04/05/05 -- A majority of state education and school district officials say the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has led to higher levels of student achievement, but they also say they lack the resources to help schools make needed improvements.
These are among the key findings of From the Capital to the Classroom: Year 3 of the No Child Left Behind Act, released March 23 by the Center on Education Policy.
While most officials generally agree with the law’s emphasis on accountability, a majority want the testing requirements for English language learners and students with disabilities changed or eliminated. Officials also cite problems implementing the provisions on school choice and supplemental services.
“After three years of No Child Left Behind, state and district officials have made it clear: Student performance is up and achievement gaps are closing,” says Jack Jennings, the center’s president and CEO. “But those officials have also made it clear that the long-term success of the law is at risk unless the federal government can offer more support to bridge the capacity gap now preventing states and districts from effectively reaching all of the schools that need help.”
Thirty-six states (73 percent) and a majority of districts (72 percent) reported test scores are rising, and a majority of both groups say the achievement gap between white students and other subgroups -- including black students, Hispanics, and English language learners -- is narrowing.
According to the report, about 6,000 Title I schools (13 percent of all Title I schools) have been identified for improvement in each of the past three years. These schools are subject to sanctions, starting with a requirement that they allow students to transfer to better-performing schools. Sanctions in subsequent years include the providing of supplemental services, restructuring, and being taken over.
In addition, 10 percent of Title I school districts have been identified for improvement at the start of the 2004-05 school year.
“Despite the challenges faced in helping all of the schools that have been identified for improvement, a majority of districts received less federal Title I funding in 2004-05 than they did in the previous year,” CEP reports. The federal education budget has grown by smaller percentages in 2004 and 2005 than in previous years, and President Bush has proposed cutting education funding in 2006.
As a result, 42 of the 49 states surveyed by CEP say providing assistance to all schools identified as needing improvement “poses a serious or moderate challenge.”
Forty-five states reported that limited staff size is a problem, and 31 say limited staff expertise presents a serious or moderate challenge in helping schools improve.
Only 11 states say they have adequate federal funding to provide technical assistance to all schools identified for improvement.
About three-fourths of states reported that determining the effectiveness and quality of supplemental service providers is a serious or moderate challenge.
About 80 percent of districts say they have costs associated with implementing NCLB that are not covered by federal funds, such as the costs for training teachers to meet NCLB qualifications, providing remedial services to students performing below grade level, and carrying out mandatory data collection and analysis.
The study is based on surveys of education officials in 49 states and 314 school districts and case studies in 36 districts. About one-fifth of the districts surveyed reported that, as a result of NCLB, they have changed their policies to require more instructional time in reading and math.
But that means less time devoted to other subjects: 27 percent of districts are reducing the time devoted to social studies, 22 percent are spending less time on science, and 20 percent are cutting time for art and music.