Definition of Core Subjects Expanded Under Senate Bipartisan NCLB Rewrite – Education Week

By Lauren Camera

The Senate draft of the rewritten No Child Left Behind Act adds writing, music, computer science, technology, and physical education to the list of disciplines it defines as “core academic subjects.”

That shift, buried deep in the 601-page Every Child Achieves Act, which was released yesterday, appears to be something of a response to the years-old debate about NCLBs curriculum-narrowing effect. It was greeted with jubilation at the National Association for Music Education, for instance, which issued a glowing press release noting the inclusion of music in the laws list of core subjects.

Here’s No Child Left Behinds list of core academic subjects. Youll find it on page 534 of the PDF, as part of Title IX.

via Definition of Core Subjects Expanded Under Senate Bipartisan NCLB Rewrite – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Arne Duncan Gives Five States Early Bird Renewal of NCLB Waivers – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

The five states that applied early—under a special, fast-track process—for renewal of their No Child Left Behind Act waivers have all gotten approved by the U.S. Department of Education Tuesday.

That means that Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Virginia will get to keep their waivers for another four years, to through the 2018-19 school year, meaning beyond the end of the Obama administration. The fast track renewal was intended, as a reward of sorts, for states that remained on track with their original waiver plans in the tricky area of teacher evaluation.

(For you waiver geeks, Minnesota wasnt in the initial batch of states tapped for the very special, expedited, and longer waiver renewal, intended for states that stayed on track with teacher evaluations. And it was not happy about being excluded. But apparently Minnesota joined the group at some point. I’m sure there’s a great “inside the bureaucracy” story there.)

via Arne Duncan Gives Five States Early Bird Renewal of NCLB Waivers – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

How to fix No Child Left Behind | EdSource

By Diane Ravitch

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s commentary for EdSource last month, called “How Not to Fix No Child Left Behind,” consisted for the most part of mushy platitudes that must be measured against the realities of his actions over the past six years.

During that time, Duncan has aggregated an unprecedented power to tell states and districts how to operate. The administration’s Race to the Top program was not passed into law by Congress, yet it was funded with $5 billion awarded by Congress as part of the economic stimulus plan following the 2008 recession.

Duncan used that huge financial largesse to make himself the nation’s education czar. When states were most economically distressed, he dangled billions of dollars before them in a competition. They were not eligible to enter the competition unless they agreed to lift caps on opening more privately managed charter schools, to rely on test scores to a significant degree when evaluating teachers, to adopt “college-and-career-ready standards” (aka the Common Core standards, which had not even been completed in 2009 when the competition was announced) and to take dramatic action to “turn around” schools with low test scores (such as closing the school or firing all or most of the staff).

via How to fix No Child Left Behind | EdSource#.VQMHqWctHGg#.VQMHqWctHGg.

What Do Principals, Teachers Want in an NCLB Rewrite? – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., asked the edu-world to submit comments on draft legislation for rewriting the No Child Left Behind Act by Feb. 2. And unsurprisingly, the responses had poured in as of Tuesday’s deadline, although not all have been released publicly just yet.

So what do various groups want? Here’s a quick sample:

  • The American Federation of Teachers wants to keep annual assessments in the new version of the law, but only have the tests “count” for accountability purposes in certain grades. They also want parents to have an opt-out option. Plus, the union is really unhappy that the bill would freeze funding for Title I, the main program in the NCLB law for educating disadvantaged kids. And the union has said it wants Alexander to keep language in the original NCLB law outlining paraprofessional qualifications. More from Stephen Sawchuk of Teacher Beat fame.

via What Do Principals, Teachers Want in an NCLB Rewrite? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Arne Duncan Asked Failing Schools to Add Instructional Time; Did It Help? – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

Extended learning time has been at the heart of many of the Obama administration’s school turnaround strategies. Schools that get money through the School Improvement Grant program have to extend the school day, or year. And states with waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act have to add extra learning time for “priority” schools (those that are among the worst in the state) .

But adding extra time to the day or year is a lot easier said than done, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center on Education Policy, a research organization in Washington. And it’s far too early to say whether adding time really has done much to move the needle on student achievement, in part because it’s early going and in part because extended learning time is usually paired with a lot of other strategies.

via Arne Duncan Asked Failing Schools to Add Instructional Time; Did It Help? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

State rethinks how to report test scores | EdSource

By John Fensterwald

California policymakers say they intend to create a different system for reporting results of the upcoming tests on the Common Core standards than parents and schools have become used to in the era of the No Child Left Behind Act.

At this point, they can’t say what it will look like. The reporting system is one of several moving parts that include recalibrating the Academic Performance Index, the current measure of school improvement, of which the results on the Common Core standards would be a big piece. But state leaders can say what the new system won’t be: anything resembling the federal system for measuring schools, which led to most being judged failures.

