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Friday, June 24, 2005
When Success is an Illusion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is the emperor that is NCLB buck naked? A study by the Harvard Civil Rights Project (read the story here) found that many school districts - including more than 100 in Georgia - escaped a failing label simply because the feds approved changes in the criteria.
In Georgia, districts no longer must have all students in various subgroups � including blacks, Hispanics, special education and limited English proficiency categories � meet state testing goals, writes my colleague, Paul Donsky.
Instead, the students in each subgroup are broken into two groups: elementary and middle school; and high school. Districts now receive a failing grade only if both groups fail to meet state standards for two years running.
The stigma of being labeled as failing - even if the official label is the softer “needs improvement” - stings. It can affect whether parents with options go elsewhere, whether teacher candidates interview for vacancies, whether the principal stays or goes.
But the many criteria that go into a school or district getting a label are complicated and vary from state to state, as do the standardized tests used to determine who passes and who does not. Parents who find out that their school didn’t meet standards should of course find out why, but even that information may not be enough to make an informed decision about what it means.
Thoughts?
