Reporter's Notebook: What's Ahead after Failing No Child Left Behind

Last week’s special School Board meeting brought the expected news that nobody in attendance really wanted to hear:  the entire Racine Unified School District is out of compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Being in non-compliance means that RUSD won’t be able to control a sizeable chunk of federal money—about $700,000—that had gone to 17 schools with high populations of students in poverty. Instead, the dollars must be directed toward district-wide teacher training.

Why RUSD is in these straits, and what’s ahead in just a couple of years, deserves a bit of explanation.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) dates back to 2001 and the early days of the George W. Bush Administration. The law was intended to push public schools to ensure that all students are proficient on state standardized reading and math tests. School districts must demonstrate that they’ve made yearly progress toward that goal or risk losing federal money.

Over the past 10 years, NCLB has been both applauded and vilified by educators and non-educators. The praise stems from the federal government tying accountability to education spending. The criticism is generally centered on the law’s heavy emphasis on standardized tests (although schools are also judged on graduation or attendance and student test participation) and little direct spending on fixing poor performing schools.

Every state has annual targets that are gradually ratcheting higher toward a goal of all students testing proficient in math and reading in the 2013-14 school year.

That’s the rub for RUSD.

The targets moved for 2010-11. Previous targets of 74 percent of students testing proficient in reading and 58 percent testing proficient in math had been in place for three years. Those targets moved up to 80.5 percent of students scoring proficient in reading and to 68.5 percent scoring proficient in math.

RUSD students, who collectively lag behind the state averages, missed the state math target for a second straight year and didn’t make the reading mark for 2010-11. The two-year math scores dip means the district joined Madison and Milwaukee as “identified for improvement” and subject to a loss of federal funding.

Sadly, the outlook isn’t good. The targets are scheduled to jump again for 2011-12. Reading climbs to 87 percent proficient while math goes to 79 percent. In other words, RUSD’s test scores must climb out of a pretty deep hole just to stay even with the overall pack.

And remember, the target is 100 percent proficiency for both reading and math in a mere two years from now.

“Just wait, there are going to be a lot of districts that won’t make it. It won’t just be us,” said School Board Member Don Nielsen.

In fact, that has already happened. According to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction statistics, 228 schools and six districts missed their NCLB goals this school year compared with 145 schools and four districts in 2009-10.

In Unified’s defense, the district does have school improvement plans in place for all schools, regardless of testing track records. In addition, its own North Star Vision tracks student achievement at various points from preschool through 12th grade.

“It (NCLB) makes us talk about AYP (annual yearly progress) instead of North Star. But, it has financial implications, so we have to talk about it,” said RUSD Superintendent Dr. Jim Shaw. He also pointed out that while student writing performance has improved at some grade levels, the results of standardized reading tests have not.

As for NCLB, the law’s reauthorization by Congress is four years overdue. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agree that it needs to be revamped, including its heavy reliance on standardized tests.

In the meantime, almost nobody expects NCLB’s greater of goal of 100 percent proficiency to be met, according to a National Public Radio story. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned this week that 83 percent of U.S. schools could be labeled as failing next year based on the current NCLB rules. The Obama has called on Congress to overhaul NCLB by this fall.

As a stopgap for NCLB, Duncan’s office is pushing for states to adopt national academic standards and merit pay for teachers. There’s no word yet on  just what might happen in Wisconsin.