“States can report however we want and can include anything that we want,” said Michael Kirst, president of the State Board of Education, which is immersed in creating a new accountability system for districts and schools.

via State rethinks how to report test scores | EdSource.

Democrats Call on Ed. Department to Ensure Equity in NCLB Waiver Guidance – Education Week

By Lauren Camera

Ahead of the U.S. Department of Education’s No Child Left Behind waiver guidance, expected this week, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Democrats who represent majority-minority districts are urging Education Secretary Arne Duncan to ensure the academic achievement of all students.

In a letter sent to Duncan Monday, Miller and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, asked the department to guarantee that states seeking a renewal of their waivers remain accountable for the achievement of all students, including minority students, students with disabilities, low-income students, and English language learners.

via Democrats Call on Ed. Department to Ensure Equity in NCLB Waiver Guidance – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

How Can States Use College Entrance Tests for NCLB Accountability? – Politics K-12 – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

As states and school districts begin to revisit the number of standardized tests students must take, some states—particularly Connecticut—are contemplating replacing Common Core aligned assessments with college-entrance exams at the high school level.

The rationale is that most high school juniors have to (or should) take those tests anyway, so why not use them for accountability? (Check out this story for a rundown of how states use college-entrance tests in their accountability systems.)

But there are some limits to this approach. For instance, Kansas wanted to give its districts the option of allowing students who scored at a level considered “college-and-career ready” on entrance exams the chance to opt out of state assessments.

via How Can States Use College Entrance Tests for NCLB Accountability? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Should a School Get an ‘A’ Even if Poor and Minority Students Underperform? – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

Do the new “A through F” and similar accountability systems states designed under the Obama administration’s No Child Left Behind Act waivers do a good job of recognizing how schools are doing when it comes to educating poor and minority students?

Not so much, according to a new report released Thursday by the Education Trust, an organization in Washington that advocates for such students.

Ed Trust took a look at the A-F-type systems in three states that are sometimes viewed as leaders in education redesign—Florida, Kentucky, and Minnesota—and found that in all three cases, school ratings are “not a powerfull signal of the performance of every individual group of kids.”

via Should a School Get an ‘A’ Even if Poor and Minority Students Underperform? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Education Department Opens Brand-New Office of State Support – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

There are a lot of moving boxes at the U.S. Department of Education, which just opened a new office to oversee a range of federal programs, from No Child Left Behind Act waivers and School Improvement Grants to Title III grants for English-language learners and grants to states for teacher quality.

The Office of State Support will be housed within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. It will merge the Office of Student Achievement and School Accountability, which includes Title I and other programs; the Office of School Turnaround, which oversees the School Improvement Grant program; and the Office of the Deputy Secretary’s Implementation and Support Unit, which oversees Race to the Top, as well as individual programs from several other offices.

via Education Department Opens Brand-New Office of State Support – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Vacaville schools to discuss program improvement, assessments – Daily Republic

By Susan Winlow

Out with Standardized Testing and Reporting and in with the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.

Both assessment umbrellas come with acronyms, of course, STAR is the old and CAASPP is the new.

Vacaville School District trustees will hear an update on program improvement status Thursday and take a look at statewide assessment methods and scores.

The new assessment umbrella this year will include Smarter Balanced assessments for English-language arts and math that go along with the new Common Core standards of teaching. The California Standards Tests will continue to be administered for science assessments in fifth, eighth and 10th grades.

via Vacaville schools to discuss program improvement, assessments Daily Republic.

High school progress report a mixed bag for Fairfield schools – Daily Republic

By Susan Winlow

The California Department of Education released an abbreviated form of results for state-administered tests in high schools taken last year, showing an increase in proficiency rates in English-language arts and math at Rodriguez and Armijo high schools, but a decline in both for Fairfield High School, including a 7 percent drop in English-language arts.

Usually released along with academic performance index numbers, the state only released the Adequate Yearly Progress numbers for the upper grades because of the phase-out of No Child Left Behind, which ended this past year, and the institution of the new Common Core state standards and their California testing component, Smarter Balanced assessments.

via High school progress report a mixed bag for Fairfield schools Daily Republic.

Arne Duncan Unveils 50-State Teacher-Equity Strategy – Education Week

By Alyson Klein on

The U.S. Department of Education Monday detailed its long-awaited “50-state” strategy for putting some teeth into a requirement of the 12-year-old No Child Left Behind Act that has gone largely unenforced up until now: ensuring that poor and minority students get access to as many great teachers as their more advantaged peers.

States will be required to submit new plans to address teacher distribution by April of 2015, or just a few months before the department likely will begin to consider states’ requests to renew their waivers from the NCLB law. (Read a letter the department sent to state chiefs outlining the plan here.)

