Maryland joined the second round of applicants for a No Child Left Behind Act waiver, Feb. 28, adding to the list of states seeking to opt out of strictly following the law.
The decision to apply for a waiver comes after state officials held over 40 meetings to discuss every detail of what Maryland children need to succeed in the classroom.
Prior to drafting a final application for the waiver, the Maryland State Board of Education sought feedback from superintendents, principles, teachers, parents, students, special education advocates, and colleges and universities.
“We want to make sure the state has the flexibility they need,” said Sen. Ben Cardin.
“We don’t want to have teaching to the test; we want to have children really learning and accountability in the classroom.”
No Child Left Behind Act waivers give states an opportunity to modify or create guidelines that more accurately judge performance and progress in American schools.
States who decide to use a waiver are free from the stricter demands of the law, but in its place agree to improve teacher quality and productiveness, strengthen accountability and set higher, yet attainable, goals for students.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), or the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) as it later became known, was signed into law in 2002 by President Bush. Eleven states have already been granted approved waivers, which were first announced as an option by President Obama last September.
Under the standing NCLB law, all American students are expected to be reading and computing math on a grade efficient level by 2014. The law also rates schools on all-inclusive test scores and performance reports that don’t differentiate between race, ability, or any other factors that might distinguish certain children. Schools that fail to meet standards for two years in a row risk a “needs improvement,” label which in turn puts funds to actually make improvements in jeopardy. Schools across the nation allegedly became entangled in cheating scandals to prevent being declared unsatisfactory, and even more teachers resorted to “teaching the test,” or placing the main focus in the classroom on training students to learn standardized test materials, which leaves out important aspects of a well rounded education.
“The concept itself was good but in reality it couldn’t work. We need to start focusing on individual schools and individual students,” said President of the Public School Administrators and Supervisors Association, Jimmy Gittings.
With more flexibility, each state now has the opportunity to tailor a plan specific to their schools. In Maryland, schools will no longer have to gauge their success from one type of standardized test that all students must take. With a waiver, Maryland schools can include reports on subgroups within their student population, such as minorities and students with special needs.
Maryland’s waiver will also give teachers until 2017 to decrease the number of non-proficient students, as opposed to putting funds at risk by failing to meet the 2014 deadline. Maryland has now set a goal of cutting in half the number of students not meeting standards over the next six years.
