For immediate release
Contact Gene J. Evans, (503) 947-5737
March 24, 2008
Castillo Responds to NCLB "Differentiated Accountability" Pilot Proposal
SALEM - State Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo released the following statement in response to US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announcement. Details of the announcement (Secretary Spellings announces "differentiated accountability" pilot: invites up to ten states to create more nuanced ways of evaluating underperforming schools) can be accessed at http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/differentiated/factsheet.html
Here in Oregon, we were looking forward to Secretary Spellings' announcement last week, especially since the buzz from Washington was that it would allow increased flexibility for states under No Child Left Behind.
I was pleased to see the Secretary begin to recognize that parts of NCLB need change, something we've been talking about in Oregon for years. However, I was surprised when it turned out that her proposal simply offered a few states the opportunity to apply for limited flexibility.
While her proposal is a move in the right direction, it does not adequately respond to our call for more flexibility.
Our discussions around "differentiated accountability" have three main elements that are not mentioned in her proposal:
First, we have proposed that growth in student performance should be used as a mitigating factor for Adequate Yearly Progress. The Secretary's proposal continues to identify these schools as failing and does not mention student growth.
Second, our approach is based on continuous improvement planning and appropriate, data-based targeting of resources that would drive improvement over time. The Secretary's proposal calls for state-mandated restructuring, teacher reassignment by the state, and state-directed curriculum overhaul.
Finally, our approach puts services to kids and the improvement of instruction ahead of mandatory transfer. The Secretary's proposal moves in the opposite direction. We had hoped that she would allow states to move supplemental services as the first response to being in school improvement status. She did not do that.
States continue to struggle to successfully implement the requirements of the federal law. In Oregon, we see more benefits in the use of growth in student performance as a factor in determining Adequate Yearly Progress, and we would rather focus on continuous improvement in all schools, rather than the "differentiated accountability" model in the Secretary's proposal.
We'll keep working with the Secretary and with Congress on reauthorization to make system-wide changes to correct some of the law's unhelpful provisions. There still appears to be strong support for reauthorization of NCLB despite the rhetoric heard by some national candidates.
I remain focused on trying to influence the decisions made around reauthorization and working for changes to the law, including my support for the Council of Chief State School Officers recommendations.
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Susan Castillo, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Gene Evans, Communications Director, Telephone (503) 947-5737
http://www.ode.state.or.us
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