State leaders have long recognized the value of statewide tests. Many had well-developed testing systems long before the No Child Left Behind Act, signed in 2002, required annual assessments in grades 3-8. Another sign of that recognition is the recent plethora of new state testing requirements for K-3 students. But would states continue to test…

The Elementary and Secondary Schools Education Act (ESEA) was finally reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The reauthorization was long overdue and with its passage comes much hype and some misinformation about what the law permits and does not permit. The purpose of this brief is to outline some of the key accountability…

While the provision of a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) has contributed significantly to the educational experiences of students with disabilities, little is known about how services are actually provided in an online learning setting. Thus, telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with state directors of special…

In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

This report synthesizes findings from CEP's (Center on Education Policy's) research on how the No Child Left Behind Act's school restructuring requirements are being implemented in Michigan, California, Maryland, Ohio, and Georgia. Document reviews and interviews with state officials were conducted in the five states, and case study research was…

No matter where teachers, state officials, and testing experts stand on the debate about school accountability, they generally agree that the United States' current multiple-choice-dominated Kinder-12 tests are, to use language borrowed from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, "in need of improvement." Now, federal officials are…

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments later this month from a class action Miriam Flores, 42-year-old Mexican-born homemaker, joined on behalf of her first child in 1996. The lawsuit, Flores v. State of Arizona, contends that programs for English-language learners in Nogales are deficient and receive inadequate funding from the state.…

Many states are currently working to define secondary career and technical education (CTE) content standards that specify the knowledge and skills students are expected to master in CTE program areas. This study explores the progress and status of states in developing statewide secondary CTE standards systems. An exhaustive online query of CTE…

Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), state education agencies are required to assume new roles and responsibilities. Among these is the establishment of a state system to support schools identified for improvement under the Act. Conceptualizing and operationalizing these systems of support has been a challenge for many state agencies, in part…

The purpose of this research was to study the effects of the emphasis on achieving Adequate Yearly Progress at elementary schools under the regulations of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews with fifty educators: forty-three teachers and seven administrators. All of the educators worked at six…

As Congress began debate last week over the size and scope of more than $120 billion in proposed emergency education aid, state leaders were anxiously awaiting the details so they could make specific plans to spend the economic-stimulus money. Governors, state legislators, and state schools chiefs have yet to learn what rules Congress will attach…

When the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) went into effect in 2002, Georgia's statewide accountability system was already well underway. As a result, some schools faced the federal law's most serious consequences as early as 2004. That left Georgia policymakers with a dilemma on which there remains little federal guidance: what to do with…

State and local educators encountered both opportunities and obstacles in their first year of implementing the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In 2009, the ARRA, better known as the economic stimulus package, provided $3 billion for SIGs to help reform persistently low-achieving…

"Reopening the school as a public charter school" is Option #1 on the list of NCLB's restructuring alternatives for failing schools. But this has not proved a popular choice. NCLB made the bold assumption that states and districts would voluntarily turn over the reins to charter operators. The authors of the legislation must have…

States are under pressure to meet NCLB's demands in part because they depend on Title I funding. It represents a small but meaningful percentage of the education budget (about 3% in California). Some state officials object to the strong conditions placed on a relatively modest sum of money. A handful of states have even considered foregoing the…