Midstate educators applauded last week’s announcement that Georgia has been relieved from the requirements of a federal education mandate.
Georgia, along with nine other states, received a waiver Thursday from No Child Left Behind, a system that Houston County Superintendent Robins Hines called an “unfair, unattainable measure.”
“I view it as a positive move for the state of Georgia,” Hines said of the news. “When it’s all said and done, I think (the new state assessment standards) will be a more equitable measure to go by.”
No Child Left Behind, signed into law in 2002 by former President George W. Bush, requires that all students perform at grade level in reading and math by 2014.
Under the law, schools are measured under adequate yearly progress, or AYP, which uses standardized assessments of achievement in reading/language arts and math, graduation rates and attendance rates. The standards rise each year to reach 100 percent by 2014.
The goal of 100 percent making the grade is an admirable and important one, Hines said, but schools being negatively impacted for not reaching such an unrealistic goal is problematic.
No Child Left Behind assesses schools by total student population, as well as focusing on underserved or at-risk subgroups, such as children with disabilities and minorities.
If a school fails to make AYP two years in a row, parents are given school choice -- the option to send their child to another school -- which Hines said makes it more difficult for the failing school to meet standards the next year. Educators are still waiting to see how districts will be allowed to handle schools with mandated school choice, such as Northside High School, now that the law has been lifted, he said.
Educators still held accountable
Under the new system, Georgia will measure student growth using a College and Career Readiness Performance Index, to be implemented in 2012-13. The details of this plan and how measurements will be calculated are still in the works.
Bibb County Superintendent Romain Dallemand, praised the decision to grant Georgia a waiver, but said it does not let educators off the hook.
“It doesn’t exempt us from accountability,” he said Thursday. “We still have to produce results.”
Of the 40 Bibb County schools, 24 made AYP last year.
Bruce Giroux, director of research and assessment for Bibb County schools, said the College and Career Readiness Performance Index is key and will mesh well with the district’s proposed restructuring plans as it relates to professional learning standards, which will allow educators to better prepare students.
“We want every student to have all these options when they finish high school,” he said. “Finishing high school is not the end. It is the beginning of a lot, so it’s really to allow (students) to be able to make the choices they want to make in careers, and make all of us work much harder and deeper with our students.”
Anthony Pack, Monroe County schools superintendent, whose district made AYP with all six schools meeting standards last year, also trumpeted the possibilities under a new system, noting the year-to-year achievement of schools can now be looked at rather than assessing whether students have reached a certain benchmark by a certain time.
Despite the success of Monroe County schools, Pack emphasized that most school systems don’t make AYP.
Educators are waiting to see the impact of the new system but expect positive results.
“One good thing about it is all core subjects are going to be counted,” Giroux said. No Child Left Behind “concentrated only on small areas. Granted they were critical areas in reading and language arts, but this goes beyond that, looking at other areas, not only state tests, but national tests and other factors.”
Hines agreed, saying the state assessment plan will paint a fuller picture of an entire school.
A new measuring stick
Last year, in Houston County, four out of 37 schools in the district did not meet standards under No Child Left Behind.
Under new guidelines, Hines said, Houston County schools will perform well, but he notes the entire No Child Left Behind system was not flawed.
“There were a lot of positives in No Child Left Behind, and what it did was have us focus on subgroups of people, and to take every child’s level of achievement seriously,” Hines said.
Those subgroups won’t be left by the wayside with the implementation of Georgia’s state assessment plan, he said.
“The most important thing is that we focus on the individual child,” Hines said. “As long as we do that, the rest will take care of itself, but we still have to work on closing the achievement gap.”
Georgia’s plan involves identifying so-called Alert Schools, which will focus on subgroup achievement. Schools also can be deemed reward, priority or focus schools.
Reward schools will be those with the highest performance on standardized tests in reading and math, or those making the most progress. This will replace the current Distinguished Schools designation.
The two other categories -- priority and focus schools -- will replace the current Needs Improvement designation.
Despite changes to assessment, Hines said much of the district’s teaching practices will continue as they have in the past.
“We haven’t thought about No Child Left Behind or AYP,” he said. “We just try to provide the best opportunities for our students, have the best trained teachers and principals, and give them the tools and training to teach the mandated curriculum. We know if we can do a great job with that, our kids will be OK.”
Telegraph writer Liz Bibb contributed to this report. To contact writer Caryn Grant, call 256-9751.
