No Child Left Behind: Half Way To The Deadline, Not So Close To The Goal

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND  EDUCATION 

By Rob Manning

Portland, OR  May 20, 2008 11:33 a.m.

Researchers at a national education think tank are offering a  fresh critique Tuesday of the frequently criticized No Child Left Behind law. But for once, it’s not a criticism of the law itself, or how it's funded.

Instead, the Center for Education Policy is accusing Oregon officials of acting, well, like poor students.  As Rob Manning reports, Oregon is among the states that the center accuses of procrastination.

The No Child Left Behind law requires that 100 percent of students pass  standardized tests by 2014. And it's that 100 percent number that's the issue.

The law was passed in 2001 and since, it's 2008, we're about halfway to that deadline.

The Center for Education Policy puts  about half the states in the good student camp. They got ahead of the deadline by requiring gradual  improvements each year.

But others, like Oregon, have increased expectations only once every few years in the beginning. That requires huge jumps in student performace closer to the 2014 deadline.

Jack Jennings: From seventy percent to eighty percent in 2012, then eighty percent to ninety percent in 2013, ninety to one-hundred percent in 2014.

Jack Jennings with the Center for Education Policy.   He says Oregon's plan is at best unrealistic.

Jack Jennings: “It’s very difficult to get ten percent increases in one-year periods. In fact, in one year, one percent, or one or two percent, is considered good.”

To understand why Oregon structured its plans the way it did, I asked State Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo to explain. She says there are a few things to bear in mind.

For one, there was little federal guidance in the law, about how to deal with some pretty big issues, like special needs’ students, and kids who don’t speak English at home.

Susan Castillo: “You have to think what it was like to live this on the front lines of our schools. What happened when NCLB came along, we were testing at more grades, so we had that change in our schools, which was huge. And to have continuous moving targets as part of that, in addition to what we do for our own state report card – from the field, they were feeling bombarded with changes.”

Castillo says Oregon – and every other state in the country – faces huge challenges in order to get all students to proficiency within the next six years.

Jack Jennings with the Center for Education Policy agrees, and says No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, has largely failed to support educators.

Jack Jennings: “NCLB is long on requirements and setting goals, but it’s very short on providing the tools for helping the students and teachers achieve those goals. So as we reach the halfway point on NCLB, perhaps we can take a step back and ask ‘what’s it going to take to achieve these goals?”

Oregon superintendent, Susan Castillo says educators across the contry are talking about advocating for  more funding and changes to the law when it comes up for renewal this year. But she says everyone wants to maintain the high benchmarks.

Susan Castillo: “We’ve already seen a few changes, and we’ve heard presidential candidates talk about changing the law, and none of us are talking about moving back from the 100 percent target.”

In fact,  Senator Barack Obama made a brief reference at his Portland appearance to No Child Left Behind, questioning  the focus on standardized tests.

Barack Obama: “And I want high standards for our kids, but let me tell you something, we’re not going to have high standards just with one high-stakes standardized test, because I want our kids learning art and music, and civics and history, and all the things that make an education worthwhile.”

How to keep a focus on subjects that aren’t tested under the federal law is also under consideration in Salem these days. The  state education board is refining high school diploma requirements.  And those will include subjects not tested under  No Child Left Behind.

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