This report details an alternative to No Child Left Behind. The Authors believe that NCLB should not link high stakes testing to sanctions, and find a better way.

Two-Year Report Card on Federal Education Reform:
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND IS "FAILING OUR CHILDREN"
FALSE ASSUMPTIONS, ARBITRARY RULES HURT SCHOOL QUALITY, EQUITY
NEW ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL PROPOSED TO IMPROVE CLASSROOMS

The first two years of implementation of the controversial "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law have damaged education quality and equity because of the law's incorrect assumptions and arbitrary requirements, according to a 170-page report released today. In addition to critiquing NCLB, Failing Our Children by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing outlines a fundamentally different approach to assessment and accountability that the authors say would better promote needed school reforms.

"The current federal law is aggravating, not solving, the real problems that cause many children to be left behind," explained FairTest Executive Director, Monty Neill, the report's lead author. " NCLB must be thoroughly overhauled if the federal government is to make a useful contribution to enhancing the quality of education in U.S. schools, particularly for low-income and minority group students."

Based on evidence collected from two years of classroom experience around the nation, FairTest documented a series of basic flaws in NCLB, such as:

The law falsely assumes that boosting test scores should be the primary goal of schools, an approach that has not improved education when implemented by individual states;

Widespread school "failure" is an inevitable outcome of NCLB's one-size-fits-all design because of rigid "adequate yearly progress" provisions, which set unrealistic goals for academic gains, punish diversity, and ignore measurement error;

NCLB's school transfer policy undermines ongoing reform programs and disrupts the lives of students and teachers. Heavier sanctions required for schools that do not boost test scores have previously been shown to be counter-productive;

The requirement that limited English proficient students score "proficient" on English exams is self-contradictory, as is the provision that most children with special needs demonstrate competency in the same manner as other students;

Education is being damaged as students are coached to pass tests rather than taught a rich curriculum that will help prepare them for life in the 21st Century; and

The federal government has failed to adequately fund the law.

"NCLB is based on testing, blaming and punishing," explained Lisa Guisbond, co-author of the FairTest report. "A more helpful accountability system would focus first on building the capacity of teachers, schools and districts to ensure that all children receive a high-quality education that meets their individual needs." Core elements of the accountability systems FairTest proposes to better promote school improvement include:
Use of multiple forms of evidence of student learning, not just test scores;

Extensive professional development that enables teachers to better assess and assist their students;

Incorporation of ongoing feedback to students about their performance to improve learning outcomes;

Public reporting on school progress in academic and non-academic areas, using a variety of information sources and including improvement plans; and

The sparing use of external interventions, such as school reorganization, to give reform programs the opportunity to succeed

"Assessment systems need to make public schools accountable to parents, students and the local community rather than to distant government bureaucracies," Neill explained.

The report cited Nebraska's Student-based, Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS) as a superior model for improving schools. STARS includes state government standards for local assessments, a means to evaluate them, and a structure for ensuring that educational quality rises.

The complete text of Failing Our Children: How No Child Left Behind Undermines Quality and Equity in Education, and An Accountability Model that Supports School Improvement is posted on the web at http://www.fairtest.org. Printed copies are available for $30 postpaid from FairTest, 342 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139.