Category Archives: No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

EdSource Today: Torlakson, Kirst write letter supporting nine-district NCLB waiver

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State Board of Education President Michael Kirst and State Superintendent Tom Torlakson expressed support Friday for nine districts’ application for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law. In letter to the U.S. Department of Education, they also raised questions about how the waiver would be implemented and enforced.

While stating that they would have preferred that Congress revise NCLB (or the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as it’s formally known), which they called a failure, Kirst and Torlakson wrote that “absent such action by Congress we are supportive of any attempt that will grant California’s local education agencies the relief they need.”

via Torlakson, Kirst write letter supporting nine-district NCLB waiver – by John Fensterwald.

EdSource Today: Let’s shelve the CSTs so the real work can begin

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I was troubled the other day to hear a colleague describe how hard it was to motivate a group of teachers to take on some aspect of the Common Core because they were “so focused on the high-stakes assessments.” I’m not blaming the teachers, but this reaction is a signal that leaders need to step up and admit that this particular emperor has no clothes. The only thing that makes the current California Standards Tests (CSTs) high-stakes assessments today is that we persist in caring about them.

via Let’s shelve the CSTs so the real work can begin – by Merrill Vargo / commentary.

EdSource Today: Most State Board members back districts’ NCLB waiver

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A majority of State Board of Education members expressed strong support at their meeting Thursday for a consortium of districts’ unconventional request for a waiver from constraints of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

“Congratulations,” Board member Carl Cohn told two superintendents representing the nine districts in the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, seeking the waiver. “This restores our state’s reputation for bold experimentation. It will be interesting to see the extent to which the federal government is committed to this bold experimentation.”

via Most State Board members back districts’ NCLB waiver – by John Fensterwald.

The Educated Guess: State Board to discuss districts’ request for NCLB waiver

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by Kathryn Baron

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction and members of the State Board of Education will speak publicly this week for the first time on the effort by a consortium of California school districts to seek their own waiver from some regulations and consequences of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

At its meeting Thursday, the State Board of Education will discuss whether to issue a formal response on the waiver application from the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, and if so, what to say about it.

via State Board to discuss districts’ request for NCLB waiver – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: Nine districts submit waiver for relief from NCLB

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A collaborative of nine California school districts is submitting today a first-of-its-kind waiver seeking relief from the harshest sanctions of the No Child Left Behind law. The proposal would commit the participating districts to a new accountability system, focusing on student achievement but deemphasizing standardized test scores. The existing requirements and penalties would remain in effect for all of the other districts in the state.

If U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan consents, the districts in the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, would join the 34 states and Washington, D.C., with waivers from NCLB; ten more states have applications pending. Since California’s waiver was rejected last year, and the state is not reapplying this year, CORE is going its own way, filing for a waiver under a provision of NCLB allowing districts to submit proposals. State Board of Education President Michael Kirst said Tuesday that he has read the law and agrees that Duncan has the authority to grant waivers to districts.

via Nine districts submit waiver for relief from NCLB – by Kathryn Baron and John Fensterwald.

Education Week: Back Home, Kline Talks Sequestration, Funding Flexibility, NCLB

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by Alyson Klein

Education funding—including looming K-12 cuts, and especially, the need for flexibility with existing funds—took center stage at a round table for local superintendents, school board members, and others that U.S. Rep. John Kline, the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, held back in his suburban Minnesota district yesterday.

Kline kicked off the Feb. 25 discussion by talking about what he called “the giant gorilla in the room”: sequestration, a set of 5.3 percent across-the-board federal funding cuts set to hit just about every federal program on Friday unless Congress acts to prevent them.

via Back Home, Kline Talks Sequestration, Funding Flexibility, NCLB.

Education Week : Arne Duncan On NCLB Waivers, Sequestration, Common Core

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by Michele McNeil

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan continues to send strong signals that he may grant tailored, district-level waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act in states that have not already won this flexibility.

In a wide-ranging, hourlong interview today with a small group of national reporters, Duncan said he met with some of the “CORE” California superintendents yesterday to discuss their waiver request—as my colleague Lesli Maxwell reported yesterday. The CORE is a group of 10 districts, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, that are moving ahead with reforms their state is slow to embrace (such as the common core and new teacher evaluations). Duncan reiterated in today’s interview that his preference is to work with states, especially as the Feb. 28 deadline for the fourth-round of state applications looms.

via Arne Duncan On NCLB Waivers, Sequestration, Common Core.

