Fast Report

6/27/06 -- NCLB isn’t working, study finds

• The No Child Left Behind Act has not led to improved reading and mathematical achievement or reduced achievement gaps, a report released June 14 by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University finds.

NCLB is not likely to meet its goals of 100 percent student proficiency by 2014, states Tracking Achievement Gaps and Assessing the Impact of NCLB on the Gaps.

The Civil Rights Project reports that state assessment results show improvements in math and reading but students aren’t showing similar gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the only independent national test that randomly samples students across the country.

“Students should perform well on both tests because they cover the same subjects,” says the study’s author, Jaekyung Lee, a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

View the full report at www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu.

Florida students will have to select a major

• Florida high school students will have the distinction of being the first in the nation required to choose a subject to “major” in, just like college students. The requirement is in the A++ Plan for Education, a sweeping school reform bill signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush June 5.

Students entering ninth grade in the 2007-08 school year will be the first to declare a major. The purpose is to raise the state’s graduation rate by making high school more relevant and interesting to students.

The plan requires students to take four elective courses in their major. They will still have four remaining electives of their choice.

A major could involve a traditional academic subject, such as history or math, or a vocational field, such as health care or auto repair.

“I think overall it’s going to be very beneficial,” says Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.

“It’s aimed at getting parents and students thinking about the future,” he says. By also requiring middle school students to start planning for college and careers, he says, the law will “get students thinking about what goes into a real career at a younger age.” For example, students interested in a career in computers will realize they will need to take more math and science.

Critics of the plan say it fails to address the real problems facing Florida schools, such as over­reliance on testing and the need for higher teacher pay.

Overall, states are economically healthy

• While states continue to enjoy relatively stable and healthy fiscal conditions, they remain wary of future expenditure pressures and the expectation of more moderate revenue growth, according to a report issued June 13 by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.

The Fiscal Survey of States reports that, for a large majority of states, state revenue growth remains strong enough to support spending demands, while reserve balances are being restored to levels considered adequate to address another fiscal downturn.

Only four states -- Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Rhode Island -- experienced negative expenditure growth in fiscal 2006, the report finds.

But there are some storm clouds on the horizon -- such as increased Medicaid costs and more underfunded federal mandates -- that could put a damper on state budgets.

Fewer teens engage in risky behavior

• Fewer U.S. high school students are engaging in behavior risky to their health, compared to their counterparts 15 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported June 8.

The 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey finds significantly fewer teens using alcohol. Forty-three percent of students reported having had at least one drink of alcohol in the 30 days preceding the current survey, compared to 51 percent in 1991. There was also a dramatic increase in the use of seat belts.

The number of students who said they had sexual intercourse was 47 percent in 2005, down from 54 percent in 1991.

The 2005 survey also found that 63 percent of sexually active teens said they or their partner used a condom the most recent time, compared to 46 percent in 1991.

“The overall survey results are encouraging because they show us that persistent efforts to get young people to adopt healthier behaviors can achieve positive results,” says Howell Wechsler, director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health.

“The results also illustrate some of the challenges,” he says. “One, it does take persistence to achieve results. And, two, despite the overall improvements in health behaviors of teens, racial and ethnic differences continue to exist.”

For example, black students were less likely than white or Hispanic students to smoke ciga­rettes; use alcohol; or use cocaine, inhalants, meth­amphetamines, or other drugs.