Holding NCLB Accountable

Gail L. Sunderman is a senior research associate in K–12 Education for the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. Her research focuses on educational policy and politics, and urban school reform, including the development and implementation of education policy and the impact of policy on the educational opportunities for at-risk students. At the Civil Rights Project, she is project director on a five-year study examining the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and is coauthor of the book, NCLB Meets School Realities: Lessons from the Field, also from Corwin Press. Prior research includes studies on the implementation of Title I schoolwide programs, governance reform in the Chicago Public Schools, and understanding institutional and organizational constraints on implementing school reform initiatives. Her work has appeared in Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, and Educational Researcher. She is a former Fulbright scholar and received her PhD in political science from the University of Chicago.

“An important contribution to the field.”

• AcknowledgmentsAbout the EditorAbout the ContributorsIntroductionPart I. NCLB and Accountability1. The Pending Reauthorization of NCLB: An Opportunity to Rethink the Basic Strategy - Daniel Koretz2. Toward a More Effective Definition of Adequate Yearly Progress - Robert L. Linn3. Beyond Standardization in School Accountability - Mindy L. Kornhaber4. Promises and Pitfalls: Implications of No Child Left Behind for Defining, Assessing, and Serving English Language Learners - Michael J. Kieffer, Nonie K. Lesaux, Catherine E. SnowPart II. Evidence on How NCLB Is Working5. Tracking Achievement Gaps and Assessing the Impact of NCLB on the Gaps: An In-Depth Look Into National and State Reading and Math Outcome Trends - Jaekyung Lee6. Evidence on Education Under NCLB (and How Florida Boosted NAEP Scores and Reduced the Race Gap) - Walter M. HaneyPart III. State Capacity to Implement NCLB7. Interstate Inequality in Educational Opportunity - Goodwin Liu8. Massive Responsibilities and Limited Resources: The State Response - Gail L. Sunderman, Gary Orfield9. Low-Performing Schools Programs and State Capacity Requirements: Meeting the NCLB Educational Goals - Heinrich MintropPart IV. NCLB: Impact on School Reform and Effects on Minority Students and Schools10. No Child Left Behind and High School Reform - Linda Darling-Hammond11. No Child Left Behind and Continuous School Improvement - Willis D. Hawley12. No Child Left Behind and Reforming the Nation’s Lowest-Performing High Schools: Help, Hindrance, or Unrealized Potential? - Robert Balfanz, Nettie Legters13. Reforming High Schools to Reduce Dropout Rates - Russell W. RumbergerConclusion - Gail L. SundermanIndex