Guest: Waiver loss shines light on absurdity of No Child Left Behind
Dan Magill
I am not bothered about losing our state’s No Child Left Behind waiver. In fact, this may be one of the best things to happen to education in Washington since standardized testing wrapped its shackles around us last decade.
Losing this waiver is good because it finally exposes No Child Left Behind for the utter foolishness that it is.
Here’s the letter I would send to parents if I worked in the state superintendent’s office:
Dear Mr. And Mrs. Colbert:
We must inform you that your child currently attends a school that has been labeled “failing” or “needs improvement” according to the No Child Left Behind Act.
According to the law, you now have the option of switching your child into a school that is not failing. Unfortunately, because 99 percent of schools in the state have received this label, you’ll have to move out of state to find one.
Otherwise, the instant you enroll your child at a new school, we will send another letter, identical to this one (costing us additional postage and printing), informing you that your situation has not changed.
Therefore, we ask you to consider keeping your child enrolled at his/her present school. In the event of any changes to the law, your school’s status may also change at any moment. By next week, it may turn out to be one of the best in the state.
But right now, under current definitions, it is an utter disaster.
Regards,
OSPI
Any system that can result in a 99-percent failure rate reveals only its own failure to properly evaluate and predict what is possible.
Under No Child Left Behind, with its 32 demographic groups that all have to show constant year-over-year growth, if even one group fails, the entire school goes down in flames.
That’s why we see some of the top schools in the area, such as Lincoln High School in Seattle, receiving the “failure” label. If one tiny sub-group, say special-education white students, doesn’t show adequate progress, the entire school is a failure. The 1 percent can bring down the 99 Guest: Waiver loss shines light on absurdity of No Child Left Behind | Education Lab Blog | Seattle Times: