Report finds achievement up, gap narrowing, but NCLB role uncertain
According to USA Today, a study by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) reports math and reading test scores are up in most states since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) took effect in 2002, but it's impossible to know how much credit the law deserves. The study concluded that the historically wide achievement gap between black and white children has generally narrowed in many states, exactly what NCLB supporters wanted to achieve. However, the study’s authors report NCLB’s contributions are hard to measure because a number of states already were taking steps to boost reading and math and because every public school falls under the law, there is no group of students to use for comparison. What the law clearly has done, which some identify as its most notable benefit, is give researchers and parents the data to track student progress. “There is a lot more accountability,” said CEP’s president Jack Jennings. “There is clearly much more data to look at the condition of schools.”
The report accounted for the portion of students who showed any progress, even if they didn't pass the test, and measured a state's progress against the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal math and reading test taken by a small percentage of students in each state. Test scores may be rising, but that's at least partly due to states lowering standards, said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. “They lower the bar and design tests that are highly sensitive to slight gains for low-achieving students,” he said. “Progress is being made but not anywhere near the rate claimed in this report.” The CEP study follows the release of a report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute on NCLB, which found that the lowest-achieving students have made rapid gains since 2002 while those at the top essentially languished. Teachers surveyed for that report said they felt pressure to focus on those children struggling the most.
Source: USA Today, 6/25/08, By Ledyard King
[Editor’s Note: Both reports are below. The BoardBuzz blog item at the next link critiques the Fordham Institute report, noting that the report itself found that high achieving students have been making similar gains on NAEP over the past 20 years. BoardBuzz also says the huge gains by low achieving students casts doubt on allegations that schools are focusing all of their attention on so-called “bubble kids” who are right below or right above proficiency.]
CEP study
Fordham Institute study
BoardBuzz on NCLB results