Almost half of the 15 Northern Kentucky schools that failed to meet federal standards this year did so because of their disabled students' test scores.

Parents with kids in any of those seven schools should not assume some other school would be better. This is only one factor in judging the quality of a school system, and may not be the most accurate one - a caution that applies to schools everywhere.

Only 17 out of 79 Northern Kentucky schools had a large enough number of special education students to require reporting of their test scores. Six of those 17 schools were given passing grades by a margin-of-error calculation, even though test scores did not quite meet the targets.

The 2001 federal No Child Left Behind law is phasing in math and reading tests for more grades as it aims for total student proficiency by 2014. Some refinements have already been made in the federal mandates. More are needed, especially in penalties imposed on schools with more special education students, who may include kids with attention deficit disorder, autism, and delayed speech and learning disabilities.

Schools and Congress deserve credit for raising expectations for these students. They aren't second-class students, and should never be treated as such.

The federal rules are complicated, but not grossly unrealistic for students with disabilities. Mentally disabled students are allowed to bypass reading and math tests, but they still must show proficiency in social skills as part of an alternative portfolio. Officials may need to adjust the goals for special-ed students, but those students and the schools all would lose if special-ed scores are ever used as a school's excuse for failure.

Covington's Holmes High, Two Rivers Middle and Carlisle Elementary were the only Northern Kentucky schools subject to penalties such as giving students the option to transfer out. But they failed for other reasons than just special-ed student scores.

The federal law penalizes only schools that receive Title I funds for low-income students. Suburban schools with few low-income kids face no penalties, even if their test scores lag. Educators need to keep their eyes on the prize of bringing every student along.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050810/EDIT01/508100315&template=printpicart

I don't know, but I felt this was related...

A few towns over from me failed miserably the testings for no child left behind standards. After a parent outrage group gathered, the town posted why... thier special education students including down syndrom and learning disabled students who were "in junior high" but at a different level... were tested at the level that matched their "age grade level". Obviously this caused all the special education children to fail the tests, and in a small town this averaged all the scores low.

The town has since filed bundles of paperwork and is working on fixing this problem, not only for them but other school systems in the same situation.

I for one, could not believe they would expect a child with a fifth grade learning capacity to test at a seventh grade capacity just because he/she was that "age"...

They figure if they just "teach to the test" then "anyone" could pass it. Then of course, if they dont, it's the teachers fault. "No child left behind" is kinda like "all men are created equal" Our forefathers werent really talking about all men, just white male property owners. Who knows what the Bush regime means by that joke of a moniker

"No child left behind" is not and never will be like "all men are created equal". Each year according to "No child left behind" the schools must show yearly progress in the tested subject areas. Biggest problem with that is you're not testing the same kids each year. Example: third grade students did a great job in Science but when they got to fifth grade only 5 of those kids had been in that third grade class.
Utah has said, "NO" to that law and other states are following with lawsuits of their own.
What kills me is that my students read at the first grade level but I can't give them first grade level material. Instead I have to teach them on grade level.
Something is seriously wrong with this law. I'll get off my soap box now :)

I agree that "No Child Left Behind" is indeed a misnomer and not a law that in fact supports students. I am highly opposed to it and I feel that it indeed allows way too many more students to get left behind. There is such growing opposition to this act that it seems like the government would sit up and take notice, but as of yet that hasn't happened. It is such a sad disappointment for me as my husband is a soldier in the Army and year by year I become so much more disillusioned with our illustrious governement.

I thought I'd put my two cents in as a worker with Kindergarteners...

