--is nothing less than tragic. The good news is that the racial divide in learning is a problem that can be fixed. Of course, it can only…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has compelled states to design school accountability systems based on annual student assessments. The effect of this Federal legislation on the distribution of student achievement is a highly controversial but centrally important question. This study presents evidence on whether NCLB has influenced student…

The goal of No Child Left Behind appears admirable: by 2014 every child in the nation will test to proficiency in core math and literacy skills. However, as we investigate what schools need to reach these goals, we expose what teachers have long experienced one arduous day at a time: our school system is based on a 19th-century factory model that…

This paper examines school-related policies and strategies that have been proposed or justified, at least in part, on the basis of their potential for reducing black-white test score gaps. These include strategies, one of which is greater integration, to reduce differences in the quality of teachers faced by black and white students; school and…

This paper is the eighth in a series of reports designed to provide (1) consistent, reliable indicators to allow analysis of trends for each state over time, (2) high data quality for comparability from state to state, and (3) accessible indicator formats aimed toward facilitating use by a variety of audiences. Since its inception, the report has…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of kindergarten teachers' instructional time allocations and the factors that influenced their decisions. A maximum variation sample of six kindergarten teachers was chosen representing variations in gender, socioeconomic status of the school where they taught, and…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) has evolved over the years to include a plethora of skilled training opportunities for both secondary and postsecondary students. While postsecondary programs are viewed as being on the "front end" of education's effort to prepare students for the workforce, it is often the secondary-level programs…

The 2012 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…