Wash. state tries to leave 'No Child Left Behind' behind
SEATTLE (AP) - Washington state has taken another step toward saying goodbye to the federal No Child Left Behind law.
In July, the U.S. Department of Education gave Washington a conditional waiver from some requirements of the federal education law, including the need for every child to pass statewide reading and math tests by 2014.
On Wednesday, state education officials mailed an update on their progress toward meeting those conditions and on Thursday had a conversation with U.S. Department of Education officials.
Nothing is final, but state officials are optimistic the state will climb all the steps required by the federal government.
More than 30 states have been granted waivers, and Washington is one of a handful that still needs to fulfill some conditions to make its waiver permanent.
All the waivers are considered a temporary measure while U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan continues to work with Congress to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law.
The two conditions of Washington state's waiver included finishing development of a new state teacher and principal evaluation system, and completing a school accountability system, said Bob Harmon, assistant state superintendent for special programs and federal accountability.
"Both of those are in progress," he said. "They're checking to make sure we are implementing as we said we would and seem satisfied with us at this point."
There's still work to be finished and Harmon and his team will be checking back with federal officials in March, he said. They expect to have the waiver finalized before school starts next fall. That's also when every school district in the state is expected to implement a new teacher and principal evaluation system that depends in part on measuring improvement in student test scores.
Washington's waiver application emphasized its embrace of new national education standards, the state's new teacher and principal evaluations, and its efforts to take a broader look at student achievement beyond reading and math by also testing for writing and science.
The waiver agreement requires that by 2018, Washington cut in half achievement gaps between various ethnic and economic groups, when compared with 100 percent passage rates. For example, if one group had 74 percent passing reading in 2011, that group would need to have 87 percent passing by 2018.
The state's new school accountability system also is required to give parents a better idea of how their children's schools are doing. But instead of failing or passing the requirements of No Child Left Behind, the new system does not punish schools that are making progress but not meeting every goal, explains Harmon.
Under the old system, a school could miss one of 37 objectives and be considered failing. The new system focuses more on progress, with each school having its own goals, and continues to pay the most attention to schools that are truly failing.
"I wouldn't say it's easier. I think it is more fair," Harmon said.
Lawmakers have proposed a few bills that would make more changes in the teacher and principal and evaluation system or the school accountability program. One proposal would give schools a letter grade instead of more general assessments like good or fair. Another would force districts to give more weight to student test scores in teacher evaluations.
In July, the U.S. Department of Education gave Washington a conditional waiver from some requirements of the federal education law, including the need for every child to pass statewide reading and math tests by 2014.
On Wednesday, state education officials mailed an update on their progress toward meeting those conditions and on Thursday had a conversation with U.S. Department of Education officials.
Nothing is final, but state officials are optimistic the state will climb all the steps required by the federal government.
More than 30 states have been granted waivers, and Washington is one of a handful that still needs to fulfill some conditions to make its waiver permanent.
All the waivers are considered a temporary measure while U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan continues to work with Congress to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law.
The two conditions of Washington state's waiver included finishing development of a new state teacher and principal evaluation system, and completing a school accountability system, said Bob Harmon, assistant state superintendent for special programs and federal accountability.
"Both of those are in progress," he said. "They're checking to make sure we are implementing as we said we would and seem satisfied with us at this point."
There's still work to be finished and Harmon and his team will be checking back with federal officials in March, he said. They expect to have the waiver finalized before school starts next fall. That's also when every school district in the state is expected to implement a new teacher and principal evaluation system that depends in part on measuring improvement in student test scores.
Washington's waiver application emphasized its embrace of new national education standards, the state's new teacher and principal evaluations, and its efforts to take a broader look at student achievement beyond reading and math by also testing for writing and science.
The waiver agreement requires that by 2018, Washington cut in half achievement gaps between various ethnic and economic groups, when compared with 100 percent passage rates. For example, if one group had 74 percent passing reading in 2011, that group would need to have 87 percent passing by 2018.
The state's new school accountability system also is required to give parents a better idea of how their children's schools are doing. But instead of failing or passing the requirements of No Child Left Behind, the new system does not punish schools that are making progress but not meeting every goal, explains Harmon.
Under the old system, a school could miss one of 37 objectives and be considered failing. The new system focuses more on progress, with each school having its own goals, and continues to pay the most attention to schools that are truly failing.
"I wouldn't say it's easier. I think it is more fair," Harmon said.
Lawmakers have proposed a few bills that would make more changes in the teacher and principal and evaluation system or the school accountability program. One proposal would give schools a letter grade instead of more general assessments like good or fair. Another would force districts to give more weight to student test scores in teacher evaluations.
In light of the fact that we, as Americans, had a massive economic crisis because people did not understand their mortgages, and are still suffering government(s) extreme poor fiscal management, and the world is more competitive with higher need for math skills, Â no one should be allowed to graduate without understanding how to calculate a mortgage on a car, understand how to calculate the mortgage on a home or understand how to calculate the interest rates on a credit card. Â If government want to really protect the poor and it's citizens, these kids should not be allowed to graduate until they complete their math. Â And teachers should not get a raise, or pension security or ten-year, if their students continuously fail in math. Â There needs to be accountability and education requirement for students to navigate the modern society of credit and loans. Â Without causing the entire economy to collapse. Â It's just too expensive to attempt to protect every fiscal idiot who's poor at math. Â Get educated math and accounting or get scammed by business and government!
There are four parts to the equation. The schools, the parents the kids themselves and the modern "Internet"culture we find ourselves in. The schools are not as good as they could be, I agree, and there are a lot of crappy parents to be sure. But you can't make a kid TRY if he doesn't have the fire inside. Kids these days by and large are pretty darn lazy. Not stupid, -- Lazy. It isn't about intelligence; it's about motivation! Working hard at something takes too long and it's no fun. If they can't find the answer in thirty seconds on the Internet, they give up and turn on the TV.
any school district who has a kid for 12 yrs and that kid is reading at a 3rd grade level says something pretty bad about the shape things are in. Even very low intelligence kids can be taught to read adequately. If you have a kid in high school and they don't know their multiplication table by heart (which is 3rd and 4th grade work) that school should be shuttered. Someone is not doing their job. History has been all but forgotten. Science??? Nah! Pretty much we are warehousing most kids nowadays. They know all about diversity...feminism...."fairness" and everything besides what will make them employable....so they aren't being employed. I don't now anyone who want to give a fulltime job to a kid out of high school, any
Uh oh. RT @komonews: Wash. state tries to leave 'No Child Left Behind' behind http://t.co/BZSSBJqY
I have no problem with 'no child left behind'.
I DO have a problem with the brighter kids being sucked down to the 'average'. I DO have a problem with running kids through the system. I DO have a problem with PC that has invaded our schools. I DO have a problem with teaching to the lowest common denominator. I DO have a problem with the fox guarding the henhouse.
Our kids are dumber than ever, and it's only getting worse.
The education of children is too important to leave to the government, federal, state or local.
I agree with alot of the comments here. I don't have a choice but to send my child to public school. From the first day of kindergarten I have been involved in the education of her. The first and foremost important thing is school. One year left and she is in line for a full ride at several colleges. It can be done but I honestly believe the parents need to take an active role in their childs education.
@swansong68Â nicely done!
Thirty states being exempted? Think of all the businesses and unions being exempted. I no longer look at a hole cut of cheese - rather swiss cheese of exemptions.
I think a good part of the blame for kids not making the grade should fall on the parents. Unless the are medically unable or suffer from some type of real disorder, there is no excuse for it.  My kids have always done well. Yes, there were times they had their struggles, but that is when I would step in as a parent and help them through it (and no, I did not do their homework for them). Parents also need to hold their kids accountable. If they are failing classes, no video games for you buddy!
