Iowa receives permission to track student progress in a way officials say is more accurate and informative
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has given Iowa permission to track student progress in a way state education officials say is more accurate and informative. Educators will compare test scores among students in a particular grade all the way through their academic careers. Until now, this year's fourth-graders, for example, were compared to last year's fourth-graders. The change will begin with scores from the 2006-07 Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. According to Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education The new method "gives people more information, honestly, about how students are doing as individuals and as groups." "If we are truly to make good instructional decisions about what kids need to learn and what we still need to teach, we really need to know how well each student is doing in each subject," she adds. All states and school districts are required to track student progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The law's intent is to close achievement gaps among races and get every student's scores by 2014 to a level expected of his or her grade. Ms. Jeffrey cautions that the change probably would not affect the number of schools that lag behind under the law, but it will provide better information. The new model will be used initially for students in third through eighth grades and will not cost additional money.
Des Moines Register
By Megan Hawkins
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: The approval granted by ED is part of a pilot program that allows schools greater flexibility in measuring student’s academic performance for NCLB accountability purposes. ED also has approved Ohio’s growth model. The Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee plans were approved previously. See the department’s press release on the approvals at first link below. Background on the growth model approval process is available at the second link. The prospect for growth models and other reforms in the reauthorization of NCLB are explored in the NSBA resource at the third link, which also suggests action plans for school board advocacy as Congress considers the act.]
[ED’s press release]
[NSBA School Law pages on ED’s NCLB growth model process]
[NSBA Federal Action Alert on NCLB reauthorization]