A Law Best Left Behind

Jason Riley:

With its focus on testing, achievement, accountability and transparency, the No Child Left Behind Act has undoubtedly altered the terms of the education debate in the U.S. But the law, which is set to expire this year, remains seriously flawed, and the Bush administration's weak enforcement of its best provisions argues against renewal.

George Miller, the 17-term liberal Democrat from California who chairs the House Education Committee, has issued a reauthorization draft proposal, and his provisions aren't entirely without merit -- he wants performance pay for teachers -- but almost. On balance, his proposals do nothing to close accountability loopholes in NCLB and in most cases would expand them.

Mr. Miller's "multiple measures" provision is a good example. NCLB uses math and reading test scores to determine whether students in a school are making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward proficiency. Mr. Miller's changes would allow schools to use less rigorous measures -- like social-studies test results, good attendance and dropout rates -- to grade AYP. We've gotten to the point where some consider merely showing up for school to be the equivalent of learning.

The soft bigotry of low expectations is also apparent in Mr. Miller's plan to allow "local assessment" of educational progress. Right now, each state is charged with implementing its own academic norms and applying them uniformly in all school districts. Everyone in Illinois takes the same exam to measure AYP. Under the proposed changes, school districts would be allowed to walk away from state standards and create their own tests. The ability to compare districts would vanish, along with another way for parents to hold schools accountable.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 29, 2007 12:01 AM
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