Professionals mostly agree that scientific research should guide practice in education. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA; 2004) and the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) require that students with disabilities receive research-based practices in the "least restrictive environment." Because the least…

In 2004, The U.S. Department of Education stated, "Great schools have great leaders" (p.1). Research supported their declaration as our nation actively pursued educational reform. School systems across the country searched for good school principals to lead, believing they were the "cornerstones of good schools" (DiPaola &…

The 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or No Child Left Behind (NCLB) changed school law in the United States. Public schools can utilize federal funds to purchase only those educational products subject to scientifically based research. No dedicated certification intermediary (CI) exists to determine individual…

Shortages of qualified principal candidates and retention of motivated principals, combined with the evidence that the principal is a vital part of effective school improvement, has ominous implications for the future quality of education. A body of research exists describing school administrators' stress over the last 25 years; yet, limited…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, large-scale test score trend analyses are widespread. These analyses often gloss over interesting changes in test score distributions and involve unrealistic assumptions. Further complications arise from analyses of unanchored, censored assessment data, or proportions of students lying within performance levels…

Many schools placed under Program Improvement because they have not met the AYP requirements of the NCLB mandate are required to build in time during the school day for teachers' professional collaboration to improve their performance in the classrooms. A lack of research exists to explore how professional collaboration improves teaching and…

This research study examined the role of critical pedagogical teachers within the education system. Public school teachers in the past ten years have been placed in a vulnerable position due in part to the high stakes testing within the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Classroom teachers are instructed by school administration…

In this paper we weave lived experiences, those of a bilingual social studies teacher at a middle school in a large city in the Southwestern US, with critical theory/pedagogy and bilingual education. The purpose of this paper is to present an articulation of the practice of critical pedagogy in a bilingual educational context principally under the…

Following the passage of "No Child Left Behind" ("NCLB") in 2001 and the reauthorization of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA") in 2004, states adopted new policies regarding the education of students with significant intellectual disabilities. In the state of Delaware, these policy…

This article reflects on my 28-year tenure editing "The Elementary School Journal" ("ESJ"). During my tenure as editor, the educational system was in constant reform, from a Nation at Risk to No Child Left Behind. Considerable evidence suggests that these various reforms, which consumed vast resources, were not successful in…

"Scaling" is the process of constructing a score scale that associates numbers or other ordered indicators with the performance of examinees. Scaling typically is conducted to aid users in interpreting test results. This module describes different types of raw scores and scale scores, illustrates how to incorporate various sources of…

Instructional time for social studies in elementary classrooms has decreased since the passage of Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind, with content contracted to align with reading goals. Consequently, opportunities for preservice teachers to observe and teach social studies lessons have diminished. This qualitative multiple case study examines…

This article examines inclusive education in view of the current US policy climate. The "No Child Left Behind Act" provides the opportunity to examine dominant social forces and the underlying theories of mechanism and positivism that run counter to a constructivist approach to inclusive education. The incompatibility of these theories…

As academic reform movements push schools to provide more rigorous learning environments for students, it is essential that the "person in charge" at the school level be prepared and capable of meeting the demands of high stakes measures that affect critical dimensions of school life. Educational leaders today face a significant amount…

Purpose: This article presents a case for addressing evidence-based practice (EBP) in educational administration. Content is arranged around four objectives: (a) summarizing the status of educational administration as a profession, (b) defining evidence and the model, (c) explaining EBP's social and professional merit, and (d) identifying barriers…