@The WA Mama I agree with you more than you know..  All the dollars that have been tossed at schools haven't changed a thing.  In some cases, millions of dollars..
After hearing that 1 in 3 people in Washington DC. cannot read a news paper of fill out a job app. Obuma should clean his own door step before trying to push his crap down out throats. I am sure Washington State can show a much better ratio than they did. I agree that there are some school systems that a failing the kids badly and they need to be address, but the majority of our school systems are in good shape and the kids are doing fine.Â
@LongBeachBum No Child Left Behind wasn't Obama's idea or program.
@LongBeachBum unfortunately fine isn't going to cut it in the world today. Kids need to be better than exceptional.
@LongBeachBum It amazes me that you can't even spell our president's name.
I put my kids through private education and let me tell you now they are doing just fine. They know how to read and write, do math, know history and make good salaries. I have no regrets, too bad public education can't do a better job. The Unions are some of the problem , and of course the uneducated politicians are always in the mix and the parents who seem not to give a hoot about their kids but continue to breedâ¦â¦â¦Shhhh
@Telman@Â The unions have nothing to do with children not doing well in school, it is the parent's and the children's place to ensure they are learning and the parent's place to decide if their children aren't doing well to make the changes needed.
Well considering how screwed up the CPS is, this probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
I believe there are many problems with our education system. What I'm seeing so far in these comments is the tendancy to blame teachers for failing classrooms. I'll agree to an extent-some teachers are definetly better than others. In my opinion, the biggest problem is children do not receive the proper support at home. Teachers are asked to be childhood counselors, conflict resolution specialists, childcare providers, and instructors. All it takes are a few problem kids to slow the whole classroom down. Teachers are asked to do more and more and parents continue to do less. This is the biggest problem, but how do we deal with it? You can't cram more kids into a classroom.
I am not a teacher but I do know that standardized testing gets in the way of the learning process. Making sure that young Billy can knows how many sides a triangle has is important, but the rest of the class already knows this. I don't have the answers, but I'm sick of people blaming teachers for their kid's lack of progress. If you are a parent, be involved! Turn the TV off; your child is more important than the next American Idol.
@fshwithnoeyes Yes some people blame teachers, but most don't. It seems anytime people talk about school reform, people automatically paint them as attacking the teachers. Â
The teachers are just as much caught up in this horrible system as the kids are. But the teachers, by way of the union, want to protect the status quo. Â
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While the idea behind NCLB may have been laudable the result was teaching to the least talented children's abilities and nothing more. It was a great DISservice to the educational processes.
The sad part of all of this is that while they play games and change their tactics generation after generation of kids are/have been left behind. It's time to put the KIDS first in education and if that means a few teachers loose their jobs then so be it. Raise the standard for the kids and ALSO the teachers. This constant screaming about not having enough money is just a big smoke screen to cover up all the other problems going on with this system.
Oh we can grade the students and hold them accountable, but don't you dare try to hold US accountable for the declining education of your kids.  Testing us would just PROVE how lousy we are, then we would not be able to blame everyone and everything else.
I grew up going to private schools. Considering all the BS politics involved in the public school system, I will save every penny I have, and make every sacrifice I need to, in order to send my kids to private schools.Â
@Smashquail People like you should be able to take your tax contribution to public schools and use it for private or charter schools.Â
K-12 public education is a failure for exactly this type of crap. Too much bureaucracy changing rules year after year. Bush tried to hold teachers and schools a bit more accountable, and slowly but surely it has been chipped away. Let's cut the crap and privatize schools already. Get rid of the powerful teachers' union that cares more about job security than the kids. Charter schools, private schools, and putting the money back in the hands of parents is the way forward. Â
Rather than having a system that "rewards or punishes" schools for not meeting criteria, how about letting parents decide if they are happy with the school? Imagine that.Â