No Child Left Behind Act
POSTED BY: Sassalicious
UPDATED: Friday, April 21, 2006 02:54
VIEWED: 6361
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States Omitting Minorities' Test Scores
By NICOLE ZIEGLER DIZON, BEN FELLER and FRANK BASS, Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 36 minutes ago
Laquanya Agnew and Victoria Duncan share a desk, a love of reading and a passion for learning. But because of a loophole in the No Child Left Behind Act, one second-grader's score in Tennessee counts more than the other's. That is because Laquanya is black, and Victoria is white.
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An Associated Press computer analysis has found Laquanya is among nearly 2 million children whose scores aren't counted when it comes to meeting the law's requirement that schools track how students of different races perform on standardized tests.
The AP found that states are helping public schools escape potential penalties by skirting that requirement. And minorities — who historically haven't fared as well as whites in testing — make up the vast majority of students whose scores are excluded.
The Education Department said that while it is pleased that nearly 25 million students nationwide are now being tested regularly under the law, it is concerned that the AP found so many students aren't being counted by schools in the required racial categories.
"Is it too many? You bet," Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings said in an interview. "Are there things we need to do to look at that, batten down the hatches, make sure those kids are part of the system? You bet."
The plight of the two second-graders shows how a loophole in the law is allowing schools to count fewer minorities in required racial categories.
There are about 220 students at West View Elementary School in Knoxville, Tenn., where
President Bush marked the second anniversary of the law's enactment in 2004. Tennessee schools have federal permission to exclude students' scores in required racial categories if there are fewer than 45 students in a group.
There are more than 45 white students. Victoria counts.
There are fewer than 45 black students. Laquanya does not.
One of the consequences is that educators are creating a false picture of academic progress.
"We're forcing districts and states to play games because the system is so broken, and that's not going to help at all," said Kathy Escamilla, a University of Colorado education professor. "Those are little games to prevent showing what's going on."
Under the law signed by Bush in 2002, all public school students must be proficient in reading and math by 2014, although only children above second grade are required to be tested.
Schools receiving federal poverty aid also must demonstrate annually that students in all racial categories are progressing or risk penalties that include extending the school year, changing curriculum or firing administrators and teachers.
The law requires public schools to test more than 25 million students periodically in reading and math. No scores can be excluded from a school's overall measure.
But the schools also must report scores by categories, such as race, poverty, migrant status, English proficiency and special education. Failure in any category means the whole school fails.
States are helping schools get around that second requirement by using a loophole in the law that allows them to ignore scores of racial groups that are too small to be statistically significant.
Suppose, for example, that a school has 2,000 white students and nine Hispanics. In nearly every state, the Hispanic scores wouldn't be counted because there aren't enough to provide meaningful information and because officials want to protect students' privacy.
State educators decide when a group is too small to count. And they've been asking the government for exemptions to exclude larger numbers of students in racial categories. Nearly two dozen states have successfully petitioned the government for such changes in the past two years. As a result, schools can now ignore racial breakdowns even when they have 30, 40 or even 50 students of a given race in the testing population.
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Supporters said the plan would give minorities control over their own school board and ensure that their children are not shortchanged in favor of white youngsters.
Republican Gov. Dave Heineman signed the measure into law.
It figures it would come from a republicrony. There are multiple issues with public education but one serious factor is different levels of resources between predominantly white/suburban schools, and inner city black or brown schools.
Nearly everything I know I learned by the grace of others.
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I don't even know where to start. "No child left behind" is basically what is called (in govt circles) an "unfunded mandate". You gotta do this extra and, oh, by the way, don't expect any dollars.
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Free as in freedom, not beer.
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From the bit of an article I read in one of the new TIME magazines, it seems that the "No Child Left Behind" act is actually causing more kids to DROP OUT! So, in a sence, leaving them BEHIND! Like you mention in your post, teachers do all they can with what they are given, to allow their students to learn but, some students just don't want to! It's like that old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink." I believe the "no child left behind" act is actually putting pressure on students to learn faster than some are capable of, from my experience, if you pressure the students that are behind, they just shut down. So, in my opinion, the "no child left behind" act is just one more thing for students to worry about, and when you have that amount of pressure it can be detrimental to the learning process.
JOSSIS(Most Definitely)AGOD
I'm not a teacher, just a student who would not benefit from the "No child left behind" act.
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I visited my old high school a few years after i graduated, and the teachers i talked to didn't have any nice things to say about NCLB. Essentially they described it as a program designed to output results that made the progress seem better than it actually was.
It seems they were only interested in being able to use the misleading statistics to create good press. Shame on the government! 
Misleading the general public to make yourselves look good. I expected more from you . . . oh wait . . .
"I'd be totally hacked if Stimutacs wasn't so . . ."
"Outrageously chill?"
"Word."
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Quote:
Originally posted by SaintAndeol:
and the teachers i talked to didn't have any nice things to say about NCLB. Essentially they described it as a program designed to output results that made the progress seem better than it actually was.
As one of FFF.net's actual teachers (and an Eng. teacher to boot), let me just say that NCLB is horrid. You'd be hard pressed to find a teacher that I work with that doesn't think it's a waste of time and money. The parts of NCLB that are worth supporting are, as someone posted above, underfunded.
They actually believe - and I'm not making this up, either - that a reachable target goal is 100% proficiency for all students, in some cases including ESL and Spec-Ed. Oh, and to hit this mark by 2013, to add insult to stupidity. They are putting the weight of the changes down on the backs of Eng and Math teachers, most of whom are unqualified to teach the changes they want (ie, I'm an Eng teacher. I teach Lit. I am not a reading specialist, but they need me to teach to the test, so I have to become one).
"Is our children learning?" - Actual quote from the man who underfunded his own mandate.
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"A revolution without dancing is no revolution at all." - V
Anyone wanting to continue a discussion off board is welcome to email me - check bio for details.
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But once set up by bushbaby (oh wait, that's an insult to bushbabies) it has a positive (in this case bad but more extreme) feedback cycle.
The states HAVE to raise scores in some way to get ANY federal $. And the federales then claim it's working. Which means NCLB deadlines move forward, and the states have to fudge even more, and the scores rise and ...
It works for me. Doesn't it work for you?
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Well, I see I killed another thread. My job here is done, then.
Nearly everything I know I learned by the grace of others.
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Another nice little clause of the act makes it illegal for a school to keep military recruiters off campus. If any school denies access to these recruiters, they suffer harsh fines and the possibility of losing federal funding.
Harvard Law school was threatened with losing all federal funding (tens of millions of dollars) because they did so. Not only is this a failed attempt at improving the school system, it's a thinly veiled attempt to bolster the already bloated Military-Industrial Complex.
You're welcome on my boat. God ain't.
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Quote:
Originally posted by rue:
Well, I see I killed another thread. My job here is done, then.
Threadkiller. Keep it up and we'll send you to FF jail (where you get PN as a cellmate, and learn how to make tinfoil hats out of metal shaved off the prison bars).
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"A revolution without dancing is no revolution at all." - V
Anyone wanting to continue a discussion off board is welcome to email me - check bio for details.
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