The "No Child Left Behind Act" continues to provide a centerpiece for educational discussions. This federal policy has been the object of praise and criticism and has brought standards-based reform into focus for the nation. In this paper the authors discuss the ways that standards-based reforms may be at odds with efforts to increase technology…

This paper discusses how the curriculum is shaped by the situational logic of a technology-filled classroom, and how this logic is under the influence of ideas about student--teacher interactions and "do-it-yourself learning." It analyses case material from a school using game theory. Free access in the classroom to the Internet, games,…

Decentralisation is often expected to improve democratic participation and empowerment, and improve government responsiveness to local needs. International experience demonstrates that striking the right balance between centralisation and decentralisation remains highly challenging, and that developing appropriate institutional capacity to…

A fair and valid assessment for every child, as mandated by legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 and the Improving America's School Act of 1994, must consider the complexity inherent in assessments for subgroups of students. Due to the rapid growth of the population of English language learners (ELLs) in the United…

By the spring of 2000, forty states had begun using student test scores to rate school performance. Twenty states have gone a step further and are attaching explicit monetary rewards or sanctions to a school's test performance. In this paper, the authors focus on accountability programs in which states measure the effectiveness of individual…

In this paper, the author analyzes the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program and reveals the inherent flaws of what he calls "symbolic pork." The program is popular because it addresses subjects about which the public is deeply concerned: school safety and substance abuse. He notes that since 1986 the program has received…

The proliferation of high-quality independent charter schools is constrained by the shortage of founders committed to evidence-based school designs and possessing the broad-ranging skills to make good on their audacious plans. The time and energies of such exceptional leaders are deployed over years in building schools that rarely reach more than…

Higher education in general and study abroad programming in particular are hardly strangers to stringent demands for accountability. What is new to higher education and to study abroad is the demand for accountability in terms of measurable student learning outcomes. This article is a first report from a system-wide initiative to document learning…

A major thrust of the current administration is the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001." This legislation is directed toward improving the overall educational picture of the United States by focusing on teacher improvement, curriculum enhancement, technology exploitation, and accountability measures. The first piece of a successful…

University education is believed to be one of the most controversial public policies in Hong Kong. Numerous changes have also occurred in the university education sector since the 1990s when the rapid expansion of university places was put into force. The most notable changes may include the institutionalization of quality assurance mechanisms,…

Even though federal laws have had a major influence on foster care and child welfare policy for more than 40 years, additional reforms are needed to ensure safe and stable families for children in care. This article describes the complex array of policies that shape federal foster care and observes: A number of federal policies addressing issues…

Recent legislation from IDEA 1997 to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act--Revised of 2002 (No Child Left Behind) and the pending reauthorization of the IDEA--present challenges for administrators of special education programs and building-level administrators that oversee educational programs for all students on a daily basis. This article…

While early childhood professionals in NSW are accountable to a substantial collection of regulatory requirements, little research has explored the outcomes of this regulatory environment, both intended and otherwise. This paper presents findings from a NSW study and shows how early childhood professionals working in long day care centres perceive…

As a result of the pressures of educational reform and high-stakes assessment, some schools run the risk of foregoing active, student-centered learning activities for building test-taking skills and the memorization of discrete facts (Gredler, 1999; Jackson & Davis, 2000). Coupled with the additional pressure to fulfill the expectations of…

The students and teachers at Hoover High School in San Diego, California, have made significant progress in their quest to meet accountability standards and ensure that all students learn to read, write, and think at increasingly complex levels. In 1999, Hoover High was the lowest performing high school in the city of San Diego and one of the…