Fast Report

• Both the House and Senate have approved budget resolutions for fiscal year 2008 that would provide $8 billion more for education than the amount provided for the current year -- and $9.5 billion more than the Administration’s budget request.

The budget committee chairs, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) have indicated that the portions of the increased funds should go toward higher funding levels for No Child Left Behind and special education.

It is now up to the appropriations committees to decide how the funds in the budget resolutions should be allocated.

The appropriations process is likely to be lengthy and drawn out and there is a possibility the president would veto a funding bill approved by a Democratic Congress.

NSBA has been urging Congress to appropriate an additional $2.5 billion for Title I and the same amount for special education.

Iowa and Ohio can use growth models

• The U.S. Education Department is allowing two more states, Iowa and Ohio, to use a growth model to determine whether schools and districts are meeting their No Child Left Behind goals.

Iowa was given immediate approval to use a growth model for the 2006-07 school year.

Ohio received conditional approval if it adopts a uniform minimum group size for all subgroups, including students with disabilities and English language learners, in determining adequate yearly progress in 2006-07.

Growth models give schools credit for student improvement over time by tracking individual student achievement from one year to the next. This approach differs from the current NCLB model, which tracks test scores by grade level from year to year, even though the scores are for different students.

Since the department announced a growth model pilot program in April 2005, it has approved growth models for North Carolina,Tennessee, Delaware, and Arkansas. Florida received conditional approval.

More students taking advanced courses

• High school students are taking harder courses and earning more academic credits than in previous years, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported May 30.

The Condition of Education 2007 says the average number of credits earned by high school graduates increased by nearly 20 percent, from 21.7 credits in 1982 to 25.8 in 2004.

Students are taking more academic courses -- particularly in English, mathematics, and science -- instead of participating in study halls and vocational electives.

Nearly half of 2004 high school graduates had completed upper-level math courses, such as pre-calculus, trigonometry, and calculus. That is an increase of 24 percent since 1982. Similarly, 68 percent of 2004 graduates had completed advanced science courses, such as chemistry and physics -- an increase of 33 percent since 1982.

Yet, the NCES found no evidence that more challenging courses are resulting in higher levels of academic achievement. The NCES only looked at course titles, not the content, and acknowledged there is a concern that some AP courses are “watered down.”