Re: CA - 'No Child Left Behind" law gets review

[aburke5054@aol.com]

 Note the continuing confusion about "grade-level" proficiency and stating states' responsibility for improving their schools as "sanctions." 
 
 Art
 
  
 -----Original Message-----
 From: monty@fairtest.org
 To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com; arn-l@interversity.org; arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 9:19 AM
 Subject: [arn-l] CA - 'No Child Left Behind" law gets review
 
  Perhaps folks in CA can tell us more what is behind these hearings, who is involved, any likelihood of useful proposals... Monty   http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/40012.html  'No Child Left Behind" law gets review Meetings focus on renewal of No Child Left Behind Act By Laurel Rosenhall - Bee Staff Writer
 Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, October 16, 2006  What do you think about the No Child Left Behind law? California education officials want to know. In a series of meetings this week -- including one in Natomas -- they are taking public comment on the federal law that is supposed to close the academic achievement gap but has riled educators in the process. No Child Left Behind is a sweeping federal law that, when signed by President Bush in 2002, set new standards for education in all the nation's schools. Its impacts are most noticeable in schools serving the neediest students -- those that receive federal funds for educating the poor. The law establishes requirements for teacher qualifications and sets targets for proficiency in math and reading, with a goal that all students will perform at grade level in those subjects by 2014. Schools that fail to meet targets for two years in a row face a series of sanctions that start with allowing students to transfer to other schools and advance to total restructuring. The law is scheduled to be reauthorized by Congress next year, and educators are starting to strategize on how to lobby lawmakers to change it. "As we begin the conversation about reauthorization, one thing we thought really important was that, to the extent possible, California speak with one voice," said Rick Miller, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, which organized the meetings this week for teachers, administrators and parents to weigh in. Four meetings in four cities will each focus on a different aspect of the law. After gathering input from across California, state education officials will put together a report for Congress recommending changes to No Child Left Behind. This morning in Santa Clara, the meeting will address the law's system for measuring test performance, known as Adequate Yearly Progress. State education officials have long opposed the federal system, which looks at how many students are reading and doing math at grade level, in favor of the California system, which looks at whether test scores have improved over time. State Superintendent Jack O'Connell has said he is working with federal education officials to merge the two systems. But supporters of No Child Left Behind say that's a bad idea. "Until they start talking about grade-level proficiency, this is a gerrymandering of accountability," said Jim Lanich, president of California Business for Education Excellence, a group of business leaders who support the federal education law. This afternoon in Natomas, the meeting will focus on what happens to schools that don't meet their academic targets. Under the law, they must go through a series of interventions -- first allowing students to leave the school, then offering free tutoring and finally removing a principal or becoming a charter school. Speakers at the Natomas meeting have been asked to address whether these interventions are working and how they could be improved. Studies have shown that very few people at low-performing schools take advantage of the options for tutoring and switching schools. "Transferring your child to another school has been resoundingly rejected by parents as something they don't want to do," Sacramento County Superintendent David Gordon said. On Tuesday in Fresno, the meeting will look at the aspects of the law that govern teacher qualifications. "My concern has always been that the qualifications don't always translate into quality teaching," Gordon said. "So I'd like to see that whole thing move to a highly effective teacher and try to get some measure of that." The final meeting will be Wednesday in Glendale, when educators will examine how No Child Left Behind has affected the instruction of students who are not native English speakers. The law requires they be tested just like all other students and make the same progress toward grade-level proficiency in math and reading. But many schools with large numbers of students learning English have been unable to meet the targets and have wound up facing sanctions.   Be heard  What: Public meeting to discuss suggested changes to the federal No Child Left Behind education law 
 When: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. today 
 Where: Natomas Unified School District boardroom, 1901 Arena Blvd., Sacramento More information: www.cde.ca.gov/nr/re/et/ yr06ltr1002.asp#att For more information on the meetings, see the Web site www.cde.ca.gov/nr/re/et/ yr06ltr1002.asp#att.  About the writer:  The Bee's Laurel Rosenhall can be reached at (916) 321-1083 or lrosenhall@sacbee.com.  Monty Neill, Ed.D.
 Executive Director
 FairTest
 342 Broadway
 Cambridge, MA 02139
 617-864-4810 fax 617-497-2224
 monty@fairtest.org
 http://www.fairtest.org
 Donate: https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk   
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL.  Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.