This collection presents the first-ever sociological analysis of the No Child Left Behind Act. More importantly, these leading sociologists consider whether NLCB can or will accomplish its major goal: to eliminate the achievement gap by 2014.

Introduction George Bohrnstedt and Jennifer O' Day Part 1: Federal and State Educational Policy and NCLB 1. No Child Left Behind? Sociology Ignored! David Karen Part 2: Accountability and Assessment 2. NCLB and the Complexity of School Improvement Jennifer O'Day 3. Double Standards for Graduation Rate Accountability? Or None? Christopher B. Swanson 4. Who Counts for Accountability?: High-Stakes Test Exemptions in a Large Urban School District Jennifer Booher-Jennings and Andrew Beveridge 5. Inside the Black Box of Accountability: How High-Stakes Accountability Alters School Culture and the Classification and Treatment of Students and Teachers Katie Weitz White and James Rosenbaum Part 3: Teaching and Teacher Quality 6. AIR, State Policy Activity under NCLB: Adequate Yearly Progress and Highly Qualified Teachers Kerstin Carlson Le Floch 7. Professionalism Under Siege: Teachers' Views of the No Child Left Behind Act Steven Brint and Sue Teele 8. Teacher Quality: Educational Inequality and the Organization of Schools Richard Ingersoll 9. Teaching Quality as a Problem of School Change Joan Talbert and Milbrey McLaughlin Part 4: School Choice and Parental Involvement 10. False Promises: The School Choice Provisions in No Child Left Behind Douglas Lee Lauen 11. When School Choice Leaves Many Children Behind: Implications for NCLB from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Roslyn Arlin Mickelson and Stephanie Southworth 12. Non-Promotional School Change and the Achievement of Texas Students: Possible Public School Choice Outcomes under No Child Left Behind A. Gary Dworkin and Jon Lorence 13. Research Meets Policy and Practice: How Are School Districts Addressing NCLB Requirements for Parental Involvement? Joyce L. Epstein 14. Getting Families Involved With NCLB: Factors Affecting Schools' Enactment of Federal Policy Steven B. Sheldon Part 5: Federal Involvement, NCLB and the Reduction of the Achievement Gap 15. Learning from Philadelphia's School Reform: The Impact of NCLB and Related State Legislation Elizabeth Useem 16. Can NCLB Close Achievement Gaps? David Armor 17. Symbolic Uses of the "No Child Left Behind Act": Reaffirmation of Equality of Educational Opportunity or De-Legitimization of Public Schools? Mary Haywood Metz 18. Conclusion: Sociological Perspectives on NCLB and Federal Involvement in Education Alan R. Sadovnik, A.Gary Dworkin, Adam Gamoran, Maureen Hallinan and Janelle Scott