Despite attention to sociocultural issues in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE), the role of Adapted Physical Education (APE) teachers as social justice advocates remains underexplored. A primary responsibility of APE teachers is to provide specially designed instruction to students with disabilities (SWD), so they have access to the…

Background/Context: In the spring of 2015, about 135,000 New Jersey students--almost 20% of the test-eligible children--did not take the state's test. Opposition of this magnitude directly contradicted a central stipulation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which required states to test 95% of their eligible students to…

SPEAK Out! Day is an annual event in which SHAPE America members converge in Washington, D.C. to meet with representatives and senators to discuss issues related to quality health and physical education. The purpose of this article is to describe SPEAK Out! Day and address a few of its practices and outcomes, as well as the enjoyment and benefits…

For the last 40 years, business leaders, philanthropists, and a host of nonprofit advocacy groups have pushed for higher standards, academic rigor, standardized testing, and newer models of educating children. But, today, some of these reformers are feeling disillusioned and believe that the investments intended to transform education and provide…

This article is part of a case study of U.S. federal leadership in special education from the perspective of those who served in the roles of Assistant Secretaries of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and Directors of the Office of Special Education Programs or their equivalents in the former U.S. Office of Education and…

State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

Dance educators will be pleased to know that there is new legislation at the federal level that supports arts education. Seven years after Congress was due to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known for eight + seven years as No Child Left Behind [NCLB]), the lawmakers, suddenly and surprisingly, came through with a new…

Although advocacy can also take place at the state and national levels, the foundation of advocacy is high-quality teaching and local initiatives. The purpose of this article is to review four steps that can be taken by PE teachers who are interested in engaging in local advocacy efforts.

The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in December 2015 is an exciting development for parents, teachers, school leaders, and others who believe U.S. schools should meet the needs of high-ability students. The ESSA revised and reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), previously known as the No Child…

The subgroup requirements for accountability in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) were designed to reveal underperformance of disadvantaged groups that could otherwise be hidden in aggregate averages. Both NCLB and its successor, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), left the choice of minimum subgroup size at the school level (n-size) for…

U.S. educational policymakers and equity advocates often frame the negative ramifications of racial inequality in schools in terms of worries about the nation's future global economic competitiveness. This article draws on frame theory (Snow & Benford, 1988) and education organizing theory (Warren & Mapp, 2011) to argue that educational…

This case focuses on a novice principal who advocates for a student who was assigned to the first grade for 3 consecutive years. As the instructional leader of the school, the novice principal is troubled by ethics and social justice issues involved to make the decision to assign the student to his age-appropriate grade. The student was placed in…

Changes in education policy--particularly at the federal and state levels--during the current era of ideologically and profit-driven "education reform" threaten balanced education in general and music/arts education in particular. Emerging answers to a number of pivotal questions will determine the future of the arts, arts education, and…

This study is a critical discourse analysis of the New Jersey Opt-Out Movement. In 2015, and in response to the increasing standardization of US public school instruction, and over-use of high-stakes testing, NJ parents began to refuse to allow their children to take a key end-of-the year exam, the PARCC. We employ the concepts of master and…

A nationwide sample of undergraduate music education majors (N = 260; 69% completion rate) completed an electronic survey to determine awareness of music and general education policy and advocacy efforts. Students reported concern with the impact of policy on school music programs and their future careers. They were informed about music education…