New Educational Pilot Program for Under Performing Schools

Today U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced she is going to take steps to ensure that all states use the same formula to calculate how many students graduate from high school on time, and how many drop out. Apparently the data wills be made public so thatPublish Post people can compare how students of every race, background, and income level are performing nationwide.

In another recent educational trend in the news, a March press release talks about the new NCLB Differentiated Accountability Pilot program on the U.S. Department of Education website. This is a pilot program to help states differentiate between under performing schools that are in need of dramatic interventions, and part of fulfilling the "No Child Left Behind" goals.

The press release outlines a speech made by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings who said, "Thanks to No Child Left Behind, we have collected a wealth of information about where schools are falling short, where students' needs are not being met, and where more rigor is needed. We've built an appetite for change, and we've done a good job of framing the problem. The next step is to use this knowledge to customize our efforts to improve."

There is also a background Fact Sheet that provides the basics on Spellings' Building On Results Blueprint -- a blueprint for strengthening the "No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)" designed to provide additional resources and flexibility to our schools and educators to help achieve NCLB’s goal of every student reading and doing math at or above grade level by 2014. The Department called for differentiated accountability as part of this blueprint - to allow states to distinguish between those schools in improvement that are just missing the mark and those that need significant reform.

Once the states had developed the framework to capture the student skills each year, as required by law, they combined those stats to demonstrate progress over time. This method proved viable, and then all eligible states were invited to adopt the more sophisticated measurement system. Specifically states were helped in developing better ways to measure progress for students with disabilities and limited English skills

Damatic action is needed to help states improve underperforming schools, and Spellings believes this new "differentiated accountability" program will help -- then 10 states will be invited to create more nuanced ways of distinguishing between schools in need of dramatic intervention, and those that are closer to meeting goals. Spellings feels confident that this process will help educators nationwide learn more about helping the children acquire grade-level knowledge.

I am all for this kind of intervention. My website http://www.roccobasile.org/ talks about all my charities focusing on education and assisting kids in need, including Children of the City and Xaverian, where I went to school. Aside from working with my family at the Basile Builders Group, I spend time working on organizing The Joe DiMaggio Award Gala, a major fundraiser for Xaverian.

The funds raised at our last gala in January honoring Tiki Barber will go towards programs for Xaverian students with learning disabilities, and young men from disadvantaged backgrounds who are in financial need. If it were not for the generosity of alumni, parents and friends, many of these students would not be able to afford a quality, college-preparatory education.