Support letter for Nebraska assessment system

["Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>]

Below is a support letter for the Nebraska assessment system sent to Secretary Spellings, Deputy Sec. Simon and Asst. Sec. Johnson. FairTest will also send regular letters to them. We cc'd the email version to the list at the end. 

I hope more people will send a letter - copy as much of the one below as you like. Other organizations have also agreed to send similar letters.

If you choose to send a letter, the email addresses are at the start of the letter - but in case they do not come through or you prefer to send regular mail or fax, I attach at the end of this message contact information. 

Thanks,

Monty Neill 

Thanks for doing this - and please do try to get the letter out today or early next week - folks in NE are hopeful that people will send soon.

Monty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Monty Neill 
To: Henry.Johnson@ed.gov ; Ray.Simon@ed.gov ; Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov 
Cc: Roschewski, Pat ; Christensen, Doug ; rraikes@unicam.state.ne.us ; Gov.heineman@gov.ne.gov ; erin.duncan@mail.house.gov ; caroline.baird@mail.house.gov ; jocelyn.bond@mail.house.gov ; jill_konz@hagel.senate.gov ; amy_tejral@bennelson.senate.gov 
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 2:12 PM
Subject: Nebraska assessment system




FairTest 

National Center for Fair & Open Testing, Inc.

 

August 11, 2006

 

Margaret Spellings

Secretary of Education

Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov

 

Ray Simon, Deputy Secretary  
Ray.Simon@ed.gov 

Dr. Henry Johnson, Assistant Secretary 
Henry.Johnson@ed.gov

 

Dear Secretary Spellings, Deputy Secretary Simon, and Assistant Secretary Johnson:

 

The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, Inc., (FairTest) strongly supports  the efforts of the state of Nebraska to craft a superior assessment system and opposes the unreasonable efforts of the U.S. Department of Education to derail that system. 

 

By claiming Nebraska's system is not in compliance with federal law, the Department is potentially undermining one of the nation's strongest efforts to make assessment serve teaching and learning and is thereby undermining the quality of education. Ironically, the Department itself has elsewhere recognized that Nebraska's assessment system provides a model for the 21st century. 

 

Nebraska is alone among states in using local assessments to measure student progress. Many of these assessments have been designed by teachers, with the support of administrators, school boards and local communities. They have been carefully reviewed and approved by some of the nation's leading measurement experts. The process of engaging classroom educators has led to steady improvement in the quality of  assessment. It has also produced stronger knowledge on the part of teachers on how to use high-quality assessment to improve student learning. 

 

FairTest is among the 87 education, civil rights, religious and other civic organizations that have signed the Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind. The Statement expresses our shared concern that under NCLB, states are "over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning." Nebraska is avoiding this problem by involving teachers and using local assessments based on actual curriculum.. 

 

The Statement also notes that NCLB's "emphasis needs to shift from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes that improve student achievement." With its focus on professional development and use of local assessment to improve learning, Nebraska is an important model for the nation.

 

We are aware that Nebraska has recently submitted additional data and provided a timeline for meeting the Department's additional requirements, many of which were not made clear to Nebraska until after the Department's own deadlines for providing information to the state had passed. We trust that the submissions and timeline Nebraska has submitted will suffice.  

 

We recognize that the Department has indicated that the right of Nebraska to have a state system of local assessments is not in question. However, we are deeply concerned that the practical effect of the Department's challenge to Nebraska will be to make it more difficult for that state to proceed in healthy ways to strengthen its system. 

 

We believe the Department must act to support Nebraska's STARS program, rather than take steps that undermine it. We call on you to accept, without penalty, Nebraska's system. The Department should further consider using Nebraska as a national model to be learned from and emulated, and should provide assistance to other states to move in directions similar to Nebraska's. 

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Monty Neill, Ed.D.

Executive Director

monty@fairtest.org

 

Cc:

Sen. Ben Nelson

Sen. Chuck Hagel
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry 
Rep. Lee Terry 
Rep. Tom Osborne
Gov. Dave Heineman
Sen. Ron Raikes, Chair, Education Committee, Nebraska Legislature 

Commissioner Doug Christensen, Nebraska Department of Education

Dr. Pat Roschewski, Director of Statewide Assessment



This letter is also being sent by regular mail to Sec. Spellings, Deputy Sec. Simon, and Asst. Sec. Johnson. 



CONTACT LIST - NCLB & Nebraska

Margaret Spellings, Secretary 
United States Department of Education 
202-401-0048 (fax) 
202-205-0310 (fax) 
Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov 

Ray Simon, Deputy Secretary 
U.S. Department of Education 
Ray.Simon@ed.gov 

Dr. Henry Johnson, Assistant Secretary 
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education 
U.S. Department of Education 
202-260-7764 (fax) 
202-205-0310 (fax) 
Henry.Johnson@ed.gov 



All above can be mailed to:

400 Maryland Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20202

Nebraska Congressional Delegation: 
amy_tejral@bennelson.senate.gov (Ben Nelson) 
        202-228-0012 (fax) 
jill_konz@hagel.senate.gov (Chuck Hagel) 
        202-224-5213 (fax) 
jocelyn.bond@mail.house.gov (Jeff Fortenberry) 
        202-225-5686 (fax) 
caroline.baird@mail.house.gov (Lee Terry) 
        202-226-5452 (fax) 
erin.duncan@mail.house.gov (Tom Osborne) 
        202-226-1385 (fax) 

Dave Heineman, Governor 
State of Nebraska 
Gov.heineman@gov.ne.gov 
        402-471-6031 (fax) 

Senator Ron Raikes, Chair 
Education Committee 
Nebraska Legislature 
rraikes@unicam.state.ne.us 
        (no fax)

 

Doug Christensen

Nebraska Commissioner of Education

doug.christensen@nde.ne.gov 

 

Pat Roschewski

Director of Statewide Assessment
Nebraska Department of Education 

pat.roschewski@nde.ne.gov