[Bridging_the_digital_divide] NCLB update

[Jason Barkeloo]

Study: States progressing with new school law

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Posted: 10:37 AM EDT (1437 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As report cards go, it is a spotty mix of promising 
and abysmal grades. But an independent review praises the states for 
progress given the scope of their assignment -- putting in place the 
most sweeping education law in decades.

Most states have met or are at least on the way to meeting 75 percent 
of the major requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, according to 
the nonpartisan Education Commission of the States. That level of 
compliance has more than doubled over the last year.

Every state and the District of Columbia, for example, have a policy to 
ensure that students with disabilities are included when their schools 
test reading, math and science.

But not a single state is on pace to fulfill the law's requirement of 
having a measurable way to ensure a highly qualified teacher will be in 
every core academic class in 2005-06.

Overall, the states are doing well in areas of testing students and 
measuring yearly progress, but they're struggling with requirements 
designed to improve the teaching corps.

"The hardest work is yet to come," said Kathy Christie, vice president 
of the ECS Clearinghouse, the commission's research and information 
arm. "The toughest thing in all of this is going to be getting better 
at actually raising student achievement."

The 2001 law requires expanded standardized testing, more information 
and choices for parents, and public reporting of progress for every 
demographic group so the scores of struggling students aren't masked by 
school averages. Schools that get federal poverty aid but don't make 
enough yearly progress get help but also face mounting sanctions.

ECS, a Denver-based group that advises state leaders, graded states on 
40 elements of the law, from how well parents get information to how 
well struggling schools get help.

The determination of whether a state is on track varies by topic. Some 
changes under the law were supposed to have happened already, while 
some have deadlines in coming years.

Among the findings:

98 percent of states are on track to define what a "persistently 
dangerous" school means, a designation that allows students in such 
schools to transfer. But many states are revamping their definitions 
after criticisms that their standards were far too low.

92 percent are on track to publicly report achievement data for all 
major groups of students, such as minority, poor, disabled and 
limited-English students.

65 percent are on track to set clear, substantial expectations for 
students so that all of them are at grade level in reading and math no 
later than 2013-14.

53 percent are on track to identify which schools are in need of 
improvement before the next school year begins so that parents have 
time to understand their options.

45 percent are on track to provide the promised "scientifically based" 
help to schools that have been targeted for improvement or more serious 
corrective action.

22 percent are on track to make new and current elementary, middle and 
secondary teachers of core subjects demonstrate that they are competent 
in their subjects.

In perspective, Christie said, the effort by the states is encouraging. 
Not since the 1970s, when the government passed landmark acts to help 
disabled children and prevent sexual discrimination, have states gotten 
so active in response to a federal law, the report says.

State progress is also clear in the way the debate is shifting, said 
Ray Simon, assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education. 
School leaders are focusing less on forms and funding and more on 
getting students up to grade level, he said.

The report's recommendations include redefining how progress is 
measured so schools and districts can track the success of the same 
students over time, not just different students each year. ECS also 
calls for states to get rid of systems that allow veteran teachers to 
be deemed highly qualified under standards that aren't rigorous.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/07/14/states.schools.ap/index.html

---

Jason Barkeloo
President
TouchSmart Publishing
http://www.touchsmart.net
tele 513.225.8765


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