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By Carolyn Lieberg

Earlier this year, 16 states were granted waivers to allow flexibility in meeting the No Child Left Behind law. In May, eight other states joined those whose applications had been accepted for the waiver, and in July two more states will be exempted from many of the requirements of the law. Applications are pending from 16 states and the District of Columbia.

The purpose of the waiver is to allow corrective measures to be put in place while the Department of Education and Congress review and reauthorize the law. Both political parties agree that the law has problems, but they do not agree on how to fix it. "A strong, bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains the best path forward in education reform, but as 26 states have now demonstrated, our kids can't wait any longer for Congress to act," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement released July 6 (Blankinship, 2012).

In granting the waiver, The DoE called a "time-out" on the 2014 deadline for schools. The department divided the revised goals into college- and career-ready expectations, state and district accountability and student support, and effective teaching and leadership.

Although many of the applicant states were recipients of Race to the Top grants, Duncan says the pool contains "a good mix" of those who received funds and those who did not. Additionally, some but not all of the schools have adopted the Common Core State Standards (Ujifusa, 2012).
 

According to Kelly Pollitt, NAESP Associate Executive Director of Advocacy, Policy, and Special Projects, "Congress needs to prioritize the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in a way that removes the punitive sanctions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), recognizes the essential role of elementary and middle-level principals, and supports principals' professional development.  The major education reform initiatives pushed by the Obama administration- Race to the Top and NCLB waivers, coupled with state adoption of Common Core Standards-all contain new policies that principals must now figure out how to implement. And, in absence of Congressional action to reauthorize ESEA, the NCLB waivers are only temporary. In the meantime, principals must grapple with adjusting current policies and instructional practices in their schools without the proper support for building their capacity to do so." 

For recommendations from Kelly Pollitt, go to the CEI Web site (http://www.edimprovement.org/policy/).

References 

Blankinship, D.G. (2012 July 6) Waivers free Washington, Wisconsin from 'No Child Left Behind' Education. The Seattle Times [The Associated Press]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2018624383_edwaiver07.html 

Ujifusa, A. (2012 May 29) Latest NCLB waiver list heavy
on Race to Top states. Blog: State EdWatch. Education Week  

By Carolyn Lieberg  

While NCLB has presented various challenges to states and schools, the measure of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) may be the most knotty and most frequently criticized element. States that have applied for and received the waiver provided by the Obama administration will be allowed to switch the manner of the assessment. They will move from assessing the incremental scores to instead using the group failure rates from one year to the next and meeting the goal of cutting those rates by half.

Virginia is one state that appreciates the opportunity to step back from the AYP measures. The student subgroups in the NCLB law consist of three racial categories, special needs, economically disadvantages, and English Language Learners. Superintendent of Instruction for Virginia Patricia Wright "called the federal requirements arbitrary and unrealistic" (Cutright, 2012). The two-year waiver allows time to identify schools that overall need priority treatment. 

Educators in Alabama are also breathing a sigh of relief over the waiver. The schools "will have two years to catch up while Alabama education officials try to come up with a replacement system" to measure student growth and achievement (Hurley, 2012). Among the complaints about AYP was the manner in which a score in a single category could negatively affect what would have been a passing grade for a school.  

According to the Center for Educational Policy, which analyzed the applications, 19 of the 27 states planned to use a combined subgroup for accountability rather than breaking them out. None of the applications indicate that schools will use SES or school choice as a subgroup, as the NCLB law mandated. The applications also revealed that the accountability plans will be more complex, both within and between states, but they will integrate existing accountability methods (Riddle, 2012).  

While the NCLB is being re-written, the Race to the Top initiative, which adds goals in science and writing to the reading and math in the original law, is inspiring fresh strategies for instruction and assessment. The fundamental goals of using rigorous standards and assessment, recruiting and retaining effective teachers, turning around chronically low-performing schools, and building data systems to track student achievement and teacher effectiveness are creating helpful responses from companies that create educational products. In addition to ASSISTments (see the article elsewhere in the newsletter), a wide range of methods is being offered by educational publishers.

Cutright, C (2012, July 11) Virginia receives waiver for Adequate Yearly Progress. The Roanoke Times. Roanoke, VA

Hurley, L. (2012, July 7) Alabama schools get special 2-year AYP waiver. WAFF 48 news. Huntsville, AL

Riddle, W. (2012, May 8) Major accountability themes of second-round state applications for NCLB. Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy.

Questions to Consider re: State Waivers

1. How will the waiver impact expectations for student performance in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015?

2. Will changes in the expectations lead to changes in the priorities for individual schools?

3. Has your state or district issued guidance regarding changes?

4. Will there be differences in monitoring student achievement, reports back to schools, or systems of teacher or principal rewards/consequences due to the waivers?

Staying in Touch

Principals and teacher leaders within individual schools are the lynch-pins for implementing educational reforms. While policies such as waivers will drive change and even offer chances for mid-course corrections, the dedication and hard work of leaders within school buildings is essential at all phases of implementation.  Perhaps your school is well along the path to adding more rigor and preparing for the many curriculum changes that are occuring. Perhaps your school is still uncertain about how to proceed and the next steps for improvement. In either case, we learn from our networking with others. NAESP and CEI are gearing up our supports and stand ready to help further our networks. We invite you to share your successes and questions with us and with your peers. We also urge you to stay informed, research innovations such as ASSISTments, and keep data driven instruction in the forefront to help you monitor your progress.

Sincerely,