No Child Left Behind and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap Sociological Perspectives on Federal Educational Policy

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

George Bohrnstedt and Jennifer O’ Day

Part I: Federal and State Educational Policy and NCLB

1. No Child Left Behind? Sociology Ignored!

David Karen

Part II. Accountability and Assessment

1. NCLB and the Complexity of School Improvement

Jennifer O’Day

1. Double Standards for Graduation Rate Accountability? Or None?

Christopher B. Swanson

2. Who Counts for Accountability?: High-Stakes Test Exemptions in a Large Urban School District

Jennifer Booher-Jennings and Andrew Beveridge

3. Inside the Black Box of Accountability: How High-Stakes Accountability Alters School Culture and the Classification and Treatment of Students and Teachers

Katie Weitz White and James Rosenbaum

Part III. Teaching and Teacher Quality

6. AIR, State Policy Activity under NCLB: Adequate Yearly Progress and Highly Qualified Teachers

Kerstin Carlson Le Floch

7. Professionalism Under Siege: Teachers’ Views of the No Child Left Behind Act

Steven Brint and Sue Teele

8. Teacher Quality: Educational Inequality and the Organization of Schools

Richard Ingersoll

9. Teaching Quality as a Problem of School Change

Joan Talbert and Milbrey McLaughlin

Part IV. School Choice and Parental Involvement

1. False Promises: The School Choice Provisions in No Child Left Behind

Douglas Lee Lauen

11. When School Choice Leaves Many Children Behind: Implications for NCLB from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Roslyn Arlin Mickelson and Stephanie Southworth

1. Non-Promotional School Change and the Achievement of Texas Students: Possible Public School Choice Outcomes under No Child Left Behind

A. Gary Dworkin and Jon Lorence

13. Research Meets Policy and Practice: How Are School Districts Addressing

NCLB Requirements for Parental Involvement?

Joyce L. Epstein

14. Getting Families Involved With NCLB: Factors Affecting Schools’ Enactment of Federal Policy

Steven B. Sheldon

Part V. Federal Involvement, NCLB and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap

15. Learning from Philadelphia’s School Reform: The Impact of NCLB and Related State Legislation

Elizabeth Useem

16. Can NCLB close achievement gaps?

David Armor

17. Symbolic Uses of the "No Child Left Behind Act": Reaffirmation of Equality of Educational Opportunity or De-Legitimization of Public Schools?

Mary Haywood Metz

18. Conclusion: Sociological Perspectives on NCLB and Federal Involvement in Education

Alan R. Sadovnik, A.Gary Dworkin, Adam Gamoran, Maureen Hallinan and Janelle Scott

Contributors

Index

Biography

Alan R. Sadovnik is Professor of Education, Sociology, and Public Affairs at Rutgers University.

Jennifer A. O'Day is Managing Research Scientist and Policy Analyst in the Education Program at the American Institute for Research.

George W. Bohrnstedt is Senior Vice President for Research at the American Institute for Research.

Kathryn M. Borman is Professor of Anthropology at University of South Florida.

Reviews

Kris Sloan, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University and Assistant Editor, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy

I solidly, even strongly recommend that Routledge consider publish this collection. I would most definitely purchase this book and would encourage others to as well.

Kristen Buras, Assistant Professor University of Wisconsin, Madison

The book has the potential to make a significant contribution to the field. It would likely

be the most comprehensive volume to date.

Catherine A. Lugg, Associate Professor Rutgers University

The book is exquisitely timely. To be frank, it’s need as of yesterday. And it’s shelf life should be pretty good, given the target date of 2014 established by NCLB. The book should have a great shelf-life, extending past that date. . . . I STRONGLY recommend this book for publication. It’s timely and should remain so, and fills a critical hole in the research literature.