America's Failing Schools

Since June 2004, millions of parents and teachers across the United States have been receiving report cards in the mail alerting them that their local schools have "failed." For many Americans, this was the first introduction to President Bush's controversial "No" "Child Left Behind" legislation, which calls for expanded student testing, more stringent accountability requirements, and annual school-focused report cards at the state, district, and school levels. The legislation ties substantial federal funds for disadvantaged students--which many schools have already been receiving for almost four decades--to performance requirements dictated by the new legislation.But are these report cards accurate? "In America's "Failing" Schools," W. James Popham provides parents and teachers with explanations of "No Child Left Behind" as a whole, walking them through the implications for standardized testing in particular, in language that is uncomplicated and straightforward. Popham offers definitions of the law and its key terms, explanations of what it really means when a school is labeled "failing," and concrete suggestions for what can be done in response.Because parents with children in failing schools will now have the rare option of transferring their children to other, non-failing schools, they will need to understand why a "failing" school may actually still be a good school. Similarly, the teachers and administrators at both failing and passing schools need to know whether their school's label was truly deserved, and how to bring about the changes required by the new legislation.Whether parent, teacher, administrator, or involved citizen, anyone concerned with the state ofeducation in the U.S. will want to read "America's "Failing" Schools."