The sum of all these changes means that test scores will matter even more in the states with waivers than in the states oppressed by NCLB’s heavy-handed regulations.
The following was written by Diane Ravitch and posted on US News’ The Daily Beast:
Obama Grants Waivers to NCLB and Makes a Bad Situation Worse
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
is right about the No Child Left Behind law: It is an unmitigated disaster. Signed into law a decade ago by President George W. Bush, NCLB is widely despised for turning schools into testing factories. By mandating that every student in the nation would be “proficient” by 2014, as judged by state tests, it set a goal that no nation in the world has ever met, and that no state in this nation is close to meeting. The goal is laudable but out of reach. It’s comparable to Congress mandating that every city, town, and village in the nation
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan