ActionResearch: NoChildLeftBehind

TheeffectoflegislationinaTitleIschool

DanicaJones SaltLakeCommunityCollege EDU2150042 Summer2013

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ABriefBackgroundofEducationReformintheUnitedStates:
In1965abipartisangroupoflegislatorspassedtheElementaryandSecondaryEducationAct (ESEA)whichallocatedfederalfundingforeducationandestablishedasystemtoholdschools accountableforacademicachievement,particularlyinrelationtoeducationalequalityforthoseof allethnicities.ESEAcreatedtwoprogramsthatenduretoday,TitleIandHeadStart.Both programsweredesignedtoaddresstheneedsofanunderservedpopulation.TitleIwasgeared towardhelpingcreateeducationequalityfordisadvantagedstudentswhileHeadStartwasa programthatwasaimedatearlychildhoodeducation.

From1965until1988educationpolicyremainedlargelyunchangedotherthanthe occasionalcallforadditionalschooldays,longerschoolhours,andapushforhighertest standards.In1988whenGeorgeH.W.Bushwaspresident,heheldaneducationsummitwith nationsgovernors.AccordingtoMarisA.Vinovskis,anotedresearcherfromtheGeraldR.Ford SchoolofPublicPolicy,Theparticipantssetsixnationaleducationgoalswhichtheypledgedto reachintenyears.Thesewereambitiousgoals.Twoexamples:bytheyear2000:(1)allchildren inAmericawouldstartschoolreadytolearnand(2)U.S.studentswouldbefirstintheworldin scienceandmathematicsachievement.Theattendeesofthesummitagreedthatimprovements neededtobemadetoeducationinAmericabutcouldnotagreewithhowtodoso.

Afterthesummitfederaleducationspendingnearlydoubledfrom1988to1992.During thistimeseveralinitiativeshadbeenintroducedbutnonehadgainedenoughbipartisansupport tomakeitintolaw.TherewerethosewhowereopponentsoftheTitleIprogramandotherswho thoughtthatitjustneededtobeamended.In1996withPresidentClintonbeginninghissecond terminoffice,heturnedhisattentiontomakingsmallerscalefederalinitiatives.Itwasntuntil1999 whentheTitleIprogramwasscheduledtoexpirethatClinton,himselfamemberoftheoriginal educationsummitthathadsetagoalfortheyear2000,madepublicseveralstudiesthatindicated hissmallscaleapproachhadbeensomewhatsuccessful.

Duringthetimefrom1992to1999federaleducationhadagaindoubledandwasnowmorethan
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threetimeswhatithadbeenin1965whenESEAwasfirstpassed.

NoChildLeftBehindActof2001:
TheelectionofGeorgeW.Bushin2000broughtaboutanotherchangeineducationpolicyasthe newpresidentmadeeducationoneofhistoppriorities.In2002afterstrugglingthroughboththe HouseandCongress,theNoChildLeftBehindAct(NCLB)becameareality.

ThebasicprinciplesofNCLBinclude: developinghigheracademicstandardsforstatesasaconditiontoreceivemoneyforthe TitleIprogram

settingagoalof12yearsattheendofwhichallstudentsmustbeproficientinreadingand

mathbasedontheirgradelevel testingallstudentsinmathandreadingduringgrades3through8andagaininhighschool

testresultsaretobebrokendownintocategoriesbasedonraceandeconomicstatusto

identifyareasofneed schoolsmustmeetanadequateyearlyprogress(AYP)standardthatcorrelateswiththe12 yeardeadline establishescorrectiveactionsforschoolsanddistrictswhichfailtomeetAYPfortwoor moreconsecutiveyears.

MyQuestion:HavetheNoChildLeftBehindlegislationpoliciesenactedinthestateofUtah
hadapositive,negativeornegligibleeffectonacademicprocessinTitleIelementaryschools?

