Spellings to Expand Pilot Test Reversing Order of NCLB Sanctions

By Michelle R. Davis , Christina A. Samuels and Erik W. Robelen

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has announced plans to expand a pilot initiative under which school districts may reverse the order of key consequences for schools’ low performance under the No Child Left Behind Act.

The news comes in a May 15 letter to chief state school officers that also warns that the Department of Education is prepared to take “significant enforcement action” against states and districts that fail to meet the federal law’s school choice and supplemental-services requirements, including the possibility of withholding some federal funds.

The secretary drew attention to the letter in a May 17 meeting with reporters, in which she also discussed two other significant developments involving the No Child Left Behind Act. One was the selection of two states for a “growth model” pilot for testing an alternative way of meeting the law’s accountability requirements on student progress. The other was a decision on accountability for several states with large numbers of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina...