Standards and Accountability in Schools, Volume 9

Thomas J. Lasley, II is executive director of Learn to Earn Dayton at the Dayton Foundation and a professor at School of Education and Allied Professions at the University of Dayton. From 1998 until 2010, he served as dean at School of Education and Allied Professions, University of Dayton. He completed his baccalaureate (1969), master's (1972), and doctoral degree (1978) at the Ohio State University. Lasley has published in excess of 70 articles in professional journals and also has published a wide variety of op-eds in both regional and national newspapers (Education Week, Columbus Dispatch, and the Dayton Daily News). He has authored or coauthored 13 books. He was instrumental in helping cofound the Dayton Early College Academy, which is a unique educational partnership between the University of Dayton and the Dayton public schools, and was the first early college of its type in the state of Ohio. He serves on a variety of nonprofit boards or committees including Think TV Network (education chair), Dayton Digital Technology High School (president of the board), the United Theological Seminary (trustee), the Ohio College Access Network (chair), Young People Succeeding (co-champion), and The Ohio Early College Association (executive director).

Education of America's school children always has been and always will be a hot-button issue. From what should be taught to how to pay for education to how to keep kids safe in schools, impassioned debates emerge and mushroom, both within the scholarly community and among the general public. This volume in the point/counterpoint Debating Issues in American Education reference series tackles the topic of standards and accountability in schools. Fifteen to twenty chapters explore such varied issues as assessment (of students, of teachers), basic-skills testing, high-stakes exams, NCLB and its legacy, pay-for-performance, standard vs. alternative teacher certification, and more. Each chapter opens with an introductory essay by the volume editor, followed by point/counterpoint articles written and signed by invited experts, and concludes with Further Readings and Resources, thus providing readers with views on multiple sides of standards and accountability issues and pointing them toward more in-depth resources for further exploration.