Why:Asaparaeducatorsince2009Ihavehadtheopportunitytoworkinaselfcontained
classroomofspecialeducationstudentswhoarein4th,5th,and6thgrade.Ibeganthejobwithlittle tonounderstandingofeducationpolicyandwhatIhavelearnedsincehascomefromthefacultyof theschoolthatIworkat.(UplandTerraceElementary)Theneighborhoodinwhichmyschoolis locatedisconsideredtobearelativelyaffluentareaandtheethnicpopulationofthisareaisvery small.Myclassroomhasadifferentmakeupthanthatoftherestoftheschoolbecauseitdraws fromanarealargerthanthestandardschoolboundaries.Themajorityofmystudentsbelongtoan
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ethnicminorityandasIhavestartedmystudiesthatwillleadmetowardbeingalicensedteacher, Ihavehadanopportunitytoheardifferentopinionsofthemostrecenteducationalpolicy.When presentedwiththisassignmentIdeterminedthatIwouldeducatemyselfabouttheparticular policiesthatUtahhasusedfromNCLBandmonitoranyeffect,positiveornegative,itmayhave hadonaschoolwithahigherminoritypopulationthantheoneIcurrentlyworkat.

Method:IchoseoneschoolfromGraniteSchoolDistrict(JamesEMossElementary)tofollow
andthroughstatisticsandadeeperunderstandingofthepoliciesofNCLB,determinewhat effectsifanythelegislationhashadontheacademicachievementofthegeneralstudent populationandtheethnicminoritystudents.

InitiallyIhadintendingonfindingaTitleIschooltofollowhowever,findingaschoolthatwouldfit mycriteriawasdifficult.IwouldlocateaschoolthatqualifiedasaTitleIschoolbutwouldonlybea TitleIschoolforoneyear.IwasfurtherlimitedbymydesiretostaywithintheGraniteSchool District.IwantedtostayinthisdistrictbecauseitistheoneIworkinandtherearepoliciesand administrativeculturesthatvaryfromdistricttodistrict.BychoosingaschoolinGraniteIcould ensurethatmyperspectivewouldbeunaffectedbypoliciesthatwereunknowntome.

GraniteSchoolDistrictElementaryschoolspostontheirpageabreakdownoftheethnicmakeup andIhadtowadethroughalotofschoolstofindwhatIwaslookingfor.IfinallydecidedonMoss Elementarybecauseofitsbroadethnicpopulation.

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TheData:
AccordingtothehomepageofMossElementarythisistheircurrentethnicpopulation:

AMHARIC ARABIC ARMENIAN BOSNIAN BURMESE CREOLEENGLISHBASED (OTHERTHANTOKPISIN) DINKA ENGLISH FRENCH KAREN KIRUNDI MARATHI NEPALI PERSIAN(FARSI)

1 44 1 8 1 1

PORTUGUESE RUSSIAN SAMOAN SERBIAN SOMALI SPANISH

2 2 2 3 5 112

1 335 2 2 4 2 5 4

SWAHILI THAI TIBETAN

2 2 1

TIGRIGNA/TIGRINYA 2 TONGAN UDUK(TWAMPA) URDU WESTERNFARSI 1 2 3 2

ThefirstyearthatdataisavailableforAYPisfor2006and2007andtheschooldidnotpassand
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thereforedidnotmeetNCLBstandards.ThegoalforLanguageis77%ofstudentstoshow proficiencyand71%forMathematics.Thedataforthe2006and2007schoolyearsshowsthat eventhoughnoneoftheethnicgroupsachievedthegoalforLanguage,theschoolwasgivena conditionalpassinlanguageartsbecauseithadshownprogressfromthepreviousyear.In Mathematicsallbutoneofthegroupsmadethegoalorshowedprogressfromthepreviousyear. BecausetherewasasignificantdropbyHispanicstudentsfromoneyeartothenexttheschool didnotpassintheareaofMathematics.

Oneinterestingtrendtonoteisthatifyouexaminethestatisticsforthestateasawhole,thereisa discerniblepatterninproficiency.In1stgradethrough5thgradetheproficiencypercentagesfrom 2005to2006increase,butthenalmostwithoutexceptiontheproficiencyscoresfrom2006to 2007showadecline.MossElementarydidnotmakeAYPfrom2007to2008becausethe Languageproficiencyforeconomicallydisadvantagedstudentsdidnotmeettherequirementsset forthbyNCLB.Mossmetproficiencyrequirementsfrom2008to2009butfailedtomeetthem from2009to2010becauseLanguagescoresamongtheeconomicallydisadvantagedand limitedEnglishproficient.Becauseoftheirpreviousproficiencies,MossElementarybecame classifiedasaTitleIschoolin2011astheschoolagaindidnotmeetAYPfrom2010to2011.

