In this article, the author discusses neoliberalism as an extension of settler colonialism. The article provides commentary on five recent articles on teacher education and the neoliberal agenda. The article presents an analysis of neoliberalism as despair, and as a form of nihilism. The author discusses an indigenous model of school reform and…

When the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) became law in 2002, it provided large sums of money to states for education. The program also had very strict performance requirements, including a 2014 deadline for all students to be proficient in mathematics and language arts. To provide some relief from the provisions of NCLB, the Obama administration…

With the debut of common assessments less than two years away, states and districts are worried about the accountability systems that hinge on those tests. A growing chorus of policy groups is urging more flexibility in how states evaluate teachers, label schools, and enforce other high-stakes consequences during what's likely to be a messy…

Between the ages of 4 and 8 children increasingly make moral judgments on the basis of an actor's intent, as opposed to the outcome that the actor brings about. Does this reflect a reorganization of concepts in the moral domain, or simply the development of capacities outside the moral domain such as theory of mind and executive function?…

This study examines the organizational and contextual factors associated with faculty mentoring programs in academic medicine within major research institutions in the United States, and explores the usefulness of organizational behavior theory in understanding these relationships. To date, many formal faculty mentoring programs are in operation…

The notion of what it means for a student to be "career-ready" is changing as a result of the recent push by the federal and state governments to ensure that all students are prepared for college and careers by the time they graduate from high school. While much attention has been paid to the "college-ready" aspect of college…

Recent calls for an increase in educational accountability in K-16 resulted in an uptick of low-stakes testing and, consequently, an increased need for ensuring that students' test scores are reliable and valid representations of their true ability. Focusing on accountability testing in higher education, the current program of research was…

The Louisiana Department of Education has three core beliefs: belief in children, belief in educators, and belief in family. Louisiana's charter schools embody these key beliefs. Charter schools give families an opportunity to choose the school environment that is best suited to meet the needs of their children and put educational decisions in the…

Teaching and learning observations (TLOs) are used in educational environments worldwide to measure and improve quality and support professional development. TLOs can be positive for teachers who enjoy opportunities to "perform" their craft and/or engage in professional dialogue. However, if this crucial, collaborative developmental…

Background/Context: There is a deep and yawning chasm between the world of tests and testing practices as they ought to be and the actual tests and testing practices now imposed on American students, educators, and schools. That chasm of theory and practice is a function of the dominant paradigm of educational reform, with its theory of action…

Professional development school (PDS) partnerships have existed in one local school system (LSS) with three different institutions of higher education (IHE) for over a decade. Commonalities and distinctive features were noted between the partnerships. In an attempt to establish standardized and equitable policies from the LSS level,…

Budgetary shortfalls and excessive layoffs have left public schools with a deficiency of professional innovation as well as modern theory and practice. It is imperative that educators identify the exemplary school systems that are engaging students and adults in 21st century education, and broadcast those patterns of success to schools in need of…

One of the key concepts of the NCLB legislation was the improvement of student achievement in academics with the use of technology (NCLB, 2001). Ironically, the NCLB mandate of accountability has not provided the necessary resources for achieving its goals, and students with disabilities are, in fact, being left behind. Therefore, the law is…

This paper addresses the effects of rater training on the rubric-based scoring of three preservice teacher candidate performance assessments. This project sought to evaluate the consistency of ratings assigned to student learning outcome measures being used for program accreditation and to explore the need for rater training in order to increase…

Those who work in second- and foreign-language testing often find Koretz's concern for validity inferences under high-stakes (VIHS) conditions both welcome and familiar. While the focus of the article is more narrowly on the potential for two instructional responses to test-based accountability, "reallocation" and "coaching,"…