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By BRETT DALTON PITTSBURG - Among the issues facing President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office on Jan. 20, the economy and foreign affairs have dominated the recent news cycles. But one issue that is of substantial importance in this area and across the country is Obama's plan for education - specifically, his plan for the No Child Left Behind Act. Signed into law in 2002 by President George W. Bush, the NCLB Act added a level of accountability to public schools by mandating all students reach a certain level of achievement in reading and math on their state assessment tests. The goal of the program is to have all students, including special education students and other sub-groups within a school, to reach the same level of achievement by 2014. As the program now stands, if just one sub-group of students fails to meet the required achievement level in a given year, the school is labeled as not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress. During his campaign for the presidency, Obama called for reform of NCLB. He argued that the assessment test should not be given toward the end of the school year, as any negative results are often seen as a punishment for schools that did not meet AYP. Instead, the Illinois Democrat said the tests should be given at the beginning of the year and used as an indicator of where improvement is needed. "Teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on a standardized test," Obama said on his campaign Web site. Obama also said the program needs to move toward more of a progress-tracking system that rewards students for improvement, rather than requiring all students to meet the same standards. Area school district administrators hope Obama will take some of the change about which he often talks and spreads it to education and NCLB. "I would certainly hope that he addresses No Child Left Behind," Gary Snawder, Girard USD 248 superintendent, said. "It has done some things positively, but this idea that by 2014, 100 percent of kids will reach AYP is just unreasonable. Of course, I don't want any child to be unsuccessful, but there are degrees of success. And I think they need to take that into account." Snawder said he agrees with Obama regarding a change to a progress-tracking system. "If children are progressing at a reasonable rate every year and getting better, that's success," he said. "I see that as successful." Tim Burns, Southeast USD 247 superintendent, echoed feelings that the ultimate goal of NCLB is unattainable. "They are requiring special education students to meet the same standards that regular education students meet at the same time," he said. "That can't always happen. The premise of NCLB, I'm a little skeptical of it. I think they wanted to see public schools fail because you cannot get to that point. It's a good goal, and we're going to try, but it's very unrealistic." Cory Gibson, interim assistant superintendent for USD 250 in Pittsburg, said while the intentions of NCLB are noble, he believes schools should not be punished if all students do not meet the same standard. "I believe that the philosophy behind No Child Left Behind is right and that we would never want to leave any student population behind," he said. "The challenge that many teachers and schools face are the punitive sides." Gibson said he also believes one of the best changes for NCLB would be making it more of a growth-monitoring system. "Maybe this particular student that has some severe disabilities may not be able to make that cut score," he said. "But did they make substantial growth within that school year? I think we need to look at where that teacher took that student from day one to day two and to the end of the school year." Along with taking unneeded pressure off of special education students and students with disabilities, Gibson said a growth model also would keep high-performing students from becoming complacent with scores that typically exceed the state standard. "It would make them work to move up to that next level of achievement," he said. Obama said during his presidential campaign that NCLB puts too much emphasis on just reading and math, while forcing schools to push aside other subjects such as art, music, history and civics. Gibson said he has heard many teachers in the years since NCLB was enacted complain that all they do is teach reading and math. However, over time, those educators have become "more knowledgeable about what's on the test," and they are getting to point where they can prepare students for the assessment tests while also allowing more time for other subjects. "You can feel that change and a feeling that we understand it enough that maybe we can lay off a little bit and incorporate some other areas," he said. "I think people are finding that balance again." Mike Philpot, USD 246 superintendent, said there are many problems with NCLB, and added that he hopes Obama will take the time to make the needed changes. "It does need some reforming," Philpot said. "Not all kids learn at the same time, we know that. There is a testing window and yes, you can bank your scores, but there are still some doubts as to the validity of these things." Despite the complaints about NCLB, the program has yielded some positive results. According to the Kansas State Department of Education, the percent of students in Kansas reading at the proficient level or above has risen from 59 percent in 2000 to 84 percent in 2008. In math, students performing at a proficient level or above has risen from 50 percent to 81 percent. |
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