Devil in the Details: Making Sensible Modifications to No Child Left Behind

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Ritter ◽  
Christopher J. Lucas
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Full Compliance ◽  
Respective State

Achieving full compliance with the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation poses major challenges for most of the nation's states. Structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with ranking representatives from a number of so-called high-readiness states: California, Florida, New York, South Carolina, and Texas. (Collectively, these states enroll over 16 million children, or approximately 35 percent of the nation's total school-attending population.) Most policy makers are reportedly confident their respective state school systems are able to meet NCLB standards. Yet while each state's situation is unique, limited resources coupled with dramatically increased expectations for public schools may spell trouble ahead. Lessons learned so far by several states as they engage the NCLB mandate are discussed and analyzed. Ultimately, patience and flexibility on the part of federal officials, it is argued, will be critical to the long-term success of the No Child Left Behind reform initiative.

Teacher Workforce Developments: Recent Changes in Academic Competitiveness and Job Satisfaction of New Teachers

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 310-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Master ◽  
Min Sun ◽  
Susanna Loeb
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Alternative Pathways ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Teacher Workforce ◽  
Using Data

Policy makers and school leaders are perennially concerned with the capacity of the nation's public schools to recruit and retain highly skilled teachers. Over the past two decades, policy strategies including the federal No Child Left Behind Act and alternative pathways to teaching, as well as changes in the broader labor market, have altered the context in which academically skilled college graduates choose whether to enter teaching, and, if so, where to teach. Using data from 1993 to 2008, we find that schools nationwide are recruiting a greater share of academically skilled college graduates into teaching, and that increases in teachers’ academic skills are especially large in urban school districts that serve predominantly nonwhite students. On the other hand, the increase in the share of academically skilled teachers coincides with the lower likelihood of nonwhite teachers being employed. Once teaching, nonwhite teachers report substantially lower job satisfaction than other teachers. The issue of how to recruit and support an academically skilled and diverse teacher workforce remains pressing.

No Child Left Behind: The Ongoing Movement for Public Education Reform

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROD PAIGE
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education System ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Public Education System ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Public Education Reform ◽  
Original Goal

In this essay, former secretary of education Rod Paige depicts the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as the culmination of more than half a century of urgent but largely unheeded calls for reform of the nation's public education system. He explains the rationale for the design of NCLB and responds to several criticisms of the legislation, including the notion that it is a one-size-fits-all mandate and that its improvement targets are unrealistic. He further argues that the nation's public schools must become more responsive to the needs of students and their families in order to remain viable. Finally, he contends that subsequent reauthorizations should stay true to NCLB's original goal of holding school systems accountable for equipping all students with the academic skills on which America's future depends.

Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority versus Measures of Effectiveness

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Boyd ◽  
Hamilton Lankford ◽  
Susanna Loeb ◽  
James Wyckoff
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Teacher Effectiveness ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Teacher Layoffs ◽  
Measures Of Effectiveness

School districts are confronting difficult choices in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Today, the financial imbalance in many school districts is so large that there may be few alternatives to teacher layoffs. In nearly all school districts, layoffs are currently determined by some version of teacher seniority. Yet, alternative approaches to personnel reductions may substantially reduce the harm to students from staff reductions relative to layoffs based on seniority. As a result, many school district leaders and other policy makers are raising important questions about whether~other criteria, such as measures of teacher effectiveness, should inform layoffs. This policy brief, a quick look at some aspects of the debate, illustrates the differences in New York City public schools that would result if layoffs were determined by seniority in comparison to a measure of teacher effectiveness.

No Child Left Behind: Gifted Children and School Counselors

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2156759X0601000
Author(s):  
Marcia Gentry
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Gifted Children ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
At Risk Children ◽  
Educational Climate

A gifted-education researcher discusses the potential effects of No Child Left Behind on gifted children and adolescents as well as implications for those who counsel such children in public schools. With the primary purpose of stimulating thought, discussion, and action, she addresses the marginalization of gifted and other at-risk children in the current educational climate and provides recommendations for school counselors.

Teaching A Geographical Component In World History Curriculum

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Olga A. Kachina
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
World History ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
History Curriculum ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Foreign Policies

This article is devoted to the topic of teaching a geographical component in World History curriculum in American public high schools. Despite the fact that the federal legislation entitled No Child Left Behind (2001) declared geography as a "core" academic subject, geography was the only subject dropped from federal funding. As a result, geography as a separate subject in the majority of public schools around the country ceased to exist. California, New Mexico, and Rhode Island have adopted state standards of combined course of World History and Geography. However, a small geography segment included within the World History course has not been sufficient to provide students with a satisfactory level of geographical literacy. American students show their lack of geographical knowledge in one study after another even though the 21st century is an era of globalization and increasing international relationship. The geopolitical approach to teaching the World History course promoted in this paper can improve the situation significantly in a relatively short period of time. This geopolitical approach stresses the connection between history and geography. It involves an analysis of a countys economy, culture, domestic and foreign policies as directly connected to its geography. This approach improves students analytical thinking and conceptual understanding.

Factors Associated With Accuracy in Prekindergarten Teacher Ratings of Students’ Mathematics Skills

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily C. Furnari ◽  
Jessica Whittaker ◽  
Mable Kinzie ◽  
Jamie DeCoster
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Mathematical Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Ratings ◽  
Teacher Characteristics ◽  
Mathematical Skills ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Prekindergarten Teachers ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Mathematics Skills ◽  
Race Ethnicity

The No Child Left Behind Act requires that 95% of students in all public elementary and secondary schools are assessed in mathematics. Unfortunately, direct assessments of young students can be timely, costly, and challenging to administer. Therefore, policy makers have looked to indirect forms of assessment, such as teachers’ ratings of student skills, as a substitute. However, prekindergarten teachers’ ratings of students’ mathematical knowledge and skills are only correlated with direct assessments at the .50 level. Little is known about factors that influence accuracy in teacher ratings. In this study, we examine the influence of student and teacher characteristics on prekindergarten teachers’ ratings of students’ mathematical skills, controlling for direct assessment of these skills. Results indicate that students’ race/ethnicity and social competency, as well as teachers’ self-efficacy, are significantly related to prekindergarten teachers’ ratings of students’ mathematical skills.

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