District Administration - May 2006 - (Page 30)

InsidetheLaw Chattanooga's Choice Just before No Child Left Behind was signed into law, several elementary schools in the Hamilton County State Testing Standards School District in Chattanooga, Tenn. were on the lowest achievement scale, according to Superinten- Under Federal Review dent Jesse Register. Just before Hamilton merged with the Chattanooga o far, Delaware and South Carolina S district schools in 1997, the teacher union's condi- had their state standards and assess- tions had created a revolving door in low performing ment requirements under the No schools where new teachers were leaving after one Child Left Behind law OK'd by the U.S. to three years of service. So administrators worked Department of Education. with the union to create a scenario where high quality But Oregon and Indiana have to return teachers were in the most-needed schools. to the drawing board. And as of mid-April, Two changes were made: Administrators and the the other 46 states had yet to have their union agreed to a recruitment incentive that gave standards reviewed. $5,000 a year to high quality teachers to teach in T h is school year is the fi rst year that inner city schools for at least three years and the the federal government is requiring states schools that started to show measurable gains on to have schools test every student in tests also gave $1,000 to $2,000 to every teacher in grades 3 through 8 under NCLB. Prior, the building. states only had to test once in elementary Test scores rose so that the second lowest per- It is essential school, once in middle school and once forming school six years ago was the first school to that the in high school, according to Chad Colby, move completely off the NCLB warning list and now a department spokesman. South Carolina all nine schools are in the top 10 percent of schools academic was already testing in grades 3 through 8 in the state, Register says. He attributes it in part to achievement prior to this year, Colby notes. the more experienced teachers. The key to success A f ter states submit the standards and is having quality teachers and good leadership, standards be assessments used, external peer reviewers Register adds. developed in the education community and the Edu- cat ion Department evaluate each plan. based on the Sho w i ng Improvement In Oregon's case, for example, it had current grade- failed to meet achievement standards Percentage of Benwood Schools Chattanooga, Tenn. because they were set before academic level content students scoring proficient or advanced in TCAP content standards. It is essential that reading and math achievement scores standards. the academic achievement standards be 2003 2004 2005 developed based on the current grade-level Reading / Henry L. Johnson, content standards, states Henry L. John- Language Arts 57% 63% 77% assistant secretary, son, assistant secretary of elementary and federal DOE secondary education, in a letter to Oregon. 54% 62% 69% Mathematics Delawa re's plan meets requirements of S ourc e : Hamilton County Tenn. School District NCLB in part because it includes alternate achievement stan- da rds for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. and middle school students' tech savvy, NETS Project is designed to enable stake- Tech Literacy recently came on the market, www.learn- holders in preK-12 education to develop Gets Popular ing.com /tla, while NETS Online Technol- national standards for educational uses How to measure proficiency among ogy Assessment helps teachers measure of technology. www.cnets.iste.org students with information and commu- student skills in using software and helps And ProfilerPro evaluates knowledge, nication technology? measure student progress toward meet- attitude and skill based on simple surveys TechLiteracy Assessment, an online ing the National Educational Technology implemented via the Web. assessment tool to measure elementary Standards for Students, or NETS-S. ISTE's www.profilerpro.com 30 May 2006 District Administration DA_506_nclb.w.indd DA_506_nclb.w.indd 30 4/14/06 10:43:01 AM http://www.learning.com/tla http://www.learning.com/tla http://www.cnets.iste.org http://www.profilerpro.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Listening In
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Sports & Civics
Q&A: Lessons for Tomorrow
Cover Story: Special Ed's Greatest Challenges and Solutions
Dome Sweet Dome
Smart Design
Rotten Apples
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Principal Opinion
Public Opinion
Problem/Solution
Leadership Books
Laptop Roundup
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - May 2006