Staples Explains Federal Legislation to Rewrite Education Law

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, January 21, 2012

The future of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation is unknown, but it’s likely the annual benchmarks called “Adequate Yearly Progress” will become things of the past.

Steven Staples, professor of educational planning, policy and leadership at the College of William and Mary, gave a presentation on the past, present and future of NCLB at the Williamsburg Regional Library on Thursday. The speech, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, attracted a standing-room-only crowd concerned about the direction of public education.

Staples, a retired longtime superintendent of York County Schools, shared how the 10-year-old law came to be, and how education professionals and lawmakers feel about it a decade later. When passed in January 2002, it had broad bipartisan support; it was proposed by the administration of President George W. Bush and Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, now deceased, pushed for its passage in Congress.

But after 10 years of standardized tests, schools labeled “failing” and unfunded requirements, the law attracts criticism from conservatives and liberals. In his presentation, Staples shared comments from both sides. Chester Finn, the secretary of education under President Ronald Reagan, said, “We’re dealing with pain caused by our failure to reach an unattainable goal.” Arne Duncan, the current secretary of education, said, “There’s just so much broken in the law now that I actually think it’s become an impediment to progress.”

NCLB required states to develop and implement assessments in basic skills, which for most grades are math and reading. Their growth is measured by Adequate Yearly Progress, which set goals for how many students would be considered proficient in their core classes, based on their test performance. The AYP benchmarks are moving targets, however; they have increased every year since 2002, with the stated goal that 100 percent of students must be proficient in 2014.

Schools that do not meet the AYP requirements are hit with sanctions intended to boost achievement. If a school fails to meet AYP two years in a row, it must begin a documented effort at improvement and offer parents the option to transfer students to another school in the division. The sanctions escalate in consecutive years until, at six years of consecutive failure, a school can be totally restructured, closed and reopened under a private management company working with the state.

NCLB also required that teachers be “highly qualified,” meaning all teachers must possess a bachelor’s degree, subject area mastery and be licensed. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly difficult to fill certain positions. Staples recalled that in York County, he once asked to see the file of physics teacher applicants and was handed an empty folder.

Staples said, in his view, there have been both positive and negative outcomes from NCLB. He said the law forced greater emphasis on instruction, and has created effective and expanded use of student data. It has, in his view, motivated educators to focus on closing the achievement gaps for subgroups, which include ethnic minorities, special needs students, students who speak English as a second language and students with low socio-economic status. Curriculums have also become more rigorous in the past 10 years.

But NCLB has also placed emphasis on standardized tests. Staples said he doesn’t believe a child’s knowledge of a subject can be determined by one test given on one day. The focus on core classes has also diminished students’ access to other subjects that aren’t required, and has reduced local control over schools. Through AYP requirements, the law has also labeled schools as “failing,” unfairly stigmatizing schools that might have narrowly missed the mark.

Although NCLB has no sunset clause that would make the law expire, three proposals to rewrite NCLB have been pitched around Washington. While the proposals differ on many points, all would take away AYP requirements.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) have drafted a bill that would scale back the role of the federal government in school accountability, removing federal sanctions and interventions. Their bill would develop college-and career-ready standards (which was proposed by the administration of President Barack Obama), but not require all of the country’s schools to adopt a common core of required classes.

The Harkin-Enzi Bill would keep annual testing in grades three through eight, and once in high school; it would also continue to track subgroups, but remove tests for accountability. To ensure teachers are performing in their jobs, it would incentivize evaluations based on student growth over the year. Students at schools in the bottom 5 percent of their states, based on performance, would be given the option to transfer.

In October, the Obama administration, tired of waiting for Congress to rewrite the bill, implemented a process to grant states waivers from requirements if they agreed to some reforms. The reforms would also include the college- and career-ready standards, but would also require a common core of classes or a curriculum approved by each state’s council of higher education.

The Obama plan would still require annual testing, but would abandon AYP; it would also still establish achievement targets for subgroups. His plan would pilot teacher evaluation programs that would include student growth as one of the criteria. In his plan, the lowest 5 percent of schools would have to submit to a turnaround model. The problem with that, Staples said, is that there would always be a bottom 5 percent.

In January, Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) released draft legislation for an NCLB overhaul. His legislation, called the Student Success Act, would encourage innovation and effective teachers. States would set their standards for math and reading, and AYP would be eliminated. Only schools ranked in the lowest 5 percent would be held accountable under federal law, and school districts could develop their own turnaround plans. Ten percent of state funding would go to charter or private schools.

Staples encouraged the audience to contact their representatives about which plan they would support, and further measures they feel are needed.