Ga. gets new 'No Child Left Behind' rules

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Ga. gets new 'No Child Left Behind' rules

By LAURA DIAMOND
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/01/08

Students attending failing schools in Georgia will get free tutoring earlier and struggling schools will get more help from the state sooner, under new rules announced Tuesday.

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Georgia is one of six states allowed by the U.S. Department of Education to change the consequences public schools face if they fail to meet the goals required under federal education law.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act says all students should pass state reading and math tests by 2014. Until then, schools must reach certain benchmarks on annual tests. Schools that repeatedly fail face sanctions.

The law treats all schools that fail the same, regardless of whether they missed the mark by a little or a lot. The flexibility Georgia won will allow the state to ease the sanctions on schools that barely missed the goal so emphasis can be placed on schools with more severe academic problems.

Georgia was one of 17 states that applied to the U.S. Department of Education to participate in a pilot program to address concerns the law is too rigid and follows a one-size-fits-all approach. A committee of experts reviewed each proposal. Based on the group's comments, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings chose six states to try the program this year. The other five states are: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio.

Georgia schools superintendent Kathy Cox said the changes give the state "the opportunity to stop treating all schools the same under NCLB — a change that is much needed in the law."

Clayton County parent Jo Ann Mitchell-Stringer said providing tutoring quicker will help, but there are still many problems with the law.

"At least with tutoring you know kids who are in trouble are getting some extra help," she said. "But how much tutoring can you do?"

Judy Jones, testing director for Cobb County schools, said the changes give educators more ways to help struggling students. The new rules recognize that schools in close range of meeting testing goals don't need to reform as much as schools with large-scale problems, she said.

"If a school is just missing [testing goals] by just a tiny bit, you don't have to overhaul every single thing in the school," she said.

The changes will go into effect this year, which forces the state to delay releasing by a couple of weeks its annual report showing whether schools met federal testing goals. Now the report is scheduled to be released the week of July 21, said Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education.

Schools that met testing goals are said to have made annual yearly progress, also called AYP. Nothing happens the first time a school misses AYP. Schools that miss for two years in a row because of low scores in the same subject are labelled as "needs improvement" and face sanctions. The sanctions worsen the longer schools are in this category.

Here are some of the changes schools and parents can expect:

• Tutoring before transfers

Schools may offer students free tutoring before letting children transfer to higher-performing schools. Federal law currently requires schools to allow the transfers after missing state testing goals for two consecutive years, while free tutoring is provided after missing the mark for three consecutive years. Georgia will let school districts switch the order so that tutoring can happen first.

During this past school year, 208 of the state's 2,100 schools were in this category.

• Different problems, different punishments

Schools in needs improvement status for three to four years will face different punishments depending on why they missed testing goals. Schools that missed by just a little will choose from one of four actions, such as extending the school year or converting to a charter school. Those with more problems must choose from a list of six options, which include harsher steps such as replacing the existing staff.

The state will choose the punishment for schools with the most serious problems.

For the school year that just ended, 69 of the state's 2,100 schools were in this category.

• More help sooner

State education officials will become more involved with failing schools earlier. The state will get involved when schools have needed improvement for five consecutive years, rather seven years in a row. The state plans to assign one monitor to work full-time at each failing school as a supervisor. This monitor will provide advice over hiring, teaching methods and other academic issues. The state says this is not a takeover because budget and non-academic decisions will be handled by each school district.

During the past school year, 46 of the state's 2,1000 schools were in this category.

Staff writer Diane R. Stepp contributed to this article.

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Comments

By JW

Jul 2, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this

If it was good, why the pass? Another bad mistake that interupted the teaching and learning process. Can we now focus on what is best for our kids?

By Angela Pressley

Jul 2, 2008 3:15 AM | Link to this

I think nor the schools,staff,parents,or chldren should be punished or judged by the wellness of one test for the year.(CRCT)just to get help from our gov. that is needed.There are alot of students out there who struggle in acedemics in several areas.My children are just two of them.No matter how well the teachers nor the schools perform their abilities some students still struggle.They have testing all year long that is not really looked upon by the state as the CRCT is. Some children may perform well in the class but freak out when it comes to test taking.My children have performed well in the regular class by doing the best they could,their grades were good but when it came down to test taking and our gov. comparing our children to others across the U.S. they didn't do as well.I've always had a problem with this comparison issue because we need to focuse on the individual childs needs and stop comparing our children to others.That's the way things used to work when I was growing up you were graded by your grades on your report card and that's what counted in deciding if you passed or was retained not a once a year test.Some students who take the CRCT may indeed have been struggling all year long and just got lucky to pass the CRCT.But what will this show next year in the next grade,more struggling.Attention is needed all year for the individual child.
Thanks.

