Fast Report
Five states have NCLB plans approved
• During ceremonies to commemorate the one-year anniversary of passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act Jan. 8, President Bush announced that five states already have had their accountability plans approved by the U.S. Education Department.
Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio have now outlined specific steps for ensuring that all public school students in their states will achieve adequate yearly progress in reading and math achievement.
Feds ease state plan deadlines
• The U.S. Education Department has eased the deadlines for states to submit plans for implementing the accountability provisions in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
In a Dec. 5 letter to the Council of Chief State School Officers, Assistant Secretary of Education Susan B. Neuman says states still must submit a preliminary application by Jan. 30, 2003. But many of the details the department had earlier required to be included in that plan needn't be spelled out until the state submits its final application. Final applications are due May 1.
State education departments had argued that they needed more time to make changes in state law or get approval from their state boards.
The Education Department has developed a workbook, which will serve as the basis for states' consolidated applications.
The workbook calls for states to indicate whether they have a final policy, a proposed policy, or are still working on developing a policy on a long list of accountability items.
Examples include how states define adequate yearly progress (AYP), the starting point they propose to use for determining AYP, whether their accountability system includes every school district and school, how they define a full academic year, and how they define the graduation rate.
Oakland faces state takeover
• Oakland, Calif., school officials asked state legislators for an emergency $100 million bailout Jan. 8, the largest in state history.
The school district's troubles stem from a 4,300-student enrollment drop as students switched to charter schools, a 24 percent teacher pay raise, and alleged financial mismanagement. The district serves 48,000 students.
Estimates put the district's budget deficit as high as $82 million, which would rise another $8 to $10 million as state funding cutbacks take effect.
The school board is considering eliminating some assistant principals, laying off teachers and custodians, increasing class sizes, cutting the security force in half, and closing some schools.
"This is my worst nightmare," says Superintendent Dennis Chaconas, who has agreed to take a 10 percent cut on his own $240,000 salary. Eight members of his executive cabinet also have agreed to take pay cuts.
The board has already eliminated 60 teaching positions through attrition, imposed a hiring freeze, and took away administrators' cell phones.
In return for accepting a state loan, the district must accept a state administrator to oversee the recovery.
State Sen. Don Perata has introduced a bill calling for the state to select a trustee to run the financial side of the district while Chaconas handles academics.
"Oakland is not having an academic crisis; they're having a fiscal one," Perata says. "The district is making progress, more kids are beginning to read, better principals are being recruited, and we don't want to lose sight of that."
Drug testing leads to less drug use
• Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland found that student athletes at a public high school with a mandatory, random drug-testing policy (Wahtonka High School in The Dalles, Ore.) were less likely to use drugs than athletes at a school without such a policy (Warrenton High near Astoria, Ore.).
In the pilot study carried out during the 1999-2000 school year, student athletes at Wahtonka were four times less likely to use illegal drugs and three times less likely to use performance-enhancing drugs than student athletes at Warrenton High.
Paradoxically, students at Wahtonka were more likely to view drug use as a less risky behavior, and they believed more students were using drugs.
'Sick' buildings impair learning
• There is a definite link between the quality of a school building and student performance, reports the National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities. After reviewing the body of research on school facilities, author Mark Schneider concludes:
• Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) leads to more student absenteeism. A 1995 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office found 15,000 schools suffer from poor IAQ, affecting one in five children nationwide.
• Poor ventilation in classrooms can lead to headaches, drowsiness, and the inability to concentrate.
• Several studies have shown that appropriate lighting improves test scores, reduces off-task behavior, and plays a significant role in students' achievement.
• While good acoustics also have been linked with higher student achievement, a 1995 GAO study found that poor acoustics is a major problem in many schools.