California seeks waiver of certain NCLB provisions
Published: May 31, 2012
California is seeking an innovative “state-defined” waiver from provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act following the State Board of Education’s unanimous vote last month.
“It’s time to leave behind No Child Left Behind,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a written statement following the State Board’s unanimous vote. Torlakson had led the drive for an alternative to the more limited waiver that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered to all states last year. So far, 38 states have applied for Duncan’s federal waiver and 11 have qualified for it, but some have already had difficulty complying with the requirement, which Torlakson has estimated could have cost California as much as $3 billion to meet.
Torlakson’s statement highlighted longstanding concerns about the federal measure of “adequate yearly progress” under NCLB.
California’s Academic Performance Index, in contrast, measures growth in academic performance over time, which is considered a more reliable indicator.
CSBA Senior Policy Director Teri Burns explains the state-defined waiver proposal’s significance for local school districts in a “This Just In” video on CSBA’s YouTube channel.
“The waiver will make it easier for school districts to get out from under the failing schools label, and will help simplify the process for spending money” under NCLB, Burns says in the video.
“As part of that action, the board will be looking to streamline the API and submit a single, transparent accountability system for California that focuses our resources on the schools at the lowest end… of performance and helps those kids who are struggling the most. It will be adding some additional measures to the API and further improving that system.”
‘Next Generation Science Standards’
The State Board also heard an update on “Next Generation Science Standards,” now under development in a nationwide, state-led process. In California, Senate Bill 300 requires the state superintendent of public instruction to recommend new K-12 science content standards to the State Board by next April, with action required before August 2013. The goal is 21st century standards “that will be rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education,” according to a California Department of Education Web page on the project.
Easy links: