Civil Rights, Disabiity Groups Endorse "Multiple Measures" in NCLB Overhaul

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

Forum on Educational Accountability

http://www.edaccountability.org

for further information:
Dr. Hilda Crespo (ASPIRA) - (202) 835-3600, Ext. 114
Dr. LaRuth Gray (NABSE) - (212) 998-5137 or 212-998-5105
Dr. Deborah Ziegler (CEC) - (703) 264-9406
Dr. Monty Neill (FEA/FairTest) - (617) 864-4810

for immediate release Tuesday, August 7, 2007
CIVIL RIGHTS, DISABILITY ORGS. CALL FOR “MULTIPLE MEASURES”
IN “NO CHILD” OVERHAUL LEGISLATION;
FORUM ON EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY PRAISES GROUPS’ LETTER
AND REP. MILLER’S LEADERSHIP ON THIS ISSUE

Nearly two dozen major civil rights and disability advocacy groups today 
called on Congress to include “multiple forms of assessment” and 
“multiple measures or indicators of student progress” in legislation 
currently being drafted to overhaul the controversial “No Child Left 
Behind” (NCLB) federal education law. In a letter delivered to members 
of the Senate and House education committees, the groups wrote, “If 
education is to improve in the United States, schools must be assessed 
in ways that produce high-quality learning and that create incentives to 
keep students in school.”
Signers of the letter included the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), League of United Latin American 
Citizens (LULAC), Learning Disabilities Association of America, National 
Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE), ASPIRA Association, NAACP 
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Alliance for Bilingual 
Education, National Urban Alliance, Council for Exceptional Children 
(CEC), Civil Rights Project, Asian American Legal Defense and Education 
Fund, National Indian School Board Association and ACORN,
The groups’ letter continued, “A number of studies have found that an 
exclusive emphasis on (primarily multiple-choice) standardized test 
scores has narrowed the curriculum. An unintended consequence has been 
to create incentives for schools to boost scores by keeping or pushing 
low-scoring students out of school. Push-out incentives and the narrowed 
curriculum are especially severe for special needs students, English 
language learners, and students without strong family supports.”
Among the arguments made for including multiple measures:
* attention will be given to a comprehensive academic program and a more 
complete array of learning outcomes;
* higher-order thinking and performance skills can be assessed;
* checks and balances will be added to ensure that emphasizing one 
measure does not come at the expense of other important educational 
goals; and
* schools will be encouraged to attend to the progress of students at 
every point of the achievement spectrum, not just those near a test 
cut-point labeled “proficient.”
The letter concluded, “A multiple measures approach that incorporates a 
well-balanced set of indicators would support a shift toward holding 
states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes that 
improve student achievement. This is a necessary foundation for genuine 
accountability.”
The Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA), a group formed to advance 
the proposals made in the Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB (now 
signed by 138 national education, civil rights, religious, disability, 
parent, civic and labor organizations), praised the letter and cited a 
recent National Press Club speech by House Education Chairman George 
Miller as indicators of the wide support for making multiple measures of 
achievement an important part of any federal education law.
“Clearly, there is an emerging consensus that judging our schools 
largely on the basis of simple-minded reading and math tests undermines 
educational quality and equity," said FEA Chair, Dr. Monty Neill.
Two of the Joint Statement's principles explicitly support the use of 
multiple measures:
* “Provide a comprehensive picture of students' and schools' performance 
by moving from an overwhelming reliance on standardized tests to using 
multiple indicators of student achievement in addition to these tests.”
* “Help states develop assessment systems that include district and 
school-based measures in order to provide better, more timely 
information about student learning.”

The full list of organizations that have signed the letter: ACORN, 
Advancement Project, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, 
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, ASPIRA Association, Civil Rights 
Project, Council for Exceptional Children, Japanese American Citizens 
League, Justice Matters, League of United Latin American Citizens 
(LULAC), Learning Disabilities Association of America, National Alliance 
of Black School Educators (NABSE), National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), NAACP Legal Defense & Educational 
Fund, Inc., National Association for Asian Pacific American Education, 
National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), National 
Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian, and 
Vietnamese Americans (NAFEA), National Coalition of ESEA Title I 
Parents, National Council on Educating Black Children, National 
Federation of Filipino American Associations, National Indian Education 
Association, National Indian School Board Association, National Pacific 
Islander Educator Network (NPIEN), National Urban Alliance for Effective 
Education (NUA).

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* the full letter is available online at www.edaccountabilty.org 
<http://www.edaccountabilty.org/>