Human Services News

From Education Newsfeed:

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today addressed the Education Commission of the States (ECS) National Forum on Education Policy and announced the approval of six states---Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio---to use the Differentiated Accountability Pilot aimed at helping states differentiate between underperforming schools in need of dramatic interventions and those that are closer to meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind.

Differentiated Accountability will allow states to vary the intensity and type of interventions to match the academic reasons that lead to a school's identification for improvement.

In addition, some states and districts have a large percentage of their schools identified for improvement, thus impacting their capacity to provide meaningful, intensive reforms.

When choosing the six states, the Department used a rigorous peer review to ensure that the selection process was fair and transparent for all participating states.

Recommendations were given to Secretary Spellings, who made the final approvals.

In return for this flexibility, states participating in the pilot must commit to build their capacity for school reform; take the most significant actions for the lowest-performing schools, including addressing the issue of teacher effectiveness; and use data to determine the method of differentiation and categories of intervention.

The Department intends to invite states to submit additional Differentiated Accountability proposals in fall 2008.

Thank you both for your efforts on the pressing education issues facing our nation.

Nearly 50 years later, because of states' efforts and the No Child Left Behind law, we have data---and lots of it.

With No Child Left Behind, we know what's working in schools and what's not, and where students are falling behind.

Instead of turning our backs on students and teachers, we must defend the core principles of accountability.

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