Fwd: Article from CongressNow on NCLB - mentions FEA- see below

[monty@fairtest.org]

The expert panel on assessment released recommendations on ESEA/NCLB  
today. We have thus far been attacked by Sec Spellings, Ed Trust,  
Aspen 'Commission' - doing well. To some extent their attacks make  
clear the deep disageements we have about the future of education, and  
to some extent it suggests they cannot read or wilfully misrepresent.  
Below is one news article already about the event.

If you want to read the exec sum or full report, go to  
www.fairtest.org and click on NCLB and then alternatives; or go to  
www.edaccountability.org and click on reports.

Monty

----- Forwarded message from ecr@rollcall.com -----
    Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:51:43 -0400
    From: ecr@rollcall.com
Reply-To: ecr@rollcall.com
Subject: Article from CongressNow on NCLB - mentions FEA- see below
      To: monty@fairtest.org

Monty,

This article just came out - thought you should see it- below.

eric

Lawmakers, Experts Call For New Testing Methods Under No Child Left Behind

By Stephen Langel
CongressNow Staff
Thursday, June 14, 2007   3:42 PM

Lawmakers and academics are increasingly looking to change the way the  
federal government evaluates school performance under the No Child  
Left Behind Act, arguing that current testing methods are too  
simplistic and too sporadic to give an accurate assessment.

The Forum on Educational Accountability today issued a report,  
?Assessment and Accountability for Improving Schools and Learning,?  
that recommends testing that is more frequent and classroom-based, as  
opposed to the annual standardized test used under NCLB.

A yearly test, the group said, does not give the most up-to-date  
assessment of performance, and the standard multiple-choice approach  
does not provide a realistic view of what students have learned.  
Instead, teachers should be allowed to evaluate students? classroom  
performance, the panel said.

The ?testing mentality sacrifices learning,? in that it leads  
educators to teach to a test rather than using a broader curriculum,  
said Pat Roschewski, one of the study?s authors, during a briefing  
today. These ?one-size-fits-all? tests also shortchange special-needs  
students, including those who are developmentally challenged or not  
native speakers of English, said Alba Ortiz, another of the study?s  
authors.

The group is hoping to use the report to modify NCLB as it moves  
toward reauthorization. Reauthorization will provide a vehicle to  
?rectify flaws in the system,? Ortiz added.

NCLB, which sets federal performance standards for schools, is due to  
expire at the end of the year. Lawmakers are concerned that NCLB will  
fail to meet its goal of having all children reading at their grade  
level by 2014.

To achieve such changes, the panel is lobbying lawmakers in the Senate  
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House  
Education and Labor Committee to include their recommendations in  
reauthorization. ?I?m sensing an interest? in these changes,  
Roschewski said.

The group has sent the report to various lawmakers in both committees,  
Monty Neill, director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing,  
told CongressNow. Lawmakers are ?clearly interested? in changing the  
law, with several members poised to introduce legislation that would  
establish new performance standards for state and local governments  
under NCLB. Neill declined to elaborate on who was offering these bills.

Initially, the group?s proposal has the support of lawmakers such as  
Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), a former college provost and a member of the  
Education and Labor Committee. A one-time written test is too  
?limiting? and provides too much of an incentive for teachers to teach  
to the test, Bishop said. Such an approach is inhibiting teachers from  
doing their jobs, he added.

A variety of groups are calling for new performance standards, Rep.  
George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the Education and Labor  
committee, told CongressNow. But he has not decided what steps the  
committee will take, Miller added.

Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), chairman of the Education and Labor  
subcommittee on higher education, lifelong learning and  
competitiveness, pledged during the briefing to circulate the report  
to his colleagues. The chairman also promised more money for NCLB.

While previous Congresses had underfunded the program, he said,  
?there?s a new sheriff in town? now that Democrats are in the  
majority, he said.
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____________________________________________________________________________

The Votes Are In: In the recently released 2006-2007 E&M Opinion Leader
Survey, Congressional opinion leaders voted Roll Call No. 1 in total and
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