As part of this program we are expected to "teach to test" yes. Our school has half day K classes. We have to have 90min uninterupted language teaching everyday... not only is this impossible with a class of 20-25 5+6yr olds, it is not what K is supposed to be about. We have had more children break down in tears this year than any other year because of the writing work they couldn't do... this program has made it very competitive also. They no longer have time for recess, we barely have time for reading "fun" books. If you were to see some of the tests we give them, I'd be intimidated if I had to take them.....

sound out these imaginary words:

dun heb lij yuj dav
kox jey lir nuz tof

a page of 40 of those... I couldn't do it. Plus so many more things that are totally out of line for K to learn. Bottom line Kindergarten just isn't fun anymore. And the parents take it out on the teachers. :mad: and it's not our fault we have to do all this stupid testing (which BTW pulls the teacher OUT of the class for a week to test one at a time while a sub teaches)

Hey guys, tell me if way off base here with this theory- is it possible that there's more to NCLB than "holding schools accountable"? Consider this: if the standards contained in NCLB were drawn such that failure for a big percentage of schools was a certainty then there would be an opening for Uncle Sam to say "Since the states are failing in their mission to educate our children the Federal Government is going to have to step in here and impose a national curriculum".

Would this not be a dream come true for a certain presidents far-right supporters? They would be able to make it a federal law that everyone learn that the Earth is only 10,000 years old.

Or do I need to pull my tin foil hat down a little furthur?

Cactus,

I don't think your off base at all. In fact, I think that we are seeing the very dangerous beginnings of laws meant to protect that are just smoke screens for other agendas.

If you wnt to read more about the opposition to NCLB check out this link...
http://www.nea.org/esea/index.html

Cactus you're very close to reality. If a school does not meet yearly progress over a period of time the state can come into the school and clean house. Meaning that all staff members, teachers, everyone could be fired. In a few weeks I'll be back in school and I am praying we passed, if not it's going to be a hard year :)

Oh, Johna, that's horrible! I can only imagine what that must feel like!! You know, that's just one aspect that doesn't make an logical sense. Think about this, most of the country is screeming out for more teachers, there is a severe shortage. So, why would anyone in their right mind choose to go into a field that they could be fired from so easily? The requirements are ridiculous. Just how can the MAKE children learn something? You know, it's like that old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink!" You can be a good teacher, reach out to your students, give them the opportunity and material to learn, be open-minded and available, embrace differences and accept and meet challenges, but we are talking about a human element here. If a child cannot or will not learn or retain information you cannot change that. Why should one person (or a school full) be held responsible for quirks of the human condtion? Oh, that's right, we're talking about an administration that preaches humanity, yet ignores it at every turn!


Here's something I pulled off the NEA website and something I believe to be true about the NCLB Act...
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 (the latest revision of ESEA) presents real obstacles to helping students and strengthening public schools because it focuses on:


punishments rather than assistance
rigid, unfunded mandates rather than support for proven practices
bureaucracy and standardized testing rather than teacher-led, classroom focused solutions
Is it a surprise that there is a rise in homeschooling? Is it a surprise that year by year parents are throwing their hands up in depair over the education their children are recieving? Is it a surprise that we have a teacher shortage? I don't think so. As I said before I think we are seeing only the beginning of a dangerous trend in our country and it's time that we speak out. I know that I am going to. If it takes letters to congress, joining oppositional groups, fighting the system, whatever it takes.

ok, not to add yet another negative, but yeah there's another....

based on the testing scores schools are given money..... makes sense.....

accept they give the schools that score BETTER MORE money!!!! How does that make sense????

Now the pressure's on to score well enough to get money for supplies, and if you do not score well (probably because there weren't enough text books for the students) you don't get fundings!!!! WTF does this make sense??? shouldn't you get funding for more supplies to HELP raise the scores?

I hear you, Pigeon. In my province a commercial institution collects data and then publishes "report cards" for all of the schools in our province. Private schools who do not accept special needs students are graded the same way as public schools who practice inclusion. That doesn't mean that public schools don't do well in certain subjects, but this isn't an accurate measure of achievement.

As a Special Ed teacher, who also has (is- whatever is politically correct) ADD, we have been informed that until a student reaches 9th grade we are to "assume" that the child will receive a standard diploma even if the student in question has a 14 month IQ. If I was a doctor, wouldn't that be malpractice? No Child Left Behind is a farce. If the Bush people put money where there mouths are, we might actually have something good!:soapbox: