forum

The Future of School Boards
Agents of reform or defenders of the status quo?

Steering a True Course
Agents of reform or defenders of the status quo?
By Sarah C. Glover

Lost at Sea
Time to jettison one of the chief obstacles to reform: the local school board
By Lisa Graham Keegan and Chester E. Finn Jr.

check the facts

Reframing the Mind
Howard Gardner and the theory of multiple intelligences
By Daniel T. Willingham

features

Where the Rubber Meets the Road
School districts confront the challenges of rolling out No Child Left Behind’s school choice and supplemental services provisions

One Child at a Time
An inside look at one city’s efforts to offer families the opportunities promised by No Child Left Behind
By William G. Howell

Driving Change
A progress report on urban school districts’ efforts to execute the mandates of No Child Left Behind
By Michael Casserly

Putting Parents in Charge
Pell Grants for Kids
By Lamar Alexander

The Waiting Game
Will school districts hire New Leaders?
By Alexander Russo

The British Experience
School reform, hijacked
By Christopher Woodhead

research

With Strings Attached
Vouchers improve public schools in Florida
By Richard Briffault

Competition Passes the Test
Vouchers improve public schools in Florida
By Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters

whatever happened to...

Portfolio Assessment
Can it be used to hold schools accountable?
By Jay Mathews

from the editors

What Mandates?
It’s been said, more than once, that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a mandate that the federal government has failed to fund. Not true, in either respect. The law is neither unfunded nor, with one exception, much of a mandate.

book reviews

Equally Mediocre
Final Test: The Battle for Adequacy in America’s Schools by Peter Schrag
By William A. Fischel

Quality Curricula
Public Education as a Business: Real Costs and Accountability by Myron Lieberman & Charlene K. Haar
By Michael Podgursky

Book Alert
Common Sense School Reform; The War Against Excellence; Mayors in the Middle; The New Accountability: High Schools and High-Stakes Testing; Political Education: National Policy Comes of Age

school life

Faith in the Law
The Supreme Court upholds religious discrimination
By Joshua Davey