Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap: Lessons for "No Child Left Behind" - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0815730330 ISBN 13: 9780815730330

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2007

Synopsis

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the latest in more than two decades of federal efforts to raise educational standards and an even longer stream of initiatives to improve education for poor children. What lessons can we draw from these earlier efforts to help NCLB achieve its goals? In Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap, leading scholars in sociology, economics, psychology, and education policy take on this critical question. Armed with the latest data and up-to-date research syntheses, the authors show that standards-based reform has had some positive effects, particularly in the area of teacher quality. Moreover, some of the critics' greatest fears have not been realized: for example, retention rates have not shot upward. Yet the overall pace of improvement has been slow, owing in part to poor implementation. Based on these findings, the contributors offer recommendations for the implementation and impending reauthorization of NCLB. These proposals, such as national testing and a rethinking of achievement targets, are sure to be at the center of the upcoming debate. Contributors include Thomas Dee, Laura Desimone, George Farkas, Barbara Foorman, Brian Jacob, Robert M. Hauser, Paul Hill, Tom Loveless, Meredith Phillips, Andrew C. Porter, and Thomas Smith.

About this title

About the Author:

Adam Gamoran is professor of sociology and educational policy studies and director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study, co-edited with Yossi Shavit and Richard Arum (Stanford University Press, 2007).

Review:

"Gamoran and a group of first-rate
scholars address hard questions about whether and how standard-based reforms can reduce the
achievement gap. They use cold eyes and hard data. All the answers are not in, but the
analyses presented in this volume sharpen the debate and make you think about what is
possible and what is not." -Jane Hannaway, Education Policy Center, Urban
Institute

"This volume should be required reading
for everyone concerned about the impact of NCLB on student academic outcomes. The chapters
provide important conceptual and empirical analyses that policymakers need to consider
seriously when planning for the reauthorization of NCLB." -Maureen T. Hallinan, University
of Notre Dame

About this edition

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0815730330
• ISBN 13: 9780815730330
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 349
• Editor: Gamoran Adam