[I hope this post proves interesting. It was written by UFT President Randi Weingarten, and previously posted on Edwize.]
The United Federation of Teachers has long supported high academic standards and meaningful accountability measures including testing in our public schools. We have also focused much-needed attention on the achievement gap between poor and often minority children and their more affluent, mostly white neighbors. We consistently shine a light on the importance of high quality teachers in every classroom. So we initially had high hopes when Congress passed President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act with bipartisan support in 2002.
Unfortunately, it has become clear that serious flaws in NCLB are preventing it from helping all children succeed. In fact it guarantees its own failure by requiring all children to be proficient in math and reading by 2014, a laudable but increasingly unrealistic goal. Now that NCLB is up for reauthorization, we have a chance to fix what’s wrong. Here’s what we would change:
Use progress, not just proficiency, to measure success. The law’s mechanism for holding schools accountable — the adequate yearly progress (AYP) formula — does not fully recognize gains in student achievement that schools starting furthest behind are making, and labels them as failures for not reaching an arbitrary proficiency level. Because of it, the nation’s public school systems have become fixated on one-shot standardized test scores rather than focused on teaching individual children. We need an accountability system that gives credit for both progress and proficiency in a wider range of areas besides standardized test scores in reading and math.
Provide the right supports for struggling schools. Raising the bar does not guarantee that all children will be able to leap higher. Key to success is the quality of the academic interventions struggling students receive. But NCLB’s current remedial services are not research-based and have proven to be ineffective. We must provide schools the resources and the flexibility to implement research-based remedial programs. Struggling schools need professional development for teachers; proven instructional strategies, materials and curricula aligned with standards; and expertise and supports to fully implement those interventions.
Bolster accountability with uniform standards. True accountability requires comparable nationwide standards. The law allows fifty different systems of standards and assessments, with little transparency or quality control. We must ensure that state accountability systems are fair, accurate and rigorous measures of student progress and achievement.
Attract, retain and support a highly qualified teaching corps. Great schools are more than a few great teachers working in a few classrooms; they are teams of teachers working together to improve the achievement of all their students. Attracting and keeping those teachers requires, first, competitive salaries, and second, a respectful, collegial professional environment that encourages shared decisionmaking and recognizes and rewards the contributions of every staff member to the school’s success.
Provide funding to meet high standards. Underlying much of NCLB’s shortcomings is its funding, which is far less than what is needed, and at least $50 billion less than what Congress promised. This is money that could have been spent on underserved students by reducing class size, offering proven interventions to students who most need assistance, providing resources for turning around low-performing schools, and other services to achieve the goals of NCLB. Current funding is not enough to serve all eligible students, and the districts with the greatest concentrations of poverty are the most shortchanged.
If No Child Left Behind is to be more than a slogan, Congress must fix the law to create an accountability system that measures what is and what is not working, rather than relying solely on high stakes testing. It must provide proper supports for schools that are not working, rewards for schools that are, and funding and transparency to ensure that real progress is being made.