The federal government has responded to criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act by giving states greater flexibility in how to comply. Analysts worry that the law's purpose is being lost along the way. Since U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that she would take a "common sense" approach to carrying out the No…

This article discusses the efforts made by the states by adding reading and math exams in previously untested grades as well as setting new performance standards. A survey conducted by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center found that at least 11 states set new achievement levels in reading/language arts. About nine states did so in…

From President Bush on down, the pressure is on to fix America's high schools. Despite a broad consensus that something is seriously wrong with the institution, deep fault lines remain about the remedies. Part of the reluctance to address high schools has been their complexity. The sheer size, departmental structure, mission creep, and other…

This article discusses legislative efforts to seek flexibility and to coax changes in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Even before U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings had been confirmed in her job on Inauguration Day, a few states had begun testing her pledge to work with them in carrying out the No Child Left Behind Act in a…

This article reports how Kaplan K12 Learning Services Group, a division of Kaplan Inc., has developed a new, standardized college-preparatory curriculum for the Philadelphia school district. The curriculum, which made its debut in the Philadelphia district in 2005, was a critical element in the district leadership's plan to improve secondary…

This article reports how Philadelphia's new, standardized curriculum is just one component of a larger agenda for secondary education. By 2008, the school system plans to make a transition from about 55 high schools, when Chief Executive Officer Paul G. Vallas took the helm in 2002, to between 70 and 80 smaller ones of choice. As part of the…

When the US' governors gather in Washington this February 2005 for what is billed as a national education summit on high schools, many will come prepared to talk about initiatives already under way back home. The summit's organizers hope that an "action agenda"--coupled with intensive planning leading up to the meeting--will encourage state…

Even before the nation's governors convened in Washington in March 2005 for a national summit on high schools, many already had proposed plans to make secondary education more rigorous. In this article, the author discusses how governors and legislators in 12 states take steps to put more rigor into high schools. Noting that current state…

The nation's governors adjourned their two-day summit on high schools armed with an expanded arsenal of political and financial commitments to prepare all students for success in college and the workplace. But despite the enthusiastic launch of two major initiatives at the February 26-27, 2005 meeting here, observers cautioned that improving…

Districts are paying scant attention to the provision of federal education law that allows students in low-performing schools to transfer elsewhere, though more are providing children with the supplemental services to which they are entitled. New data submitted to the federal government show that eligible students who transferred to a…

This article reports on the increasing attempts to identify what have been dubbed high-flying schools and figure out what makes them tick to bring all students to higher levels of achievement. A free Web site, launched by the New York City-based Standard & Poor's, began providing a tool that enables users to identify schools that do better…

During workshops held in March and April of 2005, Michigan educators got a lesson in how to benchmark their work against promising practices in higher-performing schools with similar socioeconomic profiles. Teams of teachers, educational supervisors, and principals from 13 elementary and middle schools that had been struggling to make adequate…

Policymakers often complain that teacher education programs do not have to answer for the quality of their graduates. Over the past five years, as a result of new accreditation rules, hundreds of those institutions have been quietly revamping how they collect and use data about their students. This article reports on the use of performance…

Less than six months after the nation's governors gathered for a summit on high schools in February 2005, at least half a dozen states have already enacted policies that require students to complete tougher academic programs to earn a diploma. This flurry of activity is evidence that demands for making high school more rigorous, which state and…

This article talks about the approval given by the Education Department to 16 states that requested changes to accountability plans under the No Child Left Behind Act. Federal officials had sent decision letters to these states. Another 31 states are awaiting such letters, although many have received oral approvals or denials. This article…