NCLB: Act II
NCLB: Act II covered federal developments affecting education. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: federal.
Education
Behind the Numbers: The Story of SES and Choice
Bigswifty has posted all the numbers on supplemental educational services and public school choice. You have everything you need to solve the math problem I posed last week.
Education
Stay-the-Course Strategy Could Preserve NCLB--or Backfire
“They’d rather stick with what they’ve got than deal with some wholesale retrenchment" on NCLB, Kevin Carey of Education Sector told me yesterday when we discussed Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' graduation-rate announcement.
Education
SES, Choice Participation Presents Math Problem
Consider this word problem:
The number of students using free tutoring and school choice under NCLB increased dramatically between 2002-03 and 2003-04. But the percentage of students choosing those options didn't change.
The number of students using free tutoring and school choice under NCLB increased dramatically between 2002-03 and 2003-04. But the percentage of students choosing those options didn't change.
Education
Will Spellings Tell States to Improve Graduation Rates?
In a post earlier this week, I raised two unanswered questions about the education secretary's proposed policy regarding high school graduation rates:
Education
Spellings: Nats Fan, Not Ticketholder
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings disappointed policy wonks by not answering my queries about the details of her plans for a uniform graduation rate. No one e-mailed asking if I might have any nuggets on the grad-rate issue in my notebook that I didn't share on the blog. I don't.
Education
Spellings: Graduation Rates Should Be Uniform, Disaggregated
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings says she will soon propose rules that would require all states to use the same formula to calculate high schools' graduation rates. She said she would require schools to disaggregate data by socioeconomic status, race, and other categories—just as schools are required to do for test scores under NCLB.
Education
Spellings' Next Move: Graduation Rates
First growth models, then differentiated accountability. It appears as if Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' next target is graduation rates.
Education
Finn Says Five Myths Sidetrack NCLB Debate
"Troublemaker" Checker Finn, at right, believes that NCLB's reauthorization is stalled because of five fallacies. He says it's a myth that the law is underfunded, and he questions whether it has led to teaching to the test. "If the test is an honest measure of a solid curriculum," he writes in Sunday's Washington Post, "then teaching kids the skills and knowledge they need to pass it is honorable work."
Education
Secretary of State Says Bush Won Her Over With NCLB
Back in 2000, Republican presidential candidates courted foreign policy expert Condoleezza Rice, right, to advise them. One thing that appealed to the Russia expert about George Bush was his proposal to give "equal opportunity to black and white students" under NCLB.
Education
Anti-NCLB Bills Advance in Arizona and Minnesota
In my first entry of 2008, I wrote that state legislators were going to put NCLB in their sights. Virginia already has passed a bill that would require the state board to consider opting out of the law, though I predicted that board members would find more than 400 million reasons (aka dollars) to stay with the law.
Education
Who's In and Who's Out of Differentiated Accountability
Yesterday, I reported that the Department of Education had approved 29 states' standards and assessment plans. I based that on my reading of decision letters on the department's Web site.
Education
GAO Finds States Chipping in for School Improvement
In a new report, the Government Accountability Office says that states are allocating their own money to help schools failing to make AYP under NCLB. The GAO estimates that since 2002 states used $2.6 billion of their own money for school improvement efforts. That's double the $1.3 billion that states are required to set aside for school improvement from NCLB's Title I. States also are using money from federal programs other than Title I to aid those schools.
Education
Two 'Pioneer' States Might Be Left out of Pilot Project
Last week, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings traveled to St. Paul, Minn., to announce that she would offer up to 10 states the chance to "differentiate accountability" under NCLB. She didn't mention in her speech that Minnesota wouldn't qualify. The state hasn't won the feds' approval for its testing system—one of four criteria participating states must meet.
Education
Lawmakers on Left and Right Criticize Pilot Project
The response to the "differentiated accountability" project shows one truth about NCLB: It's hard to please everybody. Looking at reaction from the left and the right on Capitol Hill, you see tepid endorsements for the plan, followed by criticism of the law itself.