Feds Reject Nebraska Assessment System

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

    FEDS REJECT STATE'S STUDENT ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
Lincoln Journal Star -- July 6, 2006
by Margaret Reist
The federal government refused Wednesday to approve Nebraska’s system 
for gauging student achievement — a move that angered the state’s 
education commissioner.

“I can’t recall a professional issue in my over 40 years as an educator 
over which I have been more disappointed. This is not the way a 
partnership is run,” said Nebraska Education Commissioner Doug Christensen.

“We feel blindsided by the decision of theU.S. Department of Education.”

The decision, which is not final, means Nebraska stands to lose 25 
percent — $126,700 — of its Title 1 funds for administering the No Child 
Left Behind Act.

NCLB, signed into law by President Bush in 2002, requires states to show 
that its students are making “adequate yearly progress” to becoming 
proficient according to federal standards by 2013-14. To do that, states 
must use an assessment system approved by the federal government.

This isn’t the first time Christensen has locked horns with the federal 
government.

In 2003, he fought to keep the local assessment system, and it was 
approved in 2004.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states that use local assessments rather 
than standardized statewide tests. And Maine, Christensen said, is the 
only other state that was notified that its assessment system is not in 
compliance.

Other states either have been approved or are in the process of being 
approved.

At a news conference Wednesday, Christensen said a system based on 
classroom assessments does a better job of determining whether children 
have truly learned the subjects and helps teachers assess what works and 
what doesn’t.

While standardized tests may meet NCLB requirements, they are 
meaningless for teachers, he said.

Federal officials did not comment on Christensen’s remarks.

But Henry Johnson, national assistant secretary over elementary and 
secondary education, told state officials in June that the government 
fully supports “local assessement models,” but they must be held to the 
same rigorous standards as statewide assessments.

Part of the problem is that the federal government can’t be sure all 
local assessments meet the federal requirements, the letter said.

Johnson listed 18 areas where federal officials need “additional evidence.”

He said the state must enter into a compliance agreement to continue 
getting the Title 1 money while it fixes problems with the assessment 
process.

But first, Christensen said, he plans to challenge the findings and 
request a formal review within 20 days.

Part of that process will be to ask — for a second time — to meet with 
federal officials, who turned him down last week after he requested a 
meeting to discuss approval of the state’s assessment system.

He said many of the issues could have been worked out with a 
face-to-face meeting.

Nebraska officials gave six boxes of data to the U.S. Department of 
Education, which Christensen said he was sure federal officials had not 
reviewed.

The federal government also is ignoring the prior approval under former 
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in 2004, Christensen said.

Christensen also challenged the government’s ability to withhold Title 1 
money to force compliance.

“If an agency, such as Nebraska, is to get the work done to be in 
compliance, how is it to do that work when the resources to do it are 
being witheld?”

Earlier this year, Nebraska faced the loss of federal money because of 
the way it assessed highly qualified teachers. Again, Nebraska wanted to 
use a series of tests rather than a single standardized test, though in 
the end it agreed to use a single test.

Christensen said the latest decision by the federal government does not 
mean Nebraska’s system of assessing student achievement is a failure. It 
just means they need to work to come into compliance.

But that doesn’t mean he likes how the government is going about it.

“This law requires tremendous energy to be spent trying to make 
misaligned policy and practice work,” Christensen said. “I want 
assessment returned to the toolbox of teachers so they can use 
assessments to improve classroom practice.”



Nebraska and No Child Left Behind

1998: U.S. Department of Education approves Nebraska’s content standards

January 2002: President Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act

September 2003: Nebraska submits comprehensive state plan, including 
assessment system, to federal government

April 2004: Nebraska’s unique student assessment system and school 
accountability plan is approved under the federal Improving America 
Schools Act; unlike other states, Nebraska does not judge student 
performance on state learning standards with one statewide test

November 2005: Nebraska resubmits its system under the No Child Left 
Behind Act

July 6, 2006: U.S. Department of Education labels Nebraska “nonapproved” 
regarding its compliance with No Child Left Behind; Nebraska Education 
Commissioner Doug Christensen says the state will challenge the ruling



http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/07/06/local/doc44ac23670cc09745226702.txt