Education

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Couture Education: No Child Left Behind Act Altered For a Better Fit

On March 15, 2004, Education Secretary Rod Paige announced changes to No Child Left Behind teacher qualification guidelines.

No Child Left Behind is an education initiative that aims to improve schools through mandatory testing and stricter qualifications for teachers. For more on No Child Left Behind, click here.

Changing the rules

The announcement marks the third time in four months that the Bush administration has agreed to make changes to the No Child Left Behind Act. In December 2003, the administration announced that testing standards would be relaxed for children with learning disabilities. In February 2004, English as a Second Language (ESL) students were liberated from mandatory reading and writing tests in English.

These changes are likely to affect all school districts, but the most recent revision affects students and teachers in rural areas only. Due to rural school districts’ troubles attracting and retaining qualified teachers, the Bush administration has decided to make it easier for rural teachers to become "highly certified" under the law.

Before the change, No Child Left Behind required all teachers in all schools to obtain a bachelor’s degree, full state certification, and a passing score on a subject test by the 2005-2006 school year. The latter prerequisite can be difficult for rural teachers, who often teach more than one subject.

The new rules give seasoned rural teachers an additional year to pass subject tests in every area they are teaching; brand-new rural teachers have up to three additional years to meet the requirement.

Reactions

Republican lawmakers hail the changes as proof that the Bush administration is listening to school districts and educators about how to make No Child Left Behind work.

The American Association of School Administrators is also pleased. The Boston Globe reports that the group’s lobbyist, Bruce Hunter, says the changes improve the fit of the legislation because “when you are dealing with 14,700 school districts, it turns out that one size doesn’t fit all."

But not everyone is content with the changes. The Education Trust, a nonprofit organization that represents poor, urban schools, argues that the new rules give states the go-ahead to redefine No Child Left Behind for themselves. The organization fears that the law’s teacher-quality standards have been weakened, thus threatening the goal of equal opportunity for all.

More specifically, critics complain that the high turnover in rural schools will result in permanent postponement of No Child Left Behind standards. If new teachers continually leave before the three-year deadline, rural schools will maintain their shortage of qualified teachers. Some suggest that the rural rule modification should be temporary, thereby allowing rural school districts to catch up, but not to make a pattern of following behind the rest of the country.

Science teacher shortage

Paige also announced a change to science teacher requirements. Sought-after science teachers will not have to demonstrate proficiency in each branch of science that they teach, such as chemistry, physics, biology, but will be allowed to take either a subject test in a single area or a general science certification test. This change is a response to the science-teacher shortage that many school districts face.

What’s at stake?

At issue is a federal education standard. Should standards be one-size-fits-all to ensure equality among districts, or couture to meet the special needs of each population? Perhaps a ready-to-wear approach, in which the federal government follows a standard pattern, but states have room to alter and accessorize according to their particular situations.

How do you think the federal government should regulate education? Is No Child Left Behind working in your schools? Discuss this issue with other WomenMatter readers in one of our online forums. To stay educated on education, sign up for an education e alert. And when you’re ready, contact your representatives and let them know what you think.

Posted on: 3/26/2004

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