features

Games Charter Opponents Play
How local school boards—and their allies—block the competition
By Joe Williams

Courtroom Alchemy
Adequacy advocates turn guesstimates into gold
By James W. Guthrie and Matthew G. Springer

New Leaders for Troubled Schools
Jacquelyn Davis works with D.C.'s education bureaucracy
By Tyler Currie

Learning Facts
The brave new world of data-informed instruction
By Julie Landry Petersen

Preschool Is School, Sometimes
Making early childhood education matter
By Robert C. Pianta

forum

The NCLB Restruct-a-tron
Does the law's great big machine for overhauling schools produce anything worthwhile?

Easy Way Out
"Restructured" usually means little has changed
By Sara Mead

Charters as a Solution?
So far, states and districts have opted for anything but
By Nelson Smith

research

Photo Finish
Teacher Certification Doesn't Guarantee a Winner
By Thomas J. Kane, Jonah E. Rockoff and Douglas O. Staiger

Judging Money
When courts decide how to spend taxpayer dollars
By Josh Dunn and Martha Derthick

check the facts

The NCES Private-Public School Study
Findings are other than they seem
By Paul E. Peterson and Elena Llaudet

from the editors

Misdirected Energy
Schools get an A in resisting reform.
By Michael J. Petrilli

the legal beat

Affirmative Action Docketed
The Supreme Court takes up race-based school assignment
By Josh Dunn and Martha Derthick

correspondence

Readers Respond
Teacher Gender; Hope in New Orleans; Miracle Math; PE in Schools; Newark's Cory Booker; National Standards

book reviews

The Triumph of Look-Say
Dumbing-down reading instruction
By Diane Ravitch

The "Crits" Capture Presidential Power
Top Education researchers denounce scientific research
By Nathan Glazer

Book Alert

what next

No Business Like Show Business
Hollywood and Hip-Hop Discover Charter Schools
By Michael J. Petrilli

school life

Reflections on the One-Room Schoolhouse
If children showed any aptitude and ambition for learning, they were not hampered by restrictions [or] rules
By Polly Pope Hirsch