With the adoption of such initiatives as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI), there is increasing pressure for students to meet and exceed performance expectations. This is easier said than done, especially given that not all organizational structures are…

In almost any conversation about accountability for private schools, accountability for public schools is assumed. This is a dangerous myth. By assuming that the edifice that states and the federal government have created over the past several decades actually holds schools accountable, school choice advocates immediately find themselves in an…

The purpose of this document is to explore the drivers for reorganization, the common experiences shared by states and the challenges and successes experienced. The goal is to inform staff in other special education units as they consider reorganization. This activity was undertaken as part of an agreement between Project Forum at the National…

How a school is organized--or, more specifically, the extent to which teachers work together and treat one another as professionals--can influence elementary school students' mathematics achievement. So suggest the authors of a recent study on the impact of school organization on longitudinal student achievement (Moller, Stephanie, Roslyn A.…

Current federal legislation, such as No Child Left Behind and The Race to the Top, have elicited high levels of accountability for increasing student reading achievement. Professional organizations and researchers encourage educators to organize schools into professional learning communities (PLCs) to improve student learning. Despite the…

For a great portion of the history of the American education system, multiage education was the norm in one-room schoolhouses throughout the nation. The current graded, curriculum-centered approach in the U.S. appeared during the mid-nineteenth century with the rapid economic development and massive immigration into the country. Concurrently, some…

Single-sex education describes a diverse range of situations, including individual classes, programs after school, required programs, voluntary programs, and programs to remedy gender inequities and encourage cultural and racial pride. This brief addresses the genesis and legality of single-sex classrooms, the merits and critiques of single-sex…

This descriptive report examines the strategies of the six Southeast Region states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) to improve high school graduation rates and student achievement and to increase the number of students leaving high school with the skills and knowledge necessary for the twenty-first…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 has focused the attention of educators, policy makers, and the public on accountability for performance in public education. Yet many of those who will be responsible for improving school performance lack guidance on how to proceed in the brave new world of NCLB accountability. For the most part, state…

This speech addresses reform in the middle grades. The ideas were prompted by mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act. The speaker focused on eight fundamental questions, suggesting that the questions should have less to do with the techniques of implementation than with provoking discussion about a school system's or school's values, priorities,…

The "achievement gap" is a matter of race and class. Across the U.S., a gap in academic achievement persists between minority and disadvantaged students and their white counterparts. This is one of the most pressing education-policy challenges that states currently face. For decades, policymakers, researchers, and school reformers have…

Imagine a scenario in which an individual gets up every day and goes to work in fear--in fear of performing the difficult tasks at work--in fear of the colleagues who perform better. The individual is in fear of the boss who is omnipotent, larger than life and constantly judging, evaluating, and sentencing employees to a lifetime of failure. The…