Bush education law transforming schools

In just two years, a new federal law has shaken up what it means to be a successful school.

For the past half century, American public schools have been defined by how well most of their children succeed. Schools (and local real estate agents) touted high "average" SAT scores or the students winning top awards.

The No Child Left Behind law shines a bright light on the students who aren't making the grade. For the first time, the federal government is enforcing a requirement that all public-school students be tested annually in core subjects. For the first time, the students in each racial, ethnic, and income subgroup are expected to show results. And for the first time, schools face the prospect of losing federal funding if those results aren't there.

By defining the good school as one that proves all students are learning, the act is already reshaping US education in controversial ways.

Among the criticisms: The requirements don't come with enough new money to pay for them. The new focus on the worst-off kids means the gifted children are now being left behind. The law is prompting some states - which must each create their own tests - to game the system by setting low standards.

Even supporters say it's too early to know if the law will be successful. But to them, President Bush's signature of the measure in 2002 came as a long-overdue call for accountability: that measuring performance is Step 1 toward better US schools. The intensity of the backlash by groups such as teachers unions, they say, only shows the law is hitting its mark.

"I never believed that in my lifetime we would have a federal law grounded in the belief that all children can learn. Such moments are scarce. This bus will only come by every few decades and we need to seize this opportunity," says Larry Lezotte, one of the founders of the Effective Schools Movement, which pioneered many of the principles in the new law.

But the laws critics are as passionate as its defenders. Democratic presidential candidates all mentioned it - negatively - in a debate this week. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean describes the law as "an unbelievable, intrusive mandate." Many teachers worry it will convert classrooms into dull test-prep centers.

The two-year mark is a turning point for the new law. New measures are in place, and penalties are beginning to kick in. Nearly half of all states now require testing in English and mathematics in Grades 3-8 and high school, a requirement of the new law by 2005-06. Schools that don't measure up risk losing federal funding or even restructuring.

Already, all 50 states have filed new state standards with the US Department of Education as well as plans to ensure students are proficient in meeting them by the 2013-14 school year. This fall all states were required to report, many for the first time, high school graduation rates and the number of highly qualified teachers in classrooms.

Page: 1 | 2