Displaying 1-6 of 6 results
Report
10.4.2007
Accountability & Testing

The Proficiency Illusion

Deborah Adkins, G. Gage Kingsbury, Michael Dahlin, John Cronin

NCLB allows each state to define proficiency as it sees fit and design its own tests. This study compares state tests to benchmarks laid out by the Northwest Evaluation Association to evaluate proficiency cut scores for assessments in twenty-six states. The findings suggest that the tests states use to measure academic progress and student proficiency under NCLB are creating a false impression of success, especially in reading and especially in the early grades.

Report
9.18.2007
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Alternative Certification Isn't Alternative

Kate Walsh, Sandi Jacobs

At first glance, the explosive growth of 'alternative' teacher certification--which is supposed to allow able individuals to teach in public schools without first passing through a college of education--appears to be one of the great success stories of modern education reform. But, as this report reveals, alternative certification programs have so far failed to provide a real alternative to traditional education schools. In fact, they represent a significant setback for education reform advocates.

Report
7.11.2007
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance

Beyond the Basics: Achieving a Liberal Education for All Children

Chester E. Finn, Jr., Diane Ravitch

America's true competitive edge over the long haul is not its technical prowess but its creativity, its imagination, its inventiveness. And those attributes are best inculcated not by skill-drill or 'STEM' but through liberal arts and sciences, liberally defined. Thus argues this new Fordham volume, edited by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Diane Ravitch, which also explores what policymakers and educators at all levels can to do sustain liberal learning and sketches an unlovely future if we fail.

Report
4.11.2007
Governance

The Autonomy Gap

Steven Adamowski

Though most public school principals believe that effective leadership of their schools requires authority over personnel decisions (e.g., staff selection, deployment, dismissal), they report having little such authority in practice. Based on a series of interviews with a small sample of district and charter-school principals, the report shows that most district principals encounter a sizable gap between the extent and kinds of authority that leaders need to be effective and the authority that they actually have.

Report
4.1.2007
Accountability & Testing, Governance

Crystal Apple: Education Insiders' Predictions for No Child Left Behind's Reauthorization

Michael J. Petrilli, Coby Loup

January 8, 2007, was the fifth birthday of the No Child Left Behind Act. This isn't just another milestone to be celebrated (or mourned). The law is now due for an update from Congress. But will NCLB be reauthorized on schedule? What changes are likely? No one knows for sure, but the ubiquitous 'Washington insiders' might be in a better position than others to cast prognostications. While not a 'representative sample' of thousands, their inside knowledge adds valuable insight.

Report
1.29.2007
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction

Whole-Language High Jinks

Louisa Moats

If you thought whole-language reading instruction had been relegated to the scrap heap of history, think again. Many such programs (proven to be ineffective) are still around, but they're hiding behind phrases like 'balanced literacy' in order to win contracts from school districts and avoid public scrutiny. Louisa Moats calls them out in Fordham's new report, Whole-Language High Jinks.