ERIC Number: EJ702915
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-6439
EISSN: N/A
Fighting NCLB's "Failure" Label: How to Take Charge of Communicating before the Media Define Your Schools as Failing
Kernan-Schloss, Adam
School Administrator, v61 n3 p18 Mar 2004
As measured by the number of published articles in U.S. newspapers and wire services in the Nexis database, references to "adequate yearly progress"--the key benchmark for school performance under NCLB--nearly quadrupled between December 2002 and December 2003. State and local news outlets have devoted significant space to their state announcements of schools on the "needs improvement" list and those that have not made adequate yearly progress. As the news coverage of school progress under NCLB multiplied, so has the prevalence of the "failing" label. Failure is still the predominant term used to describe the schools on NCLB's needs improvement list. In fact, use of the term "failing" to describe schools increased nearly threefold over the previous year. The all-or-nothing label makes it easy to miss distinctions among schools, lumping schools that are serving most students well with schools that are chronically low-performing. This article discusses 11 recommendations of how an overworked superintendent can to take charge in educating their communities about the performance of their schools.
Descriptors: Educational Improvement, Academic Achievement, Accountability, Federal Legislation, Superintendents, Administrator Role, Elementary Secondary Education, Public Education, Academic Standards, Mass Media
American Association of School Administrators. 801 North Quincy Street Suite 700, Arlington, VA 22203-1730. Tel: 703-528-0700; Fax: 703-841-1543; e-mail: info@aasa.org; Web site: http://www.aasa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Administrators
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: No Child Left Behind Act 2001
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A