The effort to improve the quality, methods, and purpose of elementary and secondary schooling in the United States is known as education reform. This movement traces its origins to the inception of public schools—almost 150 years before the founding of the nation—and has both reflected and led social change in the United States. Americans widely agree that schools play an essential role in shaping the nation's future but disagree about education-related issues ranging from assimilation of immigrants and opportunity for the poor to the role of the federal government and the constitutional rights of parents and children. Today the debates on education reform center on teacher preparation and incentives, standardized testing, charter schools, homeschooling, school choice, class size, and discipline. As the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reaches its 10-year anniversary, Americans are evaluating its nationwide impact on standards, accountability, curriculum, and failing schools.
Education Reform, Revised Edition examines these and other complex issues surrounding this timely issue. Clear and logically organized, this revised volume helps students and researchers define, understand, and research this important topic.
Coverage includes:
Current developments regarding teacher incentives, curriculum standards, standardized tests, and homeschooling
The goals and requirements of "Race to the Top," a $5 billion education grant program rolled out as part of the Obama administration's Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Extracts from documents such as The Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education (1918), A Nation at Risk (1983), the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, and the U.S. Secretary of Education's overview of key policy provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act (2002)
A concise survey of the events and major debates surrounding education reform in the United States, from earliest influences through the present
Up-to-date statistics on charter school enrollment and operations.

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