In the United States, as public demands for quality teachers have escalated, there has been a corresponding increase in national policy efforts to tie the standards of student success to teacher preparation, licensing, and evaluation. This conceptual paper examines how national authorities used specific policy tools to usurp the state's…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has set a bar that determines the level at which students are expected to achieve, and schools and school districts are measured, not against each other, but on whether or not they meet the standard set by the law. Following the 2002-2003 school year, 60 schools in Southeastern Wisconsin school…

This workbook, submitted by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to the U.S. Department of Education, is for State Grants under Title IX, Part C, Section 9302 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Public Law 107-110). By January 31, 2003, States must complete and submit to the Department this Consolidated State Application…

Schools have traditionally been accountable for management of educational programs, while students were held responsible for academic achievement and personal success. Recent reform and restructuring efforts have increased the responsibility of schools for student outcomes. Wisconsin has shifted responsibility for student outcomes to the…

In response both to a growing national grumbling about the need for educational accountability and to a felt need to better define and focus on district priorities, the Madison Public Schools adopted a mangement by objectives (MBO) program in 1970. It is on the basis of three years' experience with this program that this book has been written. The…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…

The Public Law enacted in 1971 requires that fundamental subject matter areas taught in Wisconsin's public schools be assessed. It is proposed in this paper that assessment of the State's social studies programs needs to focus its attention on the school environment, which educators can and should control, change, and improve, rather than…

This guide is intended to provide local school districts with the tools necessary to respond to the revised Education for Employment Standard (Standard m). The revision (effective July 1, 2004) was made to align the standard more closely with vocational and technical activities. The purpose of an Education for Employment program is to prepare…

This study finds that nearly every school in the Great Lakes states is threatened to fail the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements mandated by the federal "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act. NCLB holds schools and districts accountable for student achievement on state standardized tests and schools that do not make AYP face…

This appendix describes the analytical procedures used to project the status of schools in the Great Lakes state toward meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) requirements from 2005 to 2014. To "make AYP," the school as a whole and each numerically significant subgroup must meet "Annual Measurable Objectives" (annual…