Contradictions and Absurdities of New Federal Education Law Undermine Progress of Florida Schools

The No Child Left Behind education law pledged to improve student achievement through rigorous testing and strict accountability. However, by developing policy based on political compromise instead of proven education reforms, the No Child Left Behind law's contradictory regulations threaten to leave thousands of Florida's school children behind.

Nowhere are the federal law's contradictions and resulting absurdities more evident than in Florida, where 83% percent of the state's schools have been labeled as failures by the federal government.

The negative labels placed on these schools could have far-reaching implications for students, parents and communities, potentially hurting students' ability to get into the college of their choice, decreasing property values in neighborhoods where these schools are located, and hampering economic growth in these communities.

With the education of future generations and the welfare of our communities at stake, we think Floridians deserve to know which schools are getting contradictory ratings from the state and federal government.

Instead of using tax dollars to deliver confusion, frustration, and punishment, the No Child Left Behind law should provide public schools the resources they need to help all students succeed: smaller class sizes, better teacher training, parental involvement and up-to-date books and technology.

Federal Standards v. State Standards

Florida uses a high-stakes test, known as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), to assess its students' knowledge and understanding of math, reading, writing and science and to hold schools accountable for student progress.

FCAT scores are used by the state to assess the progress of individual students as well as to determine whether individual schools meet state performance standards, commonly known as the Sunshine State Standards. The state then assigns each school a letter grade based on its overall performance on the FCAT that year.

Under the so-called No Child Left Behind law, Florida also is required to determine whether or not individual schools have made "adequate yearly progress" (AYP). There are as many as 37 criteria that determine whether a school makes AYP. Even if a school meets 36 of the 37 criteria it still fails to make AYP and is generally treated the same way as a school that fails to meet all 37. Student performance on the FCAT is used as a primary measure for determining whether a school has met AYP.

To achieve AYP, not only must the school reach a certain level of student performance overall, but each subgroup of students must reach the same level of performance. Students are divided into key subgroups: White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Economically Disadvantaged, Limited English Proficient and Students with Disabilities. If any one of these subgroups fails to meet performance standards on the standardized test, the school does not make AYP.

Additionally, 95 percent of all students (and in each subgroup) must participate in the test in order to meet AYP requirements. If not enough students in a subgroup are tested, the entire school is deemed to have failed to meet AYP requirements. As a result, a school can fail to meet AYP simply if a handful of students fail to show up on the designated test day.

Given the rigid federal requirements, it is possible for a school to receive an "A" grade from the state based on its performance on the FCAT, while failing to meet AYP. If the school fails to meet AYP two years in a row, the school faces serious sanctions. NCLB requires school districts to use scarce federal funds for any student to transfer to other schools outside their neighborhoods, withholds needed resources to improve these failing schools, and ultimately could result in teacher dismissals and school closures.

While NCLB's aims of closing the achievement gap and setting high standards for our schools are worthy goals, labeling high quality schools as failures is not the answer. Rather than punishing schools, the federal government should work with those schools that are in the greatest need of improvement. Moreover, the law must be rewritten to support state efforts rather than contradict them.

Examples of Florida AYP Absurdities

Seminole Middle School, Pinellas County, Florida
Seminole earned Blue Ribbon designation in 2000, but this year the school failed to meet AYP despite receiving a grade of "A" on last year's state FCAT exam. (St. Petersburg Times, 10/16/03)

Gulfport Elementary School, Pinellas County, Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush's Florida A+ Education Plan says that Gulfport Elementary School did so well academically last year it deserves a state bonus check of roughly $40,000. President George W. Bush's AYP standards say Gulfport Elementary School performed so poorly that parents must be allowed to pull their children out and send them to a "better performing" school in the district. (St. Petersburg Times, 07/31/03)

Alafia Elementary School, Tampa, Florida
Alafia needed 34 of its 35 African-American students to pass the FCAT for the entire school to meet AYP. However, only 32 students were present to take the exam, automatically labeling the school as not meeting AYP. (Tampa Tribune, 08/14/03)

Northwest Elementary School, Tampa, Florida
Northwest Elementary did not meet AYP standards even though 94 percent of its African-American students in grades 3 to 5 -- or 31 out of a total of 33 students -- took the state FCAT exam. When the school investigated, administrators discovered that one of the missing two students had later withdrawn from the school; a record could not be found of the second child. Prior to this year, Northwest had received an "A" from the state of Florida for its FCAT scores and improvement levels for four years in a row. (Tampa Tribune, 08/14/03)