Opinion
Federal Opinion

Ending Accountability Loopholes

By George Miller — September 13, 2007 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

As the debate over the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act intensifies, one of the key questions we face is what we can do to improve the law’s accountability provisions. The Bush administration—which views the law as “99.9 percent pure”—favors minimal changes in reauthorization. That’s unfortunate, because—among other problems with the status quo—maintaining it would mean continuing to exclude millions of children from the law’s accountability system.

In its implementation of NCLB, the Bush administration has allowed for enormous loopholes that undermine the goals of the law.

See Also

Read related commentary by U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif.,

NCLB Plan Risks ‘Slippery Slope’

For starters, the administration has permitted states to use large “N-sizes”—up to 200—for reporting on adequate yearly progress, or AYP, by subgroup.

Rep. George Miller

A school’s N-size is the number of children that must belong to a subgroup in order for that subgroup to be included in AYP calculations. If a school has an N-size of 200, and the school has 199 Hispanic students, then none of those Hispanic students would be included in the school’s disaggregated AYP calculations.

The damage from this loophole is enormous. Last year, in an exhaustive investigation, the Associated Press found that nearly 2 million students nationwide are simply left out of disaggregated AYP calculations, including an estimated 15 percent of minority students nationwide. This is an outrage. It runs completely counter to the integrity of the law. In April 2006, I joined a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House in urging U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to address the N-size loophole. The secretary took no action.

Yet the N-size loophole may not be the biggest one. The Bush administration has also permitted states to use unreasonable “confidence intervals”—essentially, wide statistical ranges—when determining how many students have reached proficiency in reading or math. Think of confidence intervals like a margin of error in an opinion poll. The larger the confidence interval, the more wiggle room states have to meet their proficiency targets.

When the Bush administration tries to cast the current reauthorization debate in terms of more vs. less accountability, don’t buy the spin.

The independent, nonpartisan Congressional Research Service examined confidence intervals and came up with some disturbing conclusions. Looking at one state, the CRS found that the number of schools that did not meet their AYP targets increased by nearly 8 percent because the state used a confidence interval of 99 instead of 95.

Despite this evidence, the Bush administration allows nearly half the states to use a confidence interval of 99, effectively the highest possible.

In August, I joined with three of my colleagues on the House Education and Labor Committee—Reps. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., Dale E. Kildee, D-Mich., and Michael N. Castle, R-Del.—to release a discussion draft of Title I of our reauthorization bill. In the draft, we sought to close these loopholes. For starters, we capped N-sizes at 30. In Texas, an additional 31,000 African-American students would be included in disaggregated AYP calculations if the state had an N-size of 30. In California, an additional 153,000 English-language learners would be included if the state had an N-size of 30.

Reps. George Miller, D-Calif., second from right, Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., right, and Ronald E. Jackson Executive Director, Citizens for Better Schools, Birmingham, Ala. , left, wait to address a business group on Sept. 5 about renewing the No Child Left Behind Act. Also speaking at the event was U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

Our discussion draft also caps confidence intervals at 95. In addition, we sought to address other loopholes that cut students with disabilities and high school dropouts out of NCLB’s system of accountability.

There is no justification for the administration’s loopholes. They arbitrarily and needlessly weaken the heart of the No Child Left Behind law—accountability—and make it harder for us to reach the law’s goals of educating every child.

What we need is a smarter system of accountability. For example, our discussion draft would allow states to assess school performance on more than just reading and math tests. All over the country, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders believe we should be measuring schools more fairly and comprehensively. I agree with them. If we keep a strong focus on student progress in reading and math, but also allow additional indicators to play a role, we can have a richer, better understanding of what’s really happening inside our schools.

When the Bush administration tries to cast the current reauthorization debate in terms of more vs. less accountability, don’t buy the spin. What we should aim for is a smart system of accountability—one that doesn’t needlessly exclude millions of children across the country.

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Ron DeSantis Is Running for President. What Will That Mean for K-12 Schools?
DeSantis has solidified himself as a force on school policy. His campaign will likely influence the role education plays in the election.
6 min read
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during convocation at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va., on April 14, 2023.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during convocation at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va., on April 14, 2023.
Paige Dingler/The News & Advance via AP
Federal Cardona Defends Biden's Education Budget and Proposals on Student Debt and Trans Athletes
House Republicans accused Education Secretary Miguel Cardona of indoctrinating students and causing drops in test scores.
4 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers' 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 24, 2023, in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the 2023 Teachers of the Year at the White House on April 24, 2023. He appeared before a U.S. House committee May 16, 2023, to defend the Biden administration's proposed education budget and other policies.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Federal Book Bans and Divisive Concepts Laws Will Hold U.S. Students Back, Secretary Cardona Says
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participated in a summit this week that drew international education leaders to the nation's capital.
6 min read
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Alyssa Schukar for Education Week
Federal Opinion The Lies America Tells Itself About Black Education
'A Nation at Risk' created a faux crisis to usher in the right's education agenda, argues Bettina L. Love.
4 min read
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, White House Policy director, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room in Washington, Feb. 23, 1984 where they discussed school discipline.
President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell, left, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room, Feb. 23, 1984, where they discussed school discipline.
AP