Using assessment data to determine student growth has become an integral part of the accountability movement, and researchers and educators are currently examining how new rules impact the academic assessment of gifted learners. In 2008, the Association for the Gifted's Annual Symposium at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention focused on…

With Secretary Arne Duncan at the helm, the U.S. Department of Education is gradually--and sometimes quietly--chipping away at key parts of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act as states and districts demand more relief from the elusive goal that all students be what the law terms "proficient" in reading and math by 2014. The pressure on…

Given the strong union support for the Obama presidency, there was great speculation within education circles throughout the fall as to whether the new president would turn out to be a reformer--willing to challenge existing practices and the teachers unions in order to achieve dramatic changes in schools--or play it politically safe by backing…

The U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Duncan are set on a "moon-shot" goal to get America on track and to return to being number one in the world in high school and college graduation rates, school readiness, academic achievement, college matriculation and retention, and completion rates. The "Obama Effect" and the American Recovery and…

This article reports that special interest groups opposed to charter schools and high-stakes testing have hijacked Massachusetts's once-independent board of education and stand poised to water down the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests and the accountability system they support. President Barack Obama and Massachusetts…

Achieving full compliance with the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation poses major challenges for most of the nation's states. Structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with ranking representatives from a number of so-called high-readiness states: California, Florida, New York, South Carolina,…

The U.S. Department of Education gave more than $5.7 million in bonuses to its employees, including a student-aid official who got $71,250. In the 2003 calendar year, more than 75 percent of the department's employees received bonuses, with political appointees among the recipients. Each year, the department gives some employees cash awards on top…

As part of a larger project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education, the Center on Education Policy prepared this compendium, which summarizes the findings of major studies of the implementation and effects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) conducted by various organizations and agencies. The brief summaries are…

This outline contains a description of how the federal role in education has changed in the past year and the implications of this change for future federal activities designed to achieve educational equity. Policies and program functions that are allowed under the new federal role and which may influence the Department of Education's support for…

Examines the role of public officials, social scientists, and educational planners in New Deal programs for Navajo Indians. States that resistance to community schools and stock-reduction policies caused the failure of New Deal programs. Concludes that the Navajo experience can help social planners deal more effectively with other social groups.…