Educational Policy and School Reform Flashcards

Magnet schools in the US public school system are best described as:

Answer: Public schools with specialized programs or themes designed to attract students from across district boundaries

Magnet schools offer specialized curricula (e.g., STEM, arts, dual language) to attract diverse student populations voluntarily, originally developed as a tool to promote desegregation.

The role of the US Department of Education (USDE) in public K-12 education is primarily to:

Answer: Provide federal funding, set civil rights enforcement, and collect national education data, while leaving most governance to states

Education in the US is constitutionally a state responsibility; the USDE provides federal financial support, enforces civil rights laws, and collects national data but does not run schools directly.

Response to Intervention (RTI), now called Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), is a framework designed to:

Answer: Provide layered academic and behavioral support to all students, with increasing intensity for those who struggle

RTI/MTSS uses universal screening, evidence-based instruction at multiple tiers of intensity, and progress monitoring to identify and support struggling students early before they are referred for special education.

High-stakes testing in education refers to tests whose results are used to make:

Answer: Significant decisions such as grade promotion, graduation, school ratings, or teacher evaluation

High-stakes tests carry significant consequences for students, teachers, and schools, including grade retention, diploma denial, school sanctions, or teacher pay—raising questions about validity, equity, and test preparation.

Which federal legislation, originally passed in 1965, is the primary source of federal funding for disadvantaged K-12 students in the US?

Answer: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

The ESEA, signed by President Johnson as part of the Great Society, established the framework for federal K-12 investment and has been reauthorized multiple times (as NCLB in 2002 and ESSA in 2015).

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) primarily protects:

Answer: The privacy of student education records and gives parents rights to access and challenge those records

FERPA gives parents the right to access, review, and seek amendment of their children's education records, and restricts schools from disclosing records without parental consent.