Comments about ‘34 Utah schools poised to join NCLB's 'pass' list’

Who really cares? NCLB is a joke since it says by 2014 that 90% or better kids will be at grade level regardless of their situation. Yep, that means tha a student with a real disability that prohibits them from performing with their peers are still tested with their peers at grade level and they have to pass. All this hoopla really comes down to is school districts jumping through hoops because they care more than parents. AYP really only impacts a Title 1 school since a 3 year failing record brings in Federal sanctions if that school still wants to receive Federal monies.
It's time to totally revamp NCLB and leave it up to each state to determine it's own accountability. Bush broke ranks with conservatives by putting Federal fingers into a State's right issue (and State's have always run their own educaitonal system). Education is best served when local educators, parents and local government at the lowest level work together for what is best for kids at the local level.

Jeff, I'm no fan of NCLB, but the proficiency standards are so low that your claim translates to: "it is not possible for our education system to reach a point where 90% of the students are at a 'D' level proficiency." Not only are these standards minimal, but there are so many "tricks" to get a passing AYP: confidence intervals, "safe harbor" (and even that uses a confidence interval to all allow a declining proficiency rate to masquerade as a 10% improvement!), and now we are allowing proficiency rate averaging. What a crock of low expectations!
If your claim is true, then we need to get not just the Federal government out of primary and secondary education, but we should probably get state and local government out as well. When I look at the raw proficiency rates for Granite School District's schools it turns my stomach.
If, as you say, parents don't care, it is because the product being offered has little value.