100 Signers to Joint Statement on NCLB

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

> From: monty@fairtest.org
> Forum on Educational Accountability
>
>
> for further information:
>
>
> Monty Neill (FairTest)                                   (617) 864-4810
>
>
> Michael T. S. Wotorson (NAACP)               (410) 580-5614
>
>
> Jan Resseger (United Church of Christ)      (216) 308-9611
>
>
> Reggie Felton (School Boards)                      (703) 838-6722
>
>
> Joel Packer (NEA)                                        (202) 822-7329
>
>
>
> for release Wednesday, January 3, 2007
>
> 100 NATIONAL EDUCATION, CIVIL RIGHTS, RELIGIOUS & DISABILITY GROUPS
>
> CALL FOR OVERHAUL OF FEDERAL?NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND? LAW;
>
> URGE REPLACING FAILED TEST-SCORE SANCTIONS WITH SYSTEMATIC REFORMS
>
> TO IMPROVE SCHOOL QUALITY AND CLOSE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
>
>         As the fifth anniversary of the ?No 
> Child Left Behind? law draws near, 100 national 
> civil rights, education, disability advocacy, 
> and religious groups have signed on to a ?Joint 
> Organizational Statement? calling for major 
> changes in federal education legislation. The 
> statement urges that ?the law?s emphasis needs 
> to shift from applying sanctions for failing to 
> raise test scores to holding states and 
> localities accountable for making the systemic 
> changes that improve student achievement.? The 
> number of organizations signing the statement 
> has nearly quadrupled since it was launched in late 2004.
>
>        The Joint Statement outlines 14 recommended changes to NCLB including:
>
>             - Replace over-reliance on 
> standardized tests with the use of multiple 
> achievement measures in order to provide a more 
> comprehensive picture of student and school performance;
>
>             - Supplant arbitrary proficiency 
> targets with ambitious achievement targets 
> based on rates of success actually achieved by 
> the most effective public schools;
>
>             - Authorize interventions that 
> enable schools to make changes that result in 
> improved student achievement instead of 
> sanctions that do not have a consistent record of success;
>
>             - Enhance the knowledge and skills 
> teachers, administrators and families need to 
> support high student achievement and improve 
> state and district capacity to assist them;
>
>             - Increase NCLB funding to cover a 
> substantial percentage of the costs that states 
> and districts will incur to carry our these recommendations;
>
>        Among the 100 organizational signers are 
> the Children?s Defense Fund, Council for 
> Exceptional Children, League of United Latin 
> American Citizens, Learning Disabilities 
> Association, NAACP, National Center for Fair & 
> Open Testing, National Council of Churches, 
> National Education Association, National 
> Parent-Teacher Association, National School 
> Boards Association, National Urban League, 
> People for the American Way, and United Church 
> of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries.
>
>
>
>
> 100 GROUPS SEEK NCLB OVERHAUL
>
>        Working together as the Forum on 
> Education Accountability (FEA), many of the 
> signers are crafting detailed proposals on 
> professional teacher preparation and family 
> involvement to implement the statement?s 
> recommendations.  In addition, the FEA has 
> asked a panel of academic experts to review 
> NCLB?s assessment and accountability provisions 
> and propose changes to ensure that the federal 
> education law has helpful rather than harmful 
> educational consequences. The reports and 
> detailed proposals will be released in the next several months.
>
>       NCLB was signed into law by President 
> George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. It is 
> scheduled for Congressional review and reauthorization in 2007.
>
>      The ?Joint Organizational Statement? and a 
> current list of its signers are online at the 
> new Forum for Educational Accountability website,

> http://www.edaccountability.org




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