In smug, self-righteous Massachusetts?
"Mass. may seek ‘No Child’ waiver; Mandate seen as needless, unrealistic" August 21, 2011|By James Vaznis, Globe Staff
Massachusetts may join a growing number of states in revolting against an unpopular provision of a federal education law that has caused thousands of schools nationwide, including more than half the schools in Massachusetts, to be designated as in need of improvement.
The schools, nearly 1,000 in Massachusetts, have repeatedly stumbled in boosting state standardized test scores fast enough to fulfill what many educators consider to be an elusive and unrealistic requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act: that all students, regardless of a learning disability, lack of motivation, or any other academic barrier, will demonstrate proficiency - a solid command of grade-level material - on state exams by 2014.
It is a particularly high bar for Massachusetts, whose statewide standards for student attainment are among the toughest in the country. And the consequences of falling short are serious - including the possibility of the state taking over underperforming schools.
Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said in an interview last week that Massachusetts is giving serious consideration to filing for a waiver from the 100 percent proficiency rule, under a new program announced this month by the Obama administration.
“For me, the reason filing a waiver makes sense for Massachusetts is that [the rule] no longer does a good job of differentiating our strongest performers from our weakest performers,’’ Chester said. “We have many schools in the Commonwealth at this point that are failing the federal requirements but are not failing schools.’’
But in a state with a reputation for having some of the highest academic standards in the country, the possibility of abandoning the 100 percent proficiency rule is drawing sharp criticism from some education advocates.
A waiver could thwart state efforts to galvanize more school districts to develop innovative approaches to accelerate student achievement, said Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council and a former state board education chairman.
“The state with the best-performing students in the country shouldn’t need a waiver from a high expectation regulation,’’ Anderson said. “I don’t think Massachusetts should apply for a waiver to reduce expectations on what we expect kids to achieve.’’
The waivers have sparked heated debate in Washington, with many members of Congress arguing that the Obama administration has no legal right to waive the requirement. Administration officials contend that they do, as they deride the George W. Bush-era law for exaggerating the number of potentially failing schools and thereby preventing school districts from devoting their limited resources to the schools actually in greatest need.
A waiver for Massachusetts could lift a burden from hundreds of elementary, middle, and high schools in urban and suburban districts, as well as dozens of charter schools, that have been designated for improvement under the law.
Chester, who has expressed misgivings about the 100 percent rule over the past three years, said he will decide definitively on filing a waiver after the Obama administration releases the program’s criteria, which is expected to happen next month.
The 100 percent rule has been immensely unpopular since its debut nine years ago. Massachusetts educators have long charged that the rule has led to a regrettable public shaming of schools - including many that fare well according to other measures, such as national standardized tests or graduation rates - and has fostered a culture of “teaching to the test’’ as some schools labor to avoid public ridicule or state sanctions....
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Related: Connecticut mulls seeking waiver to ‘No Child’ law
States to get waivers on school testing
Montana receives testing waiver
Here's a question for you kids: What good are standards if they are not enforced?
