The Department of Education last week added three more states to a pilot program that evaluates schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act based in part on the growth individual students make over time.
Delaware received full approval to participate in the pilot this school year, while Arkansas and Florida will be allowed to take part assuming they receive full approval from the department for their testing systems by the end of this school year.
That would bring to five the number of states using a so-called 鈥済rowth model鈥� under the federal law. North Carolina and Tennessee began using a growth model as part of the pilot program last school year.
Another nine states鈥擜rizona, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah鈥攈ave also submitted proposals that will go before a federal review panel as early as February.
But Alaska and Oregon had their proposals shot down for a second time. They鈥檝e been invited to resubmit their plans by the end of December. The department intends to approve no more than 10 states in total.
鈥業mportant to States鈥�
The NCLB law鈥檚 current accountability system requires schools and districts to meet annual targets for the percent of students who perform at least at the 鈥減roficient鈥� level on state tests, with those targets rising over time until all students score at that level in 2013-14.
In contrast, growth models give schools credit for the learning gains individual students make over time. To qualify for the pilot program, those gains have to be rapid enough to ensure all students are proficient by 2014, and the accountability system must include all students and all subgroups in the tested grades. Florida, for example, will calculate an individual trajectory for each student that requires the child to be proficient within three years, except for 10th graders, who will have only two years to reach proficiency.
鈥淲e know this is important to states,鈥� said Raymond J. Simon, the deputy secretary of education, during a telephone briefing Nov. 9. 鈥淲e believe it has possibilities to inform us and inform the Congress鈥� as the law comes up for reauthorization next year.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about the opportunity to use growth as a measure toward making adequate yearly progress,鈥� said Hanna Skandera, the deputy commissioner for accountability, research, and measurement for the Florida education department. 鈥淐ertainly, it鈥檚 going to serve students and teachers better when it comes to measuring how are we doing and are kids really improving.鈥�
