100 Signers to Joint Statement on NCLB - news release

[monty@fairtest.org]

  _FORUM ON EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY_

                                                      
                 for further information:

                                                     Monty Neill  
(FairTest)                                   (617) 864-4810

                                                     Michael T. S.  
Wotorson (NAACP)               (410) 580-5614

                                                     Jan Resseger  
(United Church of Christ)      (216) 308-9611

                                                     Reggie Felton  
(School Boards)                      (703) 838-6722 

                                                     Joel Packer  
(NEA)                                        (202) 822-7329   

             

  for release Wednesday, January 3, 2007

  100 NATIONAL EDUCATION, CIVIL RIGHTS, RELIGIOUS & DISABILITY GROUPS

  CALL FOR OVERHAUL OF FEDERAL?NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND? LAW;

  URGE REPLACING FAILED TEST-SCORE SANCTIONS WITH SYSTEMATIC REFORMS

  TO IMPROVE SCHOOL QUALITY AND CLOSE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS

          As the fifth anniversary of the ?No Child Left Behind? law  
draws near, 100 national civil rights, education, disability advocacy,  
and religious groups have signed on to a ?Joint Organizational  
Statement? calling for major changes in federal education legislation.  
The statement urges that ?the law?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.? The number of organizations signing the  
statement has nearly quadrupled since it was launched in late 2004.

         The Joint Statement outlines 14 recommended changes to NCLB  
including:

              - Replace over-reliance on standardized tests with the  
use of multiple achievement measures in order to provide a more  
comprehensive picture of student and school performance;

              - Supplant arbitrary proficiency targets with ambitious  
achievement targets based on rates of success actually achieved by the  
most effective public schools;

              - Authorize interventions that enable schools to make  
changes that result in improved student achievement instead of  
sanctions that do not have a consistent record of success;

              - Enhance the knowledge and skills teachers,  
administrators and families need to support high student achievement  
and improve state and district capacity to assist them;

              - Increase NCLB funding to cover a substantial  
percentage of the costs that states and districts will incur to carry  
our these recommendations;

         Among the 100 organizational signers are the Children?s  
Defense Fund, Council for Exceptional Children, League of United Latin  
American Citizens, Learning Disabilities Association, NAACP, National  
Center for Fair & Open Testing, National Council of Churches, National  
Education Association, National Parent-Teacher Association, National  
School Boards Association, National Urban League, People for the  
American Way, and United Church of Christ Justice and Witness  
Ministries.

   
                                                                                                                            m   o   r  e  .  .  .   
.

  100 GROUPS SEEK NCLB OVERHAUL     
                                   2   .   .   .   2   .   .   2

         Working together as the Forum on Education Accountability  
(FEA), many of the signers are crafting detailed proposals on  
professional teacher preparation and family involvement to implement  
the statement?s recommendations.  In addition, the FEA has asked a  
panel of academic experts to review NCLB?s assessment and  
accountability provisions and propose changes to ensure that the  
federal education law has helpful rather than harmful educational  
consequences. The reports and detailed proposals will be released in  
the next several months.

        NCLB was signed into law by President George W. Bush on  
January 8, 2002. It is scheduled for Congressional review and  
reauthorization in 2007.

       The ?Joint Organizational Statement? and a current list of its  
signers are online at the new Forum for Educational Accountability  
website, http://www.edaccountability.org

  - 3 0 ?

  Attached:  Joint Statement and singers list as of January 3, 2007