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Education chief urges states to opt out of No Child Left Behind
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Arne Duncan
Education secretary
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Aug. 9, 2011 | 8:06 a.m.
Public schools struggling under the testing mandates of No Child Left Behind were handed a lifeline Monday by the Obama administration that will allow them to opt out of the federal education reform.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the opportunity Monday, calling No Child Left Behind an "impediment" and "disincentive" for educators. He urged all states to apply for exemptions -- and expects many will -- when the option is made available in September.
Nevada definitely will be among the states seeking relief, said Keith Rheault, state superintendent of public schools.
If Nevada's waiver is accepted, that doesn't mean standardized testing would disappear here or in other states, Duncan said. Testing will remain, but states will be given the freedom to implement their own systems for making sure students have the skills they need by the time they graduate. Testing will just be used differently than it has been under No Child Left Behind, which relied heavily on test scores in determining whether schools are adequate or not.
Only 5 percent of Clark County schools have passed No Child Left Behind every year of the federal act's nine years of implementation, and even principals of those schools want change.
"It's only a matter of time before we don't pass," said Aalya Page, principal of Bilbray Elementary School, west of Fort Apache Road, near U.S. Highway 95.
No Child Left Behind requires that a percentage of students test as proficient each year, with the bar rising annually to 100 percent in 2013-14. That is what many have called an "unreachable goal."
But that is not the biggest problem, Page said. Those students who are making gains don't get credit and neither do their teachers.
"The current system is fundamentally unfair," said Duncan, who bluntly noted the flaws of the reform initiated by President George W. Bush. A whole school can fail if just one student subgroup, such as limited English speakers or special education students, falls short.
"Many schools showing real improvement are labeled as failures under No Child Left Behind," Duncan said.
That is because No Child Left Behind doesn't acknowledge student growth below the bar. Only one question is asked through annual standardized tests: Are students performing at grade level in math and English?
"Frankly, we need to get out of the way," said Duncan, asserting that the "one-size-fits-all" approach of No Child Left Behind for all public schools doesn't work.
Nevada's proposed "growth model" -- to be used in the Clark County School District -- has a good chance of meeting requirements.
"We're much more interested in growth and gain," said Duncan, noting that many states are leaning toward similar growth models.
The growth model would place emphasis on students' individual progress over time instead of basing success solely on whether student scores are proficient on an annual standardized test.
The Nevada Department of Education will reveal its growth model on Aug. 15, Rheault said.
The plus of this system is that no child will be left behind, said Brian Wiseman, principal of four rural Clark County schools.
His schools in Lundy and Indian Springs have passed No Child Left Behind at least eight out of nine years.
Children are actually left behind under the current system because teachers don't bother with students who are already passing the standardized test, he said. These students stay stagnant.
It's the same with students at the very bottom of performance. There's no hope in them passing the test, so they lose the attention to students on the fence.
"The growth model is more indicative of no child left behind," Wiseman said because teachers must show that all students are progressing.
"Every child moves at a different pace," Page said. "What's more important than scoring proficient is that they make a year's gain in a year's time."
Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@review journal.com or 702-383-0279.
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Beginning in 2005 or earlier, the Principal of Las Vegas Academy skewed its "No Child Left Behind" test results by rejecting the applications of previously accepted, artistically gifted students, once the Principal learned that the students had Individualized Education Plans written under the Federal laws to protect handicapped, physically and mentally ill, and developmentally disabled students. Those laws, IDEA and ADA, do not provide any legal grounds for Las Vegas Academy, or any other public or private school for artistically gifted students, to discriminate against students with Individualized Education Plans. This matter was addressed with the Superintendent of the Clark County School District, and the District's director of "Special Education", but no changes in the policies established by the Principals of Las Vegas Academy were made, as a result of the District's administrative policy that each Principal is the "captain of his own ship", in terms of compliance with Federal law. After completing documentation of a multi-year record of discrimination against artistically gifted special education students by Las Vegas Academy's Principals, Las Vegas Disability Watch/Childrens Division is preparing a multi-prong IDEA/ADA lawsuit against the Clark County School District arising out of the District's and LVA Principals' history of discriminatory conduct.
To KeenObserver: Maybe I missed something, but isn't this something Laura Bush was for? Both parties are guilty of this stupid law. I said it before and I'll say it again, NCLB is a politicans way of making it look like they are doing something about the education problems with out doing anything at all.
How convenient that the writer of the story found it necessary to not mention the strong power play by Ted Kennedy in getting the No Child Left Behind Bill passed. The bill was more Kennedy than Bush.
deserthawk42 has it exactly right. The attitude towards school and learning is taught in the HOME. It is learned in the HOME. It is reinforced in the HOME. Like charity, it begins in the HOME.
The CCSD should opt out of No Child With a Big Behind. It fits in with their opting out of education a long time ago.
VESTEZIO See N7V I can make stuff up too (peter griffin laugh)
The responsibility of this entire farce, "No Child Left Behind" should be transferred away from the schools and teachers.....and be placed on every parent's shoulders...right where it belongs. Let the parents be held accountable for the success or failure of their offspring, and let this become a "law".....blasting it all over the news and the U.S.!......
Teachers have no control over a parent who sends their child to school tardy every day. They have no control over a child's excessive absences....and we are talking about up to 100 absences per year, or more. They have no control over any circumstances that are placed upon the children in their homes by their parents. If children fail it's because their parents have failed to do their jobs, unless the child has a some sort of bona fide disability.
@nvlawyer: You moved your kids 800 miles away but selfishly kept your Vegas job. I'm sure your kids appreciate a long-distance, absentee father. Not only is your solution illogical, it is unbelievable. It's time to man up and learn how to parent your children.
@N7V- Did your parents face your swing toward a wall when you were a child? If your Mom and Dad got divorced would you still call them Aunt and Uncle? You're comments are as useful as a Football Bat.
The Nevada Department of Education will reveal its growth model on Aug. 15, Rheault said.
The most anticipated announcement since Buckingham Palace announced that Di was pregnant.