This study compared the effects of four electronic portfolio curricula on pre-service and beginning teachers' self-ratings of their professional development (n =207), using a 34 item electronic Portfolio Assessment Scale (ePAS). Three formative portfolios, A, C and D, had teacher development as a primary objective and used participants' narrative…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 has focused the attention of educators, policy makers, and the public on accountability for performance in public education. Yet many of those who will be responsible for improving school performance lack guidance on how to proceed in the brave new world of NCLB accountability. For the most part, state…

In this article, the author ponders what is becoming of childhood and young adulthood these days, especially in the context of public schooling and the high-stakes testing and accountability mania now apparently in store for children at nearly every grade level. Opposition has emerged from all corners, including both right and left on the…

Nothing is more important to America's future than teaching children the skills they need to be successful. Every child must receive a quality education if America is to be a prosperous and hopeful country. The rapidly changing global economy is creating new industries that compete for highly skilled workers from around the world, and young people…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the title of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, describes a worthy goal for the nation. Tragically, the reality is that NCLB is aggravating, not solving, the problems that cause many children to be left behind. For the federal government to truly contribute to enhancing the quality of education…

The paper draws on a research project on innovative provision in an FE college for excluded and disaffected young people. The college offers places on vocational courses to students who are still of compulsory school age who have been excluded by or have persistently failed to attend or achieve in school. One set of themes to emerge relates to the…

This article talks about the approval given by the Education Department to 16 states that requested changes to accountability plans under the No Child Left Behind Act. Federal officials had sent decision letters to these states. Another 31 states are awaiting such letters, although many have received oral approvals or denials. This article…

At a time of growing concern around the U.S. about the academic accountability of charter schools, Ohio has mandated a new regime of testing solely for those schools that may force the shutdown of repeated low performers. Under a new state law, Ohio charter schools that meet certain criteria will have to give an extra set of standardized tests at…

In an era of heightened teacher and school accountability, what are the implications of standards-based reform for individual Latino children and their democratic self-realization? The educational demography of the fastest-growing and largest ethnic group in the United States suggests that the future of Latino self-realization is in jeopardy.…

The present study was designed to examine the relationship between performance on a standards-based assessment of reading comprehension in fourth grade and performance on a diagnostic battery of component skills of reading for a cohort of children who were followed from kindergarten through fourth grade. The findings demonstrate that the…

This is the second part of a four-part report on data-driven decision-making. Widespread attention to school accountability, driven by state and federal mandates, has increased the stakes for all schools. These mandates have made more data available to educators at all levels, but they have not been as effective in encouraging teachers to use…

Because preparation of principals has not kept pace with changes in the larger world of schooling, graduates of principal-preparation programs have been left ill equipped for the challenges and opportunities posed by an era of accountability. Principals receive limited training in the use of data, research, technology, the hiring or termination of…

The charter school movement turns 14 this year, and its behavior, some might say, is "developmentally appropriate." Unruly and temperamental, impassioned and energetic, growing in fits and starts and fiercely independent, even friends and supporters aren't quite sure what to do with it. And now comes the apex of adolescence: the identity…

Recent changes in the regulation of education systems in Europe and beyond have led to greater control over the work of teachers and the performance of schools. The paper draws upon the findings of a programme of funded comparative research, which has examined the impact of national education policy and policy change on teachers' work and…

The authors collaborated to create a model of school reform that has successfully transformed a failing school into a successful school. Working as a team, they have developed a research-based system to effectively improve school performance on the South Carolina School Report Card System. It enhanced the overall quality of a failing school in the…