No Child Left Behind and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap

<p>This monumental collection presents the first-ever sociological analysis of the No Child Left Behind Act and its effects on children, teachers, parents, and schools. 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 essays examine the history of federal educational policy and place NCLB in a larger sociological and historical context. Taking 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—this book examines the effects of NCLB on different groups of students and schools and the ways in which school organization and structure affect achievement. No Child Left Behind concludes with a discussion of the important contributions of sociological research and sociological analysis integral to understanding the limits and possibilities of the law to reduce the achievement gap.</p> <p>Introduction <em>George Bohrnstedt and Jennifer O’ Day</em> <strong>Part 1: Federal and State Educational Policy and NCLB </strong>1. No Child Left Behind? Sociology Ignored! <em>David Karen</em> <strong>Part 2: Accountability and Assessment</strong> 2. NCLB and the Complexity of School Improvement <em>Jennifer O’Day</em> 3. Double Standards for Graduation Rate Accountability? Or None? <em>Christopher B. Swanson</em> 4. Who Counts for Accountability?: High-Stakes Test Exemptions in a Large Urban School District <em>Jennifer Booher-Jennings</em> and <em>Andrew Beveridge</em> 5. Inside the Black Box of Accountability: How High-Stakes Accountability Alters School Culture and the Classification and Treatment of Students and Teachers <em>Katie Weitz White</em> and <em>James Rosenbaum</em> <strong>Part 3: Teaching and Teacher Quality </strong>6. AIR, State Policy Activity under NCLB: Adequate Yearly Progress and Highly Qualified Teachers <em>Kerstin Carlson Le Floch</em> 7. Professionalism Under Siege: Teachers’ Views of the No Child Left Behind Act <em>Steven Brint and Sue Teele</em> 8. Teacher Quality: Educational Inequality and the Organization of Schools <em>Richard Ingersoll </em>9. Teaching Quality as a Problem of School Change <em>Joan Talbert </em>and<em> Milbrey McLaughlin</em> <strong>Part 4: School Choice and Parental Involvement </strong>10. False Promises: The School Choice Provisions in No Child Left Behind <em>Douglas Lee Lauen</em> 11. When School Choice Leaves Many Children Behind: Implications for NCLB from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools <em>Roslyn Arlin Mickelson</em> and <em>Stephanie Southworth</em> 12. Non-Promotional School Change and the Achievement of Texas Students: Possible Public School Choice Outcomes under No Child Left Behind <em>A. Gary Dworkin</em> and <em>Jon Lorence</em> 13. Research Meets Policy and Practice: How Are School Districts Addressing NCLB Requirements for Parental Involvement? <em>Joyce L. Epstein</em> 14. Getting Families Involved With NCLB: Factors Affecting Schools’ Enactment of Federal Policy <em>Steven B. Sheldon</em> <strong>Part 5: Federal Involvement, NCLB and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap </strong>15. Learning from Philadelphia’s School Reform: The Impact of NCLB and Related State Legislation <em>Elizabeth Useem</em> 16. Can NCLB Close Achievement Gaps? <em>David Armor</em> 17. Symbolic Uses of the "No Child Left Behind Act": Reaffirmation of Equality of Educational Opportunity or De-Legitimization of Public Schools? <em>Mary Haywood Metz </em>18. Conclusion: Sociological Perspectives on NCLB and Federal Involvement in Education <em>Alan R. Sadovnik, A.Gary Dworkin, Adam Gamoran, Maureen Hallinan</em> and <em>Janelle Scott</em> </p>