A draft proposal to dismantle bureaucratic legislation in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education law was proposed by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) Oct. 11. The senators want to eliminate using standardized test scores in reading and math that are essentially used to label public school as failing.
Currently, NCLB uses only the states’ raw tests scores to determine a student’s proficiency in math or reading, and determine whether the schools’ “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) measures are met. Harkin’s bill will allow states to develop their own system of accountability.
Harkin and Enzi, the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) Committee, received support for their proposed legislation to overhaul NCLB.
“Patience is no virtue in education reform, and the nation’s students have waited long enough for more effective education policy coming from Washington. With this bill, they are one step closer to getting it,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, and former governor of West Virginia, in a press release.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin is leading the way of the first comprehensive legislation to revamp the education law since its passage in 2002. At the heart of the 865-page bill is the intent of returning power to states and allowing them to devise their own system to hold schools accountable for student achievement.
Other initiatives under the bill include: Require states to set college- and career-readiness standards; require states to develop new teacher evaluation systems; and devise common core state standards initiatives.
“The legislation unveiled today by Senators Harkin and Enzi is especially important for the nation’s high schools. For too long, high schools have been overlooked by federal education policy,” Wise said. “This proposal would concentrate improvement efforts on high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent, often referred to as ‘dropout factories.'”
“It would establish a common, accurate calculation of graduation rates, helping to ensure that the nation’s high schools are held accountable for preparing students for college and careers,” he continued. “It would also support comprehensive efforts by states to strengthen the literacy skills of all students, including young people in high school.”
Harkin said the legislation calls for the federal government to require states to identify 5 percent of the lowest performing schools as well as the highest achieving schools in an effort to keep states’ achievement on track.
Last year 38 percent of schools failed to meet AYP, due to the ever-increasing standard, including some traditional high-performing schools.
