Re: Good Article on NCLB Overhaul Proposals

[aburke5054@aol.com]

 Notice that it's always "the law doesn't do what it is supposed to do" and not "we are not doing what we are supposed to do." Funny how that works, isn't it?
 
 Art 
   
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 From: bobschaeffer@earthlink.net
 To: arn-l@interversity.org; arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com; rethinkaccountdc@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 9:09 AM
 Subject: [arn-l] Good Article on NCLB Overhaul Proposals
 
  Sorry for multiple postings this morning, but this article does an excellent job summarizing the Forum on Educational Accountability's proposals to overhaul NCLB with strong quotes from the NAACP, PTA and two local supers.
 
 
 GROUPS TEAM UP IN FIGHT TO CHANGE EDUCATION LAW
 Danbury (CT) News-Times -- January 8, 2006
 by Eileen FitzGerald
 
  A coalition of 100 groups, representing a variety of interests from civil rights to parenting, want Congress to make substantive changes to the federal education reform law known as No Child Left Behind when it reauthorizes the bill this year. The coalition, known as the Forum on Educational Acountability, or FEA, have signed a joint statement to advance its goal. From the National Education Association, the nation's largest teacher's union, to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, they recognize the NCLB law has merit in making public education accountable for reaching all students and in striving to close achievement gaps. But the coalition criticizes the law for overemphasizing standardized testing, which risks narrowing what material is taught; using sanctions that do not help schools improve; and being inadequately funded.  "As time goes by and we've seen the pressure it has placed on schools, now you have mindful educators seeing that there are some inherent problems that can hurt rather than help kids,'' Danbury associate superintendent William Glass said Friday.   "This is not fringe element. These are very solid, credible organizations that are saying the emperor is not wearing any clothes." No Child Left Behind was passed in 2002 as a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, with a focus on demonstrating that students were making progress.  Its goal was that every child should read, write, add and subtract at grade level, no matter what his or her background.  The law measures student success and holds schools accountable for their results. It was meant especially to reach children in the inner cities, in rural America, and in special education. Black leaders were among the more vocal supporters of the law initially, since many black children fare poorly in public schools around the country.   "I think it is important that you have so many different organizations, with many different areas of focus, who recognize the common importance of reforming No Child Left Behind," said Michael Wotorson, the national education director for the NAACP.   "The concept remains a good one. But in order to properly serve the community, the federal government needs to provide better tools, better direction and to provide funds that cover the costs that the states are going to incur." When Connecticut sued the federal government for not funding NCLB fully, the Connecticut chapter of the NAACP opposed the lawsuit. Wotorson said his group did not want Connecticut educators to ignore the law because it was not fully funded, since it would put black children at a further disadvantage.  For instance, the law requires teachers to be highly qualified, yet the poorest districts, or those with the largest enrollment of minority students, often have the least experienced teachers. Wotorson said this was a good time for unity. "I think we're at an important moment in our history. There is an openness in this administration now to take a look at this and there was not this openness before.   "There is increasing recognition that there are problems with the law and that the nuts and bolts need adjustment,'' Wotorson said.  The U.S. Department of Education's Web site outlines some of the law's successes:
  - In reading, 9-year-olds made larger gains in the past five years than at any point in the previous 28 years.
 - In math, 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds earned the highest scores in the history of the test used.
 - In both reading and math, black and Hispanic students are scoring higher and are beginning to close the achievement gap with their white peers.
 
 Glass, who has 35 years' experience as an educator, said the achievement gap has become his biggest concern
 
 Even in Danbury, which has shown successes in improving the scores of minority students, there remain large gaps between the performance of Hispanics and those of white and Asian students. Glass said some there are glaring problems with implementation of the law, and even parents of children with special needs and black leaders no longer believe the law does what it needs to do. One example of the law's shortcoming is that while each state can use its own test to measure student progress, the law uses one set of sanctions for all schools that don't measure up.  Schools giving a more rigorous test face sanctions, even though their children could easily succeed in another state with an easier test. Glass said another primary issue is the shortfall in funding the law. The coalition reported that the federal government has given out $55 billion less than Congress authorized since the law was first enacted.  "It's ludicrous that the law holds everyone accountable but keeps taking resources away,'' Glass said. Newtown assistant superintendent Alice Jackson said she couldn't predict what would happen politically with the law's reauthorization, but she said as the law stands it guarantees failure for almost all schools by 2013, when all children are expected to be proficient. When students in a school don't reach proficiency in high enough numbers over time, the federal government will give their parents the choice of sending them to private schools with federal funds. Private schools, however, are not held to the same academic standards as public schools.  "I believe we need to do the very best we can to see that students perform at their very best level," Jackson said. "I'm not sure the way the law is set up is most effective for the state of Connecticut, though it could be for states were a lot of kids are not proficient.'' Marne Usher, vice president of legislation for the Connecticut Parent Teacher Association, said the law has been the subject of conversation every time the group discusses federal legislation.  She said PTA members also talk to state legislators to see what can be changed. The National PTA has signed the forum's joint statement.  "I think people are starting to see that the overarching idea (of NCLB) is absolutely correct, but the devil is in the details,'' Usher said. "We need to make sure we're helping schools do the job they need do   Recommendations
 
 - Replace proficiency targets with those based on the most effective public schools.
 - Allow states to measure progress by using students' improvement as well their test results.
 - Use more than standardized tests to indicate student progress so there is a comprehensive picture of student achievement.
 - Fund research and development of more effective accountability systems. - Help states develop systems to provide more timely information about student learning
 - Decrease testing. Allow states to assess students in selected grades in elementary, middle and high school.
 - Ensure that changes in teacher and administration preparation programs and ongoing training really increase knowledge and skills.
 - Ensure improvement plans are allowed enough time to take hold before applying sanctions.
 - Replace sanctions that don't have a record of success with interventions that help schools make effective changes.
 - Raise the authorized levels of funding to cover the costs that states and districts have to comply with the law without reducing expenditures for other programs, and fully fund Title 1 grants for the neediest students.
 
 
  
   
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