President Barack Obama will announce today that he’s freeing 10 states from requirements of the No Child Left Behind law as they pursue alternate means of judging student progress, an administration official said. The states obtaining a waiver from the law, pushed by former President George W. Bush, are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In exchange for the waiver, the states have agreed to raise standards, improve accountability and take steps to improve teacher effectiveness. An 11th state, New Mexico, has requested an exemption from the requirements of the 2002 law, and 28 other states, joined by Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, have alerted the Department of Education of their intent to seek waivers.
Almost half of U.S. public schools are labeled failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Obama and Education Secretary Arnie Duncan have said the figure is as high as 80 percent, citing it as a reason to offer schools more flexibility. The estimated percentage of schools that didn’t show adequate progress toward passing state standardized tests of math and reading was 48 percent in 2011, a record and an increase from 39 percent in 2010, according to a report in December by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based nonpartisan research group.
Under No Child Left Behind, each state establishes its own proficiency tests and determines what constitutes passing. That system penalized states with higher standards and gives them an incentive to dumb down tests, Duncan has said. In addition, high-performing schools can be labeled failing if a subgroup of students -- such as students with disabilities or those who speak English as a second language -- don’t pass tests.
The Obama administration, joined by many local educators, says the law labels too many schools as failing, dictates unworkable remedies and leads to a reduction of education standards, weakened accountability and a narrower curriculum.
The education law was due for an overhaul more than five years ago. The administration submitted suggestions in a “blueprint for reform” in March 2010 but Congress hasn’t acted. As a result, the administration is taking its own action to grant more flexibility and ease burdens, according to the administration official.
Under the new plans, the 10 states getting waivers would be exempt from 2014 targets of current law, though they still must take steps to boost student performance and close achievement gaps, with an emphasis on raising achievements in lowest- performing schools. They also would be granted more leeway in using federal education funds targeted at students from low-income families to close those gaps, the official said. http://tinyurl.com/79ha8ru
Almost half of U.S. public schools are labeled failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Obama and Education Secretary Arnie Duncan have said the figure is as high as 80 percent, citing it as a reason to offer schools more flexibility. The estimated percentage of schools that didn’t show adequate progress toward passing state standardized tests of math and reading was 48 percent in 2011, a record and an increase from 39 percent in 2010, according to a report in December by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based nonpartisan research group.
Under No Child Left Behind, each state establishes its own proficiency tests and determines what constitutes passing. That system penalized states with higher standards and gives them an incentive to dumb down tests, Duncan has said. In addition, high-performing schools can be labeled failing if a subgroup of students -- such as students with disabilities or those who speak English as a second language -- don’t pass tests.
The Obama administration, joined by many local educators, says the law labels too many schools as failing, dictates unworkable remedies and leads to a reduction of education standards, weakened accountability and a narrower curriculum.
The education law was due for an overhaul more than five years ago. The administration submitted suggestions in a “blueprint for reform” in March 2010 but Congress hasn’t acted. As a result, the administration is taking its own action to grant more flexibility and ease burdens, according to the administration official.
Under the new plans, the 10 states getting waivers would be exempt from 2014 targets of current law, though they still must take steps to boost student performance and close achievement gaps, with an emphasis on raising achievements in lowest- performing schools. They also would be granted more leeway in using federal education funds targeted at students from low-income families to close those gaps, the official said. http://tinyurl.com/79ha8ru
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