The bipartisan Commission on No Child Left Behind, established by the Aspen Institute, released their long awaited final report this week detailing the "shortcomings" of the law and proposing a series of recommendations for improving NCLB as it comes up for reauthorization this year.  Based on the vision of high achievement for all, the 222 page report makes approximately 60 recommendations broken into eight categories.  One of its many recommendations is tracking individual students' year-to-year progress on high stakes assessments.  It also calls for creating national, model standards for voluntary adoption with non-conforming standards subject to federal review.

Co-chaired by two former governors (Republican Tommy G. Thompson and Democrat Roy E. Barnes) the Commission is a bipartisan group made up of a 15 members from a "full spectrum of interests" including "K-12 and higher education, school and school system governance, civil rights and business."  The report is a product of one year of work gathering data, conducting public hearings and discussions around the country, site visits, public round tables, and collection of concerns over the web, as well as numerous deliberations by the committee.        

"The Commission has done a thorough job in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the current NCLB Act and in offering many insightful recommendations for reform, "said Michael A. Rebell, Executive Director of The Campaign for Educational Equity.  "However, I am disappointed that the commission failed to address two major issues.  They don't focus on the need for adequate funding to meet the demanding requirements of NCLB or the question of whether 100% proficiency by 2014 is a credible goal," Rebell added. The Campaign is currently taking a hard look at these important issues.

The full report is available on the Aspen Institute website at http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7BDEB6F227-659B-4EC8-8F84-8DF23CA704F5%7D/NCLB_Book.pdf

Published Monday, May. 14, 2007