America's Failing Schools: How Parents and Teachers Can Cope with No Child Left Behind

ISBN-13: 9780415951289 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 176 str.

James W. Popham; W. James Popham

Opis

Since June 2004, millions of parents and teachers across the United States have been receiving report cards in the mail alerting them that their local schools have "failed," For many Americans, this was the first introduction to President Bush's controversial No Child Left Behind legislation, which calls for expanded student testing, more stringent accountability requirements, and annual school-focused report cards at the state, district, and school levels. The legislation ties substantial federal funds for disadvantaged students--which many schools have already been receiving for almost four decades--to performance requirements dictated by the new legislation.
But are these report cards accurate? In America's "Failing" Schools, W. James Popham provides parents and teachers with explanations of No Child Left Behind as a whole, walking them through the implications for standardized testing in particular, in language that is uncomplicated and straightforward. Popham offers definitions of the law and its key terms, explanations of what it really means when a school is labeled "failing," and concrete suggestions for what can be done in response.
Because parents with children in failing schools will now have the rare option of transferring their children to other, non-failing schools, they will need to understand why a "failing" school may actually still be a good school. Similarly, the teachers and administrators at both failing and passing schools need to know whether their school's label was truly deserved, and how to bring about the changes required by the newlegislation.
Whether parent, teacher, administrator, or involved citizen, anyone concerned with the state of education in the U.S. will want to read America's "Failing" Schools.

Recenzje

"Popham's is as evenhanded a presentation as I've seen of the most important parts of NCLB. Indeed, Part I, which lays out the basic features of the law, is both clear and sensible--something that can't always be said for some of the law's requirements...Perhaps you don't find the prospect of professional reading an appealing one for whiling away those vacation hours at the seashore or in the mountains? Fair enough. Then get a copy of America's "Failing" Schools right now, and read it before you leave town. You won't regret it." -- Phi Delta Kappan
"This is a valuable resource for parents and teachers struggling to understand the new school-reform policy." -- Booklist
"This book is a wake-up call to the fact that the quality of state tests will determine how your schools will be labeled. The clarion call is clear--do not judge your school by No Child Left Behind--rather judge it by your child's experience. Test scores do not an education make." -- Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association
"Jim Popham's new book performs a vital service for educators, policy makers, journalists, and, critically, parents. He reminds us that the success or failure of the No Child Left Behind Act rests on having both good tests and good teaching and he arms readers with the knowledge they'll need to evaluate both. That he does so in a clear, convincing and entertaining style is a welcome bonus, unexpected in a book that conveys so much information." -- Richard Lee Colvin, Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, Teachers College, Columbia University
"What I really like about the approach Popham takes in this book is his straightforward framing of the issues. This allows those on both sides of the argument--proponents and opponents--to better ground the debate in information rather than perception, as is so often the case with such emotionally charged issues." -- Vicki Phillips, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education

Spis treści

Preface to the Paperback Edition Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: The No Child Left Behind Act 1. A Major Education Law's Testing Requirements 2. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP): Little Letters--Big Impact 3. Report Cards--And Sanctions Part Two: Educational Tests: The Heart of the Matter 4. Some Nuts and Bolts of Educational Testing 5. Measuring Temperature With a Tablespoon 6. Today's Standards-Based Tests 7. Instructionally Supportive Accountability Tests Part Three: Evaluating Schools 8. The Evidence Needed to Evaluate Schools 9. Student Affect 10. Determining a Particular School's Quality 11.Conclusion: What To Do Now? Additional Reading Notes

O autorze

W. James Popham is a nationally recognized expert on educational testing. For 30 years he taught courses at UCLA in instructional methods for prospective teachers, and courses in evaluation and measurement. He has written 20 books and more than 250 articles, reports, and papers on the subject.