Leaving Behind - No Child Left Behind?

The domestic law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) took effect in 2002 with bipartisan support, with the goal moving from a desire for all children to attend school to all students in school achieving proficiency. By requiring that English and math scores be reported by categories such as income and race, it was intended to spotlight gaps in achievement.

The problem has been how to best measure proficiency, so closing the gaps has been pretty challenging -- so much so that they've delayed the act's re-authorization. Now any changes to the law maybe even its name are going to have to be left behind, or at least wait until after the country has a new president and Congress. Although there have been dozens of proposals for changes to NCLB, about the only thing anyone agrees with is the fact that it is important to find ways to help students and schools that have fallen behind.

The NCLB program has been able to identify the schools that are low-performing, but there are many improvements needed to meet the original mission of the law. Apparently about one-third of Americans see NCLB favorably, another one-third see it unfavorably, and the rest just don’t know, according to an annual poll by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK), an education association in Bloomington, Ind.

The National Education Association (NEA), which is the largest teachers' union in the United States, has asked that states be allowed to use growth models for federal accountability. It also would like multiple measures of student achievement, not just standardized tests. Thus far Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has allowed 10 states to test growth models.

But here’s what I find most interesting. While all this is taking place, and we are soon to find out if NCLB will be left behind next year, there are communities with programs that are already flourishing – as you can see on my educational trends website http://www.rcooccobasile.org/. And, as a Board member of ChildrenoftheCity.org. (http://www.childrenofthecity.org/) I see children and families living in Brooklyn New York taking advantage of a number of amazing programs that have been benefiting students and their learning.

And, in Texas, another town is showing what can happen when an entire community commits to student progress. In the Brownsville Independent School District, where nearly all students come from low-income Hispanic families, and four in ten are not native English speakers, they have made huge strides in closing the achievement gap with whites and higher-income students. This program earned this community the Broad Prize for Urban Education, which comes with $1 million in college scholarships for high school seniors who show academic progress and financial need.

Brownsville Superintendent Hector Gonzales said, “All children can learn …"We brought in a lot of staff development for every teacher to be able to look at the students' strengths and weaknesses and take those students to the next level.... Teachers truly believe that the students can be very successful."

Here’s how their program worked. Their review board of education experts chose five Broad Prize finalists from among the 100 of the largest US school districts serving sizable numbers of low-income/minority students. It considered factors like reduction of achievement gaps, performance on state tests, graduation rates, college entrance exams, as well as accountability measures in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

Later, a consultant visited the finalist districts to conduct interviews, and later a jury of business, government, and public-service leaders chose the winner. This jury praised Brownsville for directing 85 percent of funding directly to instruction, which is much more than the 65 percent required in their state of Texas.

Brownsville doesn't narrowly focus on raising standardized test scores. It offers a program for gifted students, music, art, sports, and enrichment, including a competitive chess club. But test scores have improved, partly because teachers are trained to track student progress and target individual needs.

Nationally, Hispanic students have made gains on national assessments since enactment of NCLB, but overall progress has been slight. In the Texas program, the parents played an important role as well. Each school has a center where parents can learn English, computer literacy, and the skills required so they could help their children. What’s more, across the US, teachers in many districts have little access to professional development, textbooks, and assessments to meet the needs of students who don't speak English upon entering school.

--Rocco Basile