This document summarizes the key topics discussed in a school reform project analyzing critical issues in education, including the achievement gap, accountability, standardized testing, and the No Child Left Behind Act. It discusses the pros and cons of these topics from the perspectives of teachers, students, and society. It also provides an individual teacher's perspective on the impacts and their plan for enacting positive changes in their school.

1. School Reform ProjectCritical Analysis of Schools and Educational PracticeESED 9132Spring 2010Cathy Griffin

2. Three Major IssuesClosing the Achievement Gap & No Child Left Behind Act AccountabilityStandardized Testing

3. Where’s the Gap?Between white and minority children.

4. NCLB Truths and Consequences

5. Is NCLB Legislation the Solution?Key Factors of Concern Regarding NCLB Legislation The goal has been set that by the year 2014 the achievement gap will no longer exist

6. High-stakes standardized testing has been implemented to monitor student achievement

7. Free tutoring must be offered by schools that do not meet NCLB standards.

8. Federal funding will be provided to support research-based teaching strategies

9. More choices for parents will be offered for students who attend schools that do not meet NCLB standards(No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 2001)

10. Pros, Cons & Alternatives of NCLB?Pros: Improved test scores since implementation

11. Decreases in achievement gap

12. Increases in highly qualified teachers

13. Additional testing has helped to identify low-performing students

14. Increases in the number of schools attaining AYP status.(Ramsay, 2008), (No Child Left Behind's 5th Anniversary, 2007), (Jehlen, 2007)

15. Pros, Cons & Alternatives of NCLB?Cons: Program funding is lacking each year

16. Multiple choice testing is the only measure of student performance

17. Since math and reading are the target areas, other subject areas are being neglected

18. Teachers are being forced to tech to the test

19. Educators are punished for working in high-risk schools

20. All students regardless of their native language or ability level are held to the same standards(Ramsay, 2008), (No Child Left Behind's 5th Anniversary, 2007), (Jehlen, 2007)

21. Pros, Cons & Alternatives of NCLB?Alternatives: Provide multiple assessment criteria to allow students to show mastery and achievement

22. Smaller class sizes

23. Support programs that encourage parental and community involvement

24. Acknowledge educators who show significant gains in student achievement(Ramsay, 2008), (No Child Left Behind's 5th Anniversary, 2007), (Jehlen, 2007)

25. Who Should Be Held Accountable?According to NCLB, schools are held accountable for making adequate yearly progress (AYP) based on guidelines created, and implemented by each individual state (Carey, 2007).

26. Pros, Cons & Alternatives ~ AccountabilityPros: Disaggregation of data by subgroups helps schools to center attention on problem areas

27. School systems are being forced to take a closer look at their low-performing students and design new programs to assist with closing the achievement gap

28. School systems are required to publish their accountability reports which keeps the community informed(Carey, 2007)

29. Pros, Cons & Alternatives ~ AccountabilityCons: Each state dictates what their standards should look like. If you live in Alabama versus Georgia, you have widely differing levels of student achievement criteria

30. Goals for student achievement are unrealistic given such a short time span

31. Schools showing huge gains may still be labeled as not making AYP

32. A small subgroup of students could possibly cause an entire school to not make AYP(Carey, 2007)

33. Pros, Cons & Alternatives ~ AccountabilityAlternatives: Instead of tracking students from one grade to the next longitudinally, a successive comparison. For example comparing 6th grade students from 2009 to 6th grade students from 2010 would be more informative (Linn, 2005).

34. Standardize minimum requirements for state standards

35. Create attainable goals

36. Create accountability measures that include achievement gains.(Carey, 2007)

37. Standardized Testing as the ONLY Determining Factor in Student Achievement.Definition: “Standardized Test – a form of measure that has been normed against a specific population” (A Glossary of Measurement Terms, ERIC Digest, 1989)

38. Pros, Cons & Alternatives ~ Standardized TestingPros: Great tool for teachers to use to guide their instruction