Education Law

AYP targets balloon as proficiency deadline looms

Many states are being hit hard by NCLB?s ever-rising proficiency targets this year. This analysis from the University of California, Riverside, found that nearly 100 percent of elementary schools in California would fail to meet adequately yearly progress (AYP) by 2014 even under the most optimistic scenario. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, analyzed assessment data from more than 4,900 elementary schools in the 2002-2003 through 2006-2007 school years. It then projected future proficiency scores using three different mathematical models.

Since states have the discretion to determine how they reach the 100 percent proficiency goal by 2014, almost half of all states ? including California ? chose to raise the AYP targets slowly in the beginning and dramatically toward the last few years, see this item. As Rich Cardullo, the lead author of the study, put it: ?To use an analogy from the housing world, the balloon payment is about to hit.?

BoardBuzz only hopes that this unrealistic goal of 100 percent proficiency would be addressed before the balloon bursts. Read more about NSBA's recommendations to fix NCLB here.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on October 10, 2008 (boomark / email).