Administration to modify No Child Left Behind Act (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Administration to modify No Child Left Behind Act

By Robert Dodge
The Dallas Morning News
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001861633_nochild20.html

WASHINGTON — The Department of Education took steps yesterday to make it
easier for schools with English-learning students to comply with the
federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The announcement by Education Secretary Rod Paige comes at a time when
about a dozen states are weighing whether to give up federal education
money so they do not have to comply with the two-year-old law.
Washington state lawmakers have been considering a resolution that
would ask President Bush and Congress to make changes in the law,
including the modification announced yesterday.

Bush administration officials have announced regulatory modifications
twice since last year. The most recent would give schools more
flexibility in testing students who are less than proficient in
English. And schools will be given extra time to show that those
students are making adequate yearly progress under the law.

Paige said the modifications were designed to give educators flexibility
to implement the law and improve the learning performance of students.

"Schools are changed by people who are in the building, and that is who
we want to hear from and that is who we want to help," he said.

The modifications are not expected to have a big impact on the
day-to-day life of students.

But it could make a big difference to schools that face federal
sanctions as early as next year if they do not improve. After testing
last year, up to 30 percent of schools nationwide failed to make
so-called adequate yearly progress, many because specific groups of
students such as special education and English-learners did not have
sufficient scores.

Specifically, the two-point plan would give states the option of using
either of two tests for English-learning students in their first year
in U.S. schools.

The second regulatory change gives schools an additional year to measure
the progress of English-learning students. Previously, students were
moved out of the limited-English group when they demonstrated language
proficiency. That made it difficult for schools to show the
limited-English group was making yearly progress.

The new rules allow states to keep students in the limited-English group
for an extra year to ensure their annual progress is included in
calculations for measuring student progress under the law.

Education officials acknowledged yesterday that more changes are on the
way. Specifically, they said the department is likely to change
provisions that would make it easier for all teachers to become "highly
qualified."

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.