Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap: Lessons for "No Child Left Behind"

(Paperback)

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The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the latest in more than two decades of federal efforts to raise educational standards and an even longer stream of initiatives to improve education for poor children. What lessons can we draw from these earlier efforts to help NCLB achieve its goals In Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap, leading scholars in sociology, economics, psychology, and education policy take on this critical question.

Reviews

"This book is an excellent window on the possibilities and problems of NCLB. While it is too soon to be definitive about impact, the chapters in this book shed important light on the law's emerging effects. Most important, they do so thorough rigorous original analyses, demonstrating the various sources of data that can be mined to address NCLB's progress." Susan H. Furhman, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Some of the best analyses of issues related to NCLB yet attempted. The chapters represent evidence of a robust education research community willing and able to treat complex issues with scientific rigor and dispassion." Michael J. Feuer, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, The National Academies

"This volume should be required reading for everyone concerned about the impact of NCLB on student academic outcomes. The chapters provide important conceptual and empirical analyses that policymakers need to consider seriously when planning for the reauthorization of NCLB." Maureen T. Hallinan, University of Notre Dame

"Gamoran and a group of first-rate scholars address hard questions about whether and how standard-based reforms can reduce the achievement gap. They use cold eyes and hard data. All the answers are not in, but the analyses presented in this volume sharpen the debate and make you think about what is possible and what is not." Jane Hannaway, Education Policy Center, Urban Institute

" Standards-Based Reform and the Poverty Gap is an excellent resource for professors, administrators, teachers, and researchers interested in the area of education law and policies. The book is organized and designed to capture the important aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 while maintaining the focus on the role of NCLB has played on reducing the poverty gap." Laura Baylot Casey & Kay Reeves, Education Review

"In 1993, when the movement was in its infancy, Al Shanker predicted it would take decades to get standards-based reform right. Adam Gamoran's sober and even-handed edited volume will help guide legislators in the hard work of accomplishing that mission." Richard D. Kahlenberg, Teachers College Record

Author Bio

Adam Gamoran is professor of sociology and educational policy studies and director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study, co-edited with Yossi Shavit and Richard Arum (Stanford University Press, 2007).