School Testing Mandate In Doubt

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Since Cheney brought it up tonight.

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GAO report says plan is plagued by faulty data
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
New York Times

WASHINGTON - A new federal requirement to sharply expand annual testing of students starting next school year faces serious obstacles, including unreliable data and a lack of clear and timely guidance from federal officials, according to a government report
The report, by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found wide variation in the rules that states use to measure progress under No Child Left Behind, the education law that has been one of President Bush's major domestic initiatives. The variation makes comparisons between states meaningless, the report suggested.

No Child Left Behind
Under No Child Left Behind, schools face a rigorous timetable of academic challenges in the coming years. Starting with the 2005-2006 school year, they must test students in Grades 3 to 8 annually on reading and math, and in 2007, they must also begin testing in science. By 2014, the law demands that all students become proficient in reading and math. Failure to meet the targets brings severe consequences, including, ultimately, the possible closing of schools.

The GAO report, released late last week, said that more than half the state and school district officials interviewed said they had been "hampered by poor and unreliable student data," with Illinois, for example, reporting data problems in 300 of its 1,055 school districts. About half of 21 state officials interviewed said the law's tight deadlines impeded their ability to carry out the law's promises.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2830996

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'No Child Left Behind' Funding Plan Shortchanges Schools
“The fiscal 2005 education spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee today falls far short of what schools need to fully meet the mandates of the so-called ‘No Child Left Behind’ law.

“The bill for all ‘No Child Left Behind’ programs is $9.5 billion less than what was promised when the law passed, and is even below what President Bush has requested. This bill also eliminates programs proven to help students succeed, such as comprehensive school reform, drop-out prevention, parental assistance centers, and history, arts, and foreign language education.

“This lack of sufficient resources comes as cash-strapped school districts are paying for more bureaucracy, standardized testing, transportation, private tutoring, and other costly demands under the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law. Because of last year’s inadequate funding, half of the nation’s 15,000 school districts will have less federal aid for poor children this fall.

“As a recent government memo also made clear, the Administration proposes to cut all federal education funding by $1.5 billion next year and to freeze it at that level for the next three years.

“Thus, America’s public school children face a triple whammy. Half of all school districts will have to do more with less money for disadvantaged students in 2004. Important programs to advance the goals of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law are underfunded or scheduled for elimination next year. Further, deeper cuts are proposed for fiscal 2006. This is clearly moving us in the wrong direction.

http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2004/nr040714.html

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Isn't it funny how Smirk & Sneer always point to "No Child Left Behind" when confronted about their miserable record on education, yet they always neglect to mention that they never bothered to see to it that the initiative was funded?

What a pair of shameless flim-flam artists.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

CHENEY VS REALITY: EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT

Cheney: “We are making significant progress and closing the achievement gap. The results from studies coming in show without question that on math and science, math and reading that in fact our minority students our Hispanic and African-American state of the unions are doing better in the gap between them and the majority population is in fact closing.”

Bush Exaggerates Evidence of Minority Gains. “There is fragmentary data to support Bush's claim that the additional federal dollars to schools and the new accountability standards have helped minority students improve their test scores relative to white students, but education specialists agree there is not yet enough evidence to declare the act a nationwide success. Besides, the ‘achievement gap’ has been getting narrower for roughly the past decade, said Paul Peterson, director of the Program in Education Policy and Governance at Harvard's Kennedy School.” [Boston Globe, 9/24/04]

Flashback: Accountability Took Root Long Before Bush Moved to Austin. President Bush likes to take credit for education reform in Texas, but “a review of the record indicates that the [Texas’] most important school reforms -- including standardized tests and other accountability measures -- took root long before Bush moved into the Governor's Mansion.” [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7/11/99]

The Bush Administration Loosened Graduation Accountability Standards, Leaving Behind 1 of Every 2 Black High School Students. A study by Harvard University and the Urban Institute revealed that half or more of Black youth in the United States are getting left behind before high school graduation because the Bush administration eliminated graduation accountability standards from No Child Left Behind (NCLB). NCLB originally required states to establish standards of academic accountability for different subgroups; however, the new report reveals that Education Secretary Rodney Paige exempted graduation rates from this requirement. States now can set an overall graduation goal, and are not required to specifically address the minority gap as long as the overall graduation rate is met. [“Losing Our Future”,

Lack Of National Standards Will Likely Worsen Minority Graduation Gap. Instead of holding states accountable for the minority achievement gap, NCLB’s continued strict emphasis on test scores increases the likelihood that low achieving minority students will continue to be pushed to the margins. “By approving these permissive plans.. the Department has effectively allowed the incentives to push out low-achieving minority students to continue unchecked… The drop-out/push out problem for minority school children in the US is likely to grow more severe on test based accountability.” [“Losing Our Future”, , emphasis added]