 The deadline to ask the U.S. Department of Education for exclusion
from the program is Tuesday, and the Illinois Board of Education
said it plans on submitting a waiver request. The waiver would take
effect immediately.
President Barack Obama announced in September that he would use his
executive authority under the law to exempt states from many of its
provisions -- including the requirement that all students be
proficient in math and reading by 2014, a benchmark widely deemed
impossible.
The Obama administration has granted waivers to 11 states.
Twenty-eight other states, including Illinois, are applying for the
waivers, which will remain in place until Congress changes NCLB or
passes new federal education policy.
NCLB's main thrust was to tie student performance to federal
funding. Under NCLB, students' standardized test scores must show
improvement every year.
Under the law, if students' test scores in a school fail to improve
two years in a row, the school must develop an improvement plan. If,
for a third year, the school does not improve, it must offer free
tutoring and other academic improvement services to students,
according to NCLB legislation.
Since NCLB went in effect, the majority of Illinois schools have not
met the law's benchmarks. As of last year, only 1,259 of Illinois'
3,810 schools were meeting the law's yearly progress requirements,
said Melissa Perez, an education researcher at Northern Illinois
University in DeKalb, which maintains a database of state education
data.
Part of the criteria for obtaining a waiver is that the state still
must provide a way to assess students' academic process from year to
year, but constant progress isn't a necessity to get federal
dollars.
Illinois' education officials say its plan focuses on accountability
for educators and administrators, but also offers local districts
more leeway for achievement gaps.
"We've really outgrown NCLB," said Monique Chism, administrator of
innovations and improvement at the Illinois State Board of
Education, or ISBE, who helped write the state's waiver.
ISBE is submitting its waiver application with a plan largely
focusing on measuring student readiness for college and careers and
targeting underperforming schools with individualized plans to
improve student performance, rather than a "one-size-fits-all"
approach that NCLB now uses, Chism said.
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Illinois is part of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College and Careers, which includes 24 states and the District of
Columbia. Those assessments will be used by 2014, and will track
student progress from third to 12th grade in math and reading, Chism
said.
In addition to the college and career assessment, other tests --
shorter but more frequent -- will provide teachers, parents and
students with almost immediate feedback, she said.
The new assessments would begin in 2014.
Accountability was another one of NCLB's goals, and Illinois' new
plan will emphasize that, said Chism.
ISBE's new assessments will rate schools based on a five-star
system, with five being the best and one the worst.
Schools receiving low ratings will be audited by a third-party
research company approved by the state. The audit will include
assessments of curriculum and school finances. The district will
then work with the school to put together an intervention plan, with
support from the state.
"We will and we are prepared to intervene in schools and districts
that continue to show that they're not making progress," Chism said.
Matt Vanover, a spokesman for the ISBE, said the agency does not
know exactly how many schools have closed or been turned into
charter schools as a result of poor academic performance under NCLB.
Illinois' new plan includes provisions for closing a persistently
failing school, firing its staff or converting it to a charter
school if it remains on a watch list for five or more years.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By ANTHONY BRINO]
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