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To Have AYP or Not Have AYP. That is the Question

February 4th, 2010 by Deborah Cahill
Categories: Calabasas, Calabasas Hills, Calabasas Park Estates, Classic Calabasas, The Oaks Of Calabasas
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By: Deborah Cahill

Yet another follow up on NCLB, this time addressing AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) requirements for all schools. I think there needs to be some middle ground between was has been expected and what the new expectations are to be. Without doubt the perimeters the Bush Administration set up for “No Child Left Behind” has not worked and has only served to punish schools who have not made “the grade” but have clearly shown progress, which in many cases has been quite substantial. Totally eliminating the program, or suspending it indefinitely, may not be the answer either.

I think perhaps the Obama administration needs to get a wider range of educators, including teachers in “the trenches,” involved nationwide to give their input and expertise based on in the field working knowledge of the situation at hand. I believe more control needs to be given locally to states and districts because they are in a much better position to access progress and set relevant and realistic goals. California is one state that does have the CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam) which is a state exam that all students must pass in order to graduate. Clearly more states needs to institute a similar program.

I am not saying that this will “fix” everything, nor I am saying that there is one solution to this problem. Undeniably if the United States is going to remain a world force we need to step up the pace in education to make our youth viable contenders as the world leaders of tomorrow. I am glad to see, at least, according to the article below, that this issue is starting to be more aggressively addressed.

Law & Policy

Obama Administration Seeking To Eliminate “Adequate Yearly Progress” Benchmark.

The Washington Post (2/2, Anderson, 684K) reports, “As legions of schools nationwide fall short of academic targets, the Obama administration proposed Monday to toss out” the NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress “pass-fail measure that for 15 years has been the bedrock of the school accountability system and replace it with an index that would reward educators who prepare students for college and careers.” Duncan “credited” NCLB “for exposing achievement gaps but said it has focused too much on reading and math and unfairly labeled many schools.”

Globe Calls Backing Away From AYP Mandates A “Mistake.” The Boston Globe (2/3) editorializes that the Obama administration “is retreating from a deadline to bring every child in 98,000 public schools to academic proficiency by 2014. What was seen as an attainable goal in the Bush years is now a ‘utopian goal,’ according to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.” Yet, according to the Globe, “backing away from the goal that all students achieve proficiency on their state exams is a mistake in a field where nothing short of high-stakes testing grabs the attention of students, parents, teachers, and school administrators.”