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WASHINGTON RETURNING MOST CONTROL OF EDUCATION BACK TO STATES |
| (12/12/2015) |
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Most educational standards related to student performance is now up to the states. The US Congress approved legislation rewriting the landmark No Child Left Behind education law of 2002 and was signed by President Obama. The goals of No Child Left Behind under the Bush administration and Common Core under the Obama administration will largely be left to the states, both decried by members of the opposite political parties. States and districts will now be responsible for coming up with their own goals for schools, designing their own measures of achievement and progress, and deciding independently how to turn around struggling schools. Testing will be one factor considered, but other measures of success or failure could include graduation rates and education atmosphere. To make sure all children get a fair shot at a quality education, states will be required to intervene in the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools, in high schools with high dropout rates and in schools with stubborn achievement gaps. The measure would substantially limit the federal government's role, barring from telling states and local districts how to assess school and teacher performance. One key feature of No Child remains. Public school students will still take the federally required statewide reading and math exams. But the new law encourages states to limit the time students spend on testing, and it will diminish the high stakes for under-performing schools. The measure also ends the waivers the Obama administration has given to more than 40 states exemptions granted around the more onerous parts of No Child when it became clear that requirements such as having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014 would not be met. So the West Virginia Department of Education will be on the plate for the success or failure of students. |
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