Susan Tave Zelman

                                 

                    Office for Exceptional Children                                                                                                  Superintendent of Public Instruction

                    Mike Armstrong, Director

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR PANELISTS

 

STEPHEN BARR: NCLB

 

QUESTION

ANSWER

 

1.   We might be able to do more without so much paperwork and restrictions put on everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCLB is a federal statute with certain statutory requirements that must be met.  The Ohio Department of Education has taken many steps to reduce administrative minutia; however, we cannot reduce below the absolute minimum required by the law.  I am very confident that, in implementing NCLB, ODE requires less paperwork than almost any other state, because we implemented the law and application for funds with the intent to consolidate thinking, planning, applying, reporting, paying, etc.  Anyone working with multiple programs will easily see the benefits of ODE’s processes.

 

2.a.  Was NCLB based on Houston Schools?

 

 

 

 

2.b.  Why are we not challenging the Model as a false premise?

 

 

 

 

It is fairly well understood that the concepts of focused planning, attention to data and research, parent engagement, and ensuring that all children are given an “equal opportunity to learn and succeed” are part of the success of the Houston School District and impacted pieces of the law.  These same strategies are part of the success of many large and/or economically stressed districts that defied common wisdom about student success.  The law also includes many pieces that were not part of the Houston story.  Some components are clearly favored by one party and some are favored by the other party.  That is how the bi-partisan, compromise package was achieved.  The bottom line is the law is a “law” and both parties support the law.

 

3.   Are you saying, “NCLB will establish that there are students who are not able to learn?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no part of the law nor any comments made during the panel discussion that could possibly lead to that type of statement.  The law certainly challenges the beliefs of many people who are constrained in their beliefs about who can learn and how much.  Schools that implement the law with the goal of making all children successful learners will be pleasantly rewarded with steady improvement.  Districts who “know” that certain groups of students will not succeed probably have a self-fulfilling prophecy in the making.