Feds tell legislators No Child Left Behind may get a makeover

A federal law that aims to show whether your neighborhood school lets students fall through the cracks could get a makeover, U.S. Department of Education brass told the nation's legislators Thursday.

But No Child Left Behind's dressing up — or down — won't come anytime soon.

The law, says Deputy Secretary of Education Eugene Hickok, needs to mature first.

"There are going to be changes down the road. But I think in terms of statutorial changes, two years into it is too early," Hickok told a gathering at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual conference in downtown Salt Lake City. "I do think this law puts forth an audacious proposition . . . (but) in this, the wealthiest nation on Earth, we should be able to, in a 12-year period . . . get (students achieving) on grade level."

Hickok's statement offers a glimmer of hope to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington that at least the feds are listening to states' frustration in implementing the strict accountability law.

"What I wish the law would say is, we want 100 percent of our students to make a full year's growth (in an academic year)," Harrington said. "But to say 100 percent of our students are going to reach the same goal . . . is unreachable."

No Child Left Behind is a hot topic in many states, 34 of which have sought changes or more money, prohibited state spending on the program, or even — like Utah — debated opting out of the program, the National Education Association reports. Several NCSL workshops focused on the topic. An NCSL task force is garnering input on the law for a year-end report that could recommend changes.

No Child Left Behind aims to have all students, regardless of race, income or disability, achieving on grade level in reading and math by 2014. States decide how to meet the goal, and their work is measured through "adequate yearly progress" reports, based on student participation and scores on state tests. If any one student group misses the mark on any one of 40 criteria, the whole school fails to make AYP.

That's happened to schools across the nation, including those rated as A-grade or excellent schools in Florida and North Carolina, the NEA reports.

The reports aim to shine light on achievement gaps between whites and minorities and the poor and middle class, which were too often hidden in states' overall glimmering test scores, Hickok said.