Frank Brown - Böcker

Urban education is the primary target of the school reform movement and remains the most difficult to assess and repair. The crisis in urban school systems mirrors many of the problems found in big cities - poor economic conditions for schools and families, personnel shortages and high turnover rates, improper facilities and materials, and political struggles over issues of structure and control. This book analyses the problems affecting urban schools and their students and the efforts that have been made to make these schools more accountable and effective. This book is organized in three parts. Part one provides an overview of many of the issues facing urban school districts, their students and their communities including meeting the needs of racially, ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse populations, financing schools located in economically disadvantaged areas, and attracting and maintaining qualified teachers and administrators. Part two examines the impact demands for increased accountability and equity influence urban education reform. The issues discussed in this section include academic standards and high stakes testing, technology and the digital divide, the role of leadership and impact of teacher shortages, and school finance and public policy. Part three focuses on strategies developed to reform and improve urban school systems. These chapters examine federal education policy, the impact of school choice and related issues such as privatization and vouchers, the influence of community involvement, and state sponsored reform and reorganization efforts.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is designed to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and disadvantaged children through its Title I program. Title I provides disadvantaged students with compensatory education. Only Title I schools are required to meet NCLB accountability guidelines but some states apply federal accountability guidelines to non-Title I schools; and states must separate achievement test scores by racial subgroups. The book explores models to achieve equity in Title I schools. The authors define what is required of states in Title I schools. The NCLB guidelines are flexible: states may confine their accountability involvement to Title I schools only and limit the number of Title I schools in their state; states may establish their own standardized tests and establish their own racial subgroups. The authors examine how each state reacts and implements NCLB accountability standards, and challenges to these guidelines in the courts and in the body politics by states. The text examines the achievements of NCLB, and the implications of the Act. The text also reviews implications for a larger immigrant population that did not exist in 1965 when Title I was originally enacted by Congress; and the impact of globalization the educational needs of the country. It explores models to achieve equity under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.