The author of this essay suggests that, Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), reliance solely on numerical measures, principally math and reading scores, to evaluate performance has corrupted schooling. Educators responding to the need to devote more time to math and reading has led to reductions in the time spent on social studies, science, art,…

Response to intervention (RTI) is the practice of providing high quality-instruction and intervention matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make decisions about changes in instruction or goals and applying student response data to important education decisions. In essence, RTI expands the practice of looking at students' risk…

State test scores administered for accountability purposes are regularly used to adjust instruction in nuanced ways. This is no accident--No Child Left Behind demanded that students' scores be returned quickly to teachers in order that this might be the case, and the idea of data-driven decision making continues as one way the promise of education…

In the No Child Left Behind era of high-stakes testing, school administrators are facing their toughest challenge ever. They are being held accountable for the performance of their schools, yet current systems in public education typically fail to provide them with the appropriate tools to manage effectively. Although the classroom is where…

America is at an important crossroad in education. With the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly referred to as NCLB, Americans need to examine with fierce honesty the impact it has had on schools, not just on the test scores, but the toll it has taken on the people: principals, teachers and students. For…

This article examines learning opportunities for gifted and talented students. Districts and states have developed innovative programs that include mentorships, Saturday programs, after-school enrichment activities and summer internships. However, recent experiences suggest strongly that this attention has decreased in the years following the…

Standards-based education, including over-packed curricula and high-stakes assessments, is here to stay--at least for the next decade or so. If this approach to teaching and learning is a reality that everyone must deal with, how can everyone leverage what is positive and reduce some of the negative aspects? In this article, the author discusses…

The arts and music have been unintended victims of the No Child Left Behind Act. Several reports point to sharp reductions in student access to K-12 arts education, yet some school districts nationwide have managed to buck the trend. These districts, in communities rural through urban, are systemically embedding the arts at the core of teaching…

What type of parent involvement are educators really receptive to? Would educators respond to parent suggestions to abandon the norm to deliver a more diversified curriculum using differentiated instructional strategies to meet the needs of all learners?In many cases, the families are mistakenly blamed for the academic underachievement of the…

Closing the achievement gap in one of the most diverse school systems in the nation-- one in which more than 160 different nationalities are represented, 120 different languages are spoken and more than 26 percent of the students are living below poverty level-- is not a mission for the weak-hearted. It requires vision, perseverance and a…

Renewed interest in the education of young adolescents has given credence to the "elemiddle" school approach to teaching and learning, which was first documented 15 years ago when David Hough coined the term. Yet much bias, misunderstanding and misinterpretation accompanies the most recent phenomenon compelling schools nationwide to…

The pressure is on. For the first time in the nation's history, schools are being required to produce measurable evidence that all students are learning, and they are being asked to do so amidst fiscal crises at the state and local levels. While several legitimate criticisms have been made about No Child Left Behind and its unfunded mandates, few…

This article profiles William J. Mathis. In 23 1/2 years as superintendent of the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Brandon, Vt., Mathis has built an estimable paper trail--research articles and book chapters, policy analyses and op-ed commentaries that he's composed on sundry aspects of public schooling that together require eight…