The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is currently being reviewed in Congress for reauthorization. NCLB, among the most significant U.S. education initiatives, reauthorized the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act and is founded on four primary objectives: (1) increasing accountability for states, school districts, and schools; (2) giving…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act and previous performance-based accountability policies are based on a theoretical assumption that sanctions will motivate school staff to perform at higher levels and focus attention on student outcomes. Using data from Chicago, this article draws on expectancy and incentive theories to examine whether…

Social software, such as blogs, wikis, tagging systems and collaborative filters, treats the group as a first-class object within the system. Drawing from theories of transactional distance and control, this paper proposes a model of e-learning that extends traditional concepts of learner-teacher-content interactions to include these emergent…

MySpace and Facebook are innovative digital communication tools that surpass traditional means of social interaction. However, in some instances in which educators have used these tools, public reactions to them have resulted in sanctions. With the notion that traditional ideas of privacy and teacher conduct are not yet defined in online worlds,…

Test-based educational accountability systems have considerable appeal to politicians, policymakers, and the general public. Such systems have been widely used by states for more than a decade and with the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 all states must now implement an accountability system that uses results from assessments in…

The in-school suspension program (ISS) for grades 6-12 in Thomas County, Georgia, is described in this report. The program retains students in school, offers individual help, and provides the opportunity to stay on task. During the suspension period, students are placed in individualized carrels in the suspension center and must complete…

Argues that the discipline of a total political and social revolution, it is stated, requires the self-discipline (in no way synonymous with control) and responsibility of the writer, as of any other citizen, in ensuring that the initial premises of the revolution are not betrayed, either by selfish failings on the part of the creator or by…

This article discusses six approaches that English departments might use before censorship problems arise. Two reactions to the article are also included. (RC)

Censorship, a sensitive and complex issue, has recently been discussed with greater frequency, as reactions to changed attitudes and values have prompted protests and book burnings, stricter controls on theaters and pornographic bookstores, and criticism of school discussions of controversial subjects. This book focuses on understanding…

A partial text of the report of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Committee on Infractions in the case of Southern Methodist University is presented. Findings of violations, factors considered in judgment of case, and penalties are discussed. (MLW)

The study examines the relationship between principal leadership and teacher expectancy within Chicago's accountability context. Current school accountability policies assume that the threat of sanctions will motivate teachers to improve. The study uses expectancy theory, which suggests that any impact on motivation will be constrained by…

Discusses Emile Durkheim's "Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education," which holds that morally healthy societies may vary in culture and organization but must possess absolute rules of moral behavior. Compares this moral theory with current theory and practice of American educators. (MJL)

Reviews a case in Alberta (Canada) in which the teachers' association sought to discipline employees who accepted term appointments as administrators. The association was overruled by an appeal board which held that a professional association must act in the interest of the public as well as the profession. (Author/WD)

Examined the relationship between perceived mental illness and attribution of responsibility. Subjects evaluated data from various accident cases. Although greater mental illness was attributed to alcoholism and paranoid cases, greater responsibility was attributed to the alcoholic. Only in the normal case was greater responsibility related to…

A discussion of 1996 federal legislation giving the Internal Revenue Service authority to impose, retroactively and for the first time, significant penalty taxes on "insiders" who benefit improperly from transactions with certain nonprofit organizations looks at the implications for colleges and universities. Background, objectives,…