U.S. poised to relax testing mandates, if schools are making progress

U.S. poised to relax testing mandates, if schools are making progress
9:52 PM, Aug. 8, 2011

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system to give schools a break from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The plan to offer waivers to all 50 states, as long as they meet other school reform requirements, comes at the request of President Barack Obama, Duncan said. Program details will come in September, he said.


Critics say the benchmarks are unrealistic and brand schools as failures even if they make progress. Schools and districts where too few kids pass the tests for several years are subject to sanctions that can include firing teachers or closing the school.


State and local education officials nationwide have been begging the federal government for relief from the mandates.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/...ates-schools-making-progress?odyssey=nav|head

Obama To Offer States A Break From 'No Child Left Behind'

August 08, 2011 5:25 PM

With efforts to overhaul “No Child Left Behind” stalled in Congress, the White House today announced it will offer states waivers from the federal education law, so long as they show progress in making education reforms.

“What we want to do is put forward a very simple trade-off,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters at today’s White House press briefing. “Where there's a high bar, where folks are really doing the right thing for children, we want to give them a lot more flexibility; frankly, get out of their way and let them hit that higher bar.”

The current law -- approved by Congress with overwhelming support in 2001 and signed by President George W. Bush in 2002 -- requires students to be measured through standardized tests. States currently set their own standards for academic success and may risk federal funding if they fail to show adequate yearly progress in achieving their goals. Critics, including the Obama administration, claim the current system encourages states to lower, or “dummy down,” standards so they can report better progress.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalp...states-a-break-from-no-child-left-behind.html

Oh yeah...gotta keep dumbing down Americans...

Kill and bury NCLB!!!! The sooner the better. "Teaching to the test" has got to go. Why must we just always take baby steps??? SCRAP the damn thing and let's MOVE ON!!!!

The no child left behind, has left every child behind, and I can't wait until the schools get to take control again so our children can get an education again instead of constantly having to test, test and test some more!