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"No Child Left Behind" Fact Sheet
In January 2001, President
Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act through
the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
This legislation lays out federal funding and requirements for K-12
education. The goal of NCLB is to ensure that all students meet
high academic standards.
Following are some of the
components of NCLB that will affect students, families, schools,
and districts over the next several years of implementation.
Testing Requirements
NCLB requires testing of
all students in grades 3-8, annually, in reading and math by 2005.
Testing in science, in one grade within each of three grade levels
3-5, 6-9, and 10-12, is also required by 2008. Testing must: be
the same for all students; be aligned with state standards; identify
students as proficient or non-proficient; be valid, reliable, and
consistent; involve multiple measures of achievement including higher
order thinking skills and understanding; and provide reasonable
adaptation and accommodation for students with disabilities. There
must also be a test of English Proficiency for all English Language
Learners and schools must participate in the National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) if selected. Alternative assessments
can be used for Special Education students, however, performance
must be measured against the state's grade level standards and no
out-of-grade level testing is permitted. A limit on the number of
Special Education students who can take such an alternative assessment
is being debated at the federal level.
Accountability
Measures
The State must develop a
single accountability system for all schools, districts, and the
state based on NCLB requirements. Washington State's plan identifies
goals for performance of assessment results against a state uniform
bar. This is a level of performance that must be met by schools,
district or the state in order to be deemed to have made Adequate
Yearly Progress toward the NCLB goal. The state uniform bar was
developed based on the point where schools representing 80% of the
state's students are performing above that level as the starting
point. The performance goals then increases in straight line increments
until 100% of students would be proficient in 2014.
A uniform bar has been developed
for each of the currently tested grade levels 4, 7, and 10 in both
reading and math. Schools, districts and the state are deemed to
have made AYP if performance on assessments is greater than the
state uniform bar (above the line) for any particular year, and
if a state criterion on at least one other indicator is met. The
other indicator for determining AYP for Secondary Schools must be
graduation rate. For elementary and middle/junior high schools,
Washington State is proposing using attendance as the other indicator
for determining AYP. In addition, at least 95% of students must
be tested.
AYP will be determined on
a school-wide basis, as well as by sub-groups. Sub-groups include
Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, White, Bilingual, Disabled
and Disadvantaged students. In order to address statistical reliability
of small sample sizes, sub-groups will be considered for AYP if
they have more than 30 students at the particular level (i.e. school,
district or state).
Improvement
Schools or districts not
meeting AYP for two years in a row are identified as needing improvement.
Title I schools identified for improvement are required to provide
certain options and services for students. These options increase
based on the length of time a school remains identified for improvement
including: allowing students to attend another school in the district,
providing supplemental services (such as tutoring, remediation,
or intervention), other corrective action, and restructuring of
school. Priority for services must be given to low performing, low-income
families and expenses can be limited to a percentage of Title I
funds. Progress must be made for two years in a row to get out of
improvement status. Districts identified for improvement must develop
an improvement plan, use 10% of their federal funding for professional
development, and implement other corrective action identified by
state.
Reporting Requirements
NCLB requires schools and
districts to provide parents with information regarding the comparison
of student achievement to district and state results, assessment
data by all demographic sub-groups (reportable if greater than 10),
and whether a school has been identified for improvement. District's
must also provide similar data as well as data on the qualification
of teaching staff. District's must also notify parents that they
can request specific information about individual teachers qualifications
and beginning in 2005-06 notify parents if their child has been
with a teacher that is not highly qualified for 4 weeks. Highly
qualified is defined in Washington State as having the proper state
certification and endorsements for the teaching assignment.
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