
Feature/General
What is "No Child Left Behind?"
By Victoria Smith
January/February 2004
The Clarke County School District, along with the rest of the
nation’s
school districts, is striving to meet the most challenging federal
education requirements in a generation. The 2002 revision of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is known as the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). There is little flexibility
in the federal law, which requires every school to close the achievement
gap between socio-economic groups, abilities and cultures. The
federal law requires each state to demonstrate that it has developed
and is implementing a single statewide accountability system in
which Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is only one component.
NCLB requires that each state test annually between grade spans
3-5, 6-9 and in grade 10-12 in meeting AYP standards. Georgia’s
goals for AYP of the NCLB Act are: 1) to improve student achievement,
thereby closing the achievement gap; 2) to provide maximum flexibility
in implementation of the program; 3) to be fair and consistent,
and; 4) to go beyond simply promoting proficiency to promote excellence.
The standardized testing requirement of NCLB is not without opponents.
Concern about children who perform poorly on standardized tests
being held back has led the Georgia Association of School Psychologists
to formally object to “high-risk” testing (see article
on page 28).
The standards for meeting AYP requirements are consistent for
every school district and accountable subgroup throughout Georgia.
The
following are used for assessing AYP: In grades 3-8 the Criterion-Referenced
Competency Tests (CRCT) for Math and CRCT Reading and English
Language Arts; in high school, the GHSGT (Georgia High School
Graduation
Test) Math and GHSGT Language Arts (both are high school exit
exams given in 11th grade) and Georgia Alternate Assessment
(GAA). GAA
is a functional test given to those students who are unable to
participate in the regular assessments even with maximum accommodations.
(NCLB requirements limit GAA participation to 1 percent of the
students in each school district.)
NCLB requirements include timely information and an accountability
report card. This means that states are required to provide parents
with easy-to-read report cards on schools and districts, telling
them which schools are succeeding at meeting the goals and why.
The report cards will present student data broken out by ethnicity,
race, gender and English language proficiency, migrant status,
disability status and low-income status. All groups must pass proficiency
standards in order for a given school or district to achieve NCLB
goals.
Assessment results need to be provided before the beginning of
the school year. All schools in Georgia and the nation are rising
to the challenge, and all schools in Georgia, both Title I and
non-Title I, and charter schools will be affected by the No Child
Left Behind Act. Accountability reports will include all schools.
Federal sanctions will apply only to Title I schools. There will
be intervention for non-Title I schools, as outlined by the state
accountability system.
Under No Child Left Behind, children will no longer be trapped
in low-performing schools. Such schools will be required to use
federal dollars to make necessary improvements. If a school continues
to have poor performance, parents have options to ensure that their
children receive a quality education. Options include being able
to transfer to higher performing schools or receiving tutoring
or remedial classes.
And the NCLB Act includes all students, with no deferment for those
with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. A
common concern nationwide is the fairness of holding those with
disabilities and limited English proficiency to the same standards
as non-disabled and English speaking students. Scores are included
in AYP determinations only if students have been in school a full
academic year. Evaluation shall be based on full calendar year
attendance and will track students who move within districts and
within the same state.
Not only do schools have to meet NCLB with assessment results but
must meet requirements for other academic indicators such as attendance.
Attendance seems to be a problem for many schools. In Georgia,
13.8 percent of students were absent more than 15 days per year.
The NCLB Act requires that student performance be disaggregated
by various subgroups: six racial/ethnic categories, disabilities,
limited English proficiency, and socio-economic status. A minimum
number of 40 will be used for subgroup accountability. A minimum
number of 10 will be used for reporting purposes.
Georgia will have separate starting points for English/reading
and math. Starting points increase to 100 percent proficiency by
2013-2014. For example, the starting point for CRCT math is an
objective of 50 percent proficiency. Beginning in 2005, the objective
will be 58.3 percent proficiency. In 2008, the objective will increase
to 66.7, and then will steeply incline to 100 percent over the
period from 2011 to 2014. Meanwhile, the starting point for CRCT
English/reading is 60 percent, increasing to 66.7 in 2005, 73.3
in 2008, and to 100 percent over the period from 2011 to 2014.
No Child Left Behind not only requires accountability, it gives
states and local education facilities more flexibility in how they
use federal dollars. This means that principals and administrators
spend less of their time filling out forms, and more time attending
to students’ needs.
NCLB also defines the qualifications needed by teachers and paraprofessionals
who deliver classroom instruction. It requires that states develop
plans to ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects be
highly qualified to teach their subjects. This goal must be met
by the close of the 2005-2006 school year. In short, if your child
is not learning you will know why. And if your child’s school
is not performing you will have new choices and your school will
receive help. No Child Left Behind supports learning in the earliest
years, to prevent many learning difficulties that arise later.
It ensures that all children will learn to read by third grade,
and puts forth a billion dollars to achieve this goal alone.
To learn more:
You can find out more about this new law by attending a program
offered by Pam Smith, Executive Director. Contact her at 706-546-7721
for more information.
A Parent’s Guide
Get your own guide to the No Child Left Behind Act by ordering
online at www.ed.gov/publs/edpubs.html or
by calling 1-877-433-7827and asking for No Child Left Behind:
A Parent’s Guide
|