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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Educated Reporter: For Most States Getting NCLB Waivers, Extended Learning Time Overlooked, Report Says

The Educated Reporter: For Most States Getting NCLB Waivers, Extended Learning Time Overlooked, Report Says:


For Most States Getting NCLB Waivers, Extended Learning Time Overlooked, Report Says

Most of the 12 states granted waivers from some of the tougher provisions of No Child Left Behind have provided few details on how they plan to satisfy a key obligation of the deal: extending learning time for students at the lowest-achieving schools.

In exchange for being released from some of the law’s requirements, the 12 states had to agree to use student testing data as a factor in evaluating teacher job performance, and to focus their efforts on reforming the lowest-performing campuses. Adding more instructional time was also a requirement.

A new report from the Center for American Progress examining the states’ waiver applications found that, in most cases, there were few details about how the extended learning requirement was actually going to be met.

When it came to laying out plans for implementing extended learning time, the applications from Colorado, New