STILL HOPE?: Senator says new Congress may loosen guidelines of federal program.
FAIRBANKS -- A federal agency has denied Alaska's application to have more flexibility in judging whether schools are making adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind law.
Alaska was one of 16 states vying for 10 spots in a pilot program to allow states to judge a school's progress based on the percentage improvement in its students' test scores rather than on whether the scores have hit specific targets.
Five states -- Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee -- have already been accepted into the pilot program, leaving only five open slots. The federal Department of Education rejected Alaska's application.
Les Morse, the director of assessments and accountability with the state Department of Education, said the problem is that the current system doesn't give credit to schools if their students are not proficient but improving.
Under Alaska's proposal, Morse said, schools wouldn't be penalized as long as the students were making improvements toward becoming proficient in four years.
"We think that's a fair system for schools because it actually recognizes them for making those gains for kids," he said.
In the system mandated by the federal government, schools are judged based on a comparison of annual test scores. Alaska's proposal would instead compare individual students' progress as they advance through their education.
"How did Johnny do this year as compared to how Johnny did last year?" Morse said. "Looking at them individually, we would make better judgments on whether schools are doing better or need improvement."
Morse said such a system would be especially helpful in rural Alaska, where test results from small schools can be unpredictable and misleading because of high student turnover.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters in Washington, D.C., that the government's decision to deny Alaska's application was a "disappointment."
However, Murkowski said that Congress, soon to be led by Democrats, may be inclined to amend the No Child Left Behind Act so it will allow different measures of progress.
"I have made very clear that there are aspects of No Child Left Behind that need a legislative fix," she said. "In a state like Alaska, we need to have some additional flexibility."
