Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune. Very interesting, and just in time for our little debate!
No Child Left Behind rules could be relaxed
Education chief hints test policy to change
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0504080347apr08,1,6705098.story?coll=chi-news-hed
By Jodi S. Cohen, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporters Darnell Little, Tracy Dell'Angela and Diane Rado contributed to this report
Published April 8, 2005
In what could lead to broad changes in the Bush administration's education reforms, federal officials said Thursday they are open to relaxing requirements for states that show a commitment to improve.
The plan, outlined Thursday during a meeting between Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and state school chiefs, may help defuse a growing rebellion against No Child Left Behind, a law criticized as unfunded and an intrusion into state control.
Education officials are adamant that the cornerstone of the law--having all students reading and doing math at grade level by 2014--will not change.
But, among other things, Spellings' policy shift could make it easier for school districts to pass state tests under the 2002 law by increasing the number of students who can take a modified test because of disabilities.
Some sanctions for failing to meet state standards, including a provision that children in failing schools be given the opportunity to transfer to better ones, could also be relaxed. Chicago Public Schools leaders, for example, would prefer to allow students to be tutored before offering them a transfer as mandated by the law.
"Many of you may have your own issues," Spellings told state officials. "We are willing to consider requests, as long as the results for students are there and the principles of the law are followed."
Spellings' announcement opens the door for states to ask for greater flexibility in everything from how they measure student progress to when they must offer student transfers, but she stopped short of saying what changes she would approve.
She hinted that she would be open to measuring academic achievement by tracking individual students, instead of by comparing grade levels from one year to the next. Educators say the current approach fails to measure student progress.
For federal officials to consider changes, states will have to show they are following the rules of No Child Left Behind, including testing students every year in grades 3 though 8, reporting results by student subgroups, and hiring qualified teachers, Spellings said.
"They absolutely have to put some skin in the game," she said. "I am not going to prejudge what issues will be raised by states, but I will be open-minded."
The announcement comes as about 15 states are challenging the law. Utah leaders, for example, will vote later this month whether to give priority to Utah's education laws and forgo about $1 million in federal aid.
Connecticut is on the verge of becoming the first state to sue, contending the law illegally requires communities to spend more money to comply than the federal government provides.
Ottawa Township High School District 140, 80 miles southwest of Chicago, sued the Education Department in federal court in February, arguing that No Child Left Behind conflicts with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires individual academic plans for special education students.
State Supt. Randy Dunn said he would like flexibility in testing procedures for special education and limited-English students. He also would prefer that students have a longer track record with a particular school before their test scores count in measuring that school's success.
"We hope there is some willingness for them to work with us," Dunn said. "We are very much in favor of the approach that Secretary Spellings is taking and her willingness to demonstrate flexibility."
Spellings said she would concede on at least one area: how special education students are tested.
The secretary would consider allowing 3 percent of tested students, or about 18,000 in Illinois, to take a modified test, perhaps with simpler questions, to measure progress. That could raise a school's overall performance.
Spellings said she will issue guidelines to help states identify and appropriately test students with disabilities.
The current law allows up to 1 percent--those with the most significant cognitive abilities--to be assessed at their instructional level rather than grade level.
Judging from special education students' past performance, they are more likely to succeed on an alternative assessment. About 53 percent of special education students passed the alternative reading test last year, compared with 28 percent who passed the standard elementary and middle school reading test.
There were 142 Illinois schools last year that failed to meet state standards only because of the performance of special education students. Schools are judged not only on schoolwide scores, but also on the performance of subgroups, such as minority, poor and special education students.
But Ottawa Supt. Thomas Jobst, whose district is suing federal officials, said allowing more special education students to take an alternative test still isn't acceptable. The change would only affect a fraction of the more than 87,700 special education students tested in reading last year.
"They are missing the point," Jobst said. "You are still saying that 97 percent of special education kids have to be at the same place, at the same time as their non-special education peers."
Former special education teacher Deborah Zech, director of student services in Palatine-based School District 15, said new flexibility will help students caught in the middle--those who aren't severely disabled but are not up to taking the regular test.
Those children suffer at test time, she said.
"I have seen (special education) children taking that test just break down in tears," said Zech. "The expectation is still for children to make progress, and that's fair. But let's test them fairly."
Advocates for disabled students reacted more cautiously Thursday, saying No Child Left Behind for the first time held schools accountable for the performance of their special education students.
Meg Heron-Blake, a director at the Learning Disabilities Association of Illinois, said she fears that shifting more students into alternative testing will lessen focus on how these children perform.
"The point of these tests is to bring some accountability, and we want our schools and our teachers accountable for our students," she said.
Xavier Botana, director of No Child Left Behind programs for Chicago Public Schools, said he hopes federal officials also allow schools to offer free tutoring to students before offering them a chance to transfer to a better-performing school.
The transfer option--the first sanction that kicks in when a school has not met standards for two years in a row--has faced difficulties because few slots are available at better schools.
While educators cautiously praised more flexibility, others cautioned that the plan to treat states differently could raise questions of fairness and political favoritism, said Patricia Sullivan, director of the independent Center on Education Policy.
"The message today is if you are doing a good job, we will give you additional flexibility," Sullivan said. "One of the concerns is how transparent will that process be? If this isn't a transparent process and one where everyone is treated fairly, politics can come into play."
) had "the calling". The others all became doctors, lawyers, and various business people. 
