The federal government has responded to criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act by giving states greater flexibility in how to comply. Analysts worry that the law's purpose is being lost along the way. Since U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that she would take a "common sense" approach to carrying out the No…

This article reports on the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing of arguments on the constitutionality of using race as a tool in assigning students to public schools, in two cases in which advocates on both sides claim to be defending the legacy of "Brown v. Board of Education" and the nation's commitment to equality. The court's conservative…

President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton have both enacted significant expansions in federal oversight of K-12 schools during their terms. In the combined 15 years of the Clinton and Bush presidencies so far, the federal government has required states to set academic goals for their students and has made schools and districts…

This article examines what some people see as flaws in the transfer policy provision of the No Child Left Behind law. Advocates of the policy are calling for providing schools with incentives to accept transfers and for giving parents more time, information, and options, among other changes. States need to hold districts' feet to the fire, those…

This article reports on what has become of the federal schools legislation President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law 40 years ago. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has been amended and rewritten many times since April 11, 1965, the day Mr. Johnson stood before the former one-room schoolhouse in Stonewall, Texas, he once attended…

This article reports on the central recommendation of the federal task force for a way to better handle dropout and graduation rates. Made up of 10 academics and government statisticians, the panel comprising the Task Force on Graduation, Completion, and Dropout Indicators was formed in the fall of 2003 to advise the U.S. Department of Education's…

Since terrorists from Arab countries attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government has been desperately seeking to hire Arabic speakers. Even now, more than 2 1/2 years later, the nation has only a small pool of students who are seriously studying the language. Furthermore, the author states that only a smattering of public…

Districts are paying scant attention to the provision of federal education law that allows students in low-performing schools to transfer elsewhere, though more are providing children with the supplemental services to which they are entitled. New data submitted to the federal government show that eligible students who transferred to a…

This article discusses the reason behind President Bush's selection of Margaret Spellings as his new secretary of education. President Bush's decision to nominate Margaret Spellings, his chief domestic-policy adviser, as the new U.S. secretary of education, signals a steady course on education policymaking from the administration. It also suggests…

President Bush's proposal to almost double the amount of money the federal government spends on abstinence education to $273 million in fiscal 2005 has raised the stakes in the battle over what to teach children and adolescents about sex. Only a small percentage of Americans believe abstinence-only programs are the best form of sex education for…

The U.S. Department of Education's first-ever evaluation of how states are meeting requirements for English-language learners under the federal No Child Left Behind Act can be looked at two ways. One view of the report, which was released to Congress on March 15, 2005, is that states have made great strides in laying the groundwork for schools to…

In this article, the author features the America's Choice School Design, a school improvement program that has enlisted 547 schools in 16 states in its brand of comprehensive reform, and describes the program's move to loosen its nonprofit moorings and change to a for-profit company. The purpose of the move to for-profit status is to raise capital…

From elementary pupils cracking open their piggy banks to companies and foundations writing seven-figure checks, a flood of donations has reached schools and students affected by Katrina since the storm devastated parts of the Gulf Coast. Further help has gone to those affected by Hurricane Rita, which hit southwestern Louisiana and the coast of…

In an attempt to respond to confusion about--or resistance to--the tutoring requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance outlining what it expects states and school districts to do in supplying the help to needy children. This nonregulatory guidance clarifies the roles of states and school…

This special supplement to an education newspaper focuses on the status of bilingual education in the United States. Fifteen articles discuss the historical perspective, research needs, programs, and problems. Topics addressed include: the role of immigration in the development of bilingual education; federal bilingual education policy;…