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PITTSBURG —
Kansas school districts have been granted a waiver from the requirements of No Child Left Behind, state officials said Thursday.
Recently, according to previously published reports, Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia were given waivers from NCLB, which requires all students to test proficient in math and reading by 2014, a goal the United States is struggling to achieve.
In exchange, the states that were given waivers must develop accountability plans that set new targets for raising achievement, advancing teacher effectiveness, preparing all students for careers and college and improving the performance of low-performing schools.
“We all understand that the best ideas don’t come from Washington, and moving forward, these states will have increased flexibility with federal funds and relief from NCLB’s mandates, allowing them to develop locally tailored solutions to meet their unique educational challenges,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a release.
Democrats and Republicans agree the law is broken but haven’t been able to agree on terms to fix it. The law has been praised for shining a light on the performance of minorities, low-income students, English language learners and special education students but also has led to an increasing number of schools being labeled as “failing” and subject to a prescribed set of interventions – even if just one of these groups didn’t meet learning targets.
Critics of the law also say it has had the unintended effect of encouraging instructors to teach to the test and has led schools to narrow their curriculums.
Local school officials said they are aware of the news, but said they don’t yet know what the full implications are.
”We should know in a couple days,” Pittsburg USD 250 Superintendent Destry Brown said. “We do know this will keep us at a certain level so we don’t have to raise the number of kids who are proficient. We will stay at last year’s numbers in order to meet AYP.”
That number is around 90 percent proficiency, Brown said.
“I think that’s good for us and good for Kansas,” he said. “We’re going to focus more on the growth of students as opposed to staying at a certain level. It’s more common sense now. As long as the teachers on the committee continue to work with on things that make sense, I think we’re going to be fine.”
Brown said he doesn’t want rules that would couple student achievement with teacher scores.
“I think we can come up with a model that might be used in other states,” he said.
Kansas school districts have been granted a waiver from the requirements of No Child Left Behind, state officials said Thursday.
Recently, according to previously published reports, Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia were given waivers from NCLB, which requires all students to test proficient in math and reading by 2014, a goal the United States is struggling to achieve.
In exchange, the states that were given waivers must develop accountability plans that set new targets for raising achievement, advancing teacher effectiveness, preparing all students for careers and college and improving the performance of low-performing schools.
“We all understand that the best ideas don’t come from Washington, and moving forward, these states will have increased flexibility with federal funds and relief from NCLB’s mandates, allowing them to develop locally tailored solutions to meet their unique educational challenges,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a release.
Democrats and Republicans agree the law is broken but haven’t been able to agree on terms to fix it. The law has been praised for shining a light on the performance of minorities, low-income students, English language learners and special education students but also has led to an increasing number of schools being labeled as “failing” and subject to a prescribed set of interventions – even if just one of these groups didn’t meet learning targets.
Critics of the law also say it has had the unintended effect of encouraging instructors to teach to the test and has led schools to narrow their curriculums.
Local school officials said they are aware of the news, but said they don’t yet know what the full implications are.
”We should know in a couple days,” Pittsburg USD 250 Superintendent Destry Brown said. “We do know this will keep us at a certain level so we don’t have to raise the number of kids who are proficient. We will stay at last year’s numbers in order to meet AYP.”
That number is around 90 percent proficiency, Brown said.
“I think that’s good for us and good for Kansas,” he said. “We’re going to focus more on the growth of students as opposed to staying at a certain level. It’s more common sense now. As long as the teachers on the committee continue to work with on things that make sense, I think we’re going to be fine.”
Brown said he doesn’t want rules that would couple student achievement with teacher scores.
“I think we can come up with a model that might be used in other states,” he said.
