Will new NCLB law be less test-obsessed?

10-19-2011

Guest blog by Monty Neill/Washington Post

It looks like pressure from multiple directions has achieved one victory in the larger battle to prevent a new version of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) from being as test-obsessed as the current law. This victory increases the odd of a new law being a realistic and useful tool for school improvement. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced a draft revision of NCLB, the “Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011.” One of the bill’s worst ideas was to mandate teacher and principal evaluations. These would require student test scores in every subject and grade. Leading education groups called on the HELP Committee to remove that and some additional damaging ideas. Earlier, the Forum on Educational Accountability, made up of dozens of education, civil rights, disability, religious and other organizations, called for making evaluations optional. (more...)

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