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THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW - March 3, 2011
Education Reforms Unveiled by Duncan, Democratic Senators
by: Barbara Barrett
McClatchy Newspapers
Washington - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and a
group of Democratic senators this morning embraced a slate
of education reforms that move away from rigid testing and
toward flexibility for local school districts.
The recommendations come as Congress prepares to reconsider
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as ESEA,
which offers a slate of regulations and funding for K-12
education.
Part of the push is to re-vamp No Child Left Behind, the
landmark Bush-era legislation that focused on closing the
achievement gap for minority children, but also has been
lambasted by parents and educators as too narrowly focused
on testing.
"I've heard for years from principals and teachers that
this does not work," said U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a North
Carolina Democrat who, along with U.S. Sen. Michael
Bennet of Colorado, helped lead the effort to develop the
principles. "The stale arguments of yesterday are impeding
change, and the same-old, same-old is too late."
Hagan said new legislation must encourage all progress ?
recognizing, for example, when a teacher helps a 5th
grader, for example, move up from a 3rd-grade reading
level to a 4th-grade reading level.
Now, testing focuses primarily on whether children are at
or below grade level.
"You've got to have a high standard, and there has to be
accountability and measures in place," Hagan said in an
interview. "We've got to take standardized tests but also
recognize gains. We've got to recognize that not every
child learns the same way."
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Duncan and the senators unveiled their proposal this
morning at a press conference at an elementary school in
Washington, D.C. Among the senators' and administration's
goals in education reform:
- Designing a testing structure that recognizes gains and
is tailored to individual schools' specific situations ?
what the senators called "a more nuanced approach."
- Focusing dollars and attention on turning around
especially troubled schools in the bottom five percent
of each state. According to the senators, 13 percent of
high schools produce 51 percent of the nation's dropouts.
- Holding teacher preparation programs accountable in how
well they train teachers. Nearly 50 percent of new teachers
drop out of the profession within their first five years
of teaching.
- Encouraging more innovation through programs such as
President Barack Obama's Race to the Top grant program.
Last year, several states competed for millions of dollars
in grant money. The rewards were based largely on how
well states encouraged flexibility and innovation,
including the encouragement of charter schools.
- Closing a loophole in requirements for a school to
receive Title I funding, which is supposed to be steered
toward schools with high percentages of low-income
students. The senators want a school-by-school account-
ability system, rather than just at the district level.
Today's push comes as Obama prepares to travel to Florida
and then Massachusetts to talk about education. Along
with Hagan, several senators have spent more than six
months shaping the principles they want to see in K-12
education reform.
They include U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Thomas
Carper, Mark Warner, Mark Begich, Joe Manchin, Chris
Coons and Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman is an Independent;
the other senators are Democrats.
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