Mar 14, 2008 - 04:05:09 CDT
North Dakota schools are doing a good job implementing No Child Left Behind requirements despite some unique challenges, the deputy secretary of education said Thursday.In a visit to Bismarck, Ray Simon met with education leaders from across the state to address their questions and concerns with the federal program. In the audience were superintendents, education association presidents and business leaders. State Superintendent Wayne Sanstead led the discussion.
Simon said the state has dealt well with its thinly spread population to achieve one of the nation's highest rates of compliance with the act.
"You've got some unique issues here that need to be recognized," he said.
No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001 and established universal testing standards and sanctions for schools that didn't make the grade. It received bipartisan support at the time, but has since raised the ire of some in the education community for emphasizing testing over other aspects of education.
The law is up for re-authorization this year.
Simon said the department - a part of President Bush's administration - is recommending some improvements to the law that could quell "95 percent of complaints" about it. Among those improvements are greater accommodation for special education students and greater differentiation for schools that miss the targets.
The latter would allow schools that just miss the targets to be treated differently than those that miss by a wider margin.
Simon said the future may hold federal incentives for states to raise standards and a firm commitment to the law's goal of having every child at grade level by 2014.
Simon said he expected the public policy environment in the near future to place an emphasis on how American high schools are performing versus the rest of the world.
"In general, I think this issue of high school accountability will take front and center over the next few years," he said.
Martin Schock, superintendent of the Elgin-New Leipzig school district, said Thursday's session reassured him that the program was being administered with "common sense and flexibility."
Such an approach is necessary for small districts facing the federal law's requirements, he said.
"In my small classes, one student can make a big difference," Schock said. "We are sometimes in panic mode to meet (the standards)."
(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)
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