A legislative committee voted Monday to send a bill creating its own No Child Left Behind advisory commission to the full Legislature when it convenes in January.

North Dakota's three major education groups - representing school boards, teachers and administrators - asked the interim No Child Left Behind committee in September to form its own advisory group because they said they were unhappy with the state Department of Public Instruction's implementation of the law.

The bill creates a commission that would meet at least twice a year to address various issues with No Child Left Behind. Those include:

* The use of alternative assessments for special education students and English language learners.

* How student achievement is measured and underperforming schools are identified

* The affect of required teacher qualifications on the state's pool of educators.

* Reporting the cost for districts in implementing NCLB.

Recommendations on those issues would go before the Senate and House education committees in January 2007.

The commission would consist of representatives from the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders, North Dakota Education Association, North Dakota School Boards Association, North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, Education Standards and Practices Board and legislators.

No Child Left Behind is a federal law enacted in 2001 that requires states to measure student achievement through assessments and have all students proficient in reading and math by 2014. Each state developed an implementation plan, which the U.S. Department of Education had to approve.

DPI created North Dakota's plan that the federal department approved more than two years ago. That plan included an advisory committee consisting of the same groups included in the committee's bill draft, but also involved administrators and teachers.

Members of the interim committee blasted DPI during its meeting in September, saying it failed to bring major stakeholders to the table and give them a voice in how to implement the law. The department also ignored concerns from the state's education groups for two years, legislators said.

DPI administrator Greg Gallagher said if the Legislature passes the bill, it would hinder the state's ability to promptly react when changes in the law are handed down by the federal government. Any changes recommended by the commission could come only every two years during the legislative session.

"The efforts (in the bill) are redundant," Gallagher said. "It's not conducive for ready change."

(Reach reporter Sheena Dooley at 250-8225 or sheenadooley@ndonline.com.)