What Happened to 2007?
We need to return to the task of 2007 and to judge what might or might not usefully change in NCLB.
The Edu-Capture of NCLB
Is it right to set lower standards of academic performance for students from minority groups?
Flap in Virginia Shows Reformers’ Fealty to Ideology over Implementation
No Child Left Behind’s aspirational aims were more effective as rhetoric than as an accountability regime.
Do We Need National Standards to Prevent a Race to the Bottom?
If a race to the bottom is fueled by the desire to satisfy federal bureaucratic rules, why would we think the solution is in the adoption of more federal bureaucratic rules?
Arne Scorns Iowa: Political Courage or Political Suicide?
I was amazed, befuddled, dumbstruck, bemused (choose your own adjective) to learn that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has rejected a request from Iowa for flexibility under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The Romney Education Plan: Replacing Federal Overreach on Accountability with Federal Overreach on School Choice
A better idea might be to take a page from the Obama Administration handbook and make funding portability voluntary.
A States’ Rights Insurrection Led by…California?
Three cheers for California’s governor, state superintendent, and state board chair, for applying for a waiver from NCLB that doesn’t kowtow to Washington.
The President’s Bully Pulpit and School Reform
Should presidents talk about student achievement or jobs for teachers?
George Miller and the Do-Gooder Caucus—A Top 10 List
If Republicans are radical, Miller and his allies must be conservative because they essentially want No Child Left Behind to stay the same.
What We’re Watching: Weighing the Waivers
On Friday, March 2 from 9:00-10:30 am we’ll be watching a live webcast of the Fordham Institute’s forum on NCLB waivers.
Obama’s Coming ‘Flexibility’ Debacle
An announcement on education waivers is anticipated this week. Don’t expect the reaction to be positive, for it appears that the President and his education secretary will renege on their promise of “flexibility” for the states.
Washington Insiders Favor ESEA Flexibility in Theory but Not in Reality
It’s not just the President’s bizarre State of the Union request that states raise their compulsory attendance age to 18. No, I’m referring to the Army of the Potomac’s reaction to John Kline’s ESEA proposal and to Chairman Tom Harkin’s and Rep. George Miller’s response to the waiver requests put forward by several states.
Texas Hit the Accountability Plateau, Then the Rest of the Country Followed
“Consequential accountability” corresponded with a significant one-time boost in student achievement. As an early adopter, Texas got a head start on big achievement gains, and also a head start on flat-lining thereafter.
The Future of Educational Accountability, As Envisioned by 11 Leading States
The states are presenting sensible alternatives to the antiquated Adequate Yearly Progress model. The challenge to Arne Duncan, his peer reviewers, and his team: Say yes to these proposals or be accused of a “Washington knows best” mentality.
Obama’s NCLB Waivers: Are they necessary or illegal?
Education Next talks with Martha Derthick and Andy Rotherham
Education Next talks with Martha Derthick and Andy Rotherham
Grinding the Antitesting Ax
More bias than evidence behind NRC panel’s conclusions
More bias than evidence behind NRC panel’s conclusions
It Sure Wasn’t Pretty, but Harkin-Enzi’s Out of Committee
Assuming that the House bills will be even better, I would claim that reauthorization is finally heading in a hopeful direction.
Harkin-Enzi’s Hodgepodge
We finally have a serious, thoughtful ESEA reauthorization proposal in the Senate, one that should gain support from both sides of the aisle and both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. But here’s a warning: It’s not the bill that the Senate is currently marking up.
Accountability’s End?
If the debate around the federal role in accountability is coalescing, a much bigger question remains wide open: Could we be watching the beginning of the end for the accountability movement in toto?
Regardless of Who is to Blame, Accountability and Merit Pay are Taking Some Heat in Texas
I am encouraged when Sandy Kress tells me that the moves away from accountability and merit pay that have taken place recently in Texas were forced upon Governor Rick Perry and Robert Scott, the state’s education commissioner, by legislative pressures beyond their control.
In Defense of Rick Perry
Governor Perry has been a strong leader on education and a fervent supporter of accountability and other policies designed to improve student academic results.
No Child Left Behind: The Early Years
While everyone is wondering what will happen to NCLB, Nathan Glazer looks back at the law’s past, reviewing two books that explore the development of the law. The review will appear in the Fall 2011 issue of Ed Next. The books are Schoolhouse of Cards: An Inside Story of No Child Left Behind and Why [...]
Duncan Can’t Make New Laws
The Secretary of Education’s authority to undo law and regulation in No Child Left Behind is not as broad as a recent story in the New York Times seems to imply.
Evaluating NCLB
Accountability has produced substantial gains in math skills but not in reading
Accountability has produced substantial gains in math skills but not in reading
Voice in the Wilderness: Save NCLB!
Despite the bashing the ten-year-old federal law has been taking–much of it deserved–on the ground, in the provinces NCLB has succeeded in beginning a much-needed change in the culture of public education: from a system focused on adults to one looking behind all the curtains to see how kids are doing. It hasn’t been a pretty launch, of course, but the ship is only barely out of port.
