News Archives– October 2007
October 19, 2007 - Bridgeton News - “Bridgeton Schools Surge”
The state Department of Education announced on Thursday that Bridgeton was among 12 districts across the state removed from its "Districts in Need of Improvement" list. In early September, Gilson and other district officials attributed the district's general improvement on the state's standardized tests -- the elementary-level Assessment of Skills and Knowledge, the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment and the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).-- to revamped curriculum and a renewed emphasis on teachers' classroom assignments and professional development. Those decisions were based on what Gilson referred to as "data-driven decision making," meaning the district is analyzing state test scores to identify weaknesses and strengths in its faculty and curriculum.
October 18, 2007 - Education Week - “Bush Says He Would Veto an Unacceptable NCLB Renewal Bill”
As Congress works toward reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush has said for the first time that he’s willing to reject any bill he doesn’t like. “Any effort to weaken No Child Left Behind Act will get a presidential veto,” Mr. Bush said on Oct. 15 at a town-hall-style meeting in Rogers, Ark. “I believe this piece of legislation is important, and I believe it’s hopeful, and I believe it’s necessary to make sure we got a [sic] educated group of students who can compete in the global economy when they get older.”
October 17, 2007 – Education Week - “Senate Distributes Partial Draft of NCLB”
Senate aides last night circulated a discussion draft of sections of NCLB. The draft addresses issues that aren't controversial, avoiding topics such accountability and teacher pay. Both Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyoming, the panel's senior Republican, endorsed the draft. Sens. Kennedy and Enzi often work closely to identify areas where they agree and focus on those first, leaving the controversial matters for later. The new draft shows that they are working together and are serious about moving a bill.
October 12, 2007 – Education Week - “Bush, Others Want Law to Go Beyond Basics”
When President Bush spoke about the No Child Left Behind Act in the Rose Garden of the White House this week, he added two words to his typical description of the law’s central goal: or above. “Every child must learn to read and do math at, or above, grade level,” the president said after meeting with civil rights leaders who support the reauthorization of the nearly 6-year-old law.
October 10, 2007 – Associated Press - “Bush Pushes Congress on No Child Left Behind”
President Bush said that he is open to new ideas for changing the No Child Left Behind education law but will not accept watered-down standards or rollbacks in accountability. The president and lawmakers in both parties want changes to the five-year-old law — a key piece of his domestic policy legacy, which faces a tough renewal fight in Congress. "There can be no compromise on the basic principle: Every child must learn to read and do math at, or above, grade level," he said in a statement from the Rose Garden that was directed at Congress and critics of the law. "And there can be no compromise on the need to hold schools accountable to making sure we achieve that goal."
October 9, 2007 – The Daily Sentinel - “State education commissioner: No Child Left Behind should stay”
The nation’s No Child Left Behind law should remain, along with some of its most controversial planks, the Colorado commissioner of education said Monday. Dwight Jones, appointed this year by Gov. Bill Ritter, visited the Dual Immersion Academy in Grand Junction as part of his plan to visit all of the state’s 178 districts in the coming years.No Child Left Behind, the name given the landmark legislation that required schools and students to show measurable progress, puts an emphasis on increasing scores across all social, economic and ethnic strata.
October 4, 2007 – McClatchy Newspapers – “No Child Left Behind Faces Contentious Reauthorization”
In the five years since No Child Left Behind was enacted, resistance to the law has created some strange political adversaries and bedfellows in the halls of Congress and among education advocates. Business interests are allied with civil rights organizations in wanting the law reauthorized. "It's enlightened self-interest for the business community," said Susan Traiman, the director of education and workforce policy at the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of large companies. "The graduates of our schools are our future workforce. When people graduate schools without the skills they need in high school or college, it costs taxpayers' dollars to remediate them."
