Is AYP a thing of the past?

The President’s budget proposal provides some insight into revisions to ESEA being discussed with lawmakers. This Education Week article provides information though there are many more unanswered questions. One of the main changes would be replacing the current AYP measurement with a new metric focused on career and college readiness. Exactly what this means and how it would be measured is not yet known, but moving from the current focus would be a welcome change.

Below is a summary from the article.

Changing Measurements
In seeking to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Obama administration is trying to significantly revamp the accountability system at the heart of the law’s current version, the 8-year-old No Child Left Behind Act.

NEW ACCOUNTABILITY GOALS•
Set college- and career-ready standards.•
Measure student growth over time.•
Establish a definition of “teacher effectiveness” that relies heavily on student learning.•
Track high school graduation and college-enrollment rates.

STILL UNANSWERED• Would the new system retain the current 2014 deadline for bringing all students to proficiency?•
How are “college- and career-ready” standards defined?•
How often would students be tested, using what assessment, and in what subjects?•
Would schools that fail to meet the new goals still be subject to a timetable of penalties?

We will watch this develop as it obviously has a significant influence over what we and all school systems must do to qualify for federal funding. We’ll see what emerges once both houses of Congress weigh in and all the interest groups have an opportunity to lobby for or against specific provisions. If we didn’t need the federal funding, we would have much more flexibility in how we continue our journey.