By Joseph

Jul 2, 2008 2:46 AM | Link to this

Concerned Parent:
Yes lets do get back to NCLB...if you interpret what I have been saying as support for NCLB, you are grieviously mistaken. Maybe you should have your government funded eye glasses checked. This is another example of attempting to fix a system which is beyond repair. Thats fine, if you had ever had a biology class and passed, without the aid of social promotion, you may have learned about a concept called natural selection, its kind of like law of the jungle....you understand that..... don't you? The brightest will survive and the rest? Well the world needs ditch diggers too. Lord knows I hope I haven't wounded your inner child with my mean spirited hate inspired speech. Just sit down on your sofa, provided its not already deployed to your front porch, and turn on Oprah maybe she can help. By the way I bet your last name is hyphenated and you wear a pair of large black glasses with the gold temples, right? Additionally if your sofa is on the front porch, make sure that your children aren't jumping up and down on it, those springs coming up through the cushions can hurt them, but you probably already knew that.

By Concerned Parent

Jul 1, 2008 10:58 PM | Link to this

Ahh, Joseph you must have been the child that they LEFT BEHIND. Its okay, Mommy and Daddy will pay someone to let you off the hook. Now back to the children, NCLB was a waste of taxpayers money.

By Angela Kirby

Jul 1, 2008 10:12 PM | Link to this

No child left behind sounds good unless you have a child in a school. I mean they are worrying more about the scores on the tests and not about the actual learning the child is doing. I have an accelerated child and several more in my family however we feel our children are being forced to slow down so other children can catch up with them. We are being penalized for working with our children and our children enjoying learning since there are children out there that don't do extra homework and study time and really don't care to learn. I think this whole system stinks. There has to be a way to judge the individualization of learning based on a child's meeting thier own potential. If you don't try you shouldn't be lumped in and punish the school where there are children that not only try to do well but succeed at it.

By the Deets

Jul 1, 2008 9:01 PM | Link to this

The Department of Education was conceived in 1867 with marxist notions at it's core. So why does it not work like we are promised year in and year out? The voucher program in DC works, it could work for Clayton to.

By A teacher

Jul 1, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this

It takes 5 things to educate a child.
A parent who wants to discipline and teach their child while supporting the teacher.
A child who has a desire to learn.
A teacher who is committed to teaching to the best of his/her ability.
A curriculum that is basic, consistent, and teacher/ student friendly.
And an administration that is willing to support their teachers.
If any one of these areas are lacking there is a defect in the system.

By Joseph

Jul 1, 2008 5:24 PM | Link to this

Gee, I thought it "only takes a village".
Riverdale, Morrow, Jonesboro and Forest Park aren't they just big villages? Why don't we just all come together. "Can't we all just get along?!" I thought you could be a success by wearing baggy pants and telling "yo mama" jokes. Oh thats right Micorsoft, Kraft and Toyota aren't impressed.....well theres always politcal office in the greater metro area, maybe Bill Campbell can give you a reference or even Marion Berry. Aim High we're all in this together, ha ha ha

By mom of 3

Jul 1, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

No child left behind sounds good in principle but when you dig deeper into the tenants in the law it is just not feasible. There are schools that are put on the "failing schools" list because not enough special needs children could pass Algebra in 8th grade or pass the Math portion of the CRCT. I am all for schools, teachers and students being held to a high standard but some of the requirements are just not attainable in reality. NCLB has never been fully funded either. We don't need more red tape and bureaucracy for our schools and we don't need a federal mandate that is not funded nor attainable.

By DCP in COWETA

Jul 1, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this

I say we need to impeach or recall Kathy Cox. This woman is all for holding the children of this state to standards, but then the hypocrite wants special treatment when she has to live up the rules. I think we need to scrap her and her administration and start fresh. When an administrator wants to blame the teachers, students, and parents for her failure to set an achievable curriculum and class plan then we dont need that type of person leading our state education system. SHE MUST GO.. IMPEACH OR RECALL KATHY COX..

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