From the halls of Congress to the local elementary school, conversations on education reform have tossed around the term "achievement gap" as though people all know precisely what that means. As it's commonly used, "achievement gap" refers to the differences in scores on state or national achievement tests between various…

This article summarizes the effects of NCLB on school districts based on four years of evaluations conducted by the Center on Education Policy as part of the most comprehensive and continuous overview being undertaken of that policy.

The author believes that some statements about education are as silly as waving to Ray Charles or another person who is blind. In particular, some of the statements about closing the achievement gap between students with disabilities and those without disabilities are extremely so. Educators need to demand that statements about education make…

Today's educators live in fear of the draconian consequences of failing to make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. In this article, the author offers sage advice on how to "comply" with the law and not get hurt. In this analysis, the author also offers guidance to his public school colleagues who, yearning to…

Test-based accountability systems aim to direct the behavior of educators toward the improvement of student achievement. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act codified accountability as the national educational blueprint, requiring schools to increase test scores incrementally so that all students are proficient in reading and math by 2014. Yet,…

This article summarizes the efforts of legislators in studying up on what they might do to affect how well kids learn after the summer break. Some of the legislators' work leaned toward improving students' health, while some targeted dropouts or civic education. Most of the capitol-dome work appears to have matched the typical garden: a few…

Discusses and presents a summary outline of state activity in minimum competency testing as of March 15, 1978. (IRT)

The purpose of this proficiency legislation is to create a public dialogue regarding high school graduation standards, restore meaning to the high school diploma, and ensure that students who have difficulty with basic skills receive appropriate instruction. (Author/IRT)

Recent studies of turnarounds of low-performing schools have focused on the factors that made their successes possible. The author of this article realizes that it would also be valuable to look at what made the schools decline in the first place and the factors that might hinder their transformation. He focuses on some of the aspects of the…