FairTest reaction to Sec Spellings announcement of nclb 'differentiated accountability' pilot program

["Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>]

Sec Spellings has announced a pilot NCLB "differentiated accountability 
plan" for up to 10 states. Spellings talk today is at 
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/03/03182008.html and that contains 
a link to the memo outlining the policy.

Here is FairTest's react to this announcement:

FairTest
National Center for Fair & Open Testing
<>for further information contact:
Dr. Monty Neill   (617) 864-4810
Robert Schaeffer  (239) 395-6773


for immediate release, Tuesday, March 18, 2008
SEC. SPELLINGS "DIFFERENTIATED ACCOUNTABILITY" PLAN
IS "FUTILE EFFORT TO RESCUE A COLLAPSING LAW,"
SCHEME IS EQUIVALENT TO "REARRANGING DECK CHAIRS ON TITANIC"
REACTION OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAIR & OPEN TESTING


     Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' plan to allow ten states to 
pilot "Differentiated Accountability" approaches to comply with federal "No 
Child Left Behind" mandates is a futile effort to rescue a collapsing law. 
Though it correctly recognizes that NCLB identifies far too many schools as 
failing, the proposal is the political equivalent of rearranging deck chairs 
on the Titanic, not changing its misguided course. It will not slow the 
ever-growing demand for complete overhaul.
     At its core, "No Child" is unworkable. It makes impossible demands 
such as expecting all children to attain proficiency by 2014, relies too 
heavily on educationally destructive standardized tests which narrow 
curriculum while encouraging "drill-and-kill" test prep, and imposes 
counterproductive punishments.
     Simply imposing a state-by-state patchwork of new rules onto the 
top-down federal bureaucracy created by "No Child Left Behind" will not lead 
to improved education for the communities that most need it.  Far more 
fundamental changes, focusing on identifying the real causes of weak 
academic performance and building schools' capacity to address them, are 
required.
     FairTest initiated the Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB, a set 
of principles for overhauling the federal law, which has been signed by 143 
national education, civil rights, religious, parent, disability, civic and 
labor groups. FairTest also facilitates the Forum on Educational Assessment, 
which works to implement the Joint Statement.

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The Joint Statement and other materials concerning NCLB, including FairTest's 
six-year "Report Card" on the law's impact, are online at: 
http://www.fairtest.org



Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Deputy Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224
monty@fairtest.org
http://www.fairtest.org
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