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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Rep. Wants 'No Child' Testing Reviewed

By Debra Dominguez-Lund
Journal Staff Writer
    With the controversial No Child Left Behind Act up for re-authorization this fall, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., says Congress should review the way English language learners and special education students are tested.
    "Twenty percent of special education kids— no matter what the teaching technique— will not be able to learn at grade level," Wilson said Monday. "So we need to look at whether we can assess them with individual education plans."
    Wilson met with Albuquerque Public Schools officials to discuss her concerns about the law, including some of the student testing requirements and the way annual yearly progress of schools is measured.
    "I wanted to connect with local schools and see what we've learned over the first five years of (the act's) implementation," Wilson said. "I wanted to ask school officials what changes they thought needed to be made to the act and what we can do to continue to make improvements."
    No Child Left Behind was signed into law in January 2002. It's the latest federal legislation to enact the theories of standards-based education reform, which is based on the belief that setting goals and high expectations will result in success for all students.
    Wilson says that the act has had some successes, such as narrowing the achievement gap between Anglo and minority students but that it should be more flexible when it comes to limited-English students.
    APS Assistant Superintendent Diego Gallegos agreed, adding that the act can't succeed without the federal government giving schools the maximum amount of funding authorized.
    Under the law, English-language learners must be tested in English two years after they enter the district, he said.
    "Our folks are recommending a waiver process that will allow these students to be tested in their home language a longer time (five years) than NCLB allows," said Gallegos, adding it takes longer for students to become proficient in instruction than it does for them to learn English conversationally.