Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

What a week! The Alliance hosted Dr. Eugene Hickok, who spoke in various venues across the state. Dr. Hickok served six years as Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Education before serving as Undersecretary and Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education between 2001 and 2005.

Lindalyn Kakadelis
Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

Debate about No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB) accountability provisions continues to simmer as Congress embarks on the law’s lengthy reauthorization process. Passed five years ago as President George W. Bush’s signature education legislation, NCLB has struggled mightily under the weight of high expectations.

Lindalyn Kakadelis
News

NCLB Report Cards Raise Questions

RALEIGH — A review of student performance data reported by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction raises questions about how well the state is doing in reaching the No Child Left Behind Act’s ultimate goal of having all pupils performing at proficiency or higher by 2014.

Karen McMahan
Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

It’s common consensus in the business world that mixing high expectations with low control is a recipe for toxic job stress. There’s no faster way to burn out employees than to judge workers by a fixed set of outcomes, giving them little flexibility to get the job done.

Lindalyn Kakadelis

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Opinion

Lindalyn’s Journal

Science fiction novelist William Gibson once said, “The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet.” The same could be said of many innovative ideas in education reform. They’re here, and they’re working; but if the education establishment has its way, you probably don’t know about them yet.

Lindalyn Kakadelis
Opinion

How states inflate NCLB progress

WASHINGTON, DC — Critics have charged that NCLB tramples states' rights by imposing a federally mandated, one-size-fits-all accountability system on the nation's states and schools. In truth, NCLB gives states wide discretion to define what students must learn.

Lindalyn Kakadelis
Opinion

NCLB: Transfers at the Margin

The federal "No Child Left Behind" law (NCLB) is creating some unwanted consequences for high-performing schools. Even though only a tiny fraction of the children eligible to transfer to a better school under NCLB have done so, reports say that the effects are beginning to be felt.

Dr. Karen Y. Palasek
Opinion

Does Highly Qualified Mean High-Quality?

ALEXANDRIA, VA — While national attention has been riveted on the accountability provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), few in the education community have focused on what matters most to ensure that all students make adequate yearly progress—a high-quality teacher. Research tells us what educators have long known: teaching quality is the essential component to raising student achievement.