EdSource Today: CA Superintendents in D.C. to talk district waiver with Duncan

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Superintendents representing a coalition of 10 California school districts are scheduled to meet with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today to make a personal pitch for a district waiver from provisions of No Child Left Behind, which they plan to formally submit next week.

February 28 is the deadline for the handful of remaining states that don’t already have a waiver approved or pending to apply for relief from some of the most punitive aspects of the federal education law in exchange for developing their own accountability systems. Duncan rejected California’s waiver application after the state applied under a different section of federal law rather than agree to conditio

via Superintendents in D.C. to talk district waiver with Duncan – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: Districts to seek NCLB waiver whether or not they’re invited

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A collaborative of California school districts known as the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, plans to move forward with its application for a waiver from the most severe provisions of No Child Left Behind by the end of the month, the next deadline for states to apply. CORE intends to proceed with or without Gov. Jerry Brown’s blessing or U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s invitation.

“We believe we will have a compelling application, given that the state has not been successful, and hope that the secretary will see it that way,” said Rick Miller, a consultant with Capitol Impact and executive director of CORE.

Miller said CORE has been in talks with both Brown’s and Duncan’s offices for a number of months and those are continuing. He said they would welcome the governor’s approval, but it’s not essential. “The state cannot veto the waiver application, but can comment on it,” Miller said.

via Districts to seek NCLB waiver whether or not they’re invited – by Kathryn Baron.

Education Week : Arne Duncan Eyes NCLB Waiver for Handful of Calif. Districts

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by Alyson Klein

The U.S. Department of Education is giving serious consideration to offering a special, district-level waiver from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act to just a handful of districts in California.

So far, 34 states and the District of Columbia have been approved for waivers that allow them to get out from under key mandates of the NCLB law in exchange for embracing department priorities, such as measuring teacher effectiveness based in part on student outcomes.

via Arne Duncan Eyes NCLB Waiver for Handful of Calif. Districts.

The Educated Guess: Districts preparing their own request for NCLB waiver

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The eight districts that have formed the nonprofit organization California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, are preparing their own application for a waiver from the penalties of the No Child Left Behind law, undeterred by the federal government’s rejection last month of a waiver for California. They’re hoping that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be impressed by their size, serving a million schoolchildren, and their willingness to agree to conditions that Gov. Jerry Brown and the State Board of Education rejected.

Two unknowns lurk: Duncan hasn’t yet agreed to consider district waivers in states that either didn’t apply for them or had their applications turned down, and CORE hasn’t yet formally asked Brown for his blessing, which would considerably help their case. Regardless, at some point in the next month or so the districts plan to file anyway, because they want the waiver to take effect July 1, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy confirmed Monday.

via Districts preparing their own request for NCLB waiver – by John Fensterwald.

The Reporter Editorial: No Child Left Behind is still a flawed policy

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If the No Child Left Behind law were a public school student, it would be halfway through its sophomore year by now and still getting Ds.

The law that has been the driving force behind public education in America was signed 11 years ago this week. It was deeply flawed from the start and remains so, despite attempts to improve it.

It is based on the unrealistic goal that every student, no matter what his or her obstacles, will be proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. It promised, but never fully delivered, federal money to meet that impossible goal, although it has continued to deliver the penalties for failing to do so.

http://www.thereporter.com/editorials/ci_22338158/editorial-no-child-left-behind-is-still-flawed

Education Week: Five Issues Facing Arne Duncan in a Second Term

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by Michele McNeil

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has maintained that he would stick around for a second term if President Barack Obama is re-elected and asks him to stay on. Now, Duncan has that chance. During the next four years, Duncan—and any successor—will confront some significant issues.

via Five Issues Facing Arne Duncan in a Second Term.

The Educated Guess: School and District Accountability Data on Ed-Data

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By Smita Patel

The Ed-Data website has just been updated with 2011-12 accountability data.

