Spellings Requires More Effort for Struggling Schools

Michigan and other states would have to ensure that schools required to restructure under the federal No Child Left Behind Act are making meaningful changes and local districts would have to be more clear to parents what tutoring and choice options are available under new regulations unveiled Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, speaking to the Detroit Economic Club, also announced the creation of a National Technical Advisory Council to meet the requirements of the law.
And she said she was continuing to work with Congress to have the law renewed.
Ms. Spellings said some 40 percent of the schools currently in the final penalty phases of the act had not actually implemented restructuring plans as the act requires. The new regulations would require not only that the plan be implemented, but that it be designed to address the issues that caused the school to not meet adequate yearly progress.
For all schools that have not made AYP for at least two years, the regulations would require that they provide parents with more information on the services available to them. Schools would have to provide more clear and timely notification that parents can choose to move their child or seek tutoring services. And the list of available tutoring programs would have to include descriptions of how the programs are monitored and how effective they are.
"Research has shown that effective tutoring programs can reduce the achievement gap by 10 to 15 percent," said Ms. Spellings. "The problem is, these options will not make a difference if parents don't know they're available. I hope these proposed regulations will assist parents in getting the extra help their children may need to succeed."
The proposed regulations would also begin outlining how schools would use student growth in their AYP calculations. Current AYP calculations compare grades over time (this year's fourth grade to last year's fourth grade), but the proposal is to measure individual students' achievement over time, as Michigan did for the first time with the Michigan Educational Assessment Program test results.
The regulations also would allow for a wider range of assessments.
Few Michigan officials had been able to fully review the regulations, but initial assessments were mixed.
"It does reinforce the idea of multiple assessments in determining AYP," said Justin King, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards. "(But) the proposals don't seem to get to the complex changes we think are needed if we going to help the kids that most need it. And of course there's not money."
"These proposed regulations don't change the basic framework of the failed No Child Left Behind law," said Doug Pratt, spokesperson for the Michigan Education Association. "It's still testing students, labeling schools and punishing both."
And Mr. Pratt said while the proposed requirement that all states use the same formula for calculating graduation rates would give a better picture of the dropout problem, it does not offer solutions.
"The current solutions aren't sufficient," he said, adding that the MEA is planning a series of hearings, yet to be announced, that are aimed at collecting possible solutions.