Forum on Educational Accountability
Press Release:
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for further information:
Monty Neill (FairTest) (617) 864-4810
Michael T. S. Wotorson (NAACP) (410) 580-5614
Jan Resseger (United Church of Christ) (216) 308-9611
Reggie Felton (National School Boards Association) 703-838-6782
Joel Packer (NEA) (202) 822-7329
for release Wednesday,
January 3, 2007
100 NATIONAL EDUCATION, CIVIL
RIGHTS, RELIGIOUS & DISABILITY GROUPS CALL FOR OVERHAUL OF
FEDERAL"NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" LAW; URGE REPLACING FAILED
TEST-SCORE SANCTIONS WITH SYSTEMATIC REFORMS TO IMPROVE SCHOOL
QUALITY AND CLOSE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
As the fifth anniversary of
the "No Child Left Behind" law draws near, 100 national
civil rights, education, disability advocacy, and religious groups
have signed on to a "Joint Organizational Statement"
calling for major changes in federal education legislation. The
statement urges that "the law's emphasis needs to shift
from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding
states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes
that improve student achievement." The number of organizations
signing the statement has nearly quadrupled since it was launched
in late 2004.
The Joint Statement outlines
14 recommended changes to NCLB including:
Replace over-reliance on standardized
tests with the use of multiple achievement measures in order
to provide a more comprehensive picture of student and school
performance;
- Supplant arbitrary proficiency targets with ambitious achievement
targets based on rates of success actually achieved by the most
effective public schools;
- Authorize interventions that enable schools to make changes
that result in improved student achievement instead of sanctions
that do not have a consistent record of success;
- Enhance the knowledge and skills teachers, administrators and
families need to support high student achievement and improve
state and district capacity to assist them;
- Increase NCLB funding to cover a substantial percentage of
the costs that states and districts will incur to carry our these
recommendations.
Among the 100 organizational
signers are the Children's Defense Fund, Council for Exceptional
Children, League of United Latin American Citizens, Learning
Disabilities Association, NAACP, National Center for Fair &
Open Testing, National Council of Churches, National Education
Association, National Parent-Teacher Association, National School
Boards Association, National Urban League, People for the American
Way, and United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries.
Working together as the Forum
on Education Accountability (FEA), many of the signers are crafting
detailed proposals on professional teacher preparation and family
involvement to implement the statement's recommendations. In
addition, the FEA has asked a panel of academic experts to review
NCLB's assessment and accountability provisions and propose changes
to ensure that the federal education law has helpful rather than
harmful educational consequences. The reports and detailed proposals
will be released in the next several months.
NCLB was signed into law by
President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. It is scheduled
for Congressional review and reauthorization in 2007.
The "Joint Organizational
Statement" and a current list of its signers are online
at the new Forum for Educational Accountability website, http://www.edaccountability.org.
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