States that want newly offered relief from certain provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act are scrambling to satisfy an easily overlooked requirement that they "meaningfully" engage with teachers, unions, parents, and community organizations, and even modify their waiver proposals based on that input. Federal education officials warn…

The history of special education in the United States and Thailand has followed a similar path in many ways. Both countries made compulsory education mandatory to move in a positive direction in providing special education services to children with disabilities including the provision of services for children with ASD or Autism. In Thailand,…

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…

Secondary English as a second language (ESL) curricula that address four levels of ESL proficiency and prepare students for the English language arts (ELA) curricula and state-mandated ELA tests are not common. A curriculum jointly developed by two districts is even rarer. Yet two urban districts in Rhode Island undertook such a curriculum…

In an effort to bring more knowledge about "what works" to educational practitioners, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has made significant investments in developing and disseminating focused, rigorous research projects in order to increase the supply of and demand for this research in educational decision making. These efforts…

Special education teachers, through a national survey conducted in 55 rural districts, provided information on the positive and negative aspects of teaching in rural schools. The 203 special educators were asked what they liked best about their position and what they found challenging. Some of the themes identified in the analysis centered on…

In this article the authors explore the role of critical hope as an essential quality in teachers' preparation to teach English Language Learners (ELLs) in the era of No Child Left Behind. The authors found that high stakes testing with inappropriate measures combined with teachers' lack of preparation to teach ELLs resulted in a downward spiral…

Effective school leadership is becoming more difficult than ever with the challenges of increased accountability and high stakes testing that are components of federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. These challenges are more pronounced in schools with high rates of poverty. This was a case study of a high performing, high poverty school…

This article provides an overview of the contexts, the key features, and the evidentiary data--the criteria regarding candidates to engage in administrative work--for five innovative principal preparation programs. Short case studies and cross-case analysis of the sample programs are used to provide thorough descriptions. The five programs in fact…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to find out if No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has affected the academic achievement rates of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD). This qualitative phenomenological study explored perceptions of both regular education and special education teachers on the achievement rate…

No Child Left Behind, Section 1118, Title I is devoted solely to parental involvement. Section 1118 requires school districts receiving Title I funds to develop and implement a written plan for parent involvement. Parental involvement is examined through teachers' responses concerning their engagement of parents in student achievement. Results…

The recently adopted NASP "Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services" consists of 10 domains of practice that describe the competencies of school psychologists to effectively support the positive educational, behavioral, and mental health outcomes of all students. Anastasia Skalski (2010), NASP Director of…

The purpose of this article is to illustrate Professor William L. Boyd's insights into the political ecology of schooling and his contributions and collaboration with others concerned about ensuring the well-being of students, families, and communities. Over his career, Boyd investigated the subtle and complex organizational constraints to…

In 2004, the New Jersey Department of Education mandated that all leadership preparation programs in the state align with the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortia standards. In response, 17 preparation programs established a chapter of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. In this article, we describe how…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of collaboration between public and Catholic school administrators using the involvement in the federal Title II professional development program as the subject area. Volunteer participants were interviewed using a researcher-developed and pilot study tested-interview guide. Four…