State education officials have spent the last several months working to enact the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Under the law, nearly 20% of New Hampshire's 521 schools could be identified as failing to meet state standards. But officials say they've succeeded in softening the law's initial impact. And they're working to ensure that in the long term, No Child Left Behind will help schools. NHPR'S Trish Anderton reports.
STATE EDUCATION OFFICIALS HAVE SPENT THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS WORKING TO enact THE FEDERAL NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT.
UNDER THE LAW, nearly 20% OF NEW HAMPSHIRE'S 521 SCHOOLS COULD BE IDENTIFIED AS FAILING TO MEET STATE STANDARDS.
BUT OFFICIALS SAY THEY'VE SUCCEEDED IN SOFTENING THE LAW'S INITIAL IMPACT.
AND THEY'RE WORKING TO ENSURE THAT IN THE LONG TERM, NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND WILL HELP SCHOOLS.
NHPR'S TRISH ANDERTON REPORTS
STATE OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO CLARIFY THE COMPLICATED NEW LAW.
THEY SAY THEY'VE MANAGED TO CLEAR UP SOME ANXIETIES ALONG THE WAY.
FOR EXAMPLE, some local officials worry their school might be labeled as failing if it comes up short in math one year and English the next.
But NEW HAMPSHIRE’s ACCOUNTABILITY ADMINISTRATOR LORRAINE PATUSKY says it’s clear now the LAW WILL TARGET PERSISTENT PROBLEMS.
PATUSKY SAYS THAT KNOWLEDGE SHOULD ALLOW SCHOOLS TO BREATHE more easily.
35 115 I believe theres always a sense of urgency when the picture isn't clear. Bc this is something new and all states are struggling with it, as more questions are raised and cleared up, we get more clarity.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND RELIES HEAVILY ON STANDARDIZED TESTS TO DETERMINE HOW WELL SCHOOLS ARE DOING.
And PATUSKY SAYS THE DEPARTMENT HAS NEW WAYS OF ANALYZING THOSE TEST SCORES TO HELP SCHOOLS IDENTIFY and address SPECIFIC PROBLEMS.
That's a big difference, to be able to say, I don't have to fix whole school, but in math, I have a grp of students performing below proficiency, and in that group if I look at the data we have three or four students. That's manageable.
STATE EDUCATION OFFICIALS ARE ALSO PUSHING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR MORE FLEXIBILITY IN APPLYING THE LAW.
RIGHT NOW ALL SCHOOLS falling BEHIND COULD be SUBJECT TO THE SAME SANCTIONS, WHETHER THEY COME UP SHORT IN ONE subject or ten.
STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER NICHOLAS DONAHUE SAYS HE'S TALKING WITH FEDERAL ADMINISTRATORS on this issue.
He’s wants to be able to DRAW DISTINCTIONS BASED ON THE LEVEL OF PROBLEMS A SCHOOL IS FACING.
The real proof will be how quote unquote understanding and flexible they are when we say, you know, there's a difference between these schools and it doesn't seem to make sense for them to get the same consequence.
Meanwhile, THE DEPARTMENT HAS ALREADY BEGUN HELPING SOME SCHOOLS THAT ARE IN DANGER OF COMING UP SHORT.
Marker scribbling AMB
LAST WEEK officials from at-risk schools met in Conway (?).
AMONG THE TEN DISTRICTS WAS HILLSBORO-DEERING.
FACILITATOR MERRYN RUTLEDGE HELPED Hillsboro STAFFERS DRAW UP A CHART LISTING STEPS TOWARD IMPROVEMENT.
002 01 (scribble) . Who needs to be involved . what's the timeline .
HILLSBORO DEERING'S ELEMENTARY SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IS IN DANGER OF LAGGING BEHIND ON THE STATE TESTS.
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER STEVE WATERS SAYS TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS HAS INDEED HELPED THE DISTRICT FIGURE OUT HOW TO IMPROVE.
006 00 we look at data, it's very big, it's a buzzord now, we learn how to analyze data so we can help students better, rather than just work harder.
HILLSBORO-DEERING IS NO STRANGER TO SCHOOL REFORM.
IT WORKED INTENSIVELY WITH THEN-GOVERNOR JEANNE SHAHEEN'S PROGRAM, THE BEST SCHOOLS INITIATIVE.
IT HAS ALSO COMPLETELY REVISED ITS READING PROGRAM IN RECENT YEARS.
HILLSBORO-DEERING TEACHERS COULD PERHAPS BE FORGIVEN FOR FEELING LIKE VICTIMS OF THE LATEST EDUCATION TREND.
BUT READING SPECIALIST NANCY EMERSON SAYS THE VARIOUS REFORM EFFORTS ARE ONLY STRENGTHENING EACH OTHER.
009 59 all the changes are changes for the best, they're all going in the right direx. // we've been working toward those goals and all these institutes are just helping us do that.
STILL, NOT EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN EDUCATION HAS WARMED UP TO NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.
AMONG THE LAW'S HARSHEST CRITICS IS MARK JOYCE OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION.
HE DISAGREES WITH THE STATE'S APPROACH TO TESTING.
AND HE WORRIES THAT EVEN IF SCHOOLS GET NUANCED INFORMATION FROM THE TESTS, PARENTS AND POLITICIANS WILL CARE only ABOUT THE SCORES.
39 101 what we're really fearful of is that we have a flawed test that will be used to rank order schools, causing communities to make the wrong judgments.
CRITICS AND SUPPORTERS ALIKE SAY IT'S STILL JUST TOO EARLY TO TELL HOW NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND WILL PLAY OUT.
BUT TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS WILL LEARN MORE IN OCTOBER.
That’s WHEN THE NEXT ROUND OF progress reports is due.
FOR NHPR NEWS I'M
