Five years after the landmark No Child Left Behind education reform was enacted, Illinois students have made minimal progress on national achievement exams, while many of the state’s minority and low-income students are still enrolled in the worst schools with the least qualified teachers, national and state data show.
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Despite pumping more than $4 billion in No Child Left Behind funds into Illinois, most of the law’s intended improvements have either fallen flat or have not been enacted fully.
Fewer than 1 percent of Illinois students trapped in low-performing schools have transferred to better ones, mainly because there are not enough good alternatives nearby. Only one-third of children eligible for free tutoring receive the help, in part because districts have been lax about notifying parents.
Low-income and minority students are more likely to have unqualified teachers than their white and middle-class counterparts, and the dramatic overhaul of the worst schools has not materialized because of watered down policies.
The story is much the same across the country.
When the law was enacted in 2002, 31 percent of 4th graders in the U.S. were proficient in reading, according to national test data. Last year, that number had not budged. In 2002, 17 percent of low-income 8th graders were proficient in reading, compared with 15 percent last year.
Nationally, only 1 percent of students eligible to transfer to better schools have done so, and only 18 percent have received free tutoring.
The law is only five years into its 12-year quest to boost the most disadvantaged students up to grade-level performance. Shifting standards make it difficult to compare test scores state-to-state or even year-to-year.
Where comparison is possible, concrete signs of progress are modest at best.
Nationwide, the percentage of 4th graders who passed a national math exam jumped from 32 percent in 2003 to 36 percent last year, and the gap in the pass rates of Hispanic and white 8th graders shrunk from 25.6 points to 24.5 points.
Law brought reform to fore
But even critics of the law acknowledge it has had its benefits, if for no other reason than it focused the nation’s attention on education reform, especially for disadvantaged children.
Federal education officials argue that the law has laid a vital foundation. Every state now has a testing system. Districts must pay attention to the performance of minority and low-income students, and schools must let parents know if their children are being taught by unqualified teachers.
“The law is working, and we see that evidenced in the narrowing of some of the achievement gaps and the enhanced test scores of our minority students,” said Katherine McLane, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education. “One of the greatest achievements of No Child Left Behind is that it put a spotlight on the students who have been underserved. Now that we know where the needs are, we have to work faster and harder to better serve those students.”
The most far-reaching federal education reform in decades, No Child Left Behind has pumped $108 billion into the nation’s public schools.
Under its lofty goals, schools must make sure all children–whether they are poor, disabled or non-English speaking–read and do math at grade level by 2014. The law is aimed at closing the achievement gap between poor and minority children and their white and middle-income counterparts.
States must test students in reading and math from grades 3 to 8 and once in high school. The passing rate schools must meet increases every year, until 100 percent of children pass in 2014.
Low-income schools that fail to make enough progress face escalating penalties, from student transfers to a full overhaul.
The law, a key domestic policy for President Bush, also requires a highly qualified teacher in every classroom and provides billions to boost reading.
Where the legislation has been most effective, experts say, is in revealing the shortcomings of the educational system.
“The law has been good at identifying the problems in public education, but not solving the problems,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, a Washington research and advocacy group. “We now know which students need help, but the law has not been very good at providing the technical assistance or the financial aid that is necessary to bring about change.
“It’s been a great diagnostic tool, rather than one that brings about solid change.”
As No Child Left Behind comes up for reauthorization this year, a broad coalition of educators, lawmakers and conservative and liberal activists want Congress to shift the focus to finding solutions rather than punishing schools that fail.
Last week, 100 education, civil rights and religious groups–including the NAACP, the National School Boards Association and the National Council of Churches–called for new attention to fixing troubled schools.
Critics point to several reasons they think the law has not produced dramatic results, including lack of funding, too little attention to improvement strategies, lax federal enforcement and state and local districts’ efforts to wiggle out of sanctions.
Tweaking state testing system
Since the law was enacted, Illinois officials have made major adjustments to their testing system. They tinkered with the way student test data are counted, allowing schools to disregard the scores of some of the lowest-performing children. They allowed more English-as-a-second-language students to take an easier exam and lowered the passing score on the 8th grade math exam, making it easier to pass.
As a result, more schools escaped the failing list. In 2003, 1,235 Illinois schools did not meet the federal goals. In 2005, the last year data are available, 992 schools failed, though the bar was raised significantly.
Student pass rates have increased, but it’s virtually impossible to determine whether the gains reflect student improvement or testing changes.
Most states made similar changes, all of which were approved by federal officials.
To keep states honest, the law also requires participation in the National Assessment of Education Progress, given to students in 4th and 8th grades and commonly referred to as the nation’s report card.
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Those results show that students in Illinois and across the nation have posted minimal gains and that the achievement gap has hardly budged. Reading scores have been especially troubling, given all the additional money provided through the much-maligned federal Reading First Program.
Illinois education officials acknowledge that the academic improvement has not been what they had hoped for.
“I think it’s important to point out that we have made some progress on state tests,” said Ginger Reynolds, an assistant superintendent of education at the state board. “Is it enough? No. It is never enough until we’ve been able to get rid of the achievement gap.”
As the law comes up for renewal, many expect Congress to relax mandates on testing special education and non-English speaking students; allow schools to receive credit for progress, even if they fall short of the annual goal; and allow schools to offer students free tutoring before offering a transfer to a better school.
Quality teachers still key
But teacher quality and school reform are getting the most attention from critics, politicians and policymakers.
Research shows that the quality of the educator in front of the classroom is one of the biggest determinants of student success. Poor and minority children benefit the most from a good teacher but are more likely to get the least qualified ones.
Yet, at least a dozen states, including Illinois, have relaxed teacher licensing requirements in recent years.
States also have been slow to address a mandate in the law that required a qualified teacher in every classroom by the end of last school year. States were so delinquent, in fact, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings extended the timeline until the end of this school year.
Earlier this year, Spellings warned Illinois officials that if they did not create a better plan to get highly qualified teachers into poor schools, they could risk losing funding.
Reynolds, with the state board, said last week that a new plan has been submitted, but she said she did not know enough details to discuss it.
As states exhaust means of tinkering with test data, more schools likely will land on the failing list. Yet, there has been little focus on helping turn these schools around.
In Illinois for example, state officials spent about $20 million of the $845 million in federal funds the state gets under No Child Left Behind on their key program to assist struggling schools, Reynolds said. Through that program, the state sends a representative into districts to help align curriculum to state standards and assist with staff development.
Districts have sidestepped the dramatic school transformation foreseen in the law.
Nationwide, about 1,750 schools are in the final stages of sanctions, meaning they should undergo a dramatic overhaul. In most cases, however, districts have used an escape clause to institute weaker reforms, such as adding reading teachers or increasing teacher development.
In Chicago, for example, 184 schools are in the final stage, but only one, Sherman Elementary School in the Back of the Yards community, has seen a radical change.
The school, one of the lowest performing in the city, was turned over to a private management company. This year, it opened with a new principal, a handpicked and highly qualified teaching staff, a ramped-up discipline policy and a new curriculum. Only the students remained the same.
It’s too early to tell whether the changes will translate into increased learning and higher test scores, but three months into the experiment, parents and students are ecstatic.
“I see the changes, and I am so happy that someone is finally taking an interest in my baby, in this school,” said Tina Harris, who has an 8th-grader at Sherman. “These teachers are harder on these kids, but I know they care. Every child should get a school as good this one.”