The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has ushered in an era of increased accountability and assumed universal proficiency at a time when there is significant variability in children's abilities as they enter kindergarten. Despite NCLB's emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices to improve students' achievement, it explicitly recommends grade…

Universities have long practiced data collection techniques to gain insights and direction from their graduates, but public high schools are just now beginning to use this process to gather input from those who know the system the best--their alumni. Because past students' reflections on their high school education can indicate the level of…

With current considerations for reauthorization of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, national attention remains focused upon public education student outcomes. The purpose of this manuscript was threefold: to review the historical background of the standards reform movement; to discuss a research project to redesign program content and align…

Today, it is increasingly difficult for states to adequately satisfy the demand for well-funded and quality public services, such as K-12 education by relying exclusively on traditional, broad-based taxes for fiscal support. State sponsored lotteries are an increasingly popular, non-traditional revenue stream for public education. There is in many…

Educators are currently exploring the expanded use of a variety of new assessment tools in the classroom in response to pressures to enhance student learning. The present study examined quick writes as a tool in the context of third-grade classroom assessment. Third-grade teachers administered the same brief writing probe before and after students…

In this study, a multi-stage mixed analysis was used to examine stories from 72 undergraduate teacher education students regarding their best and poorest K-5 teachers, alongside responses to Likert-format survey items. Participants expressed strong agreement with items derived from the literature concerning characteristics of effective teachers…

The Ohio PSEO Program is a legislated dual enrollment curricular offering. The program provides higher educational courses that are also credited at the high school and funded at state expense for qualifi ed students. Although individual and institutional benefits of the program abound (i.e., accelerated postsecondary completion, decreased…

Examines the relationships among possible selves, academic performance, motivation, self-esteem, and persistence on task by analyzing the questionnaires of 289 high school students. Reveals that the students who referred to positive selves outperformed the other groups in academic achievement as measured by grade point average and showed more…

Discusses how moral values should be addressed in schools. Focuses on procedural neutrality that is a method of values education that refers to a way of dealing with the discussion of controversial issues in schools. Suggests using another approach, critical affirmation, because the disadvantages of the procedural neutrality approach are serious.…

Compares the reading and comprehension ages of children who were in Reading Recovery at age 6 to those in a comparison group as they enter their fifth and sixth years in school. Reports that the ex-Reading Recovery children were 12 and 13 months superior in terms of reading and comprehension ages, respectively. (CMK)

Investigates whether the cognitive style of students with behavior problems are different from children with no reported problems. Considers how students of different styles manifest their problem behaviors. Indicates the cognitive styles differ while the types of behavior problems exhibited, such as verbal disruption and physical aggression,…

Examines the effects of regional, locality, and high school characteristics on access opportunities to educational credentials of Palestinian Arab students in Israel. Reveals that while tracking patterns are affected by high school variables at the community level, access to educational credentials is determined by community-level, socioeconomic…

Explains that the creation of the 1993 Education Act (England) introduced changes that enabled groups of parents or independent sponsors to establish their own grant-maintained schools. Argues that the requirements that have been developed since the Act make it almost impossible for new schools to be created and traces the attempts of potential…

Examines the University of Michigan between 1945 and the early 1960s as a case study of the physical and philosophical changes that occurred to usher in the process of university corporatization. Focuses predominantly on one major research project, the Phoenix Memorial Project, that set in motion many of these changes. (DSK)

Focuses on the cultural meaning of university education and of participation in the extremely competitive entrance examinations to university, as viewed from a Greek provincial town. Notes that despite high graduate unemployment, university education and sitting for entrance examinations have important social status implications. (DSK)