No Child Left Behind Flexibility Sought

[deadparrot]

SALEM, Ore. - About 15 states are vying to be chosen as one of the few that will be allowed some leeway in how student progress is measured under the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal education law criticized by some as overly rigid.

Applications are due Friday, three months after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced that states would be allowed to seek some flexibility.

Under the current law, schools are expected to show year-to-year improvement in test scores — for example, this year's third-grade scores are compared to last year's. Under the pilot program, however, schools will be allowed to chart how individual students are doing on standardized tests from one year to the next.

The idea is the latest move by the Bush administration to allow more breathing room in the No Child Left Behind law. The administration is also giving rural teachers more time to become "highly qualified" and allowing more exemptions for severely disabled students.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_re_us/student_progress