Adequacy, Accountability, and the Impact of "No Child Left Behind" (preliminary draft)
Andrew Rudalevige, Dickinson CollegeKennedy School of Government, Harvard UniversityOctober 2005
Andrew Rudalevige, Dickinson CollegeKennedy School of Government, Harvard UniversityOctober 2005
Michael Gurian and Kathy StevensJossey-Bass2005
Brian P. Gill, Laura S. Hamilton, et al.RAND Corporation2005
Guanglei Hong and Stephen W. RaudenbushEducational Evaluation and Policy AnalysisFall 2005
"Seniors of Kellenberg Memorial High School - You've just had your prom cancelled. What are you going to do now?" Why, go to Disney World, of course. It seems the $20,000 rental house in the Hamptons and liquor-loaded chauffeured limousines became simply too much for the principal of Long Island's tony Catholic high school to accept. So he called the whole shebang off.
District schools in Columbus, Ohio, are finally exploring ways to bring students back into the fold. Why now? Because the exodus of students to charter schools is hitting the district in its pocketbook. Last spring, the district set its budget for 2005-2006 based on an estimate of 6,200 students taking the charter option. But so far this year, it's looking more like 7,100 students.
Even as Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and President Bush were struggling to shine the best possible light on (the mostly disappointing) 2005 NAEP scores (The Nation's Report Card), charter school supporters have reason to celebrate.
To Idaho, now, where the state Board of Education wants to implement high school entrance requirements. If enacted, all eighth-grade students would need to earn a cumulative C average in four subjects and pass pre-algebra before moving on. Those who do not will - presumably - be retained for another year. That's the catch, though.
The number of home schoolers is on the rise, thanks to the combined impacts of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Displaced residents, many grown tired of placing their children in new surroundings, have decided to take on the education burden themselves. In Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana's southern-most, school officials estimate that some 800 families are taking the do-it-yourself route.
[Editor's Note: The following editorial draws on the 2004 long-term trend NAEP results. These should not be confused with the 2005 "main NAEP" reading results discussed in our October 19 press release, Gains on State Reading Test Evaporate on 2005 NAEP.]