Center on Ed. Policy Report

[Sue Allison <sueallison@comcast.net>]

Just finished watching a Center on Education Policy press conference live on C-SPAN.  They'll probably replay it throughout the day.  It was about a new baseline study on state's implementation of NCLB.  You can download the full report from their homepage  http://cep-dc.org/ .   Jack Jennings was pretty feisty today!   Lots of pounding on the podium about the Bush administrations broken promises.   How can the Fed's demand 100% accountability for 7 cents on the dollar - was one of his remarks.  Naomi Chudowsky made some great remarks about how ridiculous it is to expect and demand steady and constant adequate yearly progress, given that tests are blunt instruments with measurement error and that school populations change from year to year, and that any number of other things (outside distractions) could affect test scores.   Jennings was particularly interesting when he was complaining that the Feds were not going to supply the resources to implement all the provisions - he said when we go to war we know how to put a plan in place - buying the equipment, setting up bases, etc., but when it comes to education we don't understand!   Naomi also got a question about whether they were seeing a narrowing of curriculum to only the NCLB areas, and she said that states were already starting to shift resources and focus.  Jennings recommended that our leaders and the Dept. of Ed. ought to tone down the rhetoric, and after a year might want to consider substantive changes in the law, especially with regard to AYP.   And I got all this while juggling two girls with stomach flu!   

Sue Allison