Debate about the state of U.S. public schools heated up with the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001, better known as No Child Left Behind. The measure assesses every school’s performance through standardized testing of pupils in grades 3 through 8, and requires that alternatives be provided for students in schools judged inadequate.
We asked two experts for their perspectives on reform and this controversial policy. Terry Moe, chair of political science and a Hoover Institution senior fellow, is a member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education. Gerald W. Bracey, PhD ’67, is an independent education researcher in Alexandria, Va., and author of Reading Educational Research: How to Avoid Getting Statistically Snookered (Heinemann, 2006).
Check out the debate at Stanford Alumni Magazine’s website.