Study Points to NCLB Changes Congress Should Consider

Schools repeatedly rated as "failing" to meet the federal No Child Left Behind law's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets face a daunting challenge in turning things around. A recent study shows that most aren't making it and points to changes Congress should consider.

And with more and more public schools expected to face the consequences of multiple years of "failing" ratings under NCLB accountability standards, the recent Center on Education Policy study of California schools should be instructive.

Study Supports Use of 'Growth Model' for Accountability

The study focused on the results of restructuring that was forced on hundreds of California school districts that had failed to meet AYP for the previous five years. Among the conclusions included in the final report are that Congress, in considering NCLB reauthorization, should:

• Revise accountability rules to allow measuring and giving credit to schools' progress toward meeting AYP targets, a concept commonly referred to as the "growth model."
• Revise testing requirements for English language learners and special education students to make them more realistic.

The CEP study determined that only 10 out of hundreds of low-scoring California schools facing severe consequences under No Child Left Behind have improved enough to get off of a state watch list this year.

Research Validates Use of Multiple, Targeted Reform Measures

"Severe consequences" include reconstituting the school by replacing the entire staff, transforming it into a public charter school, and variations of "other" reforms and combinations of reforms.

The CEP researchers concluded that schools "implementing multiple reform efforts tailored to individual school needs were more likely than other schools in restructuring to meet AYP targets in English language arts."

They found no evidence that replacing an entire school staff resulted in improving the educational program. This finding flies in the face of recent U.S. Department of Education guidance that urges "large" restructuring efforts such as replacing an entire school staff.

"California is beginning to offer federal and state officials an important look at the impact of restructuring on struggling schools," said Jack Jennings, president and CEO of the Center on Education Policy.

Replacing School Staff Offers No Guarantees of Improvement

Jennings said, "While it is still too early to tell whether restructuring is working, it is clear from the experience of California and Michigan, the two states we have studied in-depth, that simply requiring schools to replace staff does not guarantee increased student achievement. Rather, success is linked to implementing multiple improvement strategies."

A CEP news release also said, "Contrary to the assumption behind the U.S. Department of Education's recent call for disallowing "minor" restructuring strategies in favor of replacing staff or reconstituting the school's governance structure, CEP's study finds that California schools that replaced staff were no more likely to increase the percentages of proficient students on state tests than restructuring schools in general. Instead, officials at schools that improved student achievement attributed their success to analyzing school data and tailoring interventions to the needs of the particular school.

The Center of Education Policy's news release, as well as a copy of the full 28-page report are available online here at the CEP Web site .

March 2007