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Holding NCLB Accountable

Achieving Accountability, Equity, & School Reform

By: Gail L. Sunderman

A provocative examination of NCLB and how it can be improved.

This edited volume considers the pending reauthorization of NCLB and evaluates the efficacy of test-based accountability. With contributions from Gary Orfield, Linda Darling-Hammond, Catherine Snow, Robert Linn, and Daniel Koretz, among others, this resource examines the themes of capacity, accountability, school reform, and educational equity, and asks critical questions such as:

How do we develop assessments and accountability systems that assist rather than interfere with educational progress?
How do we promote change without being counterproductive?
How do we create a viable educational agenda that is mindful of state and local capacity?

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412957885
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2007
Page Count: 280
Publication date: December 13, 2007

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Description

"This text offers valuable information for understanding the intent of NCLB, the positive effects of the legislation, the shortcomings of NCLB as currently authorized, and specific recommendations for improvements."
—Dolores Gribouski, Principal
Columbus Park Elementary School, Worcester, MA

A provocative examination of NCLB and how it can be improved.

The pending reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has generated a spirited debate among educators. In this volume, a team of noted education scholars assess NCLB's performance-based system and the challenges of improving NCLB in order to meet the goals of the law.

This edited resource by Gail L. Sunderman provides a comprehensive evaluation of NCLB and discusses options for modifying the legislation. With contributions from Gary Orfield, Linda Darling-Hammond, Catherine Snow, Robert Linn, and Daniel Koretz, among others, Holding NCLB Accountable examines the themes of capacity, accountability, school reform, and the law's impact on educating all students, especially those from low-income and diverse backgrounds. This groundbreaking work assesses the efficacy of NCLB test-based accountability and responds to critical questions such as:

How do we develop assessments and accountability systems that assist rather than interfere with educational progress?
How do we promote change without being counterproductive?
How do we create a viable educational agenda that is mindful of state and local capacity?

Presenting a range of perspectives, the contributors identify how to revise NCLB in ways that will mitigate the negative aspects of the law and promote the conditions necessary for meaningful student learning.

Key features

A no-nonsense resource that helps educators and policymakers make sense of NCLB today
Identifies ways that NCLB can improve
All contributions based on original research
New work from some of the top names in school reform and equity

Author(s)

Gail L. Sunderman

Gail L. Sunderman is a senior research associate in K–12 Education for the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. Her research focuses on educational policy and politics, and urban school reform, including the development and implementation of education policy and the impact of policy on the educational opportunities for at-risk students. At the Civil Rights Project, she is project director on a five-year study examining the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and is coauthor of the book, NCLB Meets School Realities: Lessons from the Field, also from Corwin Press. Prior research includes studies on the implementation of Title I schoolwide programs, governance reform in the Chicago Public Schools, and understanding institutional and organizational constraints on implementing school reform initiatives. Her work has appeared in Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, and Educational Researcher. She is a former Fulbright scholar and received her PhD in political science from the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Editor

About the Contributors

Introduction

Part I. NCLB and Accountability

1. The Pending Reauthorization of NCLB: An Opportunity to Rethink the Basic Strategy

2. Toward a More Effective Definition of Adequate Yearly Progress

3. Beyond Standardization in School Accountability

4. Promises and Pitfalls: Implications of No Child Left Behind for Defining, Assessing, and Serving English Language Learners

Part II. Evidence on How NCLB Is Working

5. Tracking Achievement Gaps and Assessing the Impact of NCLB on the Gaps: An In-Depth Look Into National and State Reading and Math Outcome Trends

6. Evidence on Education Under NCLB (and How Florida Boosted NAEP Scores and Reduced the Race Gap)

Part III. State Capacity to Implement NCLB

7. Interstate Inequality in Educational Opportunity

8. Massive Responsibilities and Limited Resources: The State Response

9. Low-Performing Schools Programs and State Capacity Requirements: Meeting the NCLB Educational Goals

Part IV. NCLB: Impact on School Reform and Effects on Minority Students and Schools

10. No Child Left Behind and High School Reform

11. No Child Left Behind and Continuous School Improvement

12. No Child Left Behind and Reforming the Nation’s Lowest-Performing High Schools: Help, Hindrance, or Unrealized Potential?

13. Reforming High Schools to Reduce Dropout Rates

Conclusion

Index

Reviews

“An important contribution to the field.”

Nora Friedman, Principal
South Grove Elementary School, Syosset, NY

“This text offers valuable information for understanding the intent of NCLB, the positive effects of the legislation, the shortcomings of NCLB as currently authorized, and specific recommendations for improvements.”

Dolores Gribouski, Principal
Columbus Park Elementary School, Worcester, MA

"Useful, timely, and enlightening. A good compilation of well-researched articles that need to be read by the field."

Bonnie Tryon, Principal
Golding Elementary School, Cobleskill, NY

Other Titles in: Leadership | School Change, Reform, & Restructuring | Standards & Accountability

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Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.