NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — We support the state’s plan to seek a waiver to the federal No Child Left Behind Act and set a path toward educational achievement that makes sense for Arkansas.
Congress passed No Child Left Behind in 2001.
The act had good intentions, but it has some negatives.
One trouble is it emphasizes comparisons between, for example, this year’s fourth-graders and last year’s fourth-graders at a certain school. The real goal should be to capture the progress made within each class of students.
Another trouble with the federal act is it sets an extremely high bar for schools. If a certain subgroup of students does not meet annual achievement requirements, the school is labeled as needingimprovement - even if the overall student body meets achievement goals.
Under No Child Left Behind, by 2014 every child is supposed to test on grade level in reading and math. That’s unrealistic.
This is why the U.S. Department of Education has been generous lately in granting waivers to states that have devised alternative plans.
The Arkansas Department of Education is expected to pitch its plan to Washington by the end of the month. This makes sense for at least one very good reason.
Like most states, Arkansas is embarking on a new set of educational standards called Common Core for grades kindergarten through 12. Common Core is supposed to provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students should know in mathematics and English language arts. These standards are said to be robust and are designed to teach kids the skills they will need for success in college and beyond.
The best way to measure Common Core’s effectiveness is to get out from under the burdens placed on the state by No Child Left Behind. No Child encourages teachers to arrange their lesson plans around certain standards while Common Core requires them to teach to a whole different set of standards.
As Springdale schools Superintendent Jim Rollins and Associate Superintendent Marsha Jones wrote in a recent opinion column, “It is as if our teachers are being asked to build a car, but will then be judged on how well it flies. It is a system of accountability that is completely out of sync with reality.”
As Arkansas’ proposal stands now, the state will impose “ambitious but achievable” achievement goals for its schools, according to Denise Airola, a research specialist for the Arkansas Leadership Academy, which helped the state develop its waiver proposal. The plan would keep schools accountable for those subgroups and also demand that high schools improve their graduation rates.
One part of the plan is that the lowest-performing schools would have to develop three-year “priority intervention plans” requiring the schools to work closely with the state Department of Education and other outside organizations in order to improve.
The plan sounds decent. We trust the federal government will see the wisdom in letting the state implement it. It makes more sense than continuing under the rules of No Child Left Behind.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 02/20/2012