It's clear that the adequate yearly progress formula (AYP) of No Child Left Behind is unworkable. Many, including the AFT, questioned AYP from the beginning. (See some of our work on this issue here, here, here and here.) But recent confirmation of AYP's flaws came from a surprising source—Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

At the conclusion of a speech to education writers earlier this month, she praised Tampa's Robles Elementary School as an example of "a struggling school that can rise above poverty and meet [NCLB's] definition of success." Unfortunately, this praiseworthy school has never met AYP.

The school's improved performance on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test earned it a grade of B in 2004, up from D the year before. But NCLB insists on a different accountability system, so the official view of the Bush administration puts Robles Elementary in a class of schools that are so ineffective that they need to be restructured, which would jeopardize Robles' recent success.

In rightly praising a school that missed AYP, Spellings confirms that the current formula is inaccurate, unfair and unworkable. Going forward, the government's obligation isn't just to make NCLB better; it's to get it right.

(To learn more about the problems with AYP and ways to improve NCLB, check out AFT's "NCLB -- Let's Get It Right" campaign.)

May 18, 2005