Spellings Accounces New Flexibility on NCLB

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in March (2008) announced the U.S. Department of Education is offering new flexibility on “No Child Left Behind” regulations so that states may now apply for the ability to implement “differentiated accountability” for schools that fail to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements.

Currently AYP is an all-or-nothing system, under which a school that fails to meet any one of as many as 37 different criteria is essentially treated the same as a school that fails to meet all 37. NEA has long criticized this fundamental flaw in the law and its rigid list of mandated federal sanctions. The secretary will now allow up to 10 states to implement targeted interventions for schools that fail to make AYP based on the specific reasons why they fell short. States must apply by May 2 to be part of this project.

NEA President Reg Weaver welcomed this attempt to correct a major flaw in the law but said it is long overdue. “We have known for more than six years that the law has produced many unintended and unfavorable consequences for students, parents, and educators,” he said.

Resource Page on 'No Child Left Behind' law

Posted March 27, 2008