No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the primary federal education law for K-12 public schools, was signed by George W. Bush a decade ago. Heralded by many as a great bipartisan agreement, NCLB ushered in a new era of accountability for public schools and, for the first time, required schools to show evidence of student achievement or face consequences.
But NCLB was a compromise, and no one was completely happy with the plan. NCLB applies to a system with diverse stakeholders and powerful, entrenched interest groups, so we should have anticipated the derision the law receives today from all sides. In addition, the law required states to use high-stakes tests as a yardstick for student achievement, and some schools and teachers gamed the system by teaching to the test or simply cheating outright.
But because of NCLB, the first decade of the new century may be considered the era of education accountability. This is especially true in Arizona, where schools are growing into their new A-through-F school and district grading system - the system that is replacing labels such as "performing" and "performing plus."
But if you look at the fine print, you will notice that the range is actually from "A" to "D," since a school must earn a "D" for multiple years before being labeled an "F."
State leaders quickly recognized this needed to be addressed or some schools would find ways to cut corners, much like what happened under NCLB. The Arizona Legislature is considering a bill-HB 2663-to allow the state Board of Education to classify a school as an "F" sooner. Otherwise, schools could flounder with a "D" for multiple years before taking serious measures to improve.
HB 2663 is an important adjustment to the system, and the details of the law and implementation will be critical. No school wants an "F," but it's more important that parents know the truth about their school and can find better educational opportunities immediately.
Jonathan Butcher is education director for the Goldwater Institute.
mesateacher posted at 10:57 am on Thu, Feb 16, 2012.
I want to make something clear about these inane ratings. Say a school has a rating of C. What does that mean? It could mean that most kids (75% and up) passed the reading and writing portion of the AIMS, but fewer (<75%) passed the math. Then there are other fudge-factors the state builds in to arrive at the C. But this does not mean that the teachers aren't qualified. It doesn't mean that they don't work hard, or that they don't have the right books or curriculum. The C is more a rating of the students. Maybe the students in the school are grossly unprepared for the math AIMS. Maybe they don't give a dang about their score. There are so many factors. But the way slimey politicians and biased Goldwater lemmings interpret it, "it's a bad school". If you look at the statistics, there are a lot of good schools being rated B/C even D because of the AIMS scores. The one thing schools can't do it make student value education and care. That's the jobs of the parents. Goldwater should rate Arizona's parents, then apply some consideration to the schools.
asuaguila posted at 11:37 am on Thu, Feb 16, 2012.
The Goldwater Institute as do most pundits on education continue to focus on the bureaucracy of education rather than the actual teaching. Mesateacher is right in part. Parents must become better informed and constructively involved in their child's education without interfering with the Teachers in the classroom.
For example, School choice is a farce that dilutes educational resources. School districts should not have paid recruiters to steal children from one district to another. Commit to your local community which includes your local public school.
VofReason posted at 12:50 pm on Thu, Feb 16, 2012.
I think both comments here are correct. What I also think that says is that the constant call for more money in education is a farce. I agree, parents are likely the greatest determinant factor of success with education. No additional tax dollars will make parents nor children care more about it. Additionally, there are large beaurocracies in education and some of the money goes down the administration gopher hole. Now we have met the root of the problem.......
samkat posted at 6:42 pm on Thu, Feb 16, 2012.
Actually, I think the Goldwater Institute is simply trying to kill off the public school system to allow the so called conservatives to force the tax payer to pay for their religious schools.
Tookie88 posted at 1:25 pm on Sun, Feb 19, 2012.
When are parents going ot be held accountable for their child's learning environment? When will parents respect education and teach their children to respect it? When parents begin to value education again, then the students will too. Putting all of this on the teacher's shoulder won't fix the problem we have in education. Throwing more money at the problem won't help either.
I am on a salary freeze for the last four years. If more taxes are added, it won't go to teachers or the classeoom. It will go to administration. Is it fair that someone in the ivory tower is making $180k a year while a teacher in the trenches is barely surviving?
Again, put the responsibility on the parents and education will change.