Around 80 percent of the nation's 100,000 public schools could be labeled as failing under No Child Left Behind, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned yesterday. That estimate, "based on an analysis of testing trends and the workings of the law’s pass-fail school rating system, was the latest evidence of the law’s shortcomings and the need to overhaul it," Sam Dillon of The New York Times reports.
Even many of the nation's best public schools are likely to miss the federal education law's rising standardized testing targets, Duncan said. "This law is fundamentally broken, and we need to fix it this year," he told the House education committee. Last year 37 percent of schools missed the testing targets, and Duncan said this year's number could be as high as 82 percent. "I find it hard to believe that the percentage would rise that much in one year," Jack Jennings, president of the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy in Washington, told Dillon. "Maybe they are right. If so, it’s certainly a mind-blower."
"The No Child Left Behind Act, introduced in 2001 by President George W. Bush and passed by Congress with bipartisan support, requires that all schools bring 100 percent of their students to proficiency in math and reading by 2014," Dillon writes. President Obama and Duncan have mounted a push to reform the law this year, a move that has been met with support by some Republicans. "States are now facing very steep goals under the law, and they are not going to meet them," Peter Cunningham, an Education Department spokesman, told Dillon. "Arne is just telling the committee that is charged with rewriting this law what’s coming." (Read more)
Even many of the nation's best public schools are likely to miss the federal education law's rising standardized testing targets, Duncan said. "This law is fundamentally broken, and we need to fix it this year," he told the House education committee. Last year 37 percent of schools missed the testing targets, and Duncan said this year's number could be as high as 82 percent. "I find it hard to believe that the percentage would rise that much in one year," Jack Jennings, president of the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy in Washington, told Dillon. "Maybe they are right. If so, it’s certainly a mind-blower."
"The No Child Left Behind Act, introduced in 2001 by President George W. Bush and passed by Congress with bipartisan support, requires that all schools bring 100 percent of their students to proficiency in math and reading by 2014," Dillon writes. President Obama and Duncan have mounted a push to reform the law this year, a move that has been met with support by some Republicans. "States are now facing very steep goals under the law, and they are not going to meet them," Peter Cunningham, an Education Department spokesman, told Dillon. "Arne is just telling the committee that is charged with rewriting this law what’s coming." (Read more)
This is a very informative post and I am very glad you posted this. However, if I am correct in saying so, you are against this, and the evidence assumes that it is the schools fault when in fact it is the laws. The objective of "No Child Left Behind" is to raise accountability for education from George bush who was a C student in college. To truly have a "passing" school one most first give incentives to teachers who are underpaid and usually don’t care and also to probably adjust what the target goal is which must be to tedious for schools to do seeing as 18% are passing. All in all i am just saying, there needs to be an adjustment for these schools with a lowering of the goals to a more attainable level.
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