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WPLLC > NCLB Insights > Archived Issue
NCLB Insights - NEWS AND COMMENTARY ON THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT
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House Introduces NCLB Draft
During the last week of August, the House Committee on Education and Labor - with bi-partisan support - released a draft discussion document of a bill reauthorizing Title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (commonly known as No Child Left Behind).
During the last week of August, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), along with Ranking Member Buck McKeon (R-CA), Congressman
Dale Kildee (D-MI) and Congressman Mike Castle (R-DE) released a proposal to reauthorize Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act on the Committee
website.
They requested for comments to this proposal be submitted by September 5th. It is their intention to mark-up the bill in mid-September, with hopes of floor consideration by
the end of the month. It is an ambitious plan, but this early draft reflects significant revisions to what many consider the most troubling provisions in the No Child Left Behind
Act and an effort to strike bi-partisan compromise.
On Thursday evening just a little over a week after the release of Title I, the remaining Titles of the bill were also made public. So far the 1,000 page document has been greeted with both damnation and praise, making the challenges facing the Committee in their effort to
develop a consensus bill in time for a September 24 mark-up clear. No word on progress in the Senate beyond their target date of mid-October to introduce legislation.
To view the House draft, visit: http://edlabor.house.gov/
MAJOR NCLB
DEVELOPMENTS
- Reading First Advisory Committee Convenes First Meeting
On August 20-22, the Department of Education held the first meeting of the new Reading First Advisory Committee. Chartered in March of this year, the Committee is
authorized to “…evaluate State Reading First applications and to review third-year progress reports submitted by States under the Reading First program.”
During the session they received a brief history of Reading First and discussed: Puerto Rico’s application for funding; Massachusetts and Virginia’s application for targeted
assistance grants (TAGs); and third-year progress reports, which include data on the progress of State and local educational agencies in reducing the number of students in
grades 3 and under who are reading below grade level. By the end of the meeting, Puerto Rico’s request had been denied, Massachusetts was approved and Virginia was
conditionally approved for TAGs and due to the “massive” amount of data provided by the Department of Education the Committee opted to thoroughly go through the
information with a statistician present to assist at their next meeting tentatively set for October.
CAPITOL HILL
- Pelosi Supports Drastic NCLB Reform
During the National Conference of State Legislators 2007 legislative summit in Boston, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) advocated for major changes to NCLB.
Pelosi told the summit that the current NCLB "is not fair, not flexible, and it is certainly not funded." Declaring the new law "will be paid for," Pelosi also indicated the new
version of the reauthorization would be so different from the original NCLB that House Democrats were considering giving the law a new name. According to the Speaker, the
latest iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will address the concerns raised by the education community during the field hearings convened by the
House Education and Labor Committee.
- Reed Bill Focused on Improving Professional Development
A bill recently introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) would authorize a new $500 million teacher quality program under NCLB. The program would specifically target
high-poverty schools and provide instructors with mentoring programs for their first two years. Further professional development programs would be implemented to develop
improvement in the workplace culture. These programs, which would be mandatory and take place during the school day, would be designed with the input of teachers and
teacher union representatives.
- Highly Qualified Principals
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) recently introduced the Instructional Leadership Act, which creates a leadership grant program and authorizes the Secretary of Education to
define a "highly qualified principal." Legislation from Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) also calls for a principal licensure and leadership skills assessment and the TEACH Act,
sponsored by education committee chairmen George Miller (D-CA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), provides a definition for an "exemplary, highly qualified principal." While
lawmakers have shown an interest in defining "highly qualified principal," there are some differences in what factors should be considered. Advocates for principals,
concerned with the issues surrounding the definition of a "highly qualified teacher," warned against weighing student achievement data too heavily in arriving at such a
definition.
DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
- ED and Census Bureau Announce New Calculation of Poverty Data
In an effort to provide more accurate and up-to-date federal poverty data, the Education Department (ED) and the Census Bureau will replace the Current Population Survey
with the American Community Survey. The new survey will provide annual state income tax data and county poverty data. Additionally, in order to obtain more accurate data,
the Census Bureau will provide districts with free software that will be used to record any changes in district boundaries, population, school names, or grade information. The
new poverty rates are expected to be available by November 2008. For more information, visit:www.census.gov/geo/www/schdist/sch_dist.htm.
