EDN 301 - Fall 2002

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• EDN 301 - Fall 2002

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• What is it?
• Federal law passed in Jan. 2002.

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• How Does it Affect You the Teacher?

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• We are going to look at some of the main points
  of the law.
• Some of the law is still being interpreted. So it
  is still not final.

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TestingThe Act requires states to continue to
implement annual reading and mathematics
assessments at least once in each of the
following grade spans 3-5, 6-9, 10-12. Science
tests must be added by the 2007-08 school year.
However, by 2005-06, all states must have annual
assessments in reading and mathematics in all
grades 3 through 8. The assessments must be
aligned with state academic standards, allow
student achievement to be comparable from year to
year, and provide information for parents on how
well their child is doing in school and how well
the school is performing. Also, a sample of
students in grades 4 and 8 must take part in the
National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) tests in reading and math every other year
to verify the state's results on its tests. North
Carolina already takes part in NAEP and tests
grades 3 through 8 in reading and mathematics.
Our state will have to add science testing in
certain grades by 2007-08.
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Demonstrating ProficiencyAll schools in all
states are required to have 100 percent of their
students at the proficiency level, as defined by
the state, within 12 years. States will set
incremental goals to reach total proficiency.
Schools must make "Adequate Yearly Progress"
toward meeting proficiency goals. Title I schools
that fail to make this progress for two
consecutive years will receive technical
assistance and their students must be given the
option to attend another public school. After the
third year, Title I schools would be required to
offer supplemental education services, including
private tutoring, selected by the students'
parents. After five years, Title I schools must
be reconstituted (restructured in some way).
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FlexibilityStates and local school districts
will have the flexibility to transfer up to 50
percent of the federal dollars received for
various federal programs to other federal
programs. The programs that money can be
transferred out of and among include Teacher
Quality/Professional Development, Technology,
Safe and Drug Free Schools, 21st Century Learning
Centers, and Innovative Programs. States and
districts also can transfer money from these
programs into, but not out of, Title I. There
also will be seven states and up to 150 local
school districts across the nation that will be
chosen to participate in flexibility
demonstration projects.
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Quality StaffThe Leave No Child Behind Act
offers support to help schools recruit and retain
excellent teachers and requires states to have a
"highly qualified" teacher in core subject areas
in every public school classroom within four
years (by Dec. 31, 2005) . States must set local
school district goals to ensure that this goal is
reached. Beginning next year, 2002-03, Title I
teachers must be fully licensed, but other
teachers have until Dec. 31, 2005 to be fully
licensed. There also are new federal regulations
for paraprofessionals. All paraprofessionals are
to meet a rigorous standard to be demonstrated
through a formal assessment of skills or through
postsecondary training. Newly employed
paraprofessionals are to meet these requirements
prior to employment and those already employed
must meet the requirements within four years.
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English ProficiencyFederal legislation requires
annual testing of the language proficiency of
students with limited English proficiency. These
students also need to be included in the reading
and mathematics testing in states. The new
legislation asks states to determine if these
tests should be administered in the student's
native language. When a student has attended
school(s) in the U.S. for three consecutive
years, these tests must be in English.
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TechnologySeveral federal technology programs
are consolidated under new technology provisions
that are designed to ensure that more money goes
to schools. Funds generally can be used for
professional development, increasing access to
technology, especially for high-need schools, and
promoting innovative state and local technology
initiatives to increase academic achievement.
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ResourcesCongress authorized 26.5 billion for
education programs under the Act, including 22
billion this year. North Carolina will receive
approximately 1 billion in 2002, an increase of
approximately 142.6 million. This figure
includes significant increases in Title I funds
to support at-risk students, improving teacher
quality, special education, and new dollars for
developing and implementing the testing
requirements.
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Questions?