New flexibility in NCLB?

From the National Education Association -

March 18, 2008, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced new flexibility in the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. She said that states may apply for the ability to implement “differentiated accountability” for schools that fail to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements.

Currently AYP is an all-or-nothing system, under which a school that fails to meets any one of as many as 37 different criteria is essentially treated the same as a school that fails to meet all 37.

NEA has long criticized this fundamental flaw in the law and its rigid list of mandated federal sanctions. The Secretary will now allow up to 10 states to implement targeted interventions for schools that fail to make AYP based on the specific reasons why they fell short.

While this is a step in the right direction, it comes six years too late, and it fails to recognize the need for even broader changes to the overall NCLB framework.

With President Bush’s budget cuts to funding for existing NCLB programs, it’s clear the Administration is not serious about providing educators and schools with the tools and resources they need to be successful. (See funding data showing the impact of the President’s budget.)

Read NEA's statement in reaction to the Secretary’s announcement.

Note: this new flexibility is not automatic. States must apply by May 2 to be part of this pilot project, and the Department says no more than 10 states will be approved. States also must meet criteria set forth by the Secretary, which are noted on the Department’s fact sheet.