News Archives – March 2007
March 28, 2007 – Education Week, David Hoff, “Growth Models for NCLB Accountability Are Weighed”
Amending the No Child Left Behind Act's accountability provisions to require the measurement of students' academic growth is a popular idea, but the transition to it might not be quick or easy, a panel of experts told federal lawmakers last week.
March 26, 2007 – Palm Beach Post, Christina DeNardo, “Educators, Legislators Urge Accountability in Alternative Schools”
Though alternative schools require students to meet certain academic and behavior standards, schools often don't know what happens to the 7,000 alternative-education students after they leave. The students who complete alternative programs are not regularly tracked, making it difficult to determine whether the programs are doing a good job. The lack of accountability recently caught the attention of some educators and state legislators, who are calling for more accountability and oversight to ensure that students are not dumped in alternative schools and that the programs are making a positive impact.
Monday, March 26, 2007 – Washington Post, Valerie Strauss, “Putting Assessments to the Test”
No Child Left Behind, President Bush's signature education law, requires that millions of students across the country be tested annually and that the tests produce "reliable and valid" data to measure how well they -- and their schools -- are doing.
