Harsher NCLB Sanctions May Not Lead to Better Student Achievement
As the No Child Left Behind Act's sanctions grow increasingly stronger for schools failing to make adequate yearly progress, a new study says those penalties alone will not solve the problem. Instead, the report recommends states and districts commit themselves to long-term, comprehensive reform efforts that concentrate on attracting and retaining quality teachers and administrators to staff chronically struggling schools. In many cases, test score gains of students in schools on which the sanctions were imposed were minimal at best. The report, recently released by the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing, or CRESST, sounds a cautionary note for states and districts looking for sanctions to be a "quick fix" to schools that consistently fall short of test pass-rate goals.
Education Daily, May 9, 2005

Noonan's Wrong on Bilingual Education
It is unfortunate that Ken Noonan's appointment to the California State Board of Education has resulted in a repetition of the myth that dropping bilingual education is a good thing. Superintendent Noonan has been given credit for the increase in test scores of English learners in Oceanside after he eliminated bilingual education in the city's school district following the passage of Proposition 227. But scientific analyses strongly suggest that Noonan's policies had nothing to do with the increase.
North County Times, May 8, 2005

Bush High School Reform Appears Dead on Arrival
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said there won't be any legislation to authorize President Bush's high school reform initiative emerging from the committee this year. Boehner and Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle, R-Del., said they support in principle the administration's ideas to reform high schools, but it was too early to expand No Child Left Behind Act testing into high schools."With all due respect to the president's pronouncements ... to moving No Child Left Behind to high schools, I'm not too sure we're ready to create legislation on that," Castle said at a press conference.
Education Daily, May 6, 2005

NCLB Cases Face Hurdles in the Courts
When cobbling together the landmark No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, Congress quietly tacked on an unusual provision that says the law does not require states or school districts “to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this act.” Little noticed at the time and lifted directly from an earlier version of the law enacted in 1994, the clause was originally pushed by Republican legislators wary of federal intrusion into schools by the Democratic administration of President Bill Clinton. In a historical twist, the language has now become the main legal weapon brandished by those hoping to prove in the courts that the Republican administration of President Bush has overstepped its authority in carrying out the law he championed. Whatever the political ironies of its origins, the provision has emerged as the mainstay of a high-profile legal challenge to the No Child Left Behind Act spearheaded by the National Education Association, and a similar lawsuit that the state of Connecticut has said it intends to file shortly.
Education Week, May 4, 2005

Advanced Bilingual Education to Debut
Throughout her 27-year career, Alexander Elementary School teacher Dina Perez has claimed summers as her own. This year will be different. Perez will throw herself into intensive training, preparing to teach first-graders to read, write and learn in both English and Spanish. "I cannot wait," says Perez, who's already brainstorming ideas. "I am really excited." The campus has buzzed with new vitality since district officials announced that Alexander would become the focus for the county's foray into an increasingly successful model of bilingual education. Principal Manuel Duran says the two-way language immersion program gives children a top-notch education while they become fluent in Spanish and English. As a bonus, they are exposed to different cultures.
St. Petersburg Times, Apr. 24, 2005

Districts and Teachers' Union Sue Over Bush Law
Opening a new front in the growing rebellion against President Bush's signature education law, the nation's largest teachers' union and eight school districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont sued the Department of Education yesterday, accusing it of violating a passage in the law that says states cannot be forced to spend their own money to meet federal requirements. Some legal scholars said that the union, the National Education Association, had assembled a compelling cause of action. Still, they added, since the case has few close precedents, it was difficult to judge the suit's prospects. But it was clearly another headache for Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, who is trying to resolve a federal-state conflict over the law, known as No Child Left Behind, that has taken on new forms in recent days. A day before the suit was filed, Utah's Republican-dominated Legislature approved the most far-reaching legislative challenge to the law.
New York Times, Apr. 21, 2005

Utah Bucks Feds on Schools
Saying they don't take kindly to federal threats, Utah legislators defied President
Bush on Tuesday and approved a measure that challenges his No Child Left Behind education initiative - despite warnings it could cost the state $76 million. House Bill 1001 cleared the House 66-7 and the Senate 25-3, just a day after a letter from U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings noted the potential loss of $55 million in federal funding for disadvantaged students, $19 million for teacher training and $2 million for parental-choice programs. All of the opposing votes came from Democrats. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. probably will sign the bill this week, possibly today, education deputy Tim Bridgewater said.
Salt Lake Tribune, Apr. 20, 2005

Testing Suit Gains Support
Two statewide organizations announced Monday they are joining the Coachella Valley Unified School District's planned lawsuit challenging the way California is testing students with limited English ability. The district's seven-member board voted last month to retain three law firms to prepare a suit challenging the way the state enforces the federal No Child Left Behind Act with respect to academic testing of English language learners. The state requires English language learners in grades two through 11 to be tested in English. "There is no sound educational or legal basis for this practice," the California Association for Bilingual Education and Californians Together said in a joint statement Monday. They said the objective of the lawsuit is to compel California to assess the progress of English language learners as required by the No Child Left Behind Act. That includes testing those students in a valid and reliable manner that involves "reasonable accommodations" and "to the extent practicable, assessments in the language and form most likely to yield accurate data on what students know and can do in academic content areas until such students have achieved English language proficiency," the two organizations said.
Desert Sun, Apr. 5, 2005

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