Study Questions

  1. What is the No Child Left Behind Act? What does it require? Why it is so controversial?
  2. What did the 1983 report A Nation at Risk do to education reform movements?
  3. Who are the primary actors when it comes to running the nation's schools?
  4. What factors can lead to variation in the administration of state education policy?
  5. What are potential sources of conflict in regard to a community's local property taxes and school funding? What explains disparities in funding among school districts?
  6. What was the standards movement of the 1990s? Discuss key precipitating events.
  7. What are three alternatives to public schools?
  8. What is the difference between teachers unions and parents' groups? Provide examples of each. How these and other groups attempt to influence state education policy?