The accountability paradigm for reforming public schools began in the U.S. as a state-based initiative grounded in establishing state standards for core content and developing high-stakes tests and schedules to hold schools, teachers, and students accountable (Hout and Elliott, 2011). This essay examines the test-based patterns of that paradigm…

Secondary English teachers are required to use a balanced approach to literacy while testing students' achievement and raising active citizens enriched by both literacy and democracy. Teachers should encourage students to participate in a variety of educational endeavors such as the SAT program.

The familiar conversation about access to higher education is limited to what college costs and whether colleges are giving people their money's worth. While important, that conversation may be constricting people's ability to understand what is really limiting the promise of higher education in America. Americans are clearly troubled about the…

Grade inflation is causing student's hard work to be undervalued. As high grades get easier and easier to achieve, the highest grades can only go up so far. The difference between excellent and decent is compressed. Everybody wins is a system that guides and shapes the mindset of most American students--except a small number of kids who lose out…

Are America's schools broken? "Education Hell: Rhetoric vs. Reality" seeks to address misconceptions about America's schools by taking on the credo "what can be measured matters." To the contrary, Dr. Bracey makes a persuasive case that much of what matters cannot be assessed on a multiple choice test. The challenge for…