For the first time, a majority of California schools (53%) reached the state’s Academic Performance Index (API) goal of 800 this year. But the number of schools making AYP, the federal measure of K-12 academic progress, continues to decline mainly due to steep annual increases in targets under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

via School and District Accountability Data on Ed-Data – by Smita Patel.

Education Week: Romney Ed. Adviser Casts Doubt on Future of NCLB Waivers

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by Michele McNeil

In the first substantive remarks from the Mitt Romney campaign on No Child Left Behind waivers, adviser Phil Handy indicated that the flexibility granted this year to 33 states and the District of Columbia would be in serious jeopardy if the former Massachusetts governor wins the presidency.

In a substantive 90-minute debate at Teachers College, Columbia University that featured some pointed arguments and sparring, Handy squared off against Jon Schnur, an education adviser for President Barack Obama. The debate, co-sponsored by Education Week, filled in many of the blanks for those who wanted to know more about Romney’s positions on education.

On the issue his campaign has been most silent on — the fate of the waivers the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Arne Duncan have granted so far from NCLB—Handy didn’t outright say Romney would get rid of them. But he broadly hinted at it.

via Romney Ed. Adviser Casts Doubt on Future of NCLB Waivers.

Education Week: Miller to Duncan: Waivers May Offer Too Much Leeway On Grad Rates

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by Alyson Klein

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Education committee, is worried that the department isn’t holding states’ feet to the fire when it comes to monitoring graduation rates in states that have received waivers from parts of the No Child Left Behind Act.

In fact, Miller wrote Secretary of Education Arne Duncan a letter last Friday, saying, basically, that he’s worried that states are trying to wiggle out of the graduation reporting regulations that former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings put in place just before she left office in 2008. Those rules required states to use a uniform metric for calculating grad rates.

via Miller to Duncan: Waivers May Offer Too Much Leeway On Grad Rates.

Education Week: Stopgap Spending Measure Deals With Highly Qualified Teacher Issue

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by Alyson Klein

There’s a big budget showdown brewing in Washington, but school districts have at least some funding information to go on now, at least for the next six months, thanks to a rare bipartisan bill that passed the House of Representatives last week and is expected to gain approval in the Senate.

Last week, with very little fanfare or drama, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to extend funding for almost every federal agency until March 27, 2013, well after the presidential election. There’s actually a very small increase for the Education Department, about $417 million, according to the Committee for Education Funding, a nonprofit organization in Washington. Most programs will be funded at current levels. Of course, if “sequestration” kicks in the money could be cut by about 8 percent, but most school districts wouldn’t feel the squeeze until next summer. More on that very complicated issue here here.

via Stopgap Spending Measure Deals With Highly Qualified Teacher Issue.

Education Week: Outcomes for Students With Severe Disabilities Can, Must Improve

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by Nirvi Shah

Students who have the most severe disabilities aren’t often enough being prepared well for work or more education beyond high school, and Congress has an opportunity to change that when it gets around to renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination today shared a set of recommendations that target reform of the tests taken by students with severe cognitive disabilities and the instruction these students receive. The group’s goal is to better prepare students with significant disabilities for the workforce and continue their education after high school.

via Outcomes for Students With Severe Disabilities Can, Must Improve.

SacBee: Secretary of Education meets in Sacramento with mayors, superintendents

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By Melody Gutierrez

While in Sacramento during a national bus tour, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the biggest challenge facing public education is complacency, and he challenged parents and students to demand more of those in charge.

Duncan spoke Wednesday in the Tsakopoulos Library to a group of more than 40 mayors and school superintendents from across the state.

The panel discussion focused on issues, including California’s No Child Left Behind waiver and the hot-button topic of tying test scores to teacher evaluations.

via Secretary of Education meets in Sacramento with mayors, superintendents.

EdSource Today: Arne Duncan tight-lipped on California’s waiver

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By Kathryn Baron

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wouldn’t reveal even a hint regarding the status of California’s request for a waiver from the most unrealistic provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, in an interview on Wedneday.

Duncan only reiterated what state education officials have already acknowledged. “Our staff is still in conversation with the state, so we’re still working on it,” the Secretary told EdSource Today in a phone call yesterday during the first leg of his “Education Drives America” Back-to-School bus tour as it rolled through the Bay Area.

via Duncan tight-lipped on California’s waiver – by Kathryn Baron.