U.S. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige this month announced two changes in how adequate yearly progress for students with limited English skills could be calculated for the accountability requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Calling these changes "common sense," Paige said that "this policy is the result of several months of conversations and as issues have come to our attention." These changes are effective immediately for the 2003-04 school year. They are:

States may exempt students who are new to this country and to the English language from taking the reading/language arts content assessment for one year, and instead require them to take only an English language proficiency assessment.

These students would still be counted as participants for AYP purposes for the 95 percent testing requirement. This change applies only to students who are in their first year of enrollment in school after coming to the United States from a foreign, non-English-speaking country. These students still will be required to take the mathematics content assessment, with appropriate accommodations. However, states may, but will not be required to, include results from the math and, if given, the reading/language arts content assessment in AYP calculations.

For up to two years, states may include in the English language learners (ELL) subgroup students who have attained English proficiency.

This option addresses a major criticism of the law—the "Catch-22" that it has created with the ELL subgroup.  As soon as students in this subgroup become proficient in English, they exit from the group, making it a never-ending challenge for this group to achieve AYP proficiency targets.  The policy change now gives states the ability to credit schools and school districts for improving English language proficiency.

These changes are effective immediately, although there are some specifics that still must be resolved (e.g., how to handle states with fall assessments). A formal public comment period will follow before the regulation becomes final this spring. Nonetheless, Education Department officials said that states and districts "can absolutely count on this" for the 2003-04 school year, despite the lack of formal policy codification in the law. However, the changes announced will not be items upon which schools or districts can seek appeals retroactively.

During the Feb. 17 press conference announcing the changes, Secretary Paige also announced that the department is working to change two or three other areas of No Child Left Behind. One such change includes the stringent teacher quality provisions, which are particularly difficult to adhere to in rural areas of the country, for special education teachers and for teachers of special high-needs subjects including science and math.

For more information, contact the AFT educational issues department at 202/879-4460 or 202/393-6953. [Heidi Glidden]

February 24, 2004