In Need of Improvement:

1

• In Need of Improvement
• NCLB and High Schools
• Bethany Little
• Vice President, Policy Federal Advocacy
• Fourth Annual High School Policy Conference
• From No Child Left Behind to Every Child a
  Graduate
• October 4-5, 2007

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GOALS

• NCLB
• All students (and all subgroups) proficient in
  math and reading by 2014

• Reauthorization
• College- and work-readiness
• For high schoolsthat includes graduation with a
  high school diploma

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MEASURES

• NCLB
• Adequate Yearly Progress single tool for
  accountability AND school improvement
• Proficiency highly variable, state assessments
  measuring 10th grade proficiency
• Graduation rates no common definition, no
  disaggregation, no increasing goals over time

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MEASURES, cont.

• Reauthorization
• For accountability - Adequate Yearly Progress
• Assessment of college and work readiness
• Graduation rates Commonly defined,
  disaggregated, with aggressive, attainable growth
  goals
• For school improvement decisions
• AYP
• Additional indicators of student and school
  performance, needs, capacity

5

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

• NCLB
• One-size-fits-all
• Mandated interventions
• Choice
• SES
• Trajectory
• Faulty trigger
• No capacity building
• Little funding for school improvement

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SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

• Reauthorization
• Differentiated improvement
• Levels of intervention
• Sequence
• Driven locally by data, school needs capacity
• Technical assistance and support
• Improved trigger
• Funded

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INVESTMENTS

• NCLB
• Title I
• Reading First
• Small programs

• Reauthorization
• High School Improvement Fund (Graduation Promise
  Act)
• Adolescent Literacy (Striving Readers Act)
• Data systems (METRICS Act S. 2014)
• Innovation (GRADUATE Act)
• Middle school improvement (Success in the Middle
  Act)

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BIG PICTURE

• Goal of college work readiness
• Leverage system change
• Invest in key infrastructure capacity
• Accountability matches goals balances
  incentives
• Improvement activities reflect best practice
  research
• Investments to both trigger accountability
  support
• improvements