scholarly journals Aiming for Efficiency Rather than Proficiency

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Neal
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Relative Performance ◽  
Background Characteristics ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Student Background ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Better Than

The No Child Left Behind law is flawed for many reasons, but the most important is that it is built around proficiency targets. Proficiency rates are not useful metrics of school performance because universal proficiency is not a socially efficient goal for principals and teachers. Further, the variation in proficiency rates among schools reflects, in large part, interschool differences in student background characteristics. The designers of accountability systems must move away from systems designed around a one-size-fits-all standard and begin designing systems that organize and promote competition among schools. Well-organized competition among schools is the best vehicle for making sure that schools use public funds efficiently. If education officials pursue this paradigm, they must develop relative performance measures that assess the outcomes of these contests while making reasonable allowance for differences in student populations served by public schools. I will discuss a method for deriving context-specific measures of school performance. A percentile performance index tells public officials how often the students in a particular school or classroom perform better than students in other schools who began the year in similar circumstances with respect to their prior achievements, the compositions of their classmates, and their family backgrounds. This index of relative performance provides the information policymakers need to make preliminary judgments concerning when to reorganize a given school and give a new staff the opportunity to prove they can do better.

No Child Left Behind: The Ongoing Movement for Public Education Reform

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROD PAIGE
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education System ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Public Education System ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Public Education Reform ◽  
Original Goal

In this essay, former secretary of education Rod Paige depicts the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as the culmination of more than half a century of urgent but largely unheeded calls for reform of the nation's public education system. He explains the rationale for the design of NCLB and responds to several criticisms of the legislation, including the notion that it is a one-size-fits-all mandate and that its improvement targets are unrealistic. He further argues that the nation's public schools must become more responsive to the needs of students and their families in order to remain viable. Finally, he contends that subsequent reauthorizations should stay true to NCLB's original goal of holding school systems accountable for equipping all students with the academic skills on which America's future depends.

Are Students Left Behind? The Distributional Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Krieg
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Public School ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Pass Rate ◽  
High Ability ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Distributional Effects ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
High Ability Students

The No Child Left Behind Act imposes sanctions on schools if the fraction of students demonstrating proficiency on a high-stakes test falls below a statewide pass rate. While the motivation behind this system is improved public school performance, it also provides incentives for schools to focus educational resources on the marginal student rather than those on the tails of the ability distribution. Using statewide, student-level panel data, students on the tails of the ability distribution, especially high-ability students, are demonstrated to score below expectations if their school is in danger from No Child Left Behind sanctions.

No Child Left Behind: Gifted Children and School Counselors

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2156759X0601000
Author(s):  
Marcia Gentry
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Gifted Children ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
At Risk Children ◽  
Educational Climate

A gifted-education researcher discusses the potential effects of No Child Left Behind on gifted children and adolescents as well as implications for those who counsel such children in public schools. With the primary purpose of stimulating thought, discussion, and action, she addresses the marginalization of gifted and other at-risk children in the current educational climate and provides recommendations for school counselors.

Teaching A Geographical Component In World History Curriculum

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Olga A. Kachina
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
World History ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
History Curriculum ◽  
Analytical Thinking ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Foreign Policies

This article is devoted to the topic of teaching a geographical component in World History curriculum in American public high schools. Despite the fact that the federal legislation entitled No Child Left Behind (2001) declared geography as a "core" academic subject, geography was the only subject dropped from federal funding. As a result, geography as a separate subject in the majority of public schools around the country ceased to exist. California, New Mexico, and Rhode Island have adopted state standards of combined course of World History and Geography. However, a small geography segment included within the World History course has not been sufficient to provide students with a satisfactory level of geographical literacy. American students show their lack of geographical knowledge in one study after another even though the 21st century is an era of globalization and increasing international relationship. The geopolitical approach to teaching the World History course promoted in this paper can improve the situation significantly in a relatively short period of time. This geopolitical approach stresses the connection between history and geography. It involves an analysis of a countys economy, culture, domestic and foreign policies as directly connected to its geography. This approach improves students analytical thinking and conceptual understanding.

scholarly journals Factories: Getting Rid Of Learning

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Jackson ◽  
Laura Gaudet
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
School Consolidation ◽  
Teacher Qualifications ◽  
Educational Programming ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Educational Debate ◽  
Nclb Act

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has been the main focus of educational debate since we entered the 21st Century. It has left educators in dispute about the reasonableness of federally-ordered reforms and the necessity for holding all students to the same academic standards. The 2001 legislation expanded the federal government’s role in public education and required greater school accountability and teacher qualifications with little concern for mandate funding. The NCLB requirements have resulted in larger public schools and rural school consolidation. This development has placed unnecessary burden on public schools and has forced many districts to eliminate educational programming. This article will discuss the ramifications of NCLB in public school settings, as well as the specific problems of schools in rural areas.

Getting Ruby a Quality Public Education: Forty-Two Years of Building the Demand for Quality Public Schools through Parental and Public Involvement

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARNOLD FEGE
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Public Education ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
History Of ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Access To Data

In this article, Arnold Fege identifies parental and public engagement as critical to sustaining equity in public education. He traces the history of this engagement from the integration of schools after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the implementation in 1965 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act through the provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). He finds that while NCLB gives parents access to data, it does not foster use of that information to mobilize the public to get involved in school improvement. Fege concludes with historical lessons applicable to the reauthorization of NCLB, emphasizing enforcement of provisions for both parental and community-based involvement in decisionmaking, resource allocation, and assurance of quality and equity.

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