This isn’t the first time that the feds have asked states to outline their plans on teacher distribution, but the results so far haven’t exactly been a stunning success.

via Arne Duncan Unveils 50-State Teacher-Equity Strategy – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Ed. Dept. to Extend NCLB Waivers Without Considering Teacher Evaluation – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

The U.S. Department of Education told state chiefs today that it will grant extensions on their waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, without taking into account how each state is progressing when it comes to teacher evaluation, Deborah Delisle, assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education said in an email to Friday. That would give states extra time to put teacher evaluation systems in place that confrom to the department’s principles, which include measuring student achievement based on growth on state assesments.

Under the plan, states would essentially be given extensions based on their progress on two of the three big areas of waiver implementation (standards and assessments and turnarounds.) States ‘teacher evaluation-plans would then be reviewed separately. It was not immediatly clear what the impact of the decision would be on the proposed timeline for fully implementing teacher evaluation systems.  That’s supposed to happen next school year.

via Ed. Dept. to Extend NCLB Waivers Without Considering Teacher Evaluation – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Are There Growing Inconsistencies in Arne Duncan’s NCLB Waiver Policy? – Education Week

By Michele McNeil

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has a history of granting specific district-level waivers, in places such as California, Utah, and Kansas. It stands to reason, then, that a waiver granted to one district ought to be allowable for another district citing the same reasons. After all, it does not make for happy superintendents (or happy congressional delegations) to give flexibility to some folks and not others.

But recent events show growing inconsistencies in the U.S. Department of Education’s waiver policy, and some disconnect between that policy and its practice.

Last week, we told you about how the Education Department rejected a No Child Left Behind Act waiver request from a district in South Carolina that wanted to pilot the use of ACT tests in grades 3-8 and in high school, rather than the regular state exams.

via Are There Growing Inconsistencies in Arne Duncan’s NCLB Waiver Policy? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Education Department Official Reaffirms Commitment to Grade-Level Testing – Education Week

By Christina Samuels

Students with disabilities should be taught to rigorous academic standards, said Deborah S. Delisle, the education department’s assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, in a press conference with reporters on Thursday.

Delisle’s comments came in response to a question from Joy Resmovits of the Huffington Post, who asked department officials about a proposal in New York to test certain students with disabilities up to two grades below their chronological grade level. This request is part of the state’s renewal of its waiver from No Child Left Behind standards.

via Education Department Official Reaffirms Commitment to Grade-Level Testing – On Special Education – Education Week.

Are NCLB Waiver States Intervening in the Right Schools? – Education Week

By Michele McNeil

In Nevada during the 2011-12 school year, 86 schools were in “restructuring” under the No Child Left Behind Act—the most aggressive sanction under the federal school accountability law.

But after the state got an NCLB waiver, by the 2012-13 school year, 75 of those schools got relief from the toughest interventions. These are schools that hadn’t made adequate yearly progress for six years in a row.

For half of the worst NCLB-era schools in 15 states, waivers proved to be an escape hatch, according to a new paper released today from New America Foundation policy analyst Anne Hyslop, who has delivered some of the most comprehensive research yet on the implications of new NCLB waivers.

via Are NCLB Waiver States Intervening in the Right Schools? – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

NCLB Waiver States Get Even More Time to Apply for Teacher-Evaluation Extension – Education Week

By Michele McNeil

For the second time, the U.S. Department of Education is giving states with No Child Left Behind Act waivers more time to decide whether they want an extra year to implement a key piece of their teacher-evaluation systems.

First, the deadline to apply for a one-year waiver extension was Sept. 30. Then, it got moved to Oct. 31. And now, it’s Nov. 22.

This waiver extension allows states to postpone using student growth on state tests as a factor in personnel decisions for up to one additional year—until the 2016-17 school year. Originally, the federal waiver guidelines required states do all of this by the 2015-16 school year.

via NCLB Waiver States Get Even More Time to Apply for Teacher-Evaluation Extension – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Ed. Dept.: Calif. Could Lose At Least $15 Million in Federal Funds Over Testing – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

UPDATED

Ever since California approved a bill to suspend much of its accountability testing for one year, everyone has been wondering if the feds would punish the Golden State for straying far from the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, which call for states to test students in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school and use the results to make key school improvement decisions.

via Ed. Dept.: Calif. Could Lose At Least $15 Million in Federal Funds Over Testing – Politics K-12 – Education Week.

Government Shutdown Pulse Check: For Education, Worst is Yet to Come – Education Week

By Alyson Klein

We’re more than 12 hours into the government shutdown (your cheat sheet here.) What’s the impact on school districts, states, and general Edu-land so far? Mostly a lot of watching, waiting—and nervously looking ahead to the fiscal fight that’s around the corner later this month: raising the federal debt ceiling.

For now, school districts and states still aren’t feeling major effects from a short-term shutdown.

via Government Shutdown Pulse Check: For Education, Worst is Yet to Come – Politics K-12 – Education Week.