This study explored the effects of high-stakes testing and accountability on the fundamental practices associated with middle school philosophy. Participants were middle school educators, including administrators and teachers, from Pennsylvania middle schools. An online survey was used to collect data for this study. The survey addressed the…

No Child Left Behind legislation and high stakes testing have increased the pressure for public schools to ensure academic achievement for all students. Each year, a large number of students do not demonstrate adequate achievement and are retained to repeat the grade level. The large number of students retained is an indication that the system…

Although the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 created new instructional intervention practices, reading and writing scores across K-12 and postsecondary levels continue to reflect stagnant achievement outcomes. The research questions in this study concerned the effect of a northern Michigan middle school language arts…

This article explores the legacy of John Dewey, reconsidered and reconstructed within the challenging context of neo-liberal globalization. A free-market approach to the delivery of public education and other social services has come to dominate public policy, with increasingly well-documented and potentially devastating consequences. As prospects…

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind mandate, school systems clamored to ensure that all students showed academic growth. For schools with a high-achieving population, this could be a daunting task. This analysis examined the impact formative assessment had on student achievement in a high-achieving, middle school by measuring three…

This study examines the effect of supplemental education services (SES) on student test score gains and whether particular subgroups of students benefit more from NCLB tutoring services. Our sample includes information on students enrolled in third through eighth grades nested in 121 elementary and middle schools over a five-year period comprising…

In the United States, the population of minority students in 2005 increased to 42 percent of public school enrollment (Echevarria & Short, 2010). English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing population of students enrolled in public school across the United States. California alone has 1.5 million ELs attending public schools (Echevarria,…

This article examines innovative approaches to augmenting science lessons taught in middle and high school, with special emphasis on the importance of the early teen years, when experiences both in and out of school have significant impact on career decisions. This is a reflective essay on the recent work of science educators and educational…

Recognizing that many youth with disabilities lack critical self-determination skills and that such deficits may be a contributing factor to disappointing postschool outcomes, educators and researchers have called for increased attention to promoting student self-determination in the early grades. The authors queried 891 elementary and middle…

According to IDEA and NCLB requirements, students with disabilities are held to the same standards established for nondisabled students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of a special education inclusion program for middle school students with mild to moderate learning disabilities. Student outcomes were measured…

This study examines the efficacy and moderators of New York State interventions for schools in need of improvement under NCLB, including: (1) school transfer, (2) supplementary education service (3) corrective action, (4) planning for restructuring, and (5) restructuring. Despite the fact that schools in increasingly aggressive treatment groups…

The mixed methods correlational study examined the problem that AYP of Pennsylvania gifted middle school students who have met state-mandated proficiency requirements under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been reliant upon minimum proficiency tests. The purpose of the mixed methods study was to examine the correlations between the current measure…

As the 21st century progresses, the role of the building-level school administrator has become more and more complex. With the demands of the No Child Left Behind Act, changing demographics, instructional leadership, and state accountability systems, the need for principals to feel a sense of efficacy toward their jobs is critical. There is a body…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires schools to show measureable improvement in student achievement in order to demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress. Although the Georgia Department of Education has documented the short-comings of Georgia's students in mathematics on standardized tests, little research has been done on short-term…

The purpose of this paper is to explore state and school responses to accountability pressures under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Section 2 presents a framework for summarizing the many positive and negative ways in which states, schools, and teachers respond to accountability pressures under NCLB. Section 3 focuses on state accountability…