High stakes accountability has intensified the marginalization of social studies in public schools. A popular response to the dilemma between raising achievement in English Language Arts and preserving social studies is to integrate the two subjects. This qualitative case study analyzes instruction in a fifth grade urban classroom where the…

Black, Wilson, and Yao have identified a very real tension felt by teachers today that has been created by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in the United States and the National Curriculum Assessment in the United Kingdom. In many schools, formative assessment has either taken a backseat to summative assessment use, or many of the formative assessment…

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through quantitative research, effective middle school characteristics that predict student achievement, as measured by the school-wide California API score. Characteristics were determined using an instrument developed by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), which asked middle…

An ever growing thirst for a framework that supports a flexible environment in which the schools and school districts are protected within a zone that recognizes school reform is everyone's business. Moreover, the teacher's role as a leader in her classroom and among her peers must become a part of the search for a culture of success. This article…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB) changed the landscape of education nationally. The purpose of this law is to provide a high-quality education to children regardless of their race, socioeconomic status, ability, or background. Effective School Research suggests that successful student learning is linked to the following school…

The emergence of the standards-based reform movement has raised a number of issues related to the design of educational programs for students with severe disabilities, and a debate has arisen that presents an "either/or" choice between the general education curriculum and an ecological curricular framework that has traditionally guided…

Case studies about issues arising from education policy were written between 2003 and 2011 by doctoral candidates in Curriculum and Instruction who were career K-12 educators. Literary analysis was employed in grouping 57 case studies, which described primarily situations that occurred in school districts in one large metropolitan area, by topic…

The absence of differentiated instruction in many classrooms stifles success for students who do not learn the same way as their peers. Providing teachers with the knowledge and tools to differentiate in their classrooms may increase test scores and help low achieving students find success, while expanding the learning growth of gifted and…

Until recently, states focused on ensuring the presence of a "highly qualified teacher" in every classroom. Under the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), this title described a teacher holding at least a bachelor's degree and the appropriate state license and…

Creativity is the cultural capital of the twenty-first century. This article presents an argument for the arts to lead a new wave of education reform that repositions creativity as the centerpiece of an education that prepares a generation of change agents for doing good.

This study examines if practices that advocate for 21st century skills are in conflict with the mandates of NCLB. Interviews with influential school leaders of high achieving elementary schools focused on collecting data about 21st century skills. This study was designed to (a) Determine if 21st century skills are addressed in high achieving…

The reform policies of standards-based accountability, as outlined in NCLB, impede the functioning of school counseling programs and the delivery of services to students. Although recent studies have focused on the transformation of the school counseling profession, a gap exists in the literature with regard to how the experiences of school…

Our purpose in this article is to propose a comprehensive, empirically grounded theory of action for improving the quality of mathematics teaching at scale. In doing so, we summarise current research findings that can inform efforts to improve the quality of mathematics instruction on a large scale, and identify questions that are yet to be…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) require that students with disabilities have equal access to general education curricula and contexts. Florida's Differentiated Accountability Program (DAP) is designed to support educators in meeting IDEA and NCLB…

Determining the most effective curricula for students with severe disabilities requires increased attention as legislation and curricular changes are being made in the field of special education. This article a) reviews the legislation mandates from the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) and the 2001 No Child Left…