Here’s the BIG problem
Here’s the BIG problem with the No Child Left Untested Act. Half of Michigan’s schools are labelled as failing, apparently because earlier efforts at reform had set particularly high standards.
Michigan educators are crying foul, saying the earlier standards were set at a high level to drive improvement and now are being used to punish schools. Schools winning the state’s Golden Apple and Blue Ribbon awards for excellence are among the 1,500 targeted.
Michigan now requires 75 percent of students to score at a proficient level in math, reading, writing and science, or close the gap by 10 percent each year between the highest- and lowest-achieving groups of students.
The national standards focus only on math and reading, and on schools with the lowest-scoring students.
The recommended solution, LOWER the standards.
Telman’s group, six major educational associations and unions, and a Department of Education committee recommend that the state follow the national standard.
“We’re perfectly comfortable with keeping our old standards, but when we’re looking at ourselves against our national counterparts, it’s only fair we use the same standards,” said Charles Anderson, executive director of the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.
Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Watkins agrees.