No Child Left Behind and its draconian test regime started more than 10 years ago, and in many states the testing juggernaut was already well under way. Due to a combination of their own constrained vision and current educational policy, in most cases students have this testing-is-the-only-option pedagogy reinforced when they get into classrooms.…

This article describes a new paradigm for accountability that envisions afterschool programs as learning organizations continually engaged in improving quality. Nearly 20 years into the era of results-based accountability, a new generation of afterschool accountability systems is emerging. Rather than aiming to test whether programs have produced…

This essay raises concerns over the future direction for educational aid designed to promote literacy in developing countries. The essay focuses on the EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) initiative in Africa. At one level, this essay challenges the claims for empirical and research-based support for the EGRA. At a broader level, this essay…

Institutions of higher learning are increasingly asked to defend curricular and pedagogical outcomes. Faculty must demonstrate that simulations are productive tools for learning, but a review of the literature shows that the evidence of their effectiveness is inconclusive, despite their popularity in the classroom. Simulations may in fact help…

Much of the research on social justice and equity in special education has centered on examining the persistent problem of disproportionate representation in special education and the implications of this problem for the educational experiences of learners from diverse backgrounds, particularly African Americans. Yet, outside this ongoing dialogue…

Although research has been conducted on state and city interventions of educational systems in urban districts in the United States, very little has been written from the perspective of an elected school board, the governing bodies being replaced during this era of reform. This case study illustrates how an elected school board in St. Louis,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of the impact of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). We used a survey of 401 teachers from three states to probe teacher perspectives across a wide range of topics. Our study found teacher perceptions were more universal than state specific. The…

The anticipated constraints imposed by the accountability process associated with standards-based reform on teachers' practice suggest a tension between teachers' desire for flexibility and the accountability mandates associated with reform initiatives. In particular, we posited that the teachers would negatively perceive the influence of…

The importance of higher education has never been clearer. Educational attainment--the number of years a person spends in school--strongly predicts adult earnings, as well as health and civic engagement. Yet relative to other developed nations, educational attainment in the United States is lagging, with young Americans who heretofore led the…

The Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), asked the Council of the Great City Schools to review the district's services for students with disabilities and provide recommendations to improve performance and narrow the achievement gap between these students and their nondisabled peers. This report was designed to help SCUSD achieve its…

The State University System of Florida Board of Governor's Annual Accountability Report provides retrospective year-over-year and longer time periods of tracking for how the System is progressing toward its goals. This Annual Accountability Report provides information regarding the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) from…

This issue of "Legislative Review" takes a look at the news in higher education from March 30 to April 3, 2009. This Legislative Review reports that: (1) the House Appropriations Committee, Education and Environment Division, has approved amendments to SB 2003, the North Dakota University System (NDUS) budget bill, which now goes to the…

This issue of "Legislative Review" takes a look at the news in higher education from April 6 to 10, 2009. This Legislative Review reports that: (1) SB 2003, the North Dakota University System (NDUS) budget bill, and SB 2038, the flexibility with accountability legislation, were acted on Thursday, April 9 by the full House Appropriations…

This book begins with the claims of policymakers and explores charter schools at each stage of the policymaking process, from legislation to implementation. Powers carefully and thoroughly examines how features of schools' policy contexts shape the ways that charter school reform unfolds at schools, providing a nuanced portrait of the schools…

How does one know when it is time to either give a program extra attention or perhaps close it? That problem faces many career and technical education (CTE) programs and there is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution. Traditional assessments are inefficient in helping programs learn how to leverage their strengths and compensate for their…