|
What's in the No
Child Left Behind Act?
by Harold Berlak This law is unbelievably long and complex. It has 10
separate titles and the terrain it covers is so vast that it is
impossible to summarize in a couple pages its tangle of specific rules
and regulations. The following is highly selective.
History
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was signed into law
January 8, 2002 by George W. Bush. It renamed and amended ESEA, the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, of 1965 which was a centerpiece
of the Kennedy-Johnson war on poverty in the 1960's and was aimed at
increasing educational opportunities for children of the poor. The Act
has been amended and reauthorized every five to seven years since 1965
and its scope vastly broadened. It authorizes Indian education, teacher
training, early literacy, school libraries, bilingual education,
technology, school safety, aid to charter schools, etc. Title I is the
flagship of the act. In 2003 $11.7 billion in Title I funds were
provided to schools that serve low-income children in approximately 53%
of the nations public schools. Almost 65% percent of these children are
of color, mostly African-American and Latino.
What's in the Law ?
Two primary goals of the act are: 1) to institute high
academic standards for all students. 2) To insure that there are
"highly qualified" teachers in every U.S. classroom. States are
required to adopt a system of accountability with the following
elements.
Academic Performance
Standards. Each state must adopt "performance standards" These
must be certified by federal authorities as in compliance with federal
laws, "Performance standards" as defined by the federal government are
not general goals, principles or guidelines about what students are
expected to learn in basic academic fields or subjects. Rather they are
a voluminous and highly detailed set of prescriptions of what all
students are expected to know and be able to do in specific subjects.
"Performance standards" must apply to all students, to all schools and
programs in the state. In effect, NCLB mandates states to centralize
curriculum decision-making authority at the state level thereby greatly
diminishing the decision-making power of individual districts, schools,
teachers, and local communities.
Annual Testing:
Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, states must administer annual,
statewide assessments in reading and mathematics for grades 3-8. States
select and design their own assessments, but the tests must be aligned
with state "academic performance standards." By 2007-08, states must
implement science assessments to be administered once during each of
the three levels of K-12 education: elementary, middle, and high
school. A sample of 4th and 8th graders in each state must participate
in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading
and math every other year to in order to calibrate and compare states'
test results. Test results must include individual student scores and
be reported by race, income, and other categories to measure not just
overall trends, but also gaps between, and progress of, various
subgroups.
Sanctions
States must attain 100% "academic proficiency" for all
students within 12 years. If a school fails to make AYP (Adequate
Yearly Progress) for two consecutive years, the school is considered
failing and must receive technical assistance from the district and
must allow students to transfer to another school. After a third year
of failure to make AYP, a school will also be required to offer
supplemental educational services chosen by students' parents,
including private tutoring. If a school fails to make adequate progress
for four consecutive years, the district must implement corrective
actions, such as replacing staff members or adopting a new curriculum.
After five years of inadequate progress, a school would be identified
for reconstitution and be required to set up an alternative governance
structure, such as re-opening as a charter school or turning operation
of the school over to the state. States are responsible for overseeing
districts as a whole, identifying those needing improvement, and taking
corrective actions when necessary. All "numerically significant" ethnic
and racial groups within a school must meet AYP goals or the entire
school is classified as failing. (There is an exception if the failed
ethnic or racial group makes 10% annual improvement.)
"Highly Qualified" Teachers:
By the end of the 2005-06 school year, teachers must be certified as
"highly qualified" in each subject. "Highly qualified" means that a
teacher is fully credentialed and proficient in his or her subject
matter. Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, all new teachers hired
with federal Title I money must be "highly qualified." By the end
2005-06 school year all school paraprofessionals hired with Title I
money must have completed at least two years of college, obtained an
associate's degree or higher, or passed an evaluation to demonstrate
knowledge and teaching ability. That requirement is already in effect
for newly hired paraprofessionals.
Reading First and
"Scientifically Based" Curriculum: This new Title I program,
provides help to states and districts in setting up so called
"scientific, research-based" reading programs for children in grades
K-3. Materials used for professional development must also be certified
by federal authorities as "scientifically based"
School Prayer: The
Education Department must provide guidance to states, districts, and
the public to be revised every two years on constitutionally protected
prayer in public schools. Also, as a condition of receiving federal
aid, all districts must certify to their state education agencies that
no policy "prevents or otherwise denies participation in
constitutionally protected prayer in public schools."
Military Recruitment:
Schools that receive ESEA funding must provide military recruiters
access to students similar to that provided to college and job
recruiters. That includes access to basic student-contact information
upon request.
Boy Scouts: No
school or district can deny the Boy Scouts, or any other group listed
as a "patriotic society" under the U.S. Code, access to schools for
after-school meetings if other outside groups are allowed to use the
facilities.
----------------------------------
NOTE: Section 1905 of the No Child Left Behind Act says that
federal officials or employees may not "mandate, direct, or control a
state, local educational agency, or school's specific instructional
content, academic achievement standards and assessments, curriculum, or
program of instruction." This provision is being routinely violated by
the federal government and by state governments acting as agents of the
federal government.
NOTE: NCLB regulations are laid on top of existing state
testing and assessment regulations HBerlak Feb-04
|