Too many children left behind
I’ve never been one to shy away from accountability—my own or others—and certainly I’m not against making sure our schools do a great job of educating our children. After all, those are my kids, literally. But give schools the resources to do the job, develop fair assessment tools, and then hold them accountable.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the federal legislation up for re-authorization this summer, attempts to hold public schools accountable by setting arbitrary (one could argue unattainable) goals, under funding its own mandates, and establishing punitive measures without regard to the actual progress being made in the schools. More….
For example, in Lowell we have several schools that have been deemed under performing–despite progress in many areas and improved test scores for many students. To avoid the under-performing label and sanctions that often follow it, schools must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for all students in all subject areas. AYP is determined by meeting the annual growth required to fill the gap incrementally from prior students’ scores so that by 2014 all students will achieve proficiency in all subject areas.
Maybe you’re scratching your head about now. Confusing seems to be part of the plan: make it complicated and people will not see how NCLB unfairly undermines confidence in the public schools and actually leaves out more children than it includes.
Let’s try again: Take a sub-group, such as low-income students, and say that at School X, none of the fourth grade, low-income students scored proficient in math in 2004. In order for that sub-group to get to 100% proficiency by the target year of 2014, low-income fourth graders from School X must improve their math scores by 10% each year over the next ten years. That 10% is the Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP mandate for School X fourth graders in math. Keep in mind, each year a new group of low-income fourth graders will be tested, the test itself may change, and if any other sub-group does not make its AYP or if this group doesn’t make it in another subject area for two years in a row, School X will be labeled under performing. (Remember, all students in all categories and subject areas must make AYP each year.)
Also, even though research shows children from many sub-groups, such as low-income, special education, and non-English speakers, require additional resources for academic success, the law does not provide funding to support these measures, nor provide additional time for those students to meet the established AYP goals.
Are our public schools good enough? Are they doing everything they should to educate all children to their highest potential? Absolutely not. Clearly there is room for improvement and there are benefits to raising expectations for all students as NCLB attempts to do. But serious changes to the law need to be made before NCLB can be a tool for progress in our schools rather than simply a stick for punishment.
First, fund the mandates. The idea of grouping children by sub-categories (low income, non-English speakers, and minority) and expecting improvement in those categories is a good one. We need to raise the bar for all students, but that also means providing the resources to do it.
Second, change the focus of the law from punitive to one that recognizes the progress schools are making. (If progress is not demonstrated, then obviously drastic change is needed.) Third, develop realistic goals and assessments that allow schools to track a child’s progress year to year, rather than using last year’s scores to set expectations for this year’s students.