February 13, 2007

A Dream Deferred: The Aspen Commission Report on NCLB

Filed under: NCLB by Leo Casey @ 6:06 pm

The promise of No Child Left Behind was to bridge the achievement gap, so that no student would be denied the full opportunities of America that come only with the successful completion of one’s education.

If implemented, the recommendations of the Aspen Institute Commission report on NCLB would deal a fatal blow to that promise, and set the struggle for educational justice back decades.

NCLB was exactly on point in insisting upon a highly qualified teacher in every classroom. Educational research affirms the absolute centrality of experienced, accomplished teachers to the education of young people, especially for students living in poverty and at academic risk.

The recommendations of the report would abandon the work that states have already done to improve the quality of teaching, set aside the work that remains to be done, and adopt a proposal which has never been successfully implemented – the use of growth in standardized test scores as a measure of teaching quality. State of the art research on ‘value added’ and ‘growth’ models of standardized testing has concluded that they do not have the capacity to provide accurate micro-level data for schools or individual teachers. In the absence of such refined tools and with the real world of standardized tests that are themselves substantially flawed more often than not, the use of such tests as measures of quality teaching will simply create massive disincentives for schools and teachers to take on the most needy and academically at risk youngsters who perform poorly on such exams – the exact opposite of what we should be doing in American education.

Worse, in a mindless use of the bell curve, the Aspen report recommendation starts from the assumption that 25% of all teachers are not highly qualified, and will attempt to identify them through the standardized tests — there is no meaningful standard of what constitutes a highly qualified teacher. The operative word here is attempt, because the AFT calculates that less than 25% of all American teachers teach subjects for which there is longitudinal testing data. But while we are looking for the pot of gold at the end of the standardized testing rainbow, the real work of placing highly qualified teachers in every classroom — and especially in the classes of students living in poverty and at risk for academic failure — will be dealt a serious body blow by this diversion.

No less troubling is the report’s failure to call for the provision of necessary educational resources to struggling schools. Part of the ‘great compromise’ that brought NCLB into being was the idea that once given the resources necessary to do the job, schools should be held accountable for the educational performance of their students. But the Bush administration has never delivered on the resource side of that bargain, and schools now face a narrow and unrealistic formula of “annual yearly progress” without the tools they need to raise academic achievement. Both of these elements must change if the promise of NCLB is be delivered, and not deferred.

3 Comments

Comments are open for registered users and do not reflect the views of the UFT. Please read our general rules for commenters.

  • The "tough" talk begins on Aspen Commission…

    The spin has begun, with Diane Schemo’s NYT article Tougher Standards Urged for Federal Education Law, Leo Casey’s pointing out that growth models can’t accurately measure teacher contributions to student achievement,  Michele McLaughlin’s ide…

    Trackback by Sherman Dorn — February 14, 2007 @ 8:42 am

  • Parsing growth and grossing the Parthenon…

    Kevin Carey criticizes Leo Casey’s take on growth measures to evaluate teacher effectiveness.  Casey cited a 2003 RAND Corp. study which cast doubt on the use of student-achievement growth measures to evaluate teachers (something pushed by the As…

    Trackback by Sherman Dorn — February 14, 2007 @ 8:04 pm

  • Notes on No Child Left Behind
    By Phyllis C. Murray

    ” NCLB should be funded at the level promised in the 2001 reauthorization. Since the law’s passage, the gap between the amount that Congress promised for NCLB programs and what it has actually provided for NCLB programs has grown to $55.7 billion. Current funding is not enough to serve all eligible students, and many of the students who are being served are not being served sufficiently–particularly in districts with the greatest concentrations of poverty.” AFT

    Once again, we note that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) still leaves much to be desired. And although well-intentioned, there is an urgent need today, for legislators to go back to the drawing board with educators and fine tune the NCLB Act.

    What we seem to have today is a test-centered curriculum. And even though we have a blitz of mandated standardized tests, there are additional test-instruments used in the classroom which assess information taught on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. And lest we forget, the extended day comes complete with workbooks and computer programs which provide more test practice.

    What is needed is an Individualized Educational Plan(IEP) for each school and a balanced program of instruction. Hence, a well planned prescription for improvement must fit the child and the school. There must be funds available to provide for adequate resources as well as a cadre of professionals who are highly qualified teachers.

    These educators must be supported by paraprofessionals whose training, like that of any competent educator, is cumulative and continuing. Therefore, educators must have access to meaningful staff development as well as affordable courses of study through accredited colleges and universities. In addition to the aforementioned, teachers must be treated as professionals, rewarded as professionals and held accountable to the standards of their profession. They must be allowed and, in fact, encouraged to be involved in the decisions that affect their work and the academic performance of their students.

    Twenty-First Century schools must have reduced class size which is any teacher’s dream. Once there is reduced class size, individualized and small group instruction will be possible. And research has proven the following:

    1. There will be fewer student disruptions, enabling teachers to offer more effective instruction without interruption.
    2. There will be improved student achievement and graduation rates will be enhanced .
    3. There will be more opportunities for the retention of qualified teachers,
    4. There will be more student engagement and less anonymity in the classroom.
    5. And last but not least, there will be better teacher ability to keep in touch with parents

    In 1993 Albert Shanker, like many others, was advocating the creation of a set of national education standards. These standards would tell schools what students at different grade levels would be expected to learn, and they would tell parents how well their child, and their school’s school, performed compared with others. The standards themselves would force schools to remain focused on their primary mission–teaching children.

    The NCLB Act must insure that education is a priority. Current funding must be enough to serve all eligible students. All students who are being served have the right to be served sufficiently- particularly in districts with the greatest concentrations of poverty where no child must be left behind.

    Yes, Leo Casey you are right:

    “Educational research affirms the absolute centrality of experienced, accomplished teachers to the education of young people, especially for students living in poverty and at academic risk. But while we are looking for the pot of gold at the end of the standardized testing rainbow, the real work of placing highly qualified teachers in every classroom — and especially in the classes of students living in poverty and at risk for academic failure — will be dealt a serious body blow by this diversion.”.

    Comment by phyllis c. murray — February 15, 2007 @ 5:56 pm

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.