ThisdatasuggeststhatduringthistimeperiodMossElementaryonlycompliedwithNCLBone yearoutoffive.TheUtahStateOfficeofEducation(USOE)alsooffersanotherreportforthistime periodknownastheUtahPerformanceAssessmentSystem(UPASS)andaccordingtothese reportsMossElementarymadeadequateprogressaccordingtoUtahstandardsforallyears 20062011.

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Conclusions:
Ibeganthisprocesswithcertainexpectations.WhatlittleknowledgeIhadofeducationpolicyhas beenlargelyareflectionofmypoliticalbeliefsandabsorptionofopinionsfrompeoplein educationthatIknow.BecauseofmypassionforeducationIhavefoundawaytouseother generaleducationclassestofurthermyknowledgeofeducationpolicy.InmyEnglishclassIwrote apaperabouteducationfunding.FormyCommunicationsclassIresearchedclasssizeratios andwhatsolutionstheremaybetodecreasingthenumberofstudentsinclasses.Ihavebegunto seethatthingsareneverassimpleasyouthinktheyare.

MypreviousopinionofNCLBhadbeenthatitwasnoteffectiveandthatithasbeenawasteof timeforschoolstotryandcomplywithit.Iknowthatasmyforayintoeducationalpolicycontinues thatmyviewpointwillcontinuetoevolve,butatthispointIcansaythatIdontdisagreewiththe goalsthatNCLBhasbeentryingtoachieve.Iunderstandthatpeopleareworriedthatbecauseof thewaydataistrackedthroughNCLBthatthefederalgovernmentisinfringingonpublicprivacy, butevenfrommycursoryexaminationsofthedataretrieved,Ibelievethatthiscanbeavaluable tool.

OneofmybiggestfrustrationswhileworkinginSpecialEducationhasbeenthatIfeellikeitis isolatedandsometimesforgotten.Therewereseveralthingsasmyschoolthispastyearthat angeredmebecauseofpoliciesenactedatthedistrictlevel.Afterdoingtheresearchforthis paperIrealizethatwhatIhadpreviouslyperceivedasignoranceofSpecialEducationrealities, mayhaveinfactbeenanattempttocomplywiththeAYPproficiencystandardsofNCLB.And whilethisdoesnotchangemyopinionofthedecisions,itdoesallowmetohaveakinderviewof thosewhohadtomakethedecision.

IthinkthatthegoalsofNCLBareadmirable.Ihavewitnessedhoweasycanbeforpatternstogo unnoticedandforchildrenstrugglingwithacademicstoslipthroughthecracks.Idontknowif thereisabroadsolutiontoacademicunderachievementorifitisevensomethingthatcanbe addressedbylegislation.Idohoweverknowthatitwillbemyjobasaneducatortobeawareof

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mystudentscapabilitiesandpotential.Itwillbemyjobtousemyknowledgeandskillsto encouragethemtodothebestthattheycan,nomatterwhatcurrenteducationalpolicymaybe.

WorksCited
1.December9,2005.CongressionalBriefing.Vinovskis,M.FromaNationatRisktoNoChild LeftBehind:FederalCompensatoryPoliciesfromRonaldReagantoGeorgeW.Bush. 2.2006.U.S.Budget,HistoricalTables.FederalSpendingUndertheElementaryandSecondary EducationActhttp://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/edlitechart.html#5 3.2013.JamesE.MossElementarySchoolhomepagehttp://www.graniteschools.org/SchoolSites
/Elementary/Elementary%202/Moss%20Elementary.aspx 4.2013.UtahStateOfficeofEducation.EducationalData.AccountabilityReports. http://upass.schools.utah.gov/download.aspx?sy=2007&d=480&si=510&sn=139&ft=2&rt=10 5.http://schools.utah.gov/assessment/Reports/Results_CRT_State_By_Grade_0507pdf.aspx

AdditionalResources
1.U.S.DepartmentofEducationElementaryandSecondaryEducation:NoChildLeftBehind LegislationandPolicies.http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/states/index.html
2.U.S.DepartmentofEducationImprovingBasicProgramsOperatedByLocalEducationalAgencies (TitleI,PartA)http://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/legislation.html

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