States Ready to Apply for NCLB Relief; President Obama Calls for Greater Flexibility for Schools

Today, CEC’s Associate Executive Director Deb Ziegler attended an event at the White House to hear President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan unveil how states will be relieved of certain NCLB requirements which have been the cause of constant controversy and concern for many across the country.   In exchange for seeking flexibility, states would have to address how they plan to embrace education reforms, many of which have been deemed controversial and questionable in their application to students with disabilities and the professionals who work on their behalf. 

CEC has long-advocated for an overhaul of NCLB, calling for a redesign of the assessment and accountability systems, a greater focus on professional development and support for educators, and removal of a punitive system while keeping intact the laser focus on the performance of students with disabilities.  While the availability of this waiver package may address some of these issues, CEC believes that a concerted effort from Congress is needed to create long-term, legislative changes to the law. 

The waiver package proposed by the Obama Administration focuses on a variety of issues, including:

• States will no longer have to demonstrate that all students are 100% proficient by the 2013-2014 school year to determine adequate yearly progress (AYP) if they meet certain conditions and importantly, reporting on the achievement of all of students and all subgroups is still required;
• States will have flexibility implementing school improvement requirements for the lowest 5% of schools by waiving the requirement that schools be labeled as failing for not making all of their AYP targets and provide flexibility around federally-mandated “one-size-fits-all” interventions; and
• States will have flexibility in how they spend some of their funding.

But, to receive a waiver States will have to develop a “rigorous and comprehensive plan” to address certain education reforms, including:

• States must adopt college- and career-ready standards and assessments;
• States will have to set “basic guidelines” for teacher and principal evaluation and support systems based on multiple valid measures, including student progress over time and multiple measures of professional practice; and
• States must focus on the lowest performing 15% of schools and target strategies to improve their performance.

While CEC wholeheartedly agrees that changes to NCLB are needed now, CEC has many concerns about the conditions required by the Obama Administration’s waiver proposal, particularly basing teacher evaluations on student achievement.  Read CEC’s comprehensive recommendations regarding evaluation systems and other reforms here.

Comments

[Marcia Moyer]

Yeah!
I'm glad to see the president using common sense and realizing that NCLB was a great idea but that is virtually impossible to mandate from DC!! The states must be more free to make decisions. The closer to the people a decision is made, the more the PEOPLE benefit. When will we get back to that common sense principal?!!!

[Chaquetas Hombre Belstaff]

I follow you VIA GFC and I love your blog!