States Have More Schools Falling Behind

Even the "fudged" results look bad

More than a quarter of U.S. schools are failing under terms of President Bush's No Child Left Behind law, according to preliminary state-by-state statistics reported to the U.S. Department of Education. At least 24,470 U.S. public schools, or 27 percent of the national total, did not meet the federal requirement for "adequate yearly progress" in 2004-2005. The percentage of failing schools rose by one point from the previous school year. Under the 2002 law, schools that do not make sufficient academic progress face penalties including the eventual replacement of their administrators and teachers.

The results raise doubts about whether the law is working and its results are fairly calculated, said Michael Petrilli, vice president for policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a Washington-based research group. "Most people thought that at this point in the law, we'd be seeing these numbers go way, way up" as standards toughen, said Petrilli, a former Education Department official who helped implement the law in 2002.

Bush achieved rare bipartisan support to get the No Child Left Behind law passed as part of his first-term agenda. Since then, the law has become a subject of dispute, with Democrats accusing Republicans of providing insufficient money for it. At the same time, there is evidence that states may be manipulating the numbers, Petrilli said. He cited Oklahoma, where the percentage of failing schools dropped to 3 percent from 25 percent a year earlier.

Under the law's "adequate yearly progress" measurements, states are required to show improvement in student test scores in reading and math. If they do not do so for two consecutive years, individual schools must let students transfer to another school. After a third year, schools must pay for tutoring for students from low-income families. Some states have complained that the federal government has not provided enough funding to cover costs such as tutoring.

The 2004-2005 rankings are just "one thing out of many things" that need to be considered when judging schools, said Chad Colby, a spokesman for the Education Department. A set of federal tests, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, gives policymakers another indication of scholastic achievement, Colby said. The true test of the No Child Left Behind law will come in 2013-2014, when schools are required to bring all students to proficiency in math and reading, he said.

The Bush administration has expressed satisfaction with the rate of improvement under No Child Left Behind. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, in testimony last month before the Senate's education committee, cited statistics such as 9-year-olds making more progress in reading over the past five years than in the previous 28 years combined.

The law, however, allows states to adjust both their tests and the formulas by which they calculate "adequate yearly progress," leaving parents and policymakers unable to make definite conclusions about such numbers, analysts including Petrilli said. [You can guess in what direction they "adjust" their standards] "These stats are meaningless in the absence of a common test and common standards," said Diane Ravitch, a New York University professor who was an assistant secretary of education under President George H.W. Bush.

Among individual states, Florida placed last with 72 percent of its schools failing to show enough improvement, while Oklahoma led, according to the Education Department statistics provided to Bloomberg News. Rhode Island ranked second behind Oklahoma with 5 percent failing, with Iowa at 6 percent, Montana at 7 percent and New Hampshire, Tennessee and Wisconsin at 8 percent. At the other end, Hawaii ranked second-worst with 66 percent of its schools failing to improve. Washington, D.C., came in third-worst with 60 percent, followed by Nevada at 56 percent and New Mexico at 53 percent. Different states were required to submit the statistics to the Education Department by March 8. Federal officials plan to verify them and incorporate them into an annual report to Congress later this year, Colby said.

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A WHINE FROM CALIFORNIA:

The struggles of two local school districts exemplify the choices educators are making to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, a national study released Tuesday says. The efforts by Grant Joint Union High and Tahoe Truckee Unified school districts to improve student achievement are outlined in a report by the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit and nonpartisan group based in Washington, D.C. Looking at the federal act's influence on school districts nationwide, the study found that students' scores are rising but that the gains come at great expense.

Instructional time is being diverted from subjects such as social studies, science and art to give low-performing students more exposure to English and math, subjects at the core of NCLB, the report states. Districts are spending money that often isn't reimbursed, as well as valuable time and other resources. Teachers' creativity in the classroom is dampened, [How awful! Teacher creativity OF COURSE matters more than whether kids learn how to read or not] and staff morale sometimes suffers. "The impact of the No Child Left Behind Act continued to broaden and deepen during 2005," Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, said in a Washington, D.C., news conference. "Teaching and learning are changing as a result of (the law)."

Some of those changes are embraced, others implemented only out of necessity. As one Tahoe Truckee Unified teacher told report authors about NCLB: "It's been the best bad thing." The report - the center's fourth in a series about the implementation of No Child Left Behind - is based on surveys of 299 school districts spread over all 50 states. Thirty-eight geographically diverse school districts were studied in depth, including Grant and Tahoe Truckee. The two districts were featured as examples of how urban and rural school systems are affected by the law. A Grant spokeswoman said district officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday, and Tahoe Truckee officials could not be reached for comment.

The study concludes that NCLB has had a dramatic effect on what goes on in the classroom. Education has become more "prescriptive," meaning teachers and administrators use data to identify students' weaknesses [More horror!] and implement rigid curricula.

Subjects such as science, social studies [Leftist propaganda] and art are being pushed aside in 71 percent of districts surveyed. In the Grant district, low-performing students are taking as many as three periods of English and/or math. This year, students had the option of taking a one-semester class of both social studies and science. English language learners are enrolled in so-called "block classes" for a double dose of English.

The report states that this method is seen as a necessary evil by some educators. Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, said in a statement Tuesday that reading and math are "gateway skills." "If a student does not have these basic skills, it is imperative that schools focus on helping our kids acquire them," he said.

Still, others remain worried about the long-term effects. "When you take away elective classes, I think it's a tragedy," said John Ennis, president of the Grant teachers union. "I want a well-rounded citizen." [Even if he is illiterate]

The study also found that an increasing number of students are testing proficient in English and math on state tests. The report cites increased learning as a factor but also points out that many states have taken advantage of flexibility by U.S. Department of Education in determining what is considered proficient. [Oh Oh!]

The study's third conclusion cites a leveling off of the number of school districts identified as in need of improvement. This finding runs counter to earlier predictions that the number would keep rising over time. In addition, few students eligible for district-funded tutoring - an option provided by the law - use it, and few students transfer to other schools under the school choice option. [Because they are not GIVEN the option]

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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