- States can apply for waivers on school testing required by No Child law, By Michael Alison Chandler, August 8, 2011, Washington Post: “School leaders in Virginia and Maryland said they are likely to seek exemptions for the most stringent requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law after an announcement Monday that the Obama administration will offer flexibility to states willing to modernize their accountability systems. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is exercising rarely used executive authority by inviting states to apply for legal waivers. The move comes after efforts to update the federal law stalled in Congress this year, frustrating educators across the country…”
- Overriding a key education law, By Sam Dillon, August 8, 2011, New York Times: “Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced that he will unilaterally override the centerpiece requirement of the No Child Left Behind school accountability law, that 100 percent of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014. Mr. Duncan told reporters that he was acting because Congress had failed to rewrite the Bush-era law, which he called a ‘slow-motion train wreck.’ He is waiving the law’s proficiency requirements for states that have adopted their own testing and accountability programs and are making other strides toward better schools, he said. The administration’s plan amounts to the most sweeping use of executive authority to rewrite federal education law since Washington expanded its involvement in education in the 1960s…”
Tag: No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind – Arizona, Georgia
- Arizona schools fail to hit test targets in record numbers, By Pat Kossan and Ryan Konig, July 27, 2011, Arizona Republic: “A record number of Arizona schools failed to meet benchmarks for academic progress this year, which likely means the state will fall short of the nation’s goal of having all students proficient at their grade level in three years. A record 814 Arizona schools, or 42 percent, failed to get students to make “adequate yearly progress” in the 2010-11 school year, compared with 563 schools, or 29 percent, the previous year. Schools will have to notify parents of the deficiency, and more schools could experience intervention by the state…”
- More Georgia schools, districts fall short of goals as expectations rise, By D. Aileen Dodd, July 22, 2011, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Facing tougher requirements, the number of Georgia public schools placed on a Needs Improvement list set under the No Child Left Behind Act rose by 24 percent in 2011. Sixty-three percent of Georgia school districts achieved student performance goals, down from 71 percent the previous year. The list of schools designated as Needs Improvement — campuses that have failed to meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress goals for two consecutive years — must offer free tutoring to students and offer the option of transfer to higher-performing schools. This year, the list grew by 74 schools, to a total of 379…”
No Child Left Behind and Proficiency
Education Secretary may agree to waivers on ‘No Child’ law requirements, By Sam Dillon, June 12, 2011, New York Times: “Unless Congress acts by this fall to overhaul No Child Left Behind, the main federal law on public education, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan signaled that he would use his executive authority to free states from the law’s centerpiece requirement that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. The Obama administration has been facing a mounting clamor from state school officials to waive substantial parts of the law, which President Bush signed in 2002, especially its requirement that states bring 100 percent of students to proficiency in reading and math by 2014 or else face sanctions. In March, Mr. Duncan predicted that the law would classify 80,000 of the nation’s 100,000 public schools as failing this fall unless it was amended. But his efforts to address the problem have gained little traction on Capitol Hill, where several attempts since 2007 to rewrite the sprawling school accountability law have failed…”