Report on "No Child Left Behind" from Education Watch organization

10/24/02

The U.S. Department of Education has been meeting with
"stakeholders" in each state to brief them on the newest
version of the federal education mandates.

The following is a report on one of those meetings with
representatives from the Department.

Remember how state legislators insisted that their state's
education restructuring plan was not a federal mandate? They
were wrong. The federal Goals 2000/HR6 laws of 1994 put these
mandates in place. "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) expands them and tightens the screws.
("NCLB: Federal Goals 2005"
http://www.edwatch.org/updates/12/06/01.htm)

No Child Left Behind is a single, mammoth accountability system
to the federal government that applies to all students, all
teachers, all schools, all [independent?] school districts in all
public schools (including charter and virtual schools) in all
states. Ultimately, it also applies to all parents.

It is a massive grab federal power over education. The U.S.
Constitution prohibits the federal government from becoming
involved in education. (See the 10th amendment to the Bill of
Rights.)

Under NCLB, each state must set a single level of achievement
for all students in that state. The "outcome" of NCLB is to
get all students to that one level of "proficiency,"
euphemistically referred to as a "high standard." All resources,
time, attention and accountability is directed toward that
one level of "proficiency " for all.

Governor Howard Dean of Vermont put it this way, "It's [NCLB]
going to give us a huge incentive to dumb down the standards."
He called NCLB "a terrible mistake."

Under this new federal law, each state must establish a
statewide annual objective for getting ALL students to
the "proficient" level within 12 years. This annual objective
is called "Annual Yearly Progress," or AYP.

NCLB is a maze and a nightmare of testing requirements, the
stated purpose being to equalize the achievement outcomes
between non- and low-achievers and everyone else. Every
objective for every student is the same -- "proficient."

NCLB requires sanctions against schools and districts whose
students and various subgroups don't meet AYP on the
assessments.

Every year, in every state, in every district, in every school,
in every grade (3 - 8, and once in 9-12), an assessment must
be administered to every student in: 1) reading, 2) math and,
3) science (later). The assessments must be approved by federal
bureaucrats. State assessment results must be consistent with
the federal NAEP test, administered by the federal government.
("The Design and Purpose of the NAEP,"
http://www.edwatch.org/NAEP.html)

(NAEP: National Assessment for Educational Progress, a biennial
national sampling assessments in 4th, 8th and 12th grades which
are, for the first time, required by federal law, No Child Left
Behind.)
If the state is taking federal education money (Title I), all of
their public schools must participate in state assessments. No
state or school is exempt.

Results of these massive federal testing requirements will be
reported by state, by district, by school and by "sub-group."

Subgroups are
-- all students
-- major racial and ethnic groups
-- English language learners
-- students with disabilities
-- economically disadvantaged students
-- migrants
-- gender

Each individual subgroup must meet or exceed Annual Yearly
Progress (AYP) every year. "The target of the law is on
the subgroups."

School or districts that fail to meet AYP for every
subgroup for two years in a row face sanctions. Sanctions
begin with some students opting out to other public schools,
more timelines and plans for improvement, and ultimately, a
dismantling of the school.

"We are not allowed to extend deadlines. Federal statute
requires that the Secretary [U.S. Department of Education]
withhold funds immediately. Our hands are completely tied by
Congress."

95% of enrolled students in each subgroup must have taken
the test. [Comment: parents may opt their students out of
the test, regardless.] Students who don't participate are to
be given a score of zero. In most states, the assessments
are not graduation requirements. They are a "diagnostic"
tool.

Schools are facing a oncoming nightmare. It will be costly.
It will focus almost exclusively on low performers. Do you
wonder where your education dollars are going? Massive amounts
of state and federal money have been poured into Goals 2000 and
School-to-Work restructuring and other federally conceived
programs. Requirements of NCLB will multiply this drain on
education resources.

In the words of Vermont's Governor Dean:

"What we've decided to do is take the first year's money and when
we decide later on how much it's going to cost, we can decide
whether to take the money for the second year." Dean asked
superintendents to consider whether the state should forego an
estimated $29 million in Title I money in order to opt out of the
accompanying requirements.

As one very troubled teacher recently put it, "We send our tax
money to Washington, then Washington feeds it back to us only if
we do what we're told. Something is wrong here."

Other parts to come:
"State Assessments are not high standards"
"State Assessments and the federal curriculum"

Maple River Education Coalition (MREdCo)
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