It's Groundhog Day, and like Bill Murray, I'm experiencing a serious case of deja vu. But I have to admit, I don't mind it one bit. To see what I mean, take a look at these questions-and-answers from our December 2008 "open letter" to President-elect Obama, Secretary-designate Duncan, and the 111th Congress, wherein we lay out a policy agenda for "reform realists":
- Question: Whether and how to move toward a system of national standards and tests? Answer: Promote voluntary, non-governmental, ???common??? state standards and aligned tests and a regimen of total transparency regarding school, district, state, and subgroup performance on those tests.
- Question: Whether to ease the ???universal proficiency by 2014??? mandate? Answer: Yes, eliminate both the ???universal proficiency??? mandate and the 2014 target. ???Adequate Yearly Progress??? (AYP) time-lines should be tied to individual students and tethered to college and work readiness. The goal, then, should be to get a sizable percentage of students to college- and work-readiness standards by the end of 12th grade.
- Question: In allowing states to adopt ???growth models,??? how much growth is enough? Answer: Focus on the growth of individual pupils across the achievement spectrum. Give states leeway to design systems that chart the trajectories of students and incentivize schools to make progress for all of them.
- Question: Whether to allow states to include ???multiple indicators??? in their AYP calculations, including test scores in subjects beyond math and reading? Answer: Give states discretion to experiment in this area, too. Encourage them to include science and history in their AYP determinations.
- Question: Whether to maintain NCLB's ???cascade of sanctions???? Answer: No. States should design their own interventions. Congress could provide incentives (i.e., extra money) for states or jurisdictions to tackle these reforms aggressively.
Gosh this sounds familiar, doesn't it?
-Mike Petrilli
