Officials confront reality that NCLB's goals are unlikely to be met
As the U.S. Congress begins to debate renewing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), legislators and federal education officials are confronting the reality that it is unlikely the law will achieve its lofty goal that all students tested in reading and math will reach grade level by 2014. Even when the law was enacted five years ago, almost no one believed that standard was realistic. As a result, they are facing the difficult choice between sticking with the vision of universal proficiency or backing away from it. "There is a zero percent chance that we will ever reach a 100 percent target," says Robert L. Linn, co-director of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA. "But because the title of the law is so rhetorically brilliant, politicians are afraid to change this completely unrealistic standard. They don't want to be accused of leaving some children behind."
The debate over perfection encapsulates key arguments for and against NCLB. Critics, including some teachers unions and many testing experts, view the law as a forced march toward an impossible education nirvana. They are lobbying Congress to reduce the 100% target and delay the 2014 deadline. But they face an uphill challenge because of the rhetorical power of the argument for a universal proficiency target and a deadline. Anything less, others say, will hurt children, especially society's most vulnerable: poor and minority students. "We need to stay the course," says U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary Raymond Simon. "The mission is doable, and we don't need to back off that right now." During a recent House-Senate hearing, senior Democrats and Republicans confirmed they would work toward renewal of the law. But in interviews, some stated that universal proficiency is all but impossible. "The idea of 100 percent is, in any legislation, not achievable," according to Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate education committee. "There isn't a member of Congress or a parent or a student that doesn't understand that." He says that while NCLB’s universal proficiency standard has served to inspire students and teachers, "it's too early in the process to predict whether we'll consider changes" to the 2014 deadline. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a former U.S. education secretary, believes citizens oppose lowering standards. "Are we going to rewrite the Declaration of Independence and say only 85 percent of men are created equal?" he asks. "Most of our politics in America is about the disappointment of not meeting the high goals we set for ourselves."
Foes and supporters alike praise NCLB for drawing attention to student achievement gaps. However, testing experts say there are vast academic differences among children of the same racial or socioeconomic background. "Most people are afraid that once you acknowledge this variation, then you have to tolerate major inequities between black and white students," says Daniel Koretz, a Harvard education professor. "That's not necessarily true, but that's why the political world does not really address the issue." Although no major school system is known to have reached 100% proficiency, federal officials point to individual schools across the country that have reached the standard as evidence it is possible. In Virginia, schools have achieved universal proficiency 45 times since 2002, they say. Some experts predict states will weaken their definition of proficiency to make it appear all students are on track. The law requires students to meet "challenging academic standards" but allows each state to define proficiency on its own terms and design its own tests. "It's just like a communist country saying that they used to have 100 percent participation in elections," says Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), a leading NCLB critic. "You knew it wasn't true, but a bureaucrat could come up with that answer. And that's what will happen here." On the other hand, U.S. Representative Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.), ranking Republican on the House education committee, contends the 2014 deadline forces educators to pay attention to each student. He is open to slight changes in the law to exempt certain students with disabilities but will not back down from NCLB’s core ideal.
Washington Post
By Amit R. Paley
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: Information on various proposals for NCLB reauthorization, including NSBA’s positions, is available starting at the link below. The Washington Post also reports today that over 50 Republican members of the House and Senate will introduce legislation have turned against NCLB and will introduce legislation allowing states to opt out of its testing mandates. See below.]
[NSBA School Law pages on NCLB proposals]
Washington Post
By Jonathan Weisman & Amit R. Paley
[Full story]