Human Services News

From Education Newsfeed:

Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon today in South Carolina praised the state for setting some of the highest standards in the nation when compared to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or the Nation's Report Card.

He also discussed the U.S. Department of Education's new Differentiated Accountability Program pilot, which will help states meet specific eligibility requirements to target resources and interventions to those schools most in need of significant reform.

In addition, he discussed recently proposed regulations that aim to help students and schools improve by strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act.

"Instead of questioning whether or not all students can learn, thanks to No Child Left Behind, we're finally beginning to make sure that every child is learning.

In the past two years, the percentage of low-income students performing at or above grade level in math increased in grades 4 and 5, as well as in high school.

At the U.S. Department of Education, our goal is to work with the states to help raise achievement, and this new pilot, we feel, does just that".

"While South Carolina has made steady academic progress over the past decade," Deputy Secretary Simon said, "there is still work to be done.

For example, the Nation's Report Card shows that many of South Carolina's African American students lag far behind their peers.

We must make sure that educators have the flexibility they need to help struggling students and schools improve.

And we must make sure that students who need extra help can access free tutoring."

To view Mapping South Carolina's Educational Progress 2008, please visit www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/progress/sc.html.

For Mapping America's Educational Progress 2008, visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/resresults/progress/nation.html.

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