- Increased Parental Involvement Improves NCLB Results
At the annual Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRC) conference in Baltimore, over 250 people were in attendance for the release of the ED report, Engaging
Parents in Education: Lessons from Five Parental Information and Resource Centers. This report, introduced by Assistant Deputy Education Secretary Morgan Brown,
stated that a lack of parental involvement in school policy and programs has become a common factor in schools not meeting NCLB standards. According to the report,
need assessments and evaluations should include parents and their relationships with the schools and extra efforts must be made by the school to reach non-English
speaking parents, illegal immigrants, and the homeless. For more information, visit: www.ed.gov/admins/comm/parents/parentinvolve/index.html.
- Lawmakers and School Officials in Favor of Reordering SES and School Choice
Although it is too early for the programs to produce quantifiable results, ED’s pilot program allowing schools to offer SES in place of school choice for the first year of the
improvement stage is receiving praise from legislators and school officials alike. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have indicated their support for the reordering of SES
and school choice and state and district officials claim that altering the initial order will lead to an increase in student achievement. ED’s Office of Innovation and
Improvement is allowing the following four original pilot states to continue in the experimental program: Alaska, Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia. For more information,
visit: www.ed.gov/nclb/choice/help/ses/07agreements.html.
- School Improvement Grants to Aid Struggling Schools
On August 13, the Department of Education posted a proposed Request for Applications for School Improvement Grants in the Federal Register. The request was performed
as an “emergency procedure,” in order to speed up the process. School improvement grants were authorized in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, but this year marks
the first in which funds will be distributed. School improvement funds are to be reserved from Title I funds, and, as states are not allowed to decrease a given district’s
funding from the previous year, the only districts that can reserve such funds are the ones receiving increases in funding.
- ED Sued Over Classification of Highly Qualified Teachers
Under NCLB, all teachers must hold a full State certification to be considered “highly qualified.” However, an ED regulation allows teachers to be considered highly qualified
by participating in alternative routes to certification. According to a group of California parents, this deprives the public of their right to the accurate description of a teacher’s
qualifications. According to the parents’ complaint, over 10,000 California teachers have been improperly classified as highly qualified. Nationwide, the current number of
teachers having achieved certification through alternative means is estimated at over 100,000.
- OIG: States Have Too Much Flexibility in Defining “Persistently Dangerous”
Roughly seven percent of the nation’s public schools are accountable for 75 percent of serious violent school incidents, but only 46 schools have received the “persistently
dangerous” classification. Under NCLB, students attending schools labeled “persistently dangerous” are allowed to transfer to safer schools. A report from the Office of the
Inspector General found that more than half of the states have not followed department guidelines when determining if schools are “persistently dangerous.” The report calls
for a federal baseline for determining school safety. For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/s03g0015.pdf
IN THE
EDUCATION COMMUNITY
- ED Trust Report Questions Discretion Given to States on High Schools
According to a new report from the Education Trust, the discretion provided to states in setting high school graduation rate goals in determining AYP undermines the spirit of
the law. The report also found an extremely wide range in graduation rate goal of states. For example, overall goals for graduation rates range from 95 percent in both
Indiana and Iowa to 50 percent in Nevada. In addition to the disparity in state goals, the report also points to improvement goals that it describes as “woefully low.” For
more information, visit: www2.edtrust.org/EdTrust/Press+Room/Graduation+Matters.htm
- Polling Indicates Negative Perception of NCLB
According to the 39th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, the “Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools,” the public has a negative perception of NCLB. According to
the poll, 31 percent view the law favorably, while 40 percent said they viewed it unfavorably. Additionally, there has been a 20 percent increase since 2002 in the number of
parents who believe that standardized tests are overemphasized. Over half of the parents surveyed (52 percent) said they felt their children’s schools were too focused on
standardized tests. For more information, visit: www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kpollpdf.htm
IN THE NEWS
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
CALENDAR
- September 4, 2007:House and Senate Reconvene
- September 10, 2007: House Committee on Education and Labor Hearing on Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
- September 18-20, 2007:AASA Safe and Secure Schools: Superintendents Lead the Way conference, Rosemont, IL
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