With Congress having plum exhausted itself with the debt-deficit discussions that kept lawmakers squabbling right up until the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the countrys debt ceiling, it is no surprise that a reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act will not be in place before students return to classrooms this school year.
That reauthorization is already four years past due, and with it some important modifications that provide states and school districts more support as well as flexibility in achieving common educational goals. With the delay in making those changes languishing through the summer, the U.S. Department of Education rightly extended to states an option to apply for exemptions from some of the current laws provisions.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was careful to point out that states that receive exemptions from the law will not be given carte blanche to set their own standards, but instead must meet a range of requirements, including having robust plan for preparing its students for college and careers and an accountability system that shows student progress. In doing so, states can adjust their educational offerings to the strengths and shortfalls of their districts, creating better outcomes than No Child Left Behind is currently constructed to achieve.
The shift emphasizes student progress instead of the 100 percent proficiency standard that the law currently demands schools strive to reach. It is a more realistic approach that allows states to parse its schools achievement or lack thereof in ways that can be instructional for increasing student performance and preparedness. What is working well can be encouraged and replicated; what is not can be supported with alternatives and additional resources.
While a state-by-state approach to education standards is not ideal, a temporary exemption from a law that is badly in need of updating can be both essential for schools functioning as well as instructive for the revamping process of the federal law. As the Education Department reviews and approves states waiver applications, there will likely be useful concepts and practices to fold into the new version of No Child Left Behind whenever that happens.
Duncan does not expect that to be soon, and anticipates that states will be using the waiver some in the 2011-2012 school year, as well as in the year that follows. His long view, though disheartening, is probably realistic. Duncan released his vision for the updated education bill 16 months ago, and it has sat virtually untouched by Congress since, despite pleas from the administration to have a new education measure in place before the start of school this year. At the rate of speed with which Congress is conducting its business, an alternative approach was necessary. That necessity was underscored by the contentiousness with which Washington, D.C., is gridlocked.
The notion that all students should leave high school proficient in a set of core skills is not one that the United States should abandon, and that premise of No Child Left Behind is of great value. The means by which that proficiency is attained and measured, though, is in need of adjustment, and states and school districts across the nation should be empowered to make those adjustments. Offering that flexibility is an important step in education reform in both the short and long terms.
