69传媒

With Congress having effectively postponed the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Department of Education is turning to a panel of experts for advice about the technical issues that linger nearly seven years after the law鈥檚 passage.

Lawmakers will wait until at least next year to decide how to amend the federal education law, and that leaves in place the current requirements for standards, testing, and accountability.

Until Congress acts, though, the new advisory committee will help outline regulatory adjustments that the Education Department can make so the law鈥檚 accountability system is fairer and easier for school districts to implement.

鈥淲e think you鈥檙e going to be a good resource for the department,鈥� Raymond J. Simon, the deputy secretary of education, said on Sept. 16 at the first meeting of the National Technical Advisory Panel. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to be a good resource for Congress.鈥�

And Mr. Simon said the 16-member body will help answer important questions for the next presidential administration about what powers it has to effectively alter how the law works, and what changes must be adopted by Congress in a reauthorization.

Policy Implications

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings appointed the panel in August to advise the department on standards, assessments, and accountability. The group includes state assessment directors, test designers, and other policy experts.

At its first meeting here, department officials filled the agenda with such questions as how to design growth models and create indexes that provide separate cumulative scores to report a school鈥檚 achievement in reading and mathematics.

The discussion of issues surrounding such accountability topics quickly became technical among the experts. But answering such questions can lead to important changes in policy in determining whether schools make adequate yearly progress鈥攐r AYP鈥攗nder the law. 69传媒 that fail to make AYP may have to pay for tutoring for their students and take other actions to improve achievement.

For example, the background paper for the meeting asked whether the Education Department should change the questions peer reviewers ask when evaluating states鈥� latest applications to use growth models.

The alternative way of measuring AYP can be a more accurate measure of schools鈥� success because it examines students鈥� growth over time, rather than comparing students at one grade level to the previous year鈥檚 cohort.

But the criteria used to evaluate states鈥� applications for growth models could make the accountability system 鈥渟o flexible as to make AYP less meaningful,鈥� the background paper said.

鈥淚n short, is it possible for an accountability system to provide too many ways to make AYP?鈥� the document asked the panel members to address.

Secretary Spellings has approved 11 states to use growth models in making AYP decisions and has invited remaining states to submit growth models for potential approval for implementation as soon as the current school year.

Indexing Performance

At the panel鈥檚 Sept. 16 meeting, it was clear that the work would be technical.

The first item discussed was what criteria the department should use to evaluate a state鈥檚 performance index鈥攁 way of combining a variety of results to determine the success of a school. Most indexes give states partial credit for students who achieve at levels below the NCLB law鈥檚 goal of proficiency. So far, the department hasn鈥檛 approved a plan that gives a school extra credit for the number of students who achieve at a level above proficiency.

The department has approved 12 states鈥� performance indexes and would consider proposals from other states to make their AYP determinations based on such indexes, said Kerri Briggs, the assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education.

But, Ms. Briggs added, the department would not approve plans that don鈥檛 maintain key elements of the law, such as measuring whether students are on track to meet the goal of universal proficiency in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-14 school year.

Testing experts turned the discussion to issues of validity and the reliability of test scores.

They also asked whether the department allows states to design indexes to report the results on the alternate assessments given to students with disabilities. So far, Ms. Briggs said, the department hasn鈥檛 done so.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to allow index systems for all students, I can鈥檛 see a reason why you couldn鈥檛 apply the same index system to the alternate assessment,鈥� said Scott Marion, a panel member and a vice president of the a nonprofit consultant to states based in Dover, N.H.