Yesterday, Senate democrats released details of their framework for reauthorizing No Child Left Behind. Rather than continuing to push for the unattainable goal of having 100% of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014, the new plan focuses on schools showing "continuous improvement."
Richard Rothstein writes about the follies of this idea in his latest blog post. Everyone wants top performing schools, but does the idea of "continuous improvement" help? Under the current NCLB system, there are numerous schools around the country that are rated poorly because they don't make AYP but have high numbers of students performing at proficient and advanced levels on the standardized tests that rate them.
"Continuous improvement" could create a situation where schools that perform at their highest level are penalized because they have reached their potential. Others believe that this creates a loosening of standards and that school systems will relax efforts to help their neediest students, while some believe that this will restore local control to school districts in setting education goals and policies.
The bill goes to committee next week, so we can expect some changes when both sides are in the room working together. Depending on how long this takes to pass (if it does at all), it is yet to be known how this will impact the Presidents plan to allow the Secretary of Education to provide waivers from current NCLB penalties.
Richard Rothstein writes about the follies of this idea in his latest blog post. Everyone wants top performing schools, but does the idea of "continuous improvement" help? Under the current NCLB system, there are numerous schools around the country that are rated poorly because they don't make AYP but have high numbers of students performing at proficient and advanced levels on the standardized tests that rate them.
"Continuous improvement" could create a situation where schools that perform at their highest level are penalized because they have reached their potential. Others believe that this creates a loosening of standards and that school systems will relax efforts to help their neediest students, while some believe that this will restore local control to school districts in setting education goals and policies.
The bill goes to committee next week, so we can expect some changes when both sides are in the room working together. Depending on how long this takes to pass (if it does at all), it is yet to be known how this will impact the Presidents plan to allow the Secretary of Education to provide waivers from current NCLB penalties.
No comments:
Post a Comment