The U.S. Department of Education announced on April 7 week that it will allow states more flexibility in implementing the No Child Left Behind Act, a decision that marks "a small step forward and a welcome acknowledgment that the law has serious flaws that must be addressed," says AFT president Edward J. McElroy.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said that the department would take a new "commonsense" approach that gives states additional alternatives and flexibility if they can show they are raising student achievement and closing the achievement gap.

The new policy will allow more students with disabilities to take alternative assessments, which will "help make the law's accountability system fairer and more accurate," says McElroy.  The addition of funds to improve assessments, although far short of what is needed, will provide at least some help for states seeking to get a better measure of student achievement, he notes. Also important is the department's recognition that we need to examine alternative ways of measuring student progress—a step the AFT has long advocated.

In her announcement, Spellings emphasized, however, that "the bright lines of the statute"—such as annual testing to determine student achievement, reporting results by student subgroups and highly qualified teachers—are not up for negotiation.

Details of the new policy have been posted by the Department of Education at http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/raising/new-path.html. [Trish Gorman, AFT public affairs, Department of Education]

April 8, 2005