by Jack Jennings | Feb 27, 2020 | academic standards, charter schools, common state standards, education research, Fatigued by School Reform: articles, interviews, and more, federal education policy, federal funding, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), private schools / vouchers / and other choice, school funding, teachers, tests / assessments
Fatigued by School Reform, by Jack Jennings After a half-a-century of school reform, a majority of Americans consider the public schools as worse today than when they attended school. Those reforms missed the mark because they were not focused on the...
by Jack Jennings | Sep 4, 2018 | academic standards, accountability, education research, federal education policy, federal funding, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), politics, school funding, teachers, tests / assessments
In December 2015, when President Barack Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — replacing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 — congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle breathed a deep sigh of relief. Not only had NCLB grown...
by Jack Jennings | Mar 4, 2017 | academic standards, accountability, advocating, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), tests / assessments
A Paper on the NAEP Long-Term Trend Assessments Prepared for the National Assessment Governing Board by Jack Jennings February 13, 2017. In this age of student testing mania, a strong justification should be required to initiate or continue any assessment. Edward...
by Jack Jennings | Feb 1, 2017 | advocating, charter schools, federal education policy, federal funding, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), private schools / vouchers / and other choice
During the campaign, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump promised to respect state and local control of public education. With his nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. secretary of education, President-elect Trump has tossed that promise aside, saying that she will...
by Jack Jennings | Jul 23, 2016 | federal education policy, federal funding, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), teachers
Should schools with student bodies primarily from low-income families spend less on the education of those children than is spent on the education of other students in the same school district? Of course not! That practice violates common sense norms of justice and...
by Jack Jennings | Jun 16, 2016 | accountability, federal education policy, federal funding, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), teachers, tests / assessments
Fifty Years of Federal Aid to Schools: Back into the Future? Jack Jennings* Excerpts from an article appearing in Volume 3 Education Law & Policy Review 2016 In 1965, the federal government began to provide major financial aid for education to states and local...
by Jack Jennings | Feb 13, 2016 | No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), teachers, tests / assessments
Higher education has a bone to pick with public schools. Too many high school graduates entering colleges and universities are not prepared for post-secondary education. That complaint is true enough, but the missing element is that lower education cannot improve...
by Jack Jennings | Jan 23, 2016 | accountability, children with disabilities, federal education policy, inner city schools, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), private schools / vouchers / and other choice, teachers, tests / assessments
John Thompson is a truth-teller. A Teacher’s Tale, his new book, honestly addresses the toughest issue in American education—how to improve urban schools impacted by concentrations of poor children. Thompson worked in higher education and then did legislative lobbying...
by Jack Jennings | Dec 20, 2015 | academic standards, accountability, common state standards, federal education policy, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), teachers, tests / assessments
No other federal law has generated more hostility from teachers and other educators than the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). That statute has been denounced for causing too much testing of school children, making teachers “teach to the test” to avoid penalties, and...
by Jack Jennings | Jul 15, 2015 | academic standards, accountability, common state standards, education research, federal education policy, federal funding, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), private schools / vouchers / and other choice, teachers, tests / assessments
Today, attention is on the Congress as it addresses changes to the No Child Left Behind Act. That action is overdue since the law expired eight years ago. But, it must be understood that congressional amendments are merely removing unpopular requirements, not creating...
