A new method for tracking student achievement may be much more fair. What is it and which states are participating?

Working out the Glitches

While no one is opposed to school improvement or students doing better in school, the No Child Left Behind mandate has had mixed reviews. One of the many complaints is that it compares apples to oranges.

Each year a school is expected to post progress of students in 4th, 8th and 11th grades. The problem with this is that each year the statistics are based on different students. Last year’s 8th grade could be a very strong group of students. The following year had hard-working students but not as strong academically. When the scores were posted, it was perceived that the scores were declining. When in reality, the scores were improving for that particular group of students. Public perception was that the school was not doing a good job teaching.

Different Starting Points

Schools in wealthy suburbs hold higher scores from the beginning. The thinking in the home is that education is important and students are given advantages that support learning. Chances are good that parents have graduated from college and the expectation is that the children will also attend and graduate from college. The mindset of the family is positive toward the school as a gateway to success.

Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D., the leading US expert on the mindsets of poverty, middle class, and wealth, states, "People in poverty face challenges virtually unknown to those in middle class or wealth—challenges from both obvious and hidden sources. The reality of being poor brings out a survival mentality, and turns attention away from opportunities taken for granted by everyone else." [Ruby K. Payne, A Framework For Understanding Poverty, 1996]

Pilot Model

Federal officials allowed up to ten states to participate in a pilot program. Seven states have joined the new program that compares apples to apples:

• Arkansas
• Delaware
• Florida
• Iowa
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Tennessee

These states will be tracking the growth of individual students and monitor progress of each student instead of unrelated "groups" of students. [Winnie Hu, The New York Times, nytimes.com, July 6, 2007]

A school in poverty would focus on the growth of each child and be less concerned about the proficiency levels of entire classes. Schools that have low proficiency scores would now focus on each student—each year.

Less Comfort for the Wealthy Schools

Schools in the upper spectrum of scores in upper middle class neighborhoods will also be responsible for raising student scores. In the past, these schools have had less of a burden because the majority of students in their schools were already doing well. Under this new pilot model, even students with scores on the high end are expected to show individual progress. While this may appear to be a simple task, it is not. When there is much room for improvement, interventions may show great results. However, when you are already high, the challenge to improve is very difficult.

The Top and Middle Ignored

Schools often focused on the scores of the lowest students to avoid high percentages of non-proficient students. The TAG students were often ignored because their scores were not at-risk and many TAG programs were eliminated to move funding toward the students that were struggling. The students in the middle have also been ignored. The focus has been on the bottom. This pilot program will change that. It has been a long-standing argument of parents of students in the middle that their children are invisible in the classroom.

Now, each student will be tracked and each student will be expected to make significant progress. This will involve more record-keeping to provide evidence of progress. But, as the saying goes, "In God We Trust—but everyone else must provide data."

Under the Microscope

While these states are being allowed to gather additional data to measure success, the federal education officials will be watching closely. Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education said, "A growth model is a way for states that are already raising achievement and following the bright-line principles of the law to strengthen accountability. We are open to new ideas, but when it comes to accountability, we are not taking our eye off the ball."

Related articles: Summer Vacation Is Harmful, College Remedial Math Increasing

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.