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

by Sadovnik; Alan R.

• ISBN13: 9780415955317
• ISBN10: 0415955319
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2007-08-22
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This collection presents the first-ever sociological analysis of the No Child Left Behind Act. More importantly, these leading sociologists consider whether NLCB can or will accomplish its major goal: to eliminate the achievement gap by 2014. Based on theoretical and empirical research, the articles examine the history of federal educational policy and place NCLB in a larger sociological and historical context, and take up a number of policy areas affected by the law, including accountability and assessment, curriculum and instruction, teacher quality, parental involvement, school choice and urban education. The book concludes with a discussion of the important contributions of sociological research and sociological analysis to understanding the limits and possibilities of the law to reduce the achievement gap.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Federal and State Educational Policy and NCLB
No Child Left Behind? Sociology Ignored!	p. 13
Accountability and Assessment
NCLB and the Complexity of School Improvement	p. 25
Double Standards for Graduation Rate Accountability? Or None?	p. 53
Who Counts for Accountability? High-Stakes Test Exemptions in a Large Urban School District	p. 77
Inside the Black Box of Accountability: How High-Stakes Accountability Alters School Culture and the Classification and Treatment of Students and Teachers	p. 97
Teaching and Teacher Quality
State Policy Activity under NCLB: Adequate Yearly Progress and Highly Qualified Teachers	p. 117
Professionalism under Siege: Teachers' Views of NCLB	p. 131
Teacher Quality, Educational Inequality, and the Organization of Schools	p. 153
Teaching Quality as a Problem of School Change	p. 177
School Choice and Parental Involvement
False Promises: The School Choice Provisions in NCLB	p. 203
When School Choice Leaves Many Children Behind: Implications for NCLB from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools	p. 227
Nonpromotional School Change and the Achievement of Texas Students: Possible Public School Choice Outcomes under NCLB	p. 243
Research Meets Policy and Practice: How Are School Districts Addressing NCLB Requirements for Parental Involvement?	p. 267
Getting Families Involved with NCLB: Factors Affecting Schools' Enactment of Federal Policy	p. 281
Federal Involvement, NCLB, and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap
Learning from Philadelphia's School Reform: The Impact of NCLB and Related State Legislation	p. 297
Can NCLB Close Achievement Gaps?	p. 323
Symbolic Uses of NCLB: Reaffirmation of Equality of Educational Opportunity or Delegitimization of Public Schools?	p. 343
Conclusion: Sociological Perspectives on NCLB and Federal Involvement in Education	p. 359
Contributors	p. 375
Index	p. 383
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