This week, Education Secretary Rod Paige announced new guidance on one of the stickiest questions surrounding the AYP requirements of NCLB: just how to deal with severely disabled pupils in calculating who is and isn't making adequate yearly progress. The answer is that up to 9 percent of special ed students (or 1 percent of the total student body) may henceforth be assessed for proficiency against the goals of their personal IEPS rather than being forced to meet the general proficiency benchmarks that other pupils must meet. This strikes us as welcome flexibility, an overdue acknowledgment that some students truly cannot clear a high academic bar but can make other important progress. It maintains the spirit and intent of NCLB while giving the lie to the baleful chorus about how unfeeling and unyielding the proponents of standards and accountability are.
"New No Child Left Behind provision gives schools increased flexibility while ensuring all children count, including those with disabilities," U.S. Department of Education, December 9, 2003
"Rules on testing some disabled relaxed," by Andrew Mollison and Dana Tofig, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 10, 2003
"Test regulations for special ed students revised," by Beth Braverman, The Express-Times, December 10, 2003