Harkin Introduces NCLB Overhaul

• Standards and Assessment
• Accountability and School Improvement
• Educator Support and Evaluation
• Whole Child Education

Senate Education Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) has unveiled his comprehensive rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), kick-starting a flurry of congressional activity to update and improve the nation’s main federal education law.

The whopping 1,150-page bill (PDF), which closely tracks the Obama administration’s NCLB waiver process, jettisons major components of NCLB’s accountability system—including the impractical 2013–14 100 percent proficiency deadline and the adequate yearly progress (AYP) targets toward that goal—while still maintaining a federal role in education.

Harkin’s bill is a Democratic-only effort, which will assure its passage out of committee this week but casts doubt about its likelihood of being approved by the full Senate without modifications. However, the bill is a clear indicator of where Harkin and the 11 Democratic members of his committee stand on crucial education issues from accountability to supporting educators. We’ve outlined some of bill’s most significant provisions below.

• States would be required to adopt college- and career-ready academic standards in reading, math, and science.
• The bill maintains NCLB’s annual testing regimen in reading and math. However, states could use a single, summative assessment each year or a series of multiple assessments to track student achievement and growth.
• States would continue to publicly report disaggregated student achievement data, including two additional categories—gender and English proficiency.

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• States with NCLB waiver plans would be able to continue their accountability systems; all other states would have to develop systems that include student achievement and growth; English language proficiency; and, for high schools, graduation rates.
• States would identify and support “priority” schools (the lowest performing 5 percent of Title I elementary schools and Title I secondary schools, as well as secondary schools with graduation rates under 60 percent) and “focus” schools (Title I schools with the greatest achievement gaps and secondary schools with the greatest graduation rate gaps).
• States would have the following options to improve their priority schools: transformation (replace the principal); turnaround (replace the principal and at least 35 percent of the staff) whole school reform (partner with external provider to implement evidence-based program); restart (convert school to charter or magnet); school closure; or apply for approval to use alternate, evidence-based strategies.

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• The bill requires states and districts to use educator evaluation systems that establish multiple performance levels to ensure meaningful differentiation among staff. Principal ratings would be based on student achievement and growth and evidence of instructional leadership and support to teachers. Teacher ratings would be based “in significant part” on student achievement and growth, observations of classroom teaching, and other measures that inform teacher performance.
• States that already have evaluation systems in place under their waiver plans do not have to change them.
• The bill emphasizes that the purpose of such evaluation systems is to provide meaningful feedback, give teachers the support they need to continuously improve their practice, and ensure equitable distribution of effective teachers. States and districts are not required to use the results in making personnel decisions, which is a marked departure from the NCLB waivers.

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• Grants would be available to help states and districts provide all students with access to a well-rounded education in a wide range of subject areas, but the program pits the various subjects against one another for resources, which could ultimately lead to the opposite effect.
• Districts and schools would be required to significantly expand the information in their annual report cards to provide a more detailed and nuanced look at how well schools support their students and prepare them for college and careers. Additional indicators would include college enrollment, college remediation rates, disciplinary information, AP and IB test data, and data on bullying incidents and substance abuse.
• A new “equity score card” would provide school-level information to parents on a school’s climate; educational opportunity offerings (such as AP, full-day kindergarten, or gifted programming); the number of assessments required; and the school’s funding by source (state, local, and federal).
• The bill’s Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students program features an increased emphasis on mental health—a likely response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting and the administration’s resultant Now Is the Time (PDF) initiative.

In addition, Harkin’s bill focuses greater attention on early childhood education, asking states to develop school readiness guidelines, provide greater access to high-quality early literacy instruction, consider providing full-day kindergarten, and expand early learning opportunities for disadvantaged students. It also continues the administration’s signature Race to the Top, Investing in Innovation, and Promise Neighborhoods grant programs.

Not to be outdone, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the education committee’s top Republican, released a competing NCLB rewrite that significantly rolls back federal involvement in education compared to the Harkin bill. Just hours later, House Education Chairman John Kline (R-MN) released his own committee’s NCLB rewrite, which has no support from the Democrats to date.

The Senate education committee will review and mark up Harkin’s bill tomorrow. Watch for next week’s special edition of Capitol Connection for a synopsis of the markup as well as a detailed look at Kline’s bill. In the meantime, access the Senate education committee’s summary bill documents.

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