The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Improving No Child Left Behind

Tom LunaSuperintendent of Public Instruction

www.sde.idaho.gov

Obama Administration and Education

• Driving change through federal dollars.• Alignment between goals in all federal programs. • Want more and more education programs to be

competitive. • Offer money for States and LEAs to do things

voluntarily and then will require it for all later.

FY 2012 Federal Budget

• Feds have money, state doesn’t.• Driving policy changes like Race to the Top• President Obama’s budget maintains Title One

and Special Ed funding and consolidates many grants and makes them competitive.

• Rural states could be at a HUGE disadvantage

FY2012 Federal Budget Changes

Programs frozen:• Title I• Migrant Education • Neglected/Delinquent students• Education for Homeless• Impact Aid• Rural Education• Indian Education• 21st Century Community Learning Centers

FY 2012 Federal Budget Changes

Proposes to consolidate 38 existing programs into nine new funding streams

• All but one would be competitive grants

• Education Technology State Grant is eliminated but ED Tech infused throughout new programs

• Consolidations contingent on ESEA reauthorization

The Law Formerly Known as “No Child Left Behind”

• Now referred to as Elementary Secondary Education Act (original name from 1965)

• Served on the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) taskforce on reauthorization.

• Asked for more flexibility for greater accountability• Growth model for assessments• Continued disaggregation of data• Coordinate and single data points within the US DOE

The Administration’s Blueprint

• Released a 40-page blueprint in March• Rewards/Consequences for the top five and the

bottom five percent of schools• Adds more flexibility, but strict consequences for

bottom 5 percent. Superintendent and/or principal fired if school is in the bottom five percent.

• Competitive grants if you do what feds want

The Administration’s Blueprint

• Continued focus on enhancing teacher compensation through pay for performance.

• Unclear what Adequate Yearly Progress will look like

• Questions on how schools will be measured. However, administration makes it clear that they want multiple measures focusing on student academic growth.

• More emphasis on closing achievement gap with English language learners.

The Administration’s Blueprint

• Teacher quality: State defines “effective teacher,” but the definition must include student growth.

• Effective teachers must be distributed equitably throughout Idaho.

• Continued emphasis on “high-need districts and schools.”

What We Like about the Blueprint

• Measuring school and district progress on student growth

• Improving the rigor of teacher evaluations• Focus from highly qualified to highly effective

teachers• Emphasis on college and career ready

Congress is Struggling• Idea of the bottom five percent, because there will

always be a bottom five percent.

• How is it measured and how often?

• Do you lose resources once you are out of the bottom five percent?

• Trying to articulate goals and requirements without being prescriptive

The Reality: Congress Will Do What it Wants

Visited Congressional Committee Staff in June who are writing the bill:

• Kara Marchione, Education Policy Advisor, Chairman George Miller (D-CA)

• James Bergeron, Deputy Director Minority Staff, (R-Kline)

• Maria Worthen, Education Advisor, Chairman Harkin (D-IA)

• Lindsay Hunsicker, Senior Policy Advisor, Enzi (R-WY)

What Congressional Staff Said

• No longer using blueprint as guide• Very interested in solutions and examples for

school improvement• Struggling with putting some of the

administration’s ideas into practice.• We sent them information on Idaho’s Statewide

System of Support.

What We Told Them

• Idaho’s story: Idaho’s system of support would not qualify under the Administration’s plan. Concerned about prescribing specific solutions to low-achieving schools.

• Fine with consolidating grants, but making them competitive puts rural states at a disadvantage

• Congressional staff suggested formula to state, competitive to district

What’s Next?

• Going slow• Outcome of elections• Doubt there will be a bill this session• How does Congress’ inaction affect the march

toward 2013-2014?