The mission of our public schools is changing. It is no longer sufficient for children to have opportunities for a good education; now all students are expected to demonstrate high levels of learning. This change in mission is borne out in the No Child Left Behind Act, which became federal law in 2002.
The promise of No Child Left Behind is great. Educators are more focused on closing the learning gap between different groups of students while at the same time increasing achievement for all students. Educators are using data to track student progress and research-based instructional methods to better meet student needs. The law encourages more engagement of parents in the learning process and requires more precise targeting of resources.
There are multiple ways of accomplishing the goals of NCLB, which are reflected in state plans required by the law. Colorado’s plan is basic and therefore lacks the flexibility needed for schools to be successful. The associations that represent professional educators across the state have asked to collaborate with the state Department of Education to jointly seek changes to requirements of the law that do not make sense in a Colorado context.
What needs to change?
Special education: While students with disabilities need to meet high standards through rigorous learning opportunities, many contradictions exist between NCLB and another federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. These contradictions primarily have to do with how progress of students with disabilities is measured. Broad evidence of learning should be accumulated to measure the performance of students with disabilities for purposes of meeting NCLB requirements.
A number of school districts in Colorado achieved at levels that, in any other walk of life, would be considered exemplary. Yet under the “all or nothing” rules of NCLB, these districts are labeled as having failed to meet annual learning requirements. For example, last year Boulder Valley Schools met 140 of 142 required performance targets, Littleton Schools met 124 of 128 targets, and Durango Schools met 91 of 94 targets. These districts missed their targets primarily because of the performance of a small number of students with disabilities.
English language learners: Schools that have large numbers of students learning English face unique challenges. Most experts believe, and research suggests, that transition into the English language can take up to seven years. Currently, students who are learning English must be tested both in English proficiency and in the subject content. For those students, schools should be able to use English proficiency as a measure of achievement rather than substantive content knowledge for a three-year period.
Tracking of annual progress: NCLB requires annual progress for all students until they become academically proficient in core subjects. Because of the challenges many students face, they are far from reaching academic proficiency. Nonetheless, many of these students are showing substantial growth. However, student growth is not reflected in NCLB reporting requirements.
Other, more technical requirements of the law pertain to how schools are identified as failing to meet adequate yearly progress. These issues need to be addressed to allow for accurate and fair reporting of annual progress.
Struggling schools: The law requires that consistently low-performing schools receive technical support from the state to help them achieve adequate yearly progress. Currently the state Department of Education provides limited assistance to low-achieving schools in the form of school support teams. More genuine collaboration is needed to identify resources and to develop a state plan for using support teams to address the needs of struggling schools.
Highly qualified teachers: NCLB requires all teachers of core academic subjects to be highly qualified by next school year. Every school and district in our state strives to have the best teachers in the classroom. The realities of supply and demand, particularly in rural Colorado, make that requirement challenging to meet.
States determine their own definitions of what makes a highly qualified teacher. Colorado has stricter requirements than surrounding states, adding to the challenge of recruitment. More flexibility is needed to permit rural school districts to hire teachers from other states, even if those teachers do not initially meet Colorado requirements. Another issue is ensuring that our veteran, successful teachers have more flexibility in demonstrating their qualifications.
Supplemental Services and Choice: Because NCLB was developed with urban rather than rural students in mind, some of the requirements for providing extra help and choice to struggling students are unrealistic in Colorado. Supplemental services are often not available in rural areas. Also, this option is limited to low-income children and not necessarily available to those who most need help.
Most rural districts have only one school at each level and are unable to offer real choice. Geographic distances make travel to schools in other districts impractical and expensive.
Funding for NCLB: Achieving universal proficiency will require significant resources to help struggling students. While Colorado has received additional dollars to implement NCLB, the rigid spending requirements of the federal law mean that resources in many districts cannot be used where they are most needed to help struggling students. Some districts have been forced to cut much-needed staff in order to meet program funding requirements of the federal law.
As long as the federal government continues to only partially fund NCLB, school districts should be required to follow NCLB requirements only if they choose to do so. Additionally, educators and the state Department of Education should jointly seek greater flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education in how federal dollars are used to accomplish the goals of NCLB.
Indeed, each of the issues outlined above can be addressed by a collaborative effort of educators and the Department of Education to make changes to the Colorado plan and to seek waivers or changes in the federal law.
One of the biggest barriers to achieving the promise of NCLB is the lack of capacity in our schools and districts to meet these new expectations. Shifting our education system from one where many students achieve to one where all students are proficient is a huge undertaking – one that takes time and adequate resources to accomplish. The people in our system need preparation and support to make this shift successful, prticularly for our lowest-performing students.
If educators and policymakers are able to be thoughtful and deliberate in their approach to changing the system, if we capitalize on the quality and experience among the ranks of our professional educators, if we tap into the knowledge and aspirations of parents and community members, then we believe our schools can be successful. Our students deserve no less than our best efforts to fulfill this new mission.
Jana Caldwell is director of communications for the Colorado Association of School Executives.
