Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 9, 2009 A DAY IN THE LIFE II

Dubya making a final grasp for a positive legacy...United States Education Secretary Margaret Spellings giving her boss a farewell gift to boost the spirits of Texans about to welcome him home.

Doesn't it just make you all warm and fuzzy...and tingle all over?

Bush touts education law

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President George W. Bush says his signature education law should not be weakened when he leaves office because it has "forever changed America's school systems." Delivering one final policy speech, President George W. Bush defended his signature education law on Thursday and warned that it should not be weakened when he leaves office because it has "forever changed America's school systems."

"Now is not the time to water down standards or to roll back accountability," Bush said in a message aimed at both the Democratic Congress and President-elect Barack Obama.

The law, which Bush signed into law exactly seven years ago, requires annual testing in many grades and calls for all students to reach grade level in reading and math by 2014. It also is designed to give parents more school choices and increase teacher quality. Critics consider it intrusive, narrow and lacking in funding.

The law was Bush's first major domestic success, approved with strong bipartisan support in 2001. He considers it essential to the country — and a vital part of his legacy.

Bush called on those who control its fate "to stay strong in the face of criticism" and warned if they weaken the law they risk "weakening the chance for a child to succeed."

Obama has pledged to overhaul the law. The testing requirements at the heart of it will likely remain, although Obama says the law emphasizes exams at the expense of subjects such as music and art, and is too punitive toward struggling schools.

Congress was supposed to renew the law after five years, in 2007, but did not. It remains in effect but is unpopular in many communities. Some parents speak up in favor of it though, because it has given their children more choices of school and tutoring.

"No Child Left Behind is working for all kinds of students in all kinds of schools in every part of the country," Bush declared. "That is a fact."

In general, students have made gains in reading and math under the law, particularly lower-achieving minority students who are now getting unprecedented attention.

But kids remain a long way off from reaching the law's ambitious goals; millions of children are behind. Undeterred, Bush said the country will "absolutely" meet its goals.

He spoke most strongly about keeping the law's testing requirements, and dismissed the criticism that teachers are forced to "teach to the test" at the expensive of true learning.

The president said his comments amounted to the final policy speech of his presidency.

Earlier, Bush stopped by a second-grade classroom, where students gave him a bouquet of flowers. They were quiet and shy, but accepted his offer to ask him some questions.

One student asked Bush about where he's going to live next.

The president said he is relying on his wife's judgment about their new house in Texas for good reason: he has never seen it himself.

"That's called faith," Bush said.

The president leaves office Jan. 20. He and first lady Laura Bush will split their time between a home they recently purchased in Dallas and their ranch in Crawford, Texas.

`No Child' ruling lets state evaluate students' potential even if they fail

By ERICKA MELLON

Fewer Texas schools are expected to earn failing marks from the federal government thanks to a more flexible rating system approved Thursday.

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings signed off on Texas' plan to give schools and districts credit for students who fail state exams in reading and math — if they are on track to pass in coming years.

Texas is one of 15 states that have won permission to use a so-called student growth model when calculating their federal No Child Left Behind ratings. The model also is likely to become part of Texas' own accountability system after the upcoming legislative session.

'Kids have bad days'

Educators generally support evaluating schools based on growth, rather than rigid passing standards that don't take into account students who arrive in the classroom several years behind grade level.

"Many people will perceive that this lowers standards, but the standards that were set were arbitrary anyway," said Jim Parsons, executive director of accountability for the Humble Independent School District.

Parsons said the growth model will allow schools some cushion, say, for students who fail the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills by a single question.

"Just looking at passing gives us only a one-shot view of what a student does," he said. "People have always complained that that has been inadequate. Kids have bad days."

The Texas Education Agency estimates that 136 more school districts and 411 more campuses would have met the No Child Left Behind standards in 2008 had a growth measure been used. That represents an 11 percent increase in districts and a 5 percent increase in schools making the grade.

"Our ability to use a growth measure for accountability purposes will help recognize the hard work being done in schools where students are making significant educational progress," state Education Commissioner Robert Scott said.

TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe added that growth models are gaining support from policymakers in both Austin and Washington.

"They realize that many schools work with children who come to them far below grade level," she said. "And to expect them to bring the child up three or four grades in one year is a huge challenge."

The No Child Left Behind Act, which President George W. Bush signed into law seven years ago Thursday, requires every child to be proficient in reading and math by 2013-14.

Austin attorney Sandy Kress, a key adviser to Bush on the education law, said he supports growth models — as long as schools are expected to get students on grade level quickly.

"This system can be rigorous, and it's perhaps an even more appropriate way to gauge the school and the educators who have these students in their charge," he said.

TEA developed the growth model with Pearson Educational Measurement, the state's testing contractor.

Scott rejected a plea from several big-city school districts, including Houston ISD, to employ a model developed by North Carolina statistician Bill Sanders. Houston already contracts with Sanders.

Secretary Spellings Approves Additional Growth Model Pilots for 2008-2009 School Year

FOR RELEASE:

January 8, 2009
Contact: Chad Colby or Elaine Quesinberry
(202) 401-1576

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced approval of four additional states' high-quality growth models, which follow the bright-line principles of No Child Left Behind. The states receiving approval are Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas. Pennsylvania and Texas are conditionally approved provided they satisfy final requirements related to their accountability and assessment systems, respectively.

In May 2006, North Carolina and Tennessee received approval to implement their growth models for the 2005-2006 school year. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida and Iowa received full approval to implement their growth model for the 2006-2007 school year. Additionally, growth models for Ohio, Michigan and Missouri were approved for the 2007-2008 school year.

"Once states had developed the framework to take a snapshot of student skills each year, as the law requires, I invited them to join me in combining those static measurements to demonstrate progress over time. After early pioneers proved that this method was viable, I invited all eligible states to adopt this more sophisticated measurement system, also known as the growth model or value-added approach," Secretary Spellings said. "Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas proposed models that will support educational innovation while continuing to hold schools accountable for the goal of every student performing at or above grade level by 2014. I look forward to seeing the positive results these changes will help produce for students."

The Department used a rigorous peer review process to ensure that the selection process was fair and transparent for all participating states. A panel of nationally recognized experts reviewed and made recommendations on states' proposals.

The Department is gathering data to test the idea that growth models can be fair, reliable and innovative methods to measure student improvement and to hold schools accountable for results. Growth models track individual student achievement from one year to the next, giving schools credit for student improvement over time. The pilot program, which began in 2006, allows the Department to rigorously evaluate growth models and ensure their alignment with NCLB, and to share these results with other states. Fifteen states now have approved growth models: North Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Alaska, Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The bright-line principles for high-quality growth models are:

• Ensure that all students are proficient by 2014 and set annual state goals to ensure that the achievement gap is closing for all groups of students;
• Set expectations for annual achievement based upon meeting grade-level proficiency and not upon student background or school characteristics;
• Hold schools accountable for student achievement in reading/language arts and mathematics;
• Ensure that all students in tested grades are included in the assessment and accountability system, hold schools and districts accountable for the performance of each student subgroup and include all schools and districts;
• Include assessments, in each of grades 3 through 8 and high school, in both reading/language arts and mathematics that have been operational for more than one year and have received approval through the NCLB standards and assessment review process. The assessment system must also produce comparable results from grade to grade and year to year;
• Track student progress as part of the state data system; and
• Include student participation rates and student achievement as separate academic indicators in the state accountability system.