California and proposed federal regulations at odds on how to rate schools
Despite close parallels between California’s school reforms and those called for in the new federal law signed by President Barack Obama last December, California and the U.S. Department of Education appear to be on a collision course regarding the rating systems each wants to put in place to measure success or failure of the state’s schools.
Led by Gov. Jerry Brown and the State Board of Education, California is moving away from a single index, score or number to rank schools and districts.
In its place, California is trying to create a system to assess school performance based on “multiple measures” to give a more three-dimensional view of how schools and students are doing.
However, in the draft regulations published by the U.S. Department of Education in the Federal Register on May 31 to implement the new Every Students Succeeds Act, states would be required to assign a “single rating” to each of their schools, even though the law itself does not call for it.
The department explained its reasoning as follows:
California has been moving in California and proposed federal regulations at odds on how to rate schools | EdSource:
