Carini, Patricia F. (2001). Starting Strong: A Different Look at Children, Schools, and Standards. This book is a collection of essays in which the author counters high-stakes testing, the pathologizing of children, and the unrelenting critique of public schools with a persuasive account of how children actively make sense of the world and their experience through the making of works, such as drawings, constructions, and writings. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, "On a Human Scale: Works, Lives, Schools," introduces the large ideas that recur across the essays and map the territory of the book as a whole. The essays in part 2, "The Politics of Educating/The Politics of Work," juxtapose the narrower vision and definitions of persons, of work, and of educating that prevail when one starts from an economic frame onto the broad framework presented part 1. Part 3,"Standards in the Making," selects standards as the locus of the struggle for human and humane schools. Part 4, "Generation/Regeneration," consists of a single talk that pivots on the responsibility of elders to children. An appendix contains the reference edition of the Prospect School Archive. (Contains 78 references.) Descriptors: Child Development, Children, Childrens Art, Childrens Writing

Merrow, John (2001). Choosing Excellence: "Good Enough" Schools Are Not Good Enough. This book explores what makes a school excellent. Schools are considered excellent, "good enough," or bad, depending upon multiple factors; "good enough" implies that a school could be doing better. The use and misuse of testing and educational assessment are discussed. Academic assessment based on multiple measures is recommended over high-stakes testing as a more accurate means of describing students' strengths and weaknesses. High standards, transparent testing policies, teacher-made tests, and tests that are demonstrably valid and reliable are suggested as tools for creating excellence in testing. The checkered history of technology (television, computers, Internet) in education, problems, and strategies for improving their use as learning media are treated. Teachers' problems with respect to time, energy, and poor training are considered. Misconceptions about students, charter schools, school safety, and misplaced cultural and political values are other issues discussed. Parents concerned about school quality for their children can find sound advice in what to look for in a school setting. Most chapters conclude with a list of questions about practices, behaviors, and strategies that parents can use to come to a reasoned judgment about a school and its practices and policies. Descriptors: Accountability, Early Childhood Education, Educational Philosophy, Educational Practices

Rust, Frances O'Connell, Ed.; Freidus, Helen, Ed. (2001). Guiding School Change: The Role and Work of Change Agents. The Series on School Reform. This book examines facilitators of change, as viewed by the change agents themselves. It highlights their role and how they can be prepared and supported. In chapter 1, Frances O'Connell Rust, Margot Ely, Maris H. Krasnow, and LaMar P. Miller report on the successful professional development of early elementary teachers in New York City. In chapter 2, Cynthia McAllister describes the implementation of schoolwide literacy in an unfamiliar culture. Chapter 3 offers a report by Helen Freidus, Claudia Grose, and Margaret MacNamara on literacy curriculum changes at school and district levels in a caring environment with high-stakes testing. In chapter 4, Kim Grose depicts AmeriCorps interns working for change in schools at 2-year intervals. In chapter 5, Jon Snyder and Marianne D'Emidio-Caston describe a postsecondary teacher-education program requiring supervisory experience for teachers and students. Chapter 6 documents Cheryl Craig's establishment of collaborative processes within a highly bureaucratic organization serving children in poverty. In chapter 7, Ershler Richert, Pamela Stoddard, and Michael Kass describe partnerships between school districts and higher education under the aegis of the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative. In chapter 8, Ann Lieberman summarizes relevant research on the work of change agents. (Contains 14 references.) Descriptors: Change Agents, Change Strategies, Consultants, Educational Change

Howley, Craig (2001). School Administration and Globalization. This document discusses globalization as a worldwide economic process and its impact on school administration. Globalization is about economics, which is a perpetual concern of school administrators. Actions that take place across the world can have significant direct and indirect effects on schools and school districts. The history of globalization is looked at as a continuation of economic development with roots in 15th century colonialism and imperialism. Examples are given that demonstrate globalization's ability to devalue local cultures and traditional education by imposing homogenizing practices such as high-stakes testing and school accountability. School leaders need to consider the extent to which school reforms are driven by the agenda of globalization, need to listen carefully to the rhetoric of globalization in which so many reform efforts are couched, and need to ask difficult questions about the way local schooling works to prepare students to conduct maximally thoughtful lives. A case study is presented involving a monthly meeting of four principals with a superintendent to illustrate the impact of globalization on local educational practices. The paper concludes with a list of resources. (Contains 52 references.)   [More]  Descriptors: Cultural Awareness, Cultural Relevance, Culturally Relevant Education, Developed Nations

Jackson, John H. (2001). NAACP Call for Action in Education. This paper seeks to guarantee that all preK-college students are provided an equal opportunity for a world-class education, noting that ultimately, success must be measured by student achievement and recommending that all educational agencies partner with community agents to develop and implement strategies to remove racial disparities and improve the quality of education. The paper outlines areas in which the NAACP has identified consistent racial disparities, requesting that each agency create a Five-Year Educational Equity Partnership Plan for closing racial disparities in achievement by at least 50 percent. For K-12 education, the paper examines increasing resource equity, improving teacher quality, increasing access to early childhood programs, increasing access to a college-bound curriculum, creating smaller class sizes, closing the digital divide, high stakes testing, reducing the dropout rate, increasing parental involvement, special education and the overrepresentation and underservicing of minority children, eliminating racial disparities in suspension and expulsion, and resegregation trends. For higher education, it examines college preparation, college recruitment and admissions, college affordability and financial aid, faculty diversity, and retention and graduation. Recommendations are presented in each area.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Access to Education, College Preparation, Diversity (Faculty)

Vinson, Kevin D.; Ross, E. Wayne (2001). Education and the New Disciplinarity: Surveillance, Spectacle, and the Case of SBER. This paper pursues the evolving relationships between Foucauldian understandings of surveillance (the disciplinary observation of the many by the few) and Debordian notions of spectacle (the disciplinary observation of the few by the many). It argues that education today must be understood according to a setting in which spectacle and surveillance come together, where discipline is established and maintained simultaneously as people and groups are monitored by both larger and smaller entities. The paper considers the mutual relationships between images of public schooling and operations of high-stakes testing, particularly regarding the degree to which both work to enforce, control, and discipline cultural knowledge and behavior. Using the contemporary commitment to standards-based education reform (SBER), the paper questions: (1) To what extent might contemporary K-12 education be understood in terms of a blending of surveillance and spectacle, and to what benefit? (2) Within what contexts and via what mechanisms does this merging occur? (3) What are the potential practical consequences of this arrangement? and (4) How might SBER illuminate the fusion of surveillance and spectacle in terms of causes, effects, contexts, mechanisms, consequences, critiques, and resistances? (Contains 62 references.)   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Standards, Accountability, Educational Change, Educational Quality

Van Kuren, Lynda, Ed. (2001). CEC Today, 2000-2001, CEC Today. Nine issues of the newsletter of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) include articles, news items, meeting announcements, news items of individual divisions, and professional advancement opportunities. Some major articles are: (1) "Home Schooling–A Viable Alternative for Students with Special Needs" (2) "High Stakes Testing a Mixed Blessing for Special Students" (Martha Frase-Blunt); (3) "Promise and Peril: A Look at Charter Schools" (Carolyn Cosmos); (4) "CEC Gains Media Attention on Special Education Teaching Conditions"; (5) "The Promise of Full-Service Schools" (Carolyn Cosmos); (6) "Proactive Approaches to Help Students Control Their Anger" (Greg M. Romaneck); (7) "Traumatic Brain Injury–The Silent Epidemic"; (8) "After School Programs Are for Students with Exceptionalities Too!"; and (9) CEC's 2001 Convention & Expo–A Grant Time for Learning and Fun."   [More]  Descriptors: Anger, Charter Schools, Disabilities, Educational Assessment

Losen, Daniel J., Ed.; Orfield, Gary, Ed. (2002). Racial Inequity in Special Education. This collection of papers discusses issues related to the overidentification of minority students in special education. After a "Foreword" (Senator James M. Jeffords) and an introduction, "Racial Inequality in Special Education" (Daniel J. Losen and Gary Orfield), 11 chapters include: (1) "Community and School Predictors of Overrepresentation of Minority Children in Special Education" (Donald P. Oswald, Martha J. Coutinho, and Al M. Best); (2) "Racial Disparities in the Identification, Funding, and Provision of Special Education"(Thomas Parrish); (3) "Double Jeopardy: An Exploration of Restrictiveness and Race in Special Education" (Edward Garcia Fierros and James W. Conroy); (4) "Of Rocks and Soft Places: Using Qualitative Methods to Investigate Disproportionality" (Beth Harry, Janette K. Klingner, Keith M. Sturges, and Robert F. Moore); (5) "Schools Make a Difference: The Overrepresentation of African American Youth in Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System" (David Osher, Darren Woodruff, and Anthony E. Sims); (6) "English-Language Learner Representation in Special Education in California Urban School Districts" (Alfredo J. Artiles, Robert Rueda, Jesus Jose Salazar, and Ignacio Higareda); (7) "Disability, Race, and High-Stakes Testing of Students" (Jay P. Heubert); (8) "Legal Challenges to Inappropriate and Inadequate Special Education for Minority Children" (David J. Losen and Kevin G. Welner); (9) "Evaluating the Office for Civil Rights' Minority and Special Education Project" (Theresa Glennon); (10) "IDEA and Disproportionality: Federal Enforcement, Effective Advocacy, and Strategies for Change" (Thomas Hehir); and (11) "Ending Segregation of Chicago's Students with Disabilities: Implications of the Corey H. Lawsuit" (Sharon Weitzman Soltman and Donald R. Moore). (Chapters contain references.) Descriptors: Black Students, Court Litigation, Disabilities, Disproportionate Representation

Rural Policy Matters (2001). Rural Policy Matters: A Newsletter of Rural School & Community Action, 2001. This document contains the 11 issues of the newsletter "Rural Policy Matters" published in 2001. Issues examine recent educational research on small and rural schools; report on court litigation related to rural school finance, local advocacy efforts in support of rural schools, and the condition of rural school facilities; outline policy issues related to rural educational reform and funding; and describe publications and Web sites of interest. Articles include: "Nebraska Property Taxes: Who Suffers Most?"; "Parents Saying No to High Stakes Testing"; "Unequal and Inadequate: Funding Litigants Eyeing Facilities Issues"; "E-Rate Works Despite Hassles: Shift from FCC Could Mean Shaky Funding"; "Equal Facilities Funding in Alaska: Court Rules for Rural, Native Children"; "Vermont's Act 60 Improves Equity"; "It's a Rough Road Out There: Five State Study Documents Student Busing Experiences"; "Leveling Off and Zeroing Out: Budget Cuts Hit Facilities Programs"; "Lake View: The Little District That Could"; "Rural Education Finance Center Ready To Work"; "Teacher Recruitment and Retention: What Works in the Midwest"; "Ohio's DeRolph Decision: Complex and Controversial"; "The Puzzle of Rural Teacher Shortages"; "North Carolina's School Finance Case: A Victory for At-Risk Students–But Is More Money Needed?"; "Kids Can: Grady County Student Action"; "Building Community Leaders in West Virginia"; and "Lessons Learned from Ohio's Litigation Efforts."   [More]  Descriptors: Activism, Court Litigation, Educational Equity (Finance), Educational Facilities Improvement

Gordon, David, T., Ed. (2001). Harvard Education Letter, 2001, Harvard Education Letter. This document is comprised of the six issues in volume 17 of the Harvard Education Letter, a bimonthly newsletter addressing current issues in elementary and secondary education. Articles in this volume include the following: (1) January-February–"Charters and Districts: Three Stages in an Often Rocky Relationship" (Kelly) and "'We Don't Allow That Here'" (Pirozzi); (2) March-April–"The New Face of Homeschooling" (Farber) and "Collateral Damage" (Birk) on high stakes testing; (3) May-June–"Closing the Gap One School at a Time" (Sadowski) and "Teachers Helping Teachers" (Kelly); (4) July-August–"Seeking a Cure for Senior-Year Slump" (Kelly) and "Nuts and Bolts of Charter-Business Partnerships" (Kelly); (5) September-October–"Sexual Minority Students Benefit from School-Based Support–Where It Exists" (Sadowski) and "Solving Problems with 'Action Research'"; and (6) November-December–"Teaching Civics after September 11" (Gordon) and "Making Global Connections." Regular features include editorial statements and summaries of recent research.   [More]  Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Action Research, Behavior Problems, Bullying

Treisman, Philip Uri; Surles, Stephanie A. (2001). Systemic Reform and Minority Student High Achievement. The under-representation of African American and Hispanic American students among high achievers on standardized tests, honors graduates of most colleges, and practitioners of mathematics and science professions is well-documented. This paper explores the extent to which the current educational reform movement is achieving the goal of substantially improving overall student achievement, especially high achievement, while also reducing achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups. Neither high-stakes testing nor standards setting, both components of the modern systemic reform movement, is new, nor are the issues of testing and equity. The primary resource for tracking changes in students' academic performance is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Especially important to evaluating systemic reform efforts is a state NAEP testing program begun in 1990 which allows sophisticated and multidimensional comparisons of state academic performance. While NAEP data show that between 1971-88, the black-white achievement gap closed significantly, 1990s data show that the gaps are growing. There is little hard evidence that state systemic reform policies have had their intended effects. Results from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills indicate a marked decrease in performance gaps of minority and white elementary students in recent years. (Contains 21 references.) Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Black Students, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education

Robertson, Anne S., Ed. (2001). Parent News Offline, 2001, Parent News Offline. This document is comprised of the two issues in volume 3 of "Parent News Offline," a publication of the National Parent Information Network (NPIN) designed to introduce those without Internet access to the activities and information available through NPIN. The Spring 2001 issue contains the following articles: (1) "What To Consider in Starting a Babysitting Co-op" (Peggy Patten); (2) "Assessing Young Children's Social Competence" (Diane E. McClellan and Lilian G. Katz); and (3) "'High-Stakes' Testing: New Guidelines Help Direct School Change" (Anne S. Robertson). Recent "Parent News" articles on child health are highlighted. The Fall 2001 issue contains the following articles: (1) "Dads, Kids, and Fun on a Saturday Morning" (Anne S. Robertson); (2) "Perspectives on Charter Schools: A Review for Parents" (Saran Donahoo); (3) "Finding Parenting Support and Education" (Anne S. Robertson); and (4) "The Fourth 'R': Teacher-Child Relationships Are Central to Quality" (Peggy Patten). Tips for finding good early reading programs are also delineated.   [More]  Descriptors: Day Care, Elementary Secondary Education, Fathers, High Stakes Tests

Luecht, Richard M. (2001). Challenges of Web-Based Assessment. This paper discusses six challenges relevant to Web-based testing. Some of these challenges are not specific to Web-based testing, but generalize to all computer-based testing. The challenges are: (1) security and using test centers for Web-based testing; (2) measuring complex skills and problem-solving tasks on the Web; (3) integrating modern item selection and test assembly algorithms; (4) storing and processing all relevant examinee response data; (5) the large-scale distribution of "high-bandwidth" tests (e.g., multimedia, high-density audio video, or images); and (6) optimal ergonomic design of Web-based testing interfaces. Considering each of these challenges raises questions about the future of Web-based testing and supports the need for better education across many sectors of the Web-based testing community about the technical aspects of psychometrics and high-stakes testing needs. In addition, there must be adherence to standards and principles of professional practice and science.   [More]  Descriptors: Computer Assisted Testing, Computer Interfaces, Educational Technology, Elementary Secondary Education

Minaya-Rowe, Liliana, Ed. (2002). Teacher Training and Effective Pedagogy in the Context of Student Diversity. Research in Bilingual Education. This collection of papers includes nine chapters in three parts. Part 1, "Effective Practices in Teacher Training," offers: (1) "Research-Based Teaching Practices that Improve the Education of English Language Learners" (Hersh C. Waxman and Yolanda N. Padron); (2) "Relationship between Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs About Second Language Learning and Prior Experiences with Non-English Speakers" (Toni Griego Jones); (3) "Sheltered Spanish Instruction: Teachers of English Language Learners Learning in Their Students' First Language" (Liliana Minaya-Rowe and Ana Maria Olezza); and (4) "How Do Pre-Service Teachers Acquire and Use Professional Knowledge?" (Stephanie Stoll Dalton and Roland G. Tharp). Part 2, "Teacher Training and School Reform," includes: (5) "Trends in Staff Development for Bilingual Teachers" (Margarita Calderon); (6) "Rethinking School Reform in the Context of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Creating a Responsive Learning Community" (Eugene E. Garcia, Marco A. Bravo, Laurie M. Dickey, Katherine Chun, and Xiaoqin Sun-Irminger); and (7) "Evaluating the Effects of the Pedagogy for Improving Resiliency Program: The Challenges of School Reform in a High Stakes Testing Climate" (Yolanda N. Padron, Hersh C. Waxman, Robert A. Powers, and Ann P. Brown). Part 3, "Effective Teacher Training Models," includes: (8) "Models of Bilingual Teacher Preparation: What Has Worked at the University of Texas at El Paso" (Josefina Villamil Tinajero and Dee Ann Spencer) and (9) "Advancing the Professional Development of Beginning Teachers through Mentoring and Action Research" (Jack Levy, Lynn Shafer, and Kristy Dunlap). (Papers contain references.) Descriptors: Action Research, Beginning Teachers, Bilingual Teachers, Cultural Differences

English, Fenwick W.; Steffy, Betty E. (2001). Deep Curriculum Alignment: Creating a Level Playing Field for All Children on High-Stakes Tests of Educational Accountability. This report discusses deep curriculum alignment and is designed to serve as a practical guide to an educational strategy that embraces the philosophy of "what is tested is what is taught." Chapter 1 describes misconceptions and misuses of rhetoric about public education, popular myths about tests, and the nature of curriculum alignment. Chapter 2 describes the dynamics of the educational playing field embodied in the tensions between curriculum alignment and high-stakes testing. Chapter 3 considers practical ways of starting and developing the alignment process. Chapter 4 reviews three case studies of curriculum alignment; describes pedagogical parallelism which creates an alternative but parallel environment where students not only learn what is on a test but learn more; and lays out a practical step-by-step guide to implementing this environment. Chapter 5 discusses the problems involved with the current form of high-stakes accountability tests, positive trends in state assessment programs, the need for reasserting the primacy of curriculum in the testing debate, and problems involved with teaching social justice. It also considers the question whether colleges of education are contributors of solutions or problems to educational and institutional inflexibility. Chapters conclude with a list of key concepts, practical application guides, and lists of references. Descriptors: Accountability, Curriculum Development, Educational Change, Elementary Secondary Education