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AEP Online |
Blaschke on Federal Funding“Improvement” Amendments to NCLB Would Have a Major Impact on Supplemental Education Services, AYP, and Related MandatesAnticipating a groundswell of support immediately after the election to ““fix” certain aspects of NCLB, Senator Edward Kennedy and other leading Democratic Senators, including Hillary Clinton, have proposed the “No Child Left Behind Improvement Act of 2004.” Proposed changes in supplemental education services (SES) and other sanctions regarding adequate yearly progress (AYP) could have an impact not only on districts, but also on groups that provide SES and/or related products. Additional changes have been proposed by conservative groups such as the Fordham Foundation and American Enterprise Institute. The proposed legislation, S. 2794, would make a number of changes that would have direct implications for SES providers:
Requiring all SES providers’ teachers to meet the “highly-qualified” requirements of NCLB would “level the playing field” between district-provided SES and independent third-party-provided SES. This could reduce the number of third-party SES providers significantly, as currently their teachers do not have to be “highly-qualified.” The proposed amendment is silent, however, by not requiring that SES providers use approaches that meet the “scientifically-based research” requirements that school districts are supposed to meet. The amendment would also give a competitive edge to SES providers who offer services that ensure adequate progress for LEP students and students with disabilities. Another provision explicitly states “Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a local education agency from being considered by a state education agency as a potential provider of supplemental education services under this subsection if such local education agency meets the criteria adopted by state education agency….” On one hand, this amendment would likely increase the number of districts that would provide SES services to schools identified for improvement. On the other hand, as the number of districts identified for improvement increases under the current Law, these districts could not provide SES services. The amendment is silent on this issue. Administration advisors Checkers Finn of the Fordham Foundation and Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute have formally proposed that supplemental education services be offered when a school is first identified for improvement, in addition to the parent choice transportation option or in lieu of it. This was based on the fact that more parents have chosen SES tutoring as opposed to transferring their child at the district’s expense to another school. The Senate proposal would provide additional grants for construction and renovation to expand capacity in high-performing schools (which is one alleged reason why the transportation choice was not offered by many districts). The proposed Senate Amendment would also make retroactive some of the recent changes in regulations promulgated by USED related to the assessment of limited English proficient (LEP) students (i.e. continuing to count them as part of the subgroup after they obtain English proficiency), and other changes related to alternative assessments for special education students. A review process would be provided to allow a district to recalculate the number of subgroup student assessment scores for 2002-03. This would likely have the effect of reducing the number of schools identified for improvement, while at the same time likely increasing the number of districts identified for improvement. The Senate Amendment also proposes to establish competitive grant programs for states that are increasing data capacity for assessment and accountability. Twenty percent of a grant could be used to collect and report information on student achievement and graduation rates, with the remainder allocated to LEAs, which have “the ability to put a longitudinal data system in place.” Allowable uses would include purchasing database software, hardware, and training staff in how to use data effectively to implement instructional strategies. $100,000,000 is authorized for FY 2005. Another program would provide competitive grants to states or consortia of SEAs to design and improve state academic assessments for LEP students and students with disabilities. Newly designed alternative assessments would be developed and pilot tested, along with the use of a variety of appropriate accommodations. Grants would also be used to develop “universally-designed” assessments that are accessible to all students and to develop computer-based applications of “universal design principles.” While the House and Senate versions of the IDEA reauthorization address universal design principles applied to instruction for students with disabilities, this amendment is one of the first to call for assessments that follow “universal design principles.” And last, the “Amendment” has proposed to ensure uniform collection and reporting by states on data related to student enrollment in grades 7-12 and defines how graduation rates are determined for each school year. Most NCLB observers believe that amendments in S. 2794 are likely to become the starting point in Congressional action during the lame duck session to fix certain aspects of current NCLB provisions and regulations which have resulted in clearly unintended consequences. Passage of some of the above provisions would obviously favor supplemental publishers that have effective programs for special education and LEP students. Also, publishers who offer multimedia products that are developed around universal design principles would be much more competitive than those who do not.
Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Dave Gladney at 856-241-7772 or dgladney@AEPweb.org. |
Log on to the Thomas website and search "S. 2794" for more information. |
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