Spectrum

August 17, 2007

Alaska will be able to start tracking individual student test scores and reward schools when students improve, even if the students did not meet certain scores defined by the federal mandate No Child Left Behind.

This will change the focus to where it needs to be - on the student and his or her progress. In the past, students were being held to particular scores, as were schools, and deemed proficient or not. If students did not meet those proficient scores, even if they were making progress, the entire school could be labeled &#8220failing.” There have been cases where schools were deemed &#8220failing” even if the school had the highest scoring individual students in the areas of reading, writing or math because other students did not make certain scores.

This new growth model returns to what is really important in education - student learning and progress, rather than making certain test scores, and rewarding schools with students on the track of meeting proficiency standards. Student learning is so much more complex than being reduced to a number. It is just too easy to stack scores of students into a proficient and non-proficient matrix or delineating which schools did or did not make adequate yearly progress. We lose the focus of what is the right thing for kids, which is rewarding their learning progress and growth. Also, it measures schools and their successes of working with students on making continued improvement.

What was most demoralizing for students and staff were the sanctions schools faced if students did not meet particular benchmarks and failed to make adequate yearly progress. These sanctions were very punitive and compounded if benchmarks were not met in successive years. Also, the stakes (meeting benchmarks) were increased every three years to add to an already number-driven, complicated federal mandate. The most frustrating element for educators was that no additional funds came from the federal government to help with the extra instruction required to improve learning if schools did not meet adequate yearly progress.

Now, with the new model, schools can count students proficient as they continue to make progress toward the intended cutoff scores. In this way, schools may avoid the punitive sanctions and in turn not be labeled a &#8220failing” school.

Also, the mandate had student progress each year compared to progress from previous years. So, regardless of inconsistent variables (class size, new students, new student ability groupings, just to mention a few) schools had to compare completely different classroom groups, which had no connection to each other from year to year. Now, schools will be able to follow an individual student's progress compared to that student from one year to the next.

Maybe the most important change will be for parents. They will now be able to follow and see how their child is performing from year to year. The parent will be able have the question answered, &#8220Did my child improve from last year?” This will be so much more meaningful for parents than the number chase that drives the original mandate.

The debate continue to see if No Child Left Behind is really improving education; however, this pilot program will give students, parents and schools a break from high-stakes testing. What it will do is put the focus back on student learning and progress, reward schools when students improve and avoid punitive sanctions. Most importantly, parents will know if their child is improving year to year. This pilot model is a positive move in the right direction.

Michael P. Carson is a teacher in the Mat-Su Borough School District.