Fresh off his re-election three years ago, President Bush said improving high schools was his highest K-12 priority.
He proposed to add annual tests in grades 9-12 to the No Child Left Behind Act鈥檚 testing-and-accountability rules, which currently assess students in reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once during high school, and which also test students鈥� science knowledge at three grade levels. (鈥淏ush鈥檚 High School Agenda Faces Obstacles,鈥� Feb. 9, 2005.)
His proposal never advanced in Congress. 鈥淭here are very few people who truly believe that testing in three more years is going to lead us to the promised land鈥� of better high schools, said Bethany Little, the vice president for federal advocacy and policy development for the Alliance for Excellent Education.
But Ms. Little鈥檚 group and other advocates for improved high schools are optimistic about ideas being considered as Congress works to reauthorize the nearly 6-year-old NCLB law.
For more stories on this topic see No Child Left Behind and our Federal news page.
鈥淪ince then, the conversation has moved significantly,鈥� Ms. Little said at a forum last week, comparing the climate now with three years ago.
Congress is considering bills that call for intervention in schools with the nation鈥檚 highest dropout rates and aim to entice states to align their academic standards with colleges鈥� and employers鈥� expectations.
The Campaign for High School Equity held a Dec. 6 forum to push for high school improvement as part of NCLB reauthorization. The coalition includes Washington-based groups such as the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and the National Council of La Raza.
Although most Washington observers doubt that Congress will finish an NCLB bill in 2008, the Campaign for High School Equity is pushing for completion. 鈥淓very year, those dropout factories will lose thousands of their students,鈥� Ms. Little said, referring to the estimated 2,000 schools where half the nation鈥檚 dropouts were enrolled. The schools serve a disproportionate number of minority students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to bring home some true change to high schools serving students of color,鈥� Ms. Little said.
