Special Education Law Blog

Moving Children Around A Failure in Chicago

Arne Duncan's, former head of Chicago Public Schools and now U.S. Secretary of Education, strategy in Chicago was to move children out of underperforming schools to other schools.  The only problem is that the "other schools" were also underperfoming. No surprise that this variant on NCLB of moving children around  has not been effective for students. It did however make for good press allowing Mr. Duncan to become Secretary of Education Duncan.

I am a President Obama supporter on most issues, but picking Arne Duncan was not a smart move. Chicago's schools are and have been systematically broken and lot of that responsibility lies with Mr. Duncan's lack of effective leadership (see e.g. Download AccessLiving_Ren_2010) [Click for background information on Renaissance 2010 a Duncan lead proposal]. Now we are getting the same on the national level:

"A Chicago-style strategy is a feature of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s push for the nation to turn around its lowest-performing schools. Mr. Duncan was the chief executive officer of the Chicago public schools from 2001 until December 2008, when President Barack Obama nominated him as education secretary. School closings are one element of the so-called “turnaround” plans Mr. Duncan has promoted as secretary, which also include measures that would replace principals and teachers in persistently failing schools."

I have very low expectations of anything effective coming from Mr. Duncan's leadership on a national level. We need to move him out and someone with real ability into this role.

Unusual Pattern of Gains and Failures in NCLB Test Scores

In Maryland there has been an unusual spike in test scores among public school students. Some of the increases are so high that questions are being raised as to whether the scores are valid. In particular an expert in  education policy stated:

" I think most people are trying to do the right thing," said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy. "But the pressure to get results is enormous, and some people fail. Some people sin."

Apparently, Denver and Texas have also experienced remarkable reversals in test scores in its schools. Huntsville, Alabama elementary schools are showing incredible gains over last year as well, even though some of its high schools are still lagging. Bragging rights in Alabama go to  Birmingham where the majority of schools met most of their  NCLB goals. However, Springfield, Missouri fell short on its NCLB testing but that is ok with the superintendent because it was the students with special needs who fell short. However, state-wide in Minnesota more schools were not making the NCLB grade. This latest bit of information only makes the other state's data even more suspect since Minnesota is historically a state that invests a lot in education and achieves excellent results. Similarly Massachusetts and Pittsburgh schools are lagging on NCLB standardized. testing. The standard answer at least in Pittsburgh is that we generally are doing fine but it was those special education students that pulled us down.

NCLB Reauthorization

Here is the latest on NCLB reauthorization. Not surprsingly the NEA, teacher's union, would prefer to have the accountability in the Act relaxed. I am hoping for a private righ of action but I suspect that I will continue to have to just hope. I do not expect a new NCLB until after the election.

Nod to my friend, Sandy Alperstein for sending this link to my attention.

Administration Proposals For NCLB Would Leave Many More Children Behind

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed revisions to NCLB which would permit as many as 30% of all children with special needs to meet standards at a substandard level.  In effect this proposal permanently leaves behind many students with special needs especially those with learning disabilities. {This news story came to my attention from a reader, Karen Purcell]

NCLB Up for Reauthorization and Revision

Now that the Democrats have taken over the Congress, the debate over the reauthorization of NCLB has begun in earnest according to a recent New York Times article. Among the issues the Democrats are raising are as follows:

Significant Development in NCLB Rating Scales

The blog the Quick and the Ed has published on an important development in how schools in Tennessee and North Carolina are  to rate progress under NCLB. This announcement from Education Secretary Spelling may develop over time into the norm for other states.

High Stakes Testing Awry Again

In the last two days there have been two major stories of problems with high stakes testing.

NCLB As A Means of Military Recruitment

NCLB contains language pertaining to military recruitment.  Most parents regard NCLB as being about high stakes testing, annual yearly progress, reading standards, and teacher qualifications.  However, it is also about the military acquiring "directory" information on students attending public school for purposes of military recruitment.  Although the Department of Defense and Department of Education characterize the desire to obtain this information as an opportunity "for informing young people of  scholarship opportunities."[ Download Rumsfeld_Paige_on_military_recruiters_Ltr.pdf ] Obviously these claims are disingenuous, as the real purpose is simply for recruitment of more young people to enter the military.

Chief of the National Education Association Speaks Out Against NCLB

Politically the National Education Association has never been  a friend of special education students. The head of a the NEA, Reginald Weaver, recently spoke out in very strident terms against NCLB and President Bush's cuts to education funding to pay for the Iraq war.   See link for the story.

While I am not in favor of cutting spending for education, leaders on behalf of children with special needs have noted that NCLB actually has been helpful.

No Child Left Behind May Protect Rights of Students with Disabilities

On October 11, 2005, the Washington Post ran an article suggesting that the federal No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB) has helped to institutionalize a process of protections for students with disabilities, whether or not their parents or guardians were in a position to advocate for them through IDEA.

Ricki Sabia, Associate Director for the National Down Syndrome Society Public Policy Center, shared her perspective on the law:

"At national conferences I have seen that some teachers and administrators are beginning to see that segregating students with disabilities in classes without access to the general curriculum or highly qualified--content trained--teachers is partly to blame for the achievement gap," she said.  Unfortunately other teachers and administrators are spending more time fighting NCLB than they are spending on narrowing this gap."

"The biggest impact of NCLB may be a revolution in the way we talk about education for students with disabilities," she said.  "The standard has always been an appropriate education which provides some minimal benefit or progress on IEP goals.  We only heard 'world class' or 'state of the art' applied to general education.  With NCLB, school systems will have to start applying those terms to students with disabilities if they are not to be left behind."