News Archives – May 2008
May 20, 2008 – International Herald Tribune – “State breakdown of No Child Left Behind goals”
A breakdown of how different states approached No Child Left Behind goals. The program aims to have all children reading and doing math on grade level by 2013-14. About half of states set steady yearly goals for increasing the percentage of students that pass the tests. Other states set the bar very low early on and now face steep yearly achievement gains.
May 18, 2008 – New York Times – “Aiming to coach students to excellence in exams”
As public schools everywhere gear up for the annual state assessments, few others have as much to prove — or as much at stake. Newton, with 500 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, has come under escalating sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law because many of its students have scored below proficiency on the standardized test known as NJ ASK, which covers language arts, math and science. It is one of only 4 schools in this city — and among 38 schools in New Jersey, 57 in New York and 6 in Connecticut — that have missed testing benchmarks for seven consecutive years and now risk being shut down or overhauled if there is no sign of improvement.
May 13, 2008 – Wall Street Journal – “No Child Left Behind Lacks Bite”
Critics of the federal No Child Left Behind law, including Democratic presidential candidates vowing to overhaul or end it, have often accused it of being too harsh. It punishes weak schools instead of supporting them, as Sen. Barack Obama puts it.
