PRINTER'S NO. 1270
No. 141 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY MUSTO, BOSCOLA, FERLO, LAVALLE, DINNIMAN, KITCHEN, ERICKSON, WASHINGTON, FONTANA, KASUNIC, STOUT, MELLOW, COSTA, LOGAN, O'PAKE, GREENLEAF, HUGHES, WOZNIAK, STACK, C. WILLIAMS, TARTAGLIONE AND RHOADES, JUNE 30, 2007
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JUNE 30, 2007
A RESOLUTION 1 Memorializing the President and Congress of the United States, 2 in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act of 3 2001, to address funding issues, teacher certification 4 issues, issues regarding certain disadvantaged students and 5 reliability of present assessment standards. 6 WHEREAS, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 7 (ESEA) - No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was signed into 8 law on January 8, 2002, and is currently under review for 9 reauthorization; and 10 WHEREAS, States have now had six years of experience 11 responding to the law's sweeping changes in Federal education 12 policy; and 13 WHEREAS, Although the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania supports 14 rigorous standards for its public schools, assessment of school 15 achievement, raising student achievement, closing achievement 16 gaps and ensuring that every classroom is staffed by a highly 17 qualified teacher, its experience with NCLB has revealed several 18 major deficiencies in the law; therefore be it
1 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2 memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to 3 enact legislative improvements during ESEA - NCLB 4 reauthorization to rectify the following deficiencies: 5 (1) All NCLB programs must be funded at their authorized 6 levels. NCLB has imposed additional costs on the Commonwealth 7 of Pennsylvania and its local school districts for staff 8 development, meeting expanded certification requirements for 9 teachers and paraprofessionals, additional testing, 10 additional data collection, public school choice-related 11 transportation, supplemental education services and 12 additional school improvement programs and has placed 13 burdensome mandates on teachers and support professionals 14 that prevent them from delivering a comprehensive and 15 rigorous curriculum to all students. At the same time, 16 Federal funding for Title I between 2002 and 2005 fell $21.4 17 billion short of the NCLB authorization levels. This lack of 18 funding has made it difficult, and in some cases, impossible 19 for Pennsylvania to meet all NCLB requirements. 20 (2) The definition of "highly qualified teacher" must be 21 simplified. Fulfillment of all State requirements for 22 certification should be considered sufficient to meet the 23 Federal standard--95%, or some 93,226, of the Commonwealth of 24 Pennsylvania's teachers were deemed highly qualified at the 25 end of the 2005-2006 school year. This is because 26 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's teacher preparation programs 27 are among the most rigorous in the United States. 28 Certification in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires 29 individuals to meet high standards and complete a rigorous 30 and thorough course of study and all graduates must also 20070S0141R1270 - 2 -
1 successfully complete a State-administered exam before 2 assuming classroom duties. Regulations adopted by the State 3 Board of Education require all teachers to have training 4 related to English Language Learners (ELL) students and 5 students with disabilities and require special education 6 teachers to be dual certified. All teachers are required to 7 continue their professional education throughout their 8 careers. There is simply no reason why fulfillment of these 9 requirements, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and other 10 states, should not be sufficient to satisfy the Federal 11 standard of "highly qualified teacher." The definition of 12 "highly qualified teacher" should be revised to provide that 13 any educator who is teaching in his or her assigned area of 14 certification and has met the licensure/certification 15 requirements set forth in his or her respective state has 16 satisfied the Federal standard. 17 (3) Assessment of students with disabilities and English 18 Language Learners must be amended to reflect a realistic 19 understanding of their capacities. Absent such amendment, the 20 law dooms these children to failure by faulting them for not 21 achieving standards beyond their reach and by ignoring their 22 success. For the 2005-2006 school year, 546 schools in the 23 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not make "AYP" (adequate 24 yearly progress): 173 of these schools missed due to a single 25 subgroup, usually special education students or students with 26 depressed socioeconomic status. Students with disabilities 27 are called "special education" students because they require 28 adjusted teaching methods, adjusted classroom settings, 29 adjusted technology and additional services. The Individuals 30 with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) recognizes these 20070S0141R1270 - 3 -
1 differences and addresses them in a manner to maximize the 2 potential for success of these students. At the same time, 3 NCLB requires special education students to perform on the 4 same type of assessment tools and to the same levels within 5 the same time frames as their nonspecial peers. Common-sense 6 flexibility when assessing and counting test scores from 7 students with disabilities and ELL students is now required. 8 Individuals Education Program (IEP) teams should be allowed 9 to determine the appropriate assessment and standards that 10 the assessment should be based on for each child. The current 11 arbitrary 1% and 2% limits for alternative assessment of 12 these students must be removed. For ELL students for whom 13 native language assessments in the required core content 14 subjects are not available, the period of time before their 15 test scores are included in AYP must be extended to three 16 years. Without these adjustments, not only are special 17 education and ELL students doomed to almost certain failure, 18 their school districts will only reach AYP if their special 19 education and ELL populations are suddenly reduced to zero. 20 These children and school districts will be permanently "left 21 behind." 22 (4) Accountability must be based on multiple blended 23 measures, and sufficient resources must be provided to permit 24 states to meet these requirements. The current AYP structure 25 is flawed. It presents multiple ways to fail, yet only one 26 way for schools to meet the required progress indicators. 27 What is more, NCLB results in an overreliance on standardized 28 testing to the exclusion of other recognized indicators of 29 student achievement. The law must be amended to include valid 30 and reliable assessments for each child that accurately and 20070S0141R1270 - 4 -
1 fairly reflect student, school and school district 2 performance. It is proposed that school districts be 3 permitted to develop a research-based school accountability 4 formula or matrix that considers multiple measures, such as 5 district-level assessments, graduation rates for high 6 schools, attendance rates, school-level assessments, 7 performance or portfolio assessments and the percentage of 8 students participating in rigorous coursework, which may 9 include dual enrollment, honors, advanced placement or 10 international baccalaureate courses. It is further proposed 11 that the law sanction the use of growth models to measure 12 changes in student performance, that every state be allowed 13 to implement a transparent growth model methodology that 14 recognizes continuous improvement for all students and grants 15 schools credit for improving student achievement at all 16 points on the achievement scale and for improving student 17 achievement over time, with the understanding that data from 18 growth models in an accountability system should be used 19 exclusively to improve instructional and curriculum decisions 20 and professional development for educators. Differentiated 21 outcomes for schools should be permitted so a school that 22 falls short in just one or two AYP criteria would be required 23 to develop and implement a targeted improvement plan for the 24 specific subgroup of students. The current system of 25 sanctions should be replaced with support systems such as 26 enhanced and comprehensive technical assistance from Federal 27 and state agencies, Federal and state assistance in 28 developing and revising improvement plans and increased 29 Federal funding for recipients to implement such plans; 30 and be it further 20070S0141R1270 - 5 -
1 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 2 transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the 3 United States, to the Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings 4 and to all members of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation. F16L82JAM/20070S0141R1270 - 6 -