Students in poverty need both academic and social supports. Former New York City Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew and scholar Pedro Noguera argue that students in poverty need both intensive academic and social supports. They maintain that U.S. education policy, with its focus on academic accountability, has generally failed to grasp this dual…

Schools and school districts must be accountable for improving the education and performance of all students within both general and special education. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) have undergone changes with a continued intent on making educational reforms. Response to…

After the passage of "No Child Left Behind," and especially after Obama-era Race to the Top initiatives, rising accountability for improved achievement and widespread dissatisfaction with the instructional value of statewide test reports led many school districts to purchase computer-adaptive "interim" testing systems. A common…

School accountability systems in the United States have been criticized on a number of fronts, mainly on grounds of completeness and fairness. This study examines an alternative school quality framework--one that seemingly responds to several core critiques of present accountability systems. Examining results from a pilot study in a diverse urban…

Accountability policies in education play a significant role for the principals tasked with facilitating the implementation of these reforms at the school-level. While these policies are most often intended to improve student outcomes, this is not always the case. In some instances, these policies can prove detrimental to schools, yet principals…

Ethnoracial inequality in educational achievement and attainment is a long-standing feature of the American education system. For example, national reading assessments show that White fourth graders scored nearly a standard deviation higher than Black or Hispanic students on average in 2015 (NCES, 2015). The measurement and analysis of differences…

We draw on novel district-level test score data to describe novel approaches for measuring ethnoracial achievement gaps and assessing trends toward achievement equity from 2009 to 2016. Using SEDA data, we estimate gap trends for each grade over time in each district. We measure trends in both within-district gaps--comparing Black or Hispanic to…

This study used historical data to find associations between changes in policies, funding, and accountability stemming from No Child Left Behind and the provision of services offered to students identified as gifted in the state of Washington. Descriptive statistics and a regression model are used to examine the change in gifted programs by school…

Purpose: We explored the practices and understandings around using disaggregated data to inform instruction of 18 principals from three Midwestern school districts. Research Method: This qualitative study used one-on-one semistructured interviews with the principals focusing on how they disaggregate data in practice. The protocol included general…

To understand the challenges associated with the enactment of educational policies that aim to improve equity and opportunity for students of color with disabilities, this chapter focuses on two separately conducted ethnographic studies. The first investigates district administrators' approaches to addressing racial disproportionality after the…

This correlation study examined relationships between special education and standardized testing variables of 100 Arizona secondary school districts with Native American populations, and the archival records for postsecondary outcomes between 2012 and 2014 of students with disabilities, using archival data collected by the Arizona Department of…

School districts and campuses throughout the nation are working around the clock to avoid an unacceptable accountability rating under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. In Texas the label has recently changed to "Improvement Required." An "Improvement Required" label forces districts and campuses into the Texas…

Paraeducators perform multiple roles in U.S. classrooms, including among others preparing classroom activities, working with students individually and in small groups, supporting individualized programming for students with disabilities, managing classroom behavior, and engaging with parents and communities. Yet, little research provides insights…

Special education paraprofessionals are often employed to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms absent the special education teacher. Little research exists to determine what school administrators think about this practice. The purpose of this study was to learn from special education administrators in Massachusetts…

The identification and implementation of evidence-based practices by special education and general education teachers continues to be an issue in the field of education (Cook & Cook, 2011; Cook, Tankersley, Cook, & Landrum, 2008). Since the mandates of providing students with disabilities access to the general education curricula (IDEA,…