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Racial Transformation and the Changing Nature of Segregation |
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Press Release New Harvard Research Shows How the U.S. Department of Education is Changing the Meaning of "No Child Left Behind" Through Negotiated Deals with States Cambridge, MA—February 10, 2006—A new study by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University (CRP) shows how the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is being changed through a series of negotiations between the U.S. Department of Education and individual states. This study reports that Department officials have been approving changes in how states implement NCLB by negotiating changes individually with each state. The authors contend that this process of making compromises with individual states has altered the meaning of accountability since no two states are now subject to the same requirements. According to Gail Sunderman, the report’s author, “These changes are a response to the growing political opposition we are seeing in states and the increasing number of schools and districts that are being identified as needing improvement. Rather than deal systematically with the problems in the law, the Department of Education has adopted a political strategy to changing NCLB. But this also suggests that the law is not working very well.” The report traces the growing opposition to the law among states and shows how these changes reduce the number of schools and districts identified for improvement. “The problem with this approach is that it does not affect all schools equally,” says Sunderman. Since many high performing schools and districts are labeled as failing under NCLB, this has become a political issue. Some changes have a differential impact that is unrelated to educational achievement. For example, changes some states have negotiated in how districts are held accountable under NCLB reduce the number of districts identified for improvement, but these changes primarily benefit those districts serving more white than minority students. Professor Gary Orfield, Director of the Civil Rights Project, believes that these glaring inconsistencies produce cynicism about the demands of the law and undermine the parts of the law that have the greatest potential for reducing educational inequalities. “The effort to paper over the defects of the law’s limited and unrealistic accountability scheme has failed,” he says, “and threatens the entire effort unless Congress and the Administration admit the problems and work together with educators to devise means that will produce serious reforms and genuine gains.” Among the changes approved by the U.S. Department of Education are a number of statistical techniques that states can use to calculate “adequate yearly progress” (AYP), which the authors demonstrate are only making it more difficult to understand what accountability means and obscure the ability of schools to show improvement in student performance. The findings make clear that NCLB must be amended in significant ways, but that the ad hoc approach adopted by the Department of Education is only making matters worse. The authors recommend that policymakers revisit some of the basic assumptions that NCLB is based upon and include educators in the process to develop a systematic approach to revising the law. About the Report: A full report in PDF format may be downloaded from our website:http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/esea/nclb_unraveling.php The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University (CRP), founded in 1996, is a leading, national organization devoted to research and policy analysis about critical civil rights issues facing the nation. Its mission is to bridge the worlds of ideas and action by becoming a preeminent source of intellectual capital and a forum for building consensus within the civil rights movement. We achieve this by interweaving strategies of research and policy analysis, and by building strong collaboration between researchers, community organizations, lawyers and policy makers. Our dual objectives are to: (1) raise the visibility of, and attention to, racial justice national policy debates; and (2) arm local and national civil rights and educational organizations with credible research to inform their legal, political and public education efforts. About the Authors: Gail Sunderman is a Senior Research Associate in K-12 Education for the Civil Rights Project. She received her doctorate in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on educational policy and politics, urban school reform, and the impact of policy on the educational opportunities for at-risk students. At the Civil Rights Project, she is involved in a five-year study examining the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and is first author of the book, NCLB Meets School Realities: Lessons from the Field. Professor Gary Orfield is Professor of Education and Social Policy and Director of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. He is an author or editor of many books and articles on school desegregation including, Dismantling Desegregation: The Quiet Reversal of Brown v. Board of Education, School Resegregation: Must the South Turn Back?, Higher Education and the Color Line, and other civil rights issues. Professor Orfield’s complete biography is available online at: http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/aboutus/bios/orfield.php Press Contacts: Gail Sunderman Professor
Gary Orfield For additional assistance contact 
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