Congress sets sights on No Child Left Behind
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Under the No Child Left Behind Act, special-education students must be tested at their grade level, despite the fact many receive special education because they cannot perform at grade level. “It’s completely unfair to them,” Gershon said. “They have all made huge gains and progress this year, and that will not be documented anywhere.” This year, lawmakers are scheduled to rewrite the five-year-old law, which aims to close achievement gaps and have all students reading and doing math on grade level by 2014. |
The No Child Left Behind law requires annual testing in reading and math in third grade through eighth grade and once in high school. Advocates and critics of the law caution against loosening the rules too much, and abandoning its basic tenet to leave no child behind. Roughly 10 percent of special-education students — those with the most severe disabilities — take alternative tests under the law. These are easier than the regular exams. But critics say the tests still are too hard for some children and do not reflect lessons typically taught to severely disabled students. In addition to the 10 percent who get the special test, Education Department officials are considering allowing about one-fifth of the rest of the special-education students to take alternative tests. These tests are expected to be harder than the ones given to the first group but easier than the typical tests.
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