Since its publication in 1983, "A Nation at Risk" has caused several waves and ripples of educational reform. This article puts that report in the context of earlier responses to perceived education crises. One such important response was from the private sector: the New American Schools Development Corporation (NAS). NAS attempted to create,…

This study was conducted in a lighthouse school with a long and successful history of restructuring. In this article we describe our (surprising) impressions of shadowing Jake, one of the highest achieving students in the school. We present a researcher's account of Jake's classroom experience over the first four periods of a single day and an…

An increasing number of state leaders have begun to grapple with one of the significant challenges of K-12 reform: how to substantially increase the percentage of young people graduating from high school while also continuing to bring academic standards into alignment with the skills and knowledge required for success in higher education and…

The subject of urban schools has received extensive scholarly and popular attention in recent years, and a wide variety of policies to address the problem of low educational achievement has been suggested. This article, based on an analysis of documents and reports, in-depth interviews, and a variety of secondary sources, examines the first…

Background/Context: Working theories about student goal orientation, understanding of intelligence, and affective mediation of task engagement inform current beliefs about students and learning and motivation. Much research has focused on identifying effective teaching strategies to raise the achievement of disadvantaged students; however, less is…

As we engage our students in social studies topics--whether at the college level or the secondary level--we are charged with promoting habits of mind and thought that produce our country's citizens. If we are doing our jobs, we are insistent about finding ways to connect the democracy in our classrooms with the democracy in our culture, and thus…

Highlights of the 2006 Annual Report include: (1) Program outreach to more than half a million teachers in all 50 states and 50 countries outside of the U.S. via distance-learning tools to provide teachers in some of the poorest and most remote regions of the world with up-to-date materials and training; (2) Advisors to the board of the National…

This issue of "Infobrief" concludes the exploration into the potential for high school reform in the United States. Earlier issues defined five components of an Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) proposal to effect reform: (1) multiple measures of assessment; (2) personalized learning strategies; (3) new models of…

New Visions for Public Schools is the largest education reform organization dedicated to improving the quality of education children receive in New York City's public schools. For 16 years, New Visions has worked with the public and private sectors to develop programs and policies that energize teaching and learning and increase student…

Purpose: A subgroup of principals--leaders for social justice--guide their schools to transform the culture, curriculum, pedagogical practices, atmosphere, and schoolwide priorities to benefit marginalized students. The purpose of the article is to develop a theory of this social justice educational leadership. Research Design: This empirical…

School and university partnerships are a key strategy for reforming education and increasing college going. Successful programs such as GEAR UP demonstrate the need to expand these relationships. Yet, practitioners find it is difficult to work between these two very different contexts. This paper explores successful practices for navigating…

The higher education diversity programs that Texas enacted after "Hopwood v. University of Texas" banned affirmative action had unexpected positive consequences for the state's high schools. The Texas top 10% law, the Longhorn Opportunity Scholarship and Century Scholarship programs, and the Towards Excellence, Access and Success Grant…

The middle years are a crucial stage of schooling where the range in student achievement widens and progress for some students slows significantly (Cairney, Buchanan, Sproats & Lowe 1998, Hill & Russell 1999). Despite moves towards middle school reform and improved literacy standards, there remains a gap in literacy provision for young…

This paper examines the impact of vouchers in general and voucher design in particular on public school performance. It argues that all voucher programs are not created equal. There are often fundamental differences in voucher designs that affect public school incentives differently and induce different responses from them. It analyzes two voucher…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) accountability mechanisms have the potential to derail comprehensive school reform (CSR) implementation. For those pursuing CSR, the question is how to reconcile the implementation of NCLB accountability mandates with ongoing CSR efforts. Drawing from longitudinal data from a national study of CSR, this article explores…