Administration Eases NCLB Requirements

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

Once again, promoters of NCLB try to appease critics by making minor 
changes in enforcement of the Annual Yearly Progress requirements

  ADMINISTRATION RELAXES TESTING LAW
   Associated Press -- March 30, 2004

Washington -- For the fourth time in as many months, the Bush 
administration is easing the restrictions of its education law, this 
time in the area of testing.

The latest move -- reducing the number of students a school may test 
without running afoul of the law -- probably will cap a flurry of 
responses to concerns from states and schools.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires schools to test at least 
95 percent of students in math and reading. Schools also must have 95 
percent participation from all major subgroups of students, such as 
minority or disabled youngsters.

The point is to make sure that schools are accountable for every 
student's progress, and to ensure that no schools have incentive to 
exclude lower-performing students on test days.

Under the new policy, schools will get some leeway. As long as they 
average a 95 percent participation rate among students over two or three 
years, schools will meet the law.

A school that tested 94 percent of students one year, for example, could 
make the mark if it tested 96 percent of students the year before. The 
same is true for subgroups of students.

Schools also won't have to count students who are enrolled but miss 
testing, including makeup exams, because of a medical emergency.

The changes are meant to fix a problem that has surfaced anecdotally: 
schools that fail to meet the federal standard just because a few 
students miss a test. There is no documentation of how often that has 
happened, but it can lead to consequences.

Schools that get federal poverty aid but don't make progress goals at 
least two straight years face mounting sanctions, from having to offer 
transfers to risking state takeover.

"We are listening to parents and educators and making adjustments," 
Education Secretary Rod Paige said in announcing the new policy Monday 
to the National School Boards Association conference in Orlando. "But we 
are not willing to sidestep or ignore the heart of No Child Left Behind 
-- making sure that all children count."

The changes will apply to the current school testing season.

Federal officials set out to offer flexibility without backing down from 
the law's call for at least 95 percent of all students to be tested. 
Since December, Paige has also eased rules affecting highly qualified 
teachers, disabled children and limited-English learners.

"It's the first time we've had any recognition of the issues we've 
raised over the last two years, in terms of their willingness to address 
them," said Michael Bird, federal affairs counsel for the National 
Conference of State Legislatures. "In that regard, they're to be 
commended for listening, although we still have some root problems with 
the law."

Among them, Bird said, is a view among states that the federal 
government hasn't provided enough money to pay for its requirements, 
from data collection to teacher training.

The Bush administration said that's not true.

No Child Left Behind, the most sweeping federal education law in a 
generation, is the centerpiece of Bush's education agenda. Aimed at 
improving minority achievement, it won strong bipartisan support but has 
since faced opposition over key provisions and funding.

First lady Laura Bush, also speaking in Orlando, urged school board 
members to support the law. She said it is based on the premise that 
"all children must have access to high-quality schools regardless of 
their skin color, their disability or their ZIP code."