NCLB Recommendation #3
SUBJECT
Safe Harbor Eligibility
P.L. 107-110 PROVISIONS
TITLE I PART A SEC. 1111(b)(2)(I)(i)
NSBA RECOMMENDATIONS
#3: The current Safe Harbor requirement is reduced from 10 percent to 5 percent when determining whether a subgroup has made sufficient progress to meet AYP.
RATIONALE
This flexibility would permit subgroups to demonstrate progress and such recognition would provide more understandable and more manageable goals for the students in the subgroup. At 10 percent, the current Safe Harbor provision has little impact – and where it can be used, it’s frequently based on a confidence interval which is beyond the comprehension of most educators.
PROPOSED BILL LANGUAGE
Permitting fewer students in group to demonstrate progress to meet AYP “Safe Harbor.” Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further amended in subsection (b)(2)(I)(i) by striking “10 percent” and inserting “5 percent.”
IMPACT OF CURRENT LAW
The current Safe Harbor standard is set so high that few schools are able to benefit from the provision. The requirement that at least a 10 percent reduction in the number of non-proficient students in a subgroup is a “virtually impossible level of annual growth” particularly for states with rigorous proficiency goals overtime and a lower starting point for the percentage of students proficient or above, according to the California Department of Education. State data showed that only 12 of about 9,000 schools qualified for Safe Harbor in 2003; only three schools qualified in 2004. In addition, the current 10 percent requirement does not recognize students who were significantly behind but have made considerable progress academically.
NSBA CONTACT
Reggie Felton, director of federal relations, 703-838-6782 or rfelton@nsba.org.