One cautionary tale about school reform
The Christian Science Monitor
Abraham McLaughlin
January 13, 2003
It's been one year since the genesis of the most-sweeping education reforms in a generation - the "No Child Left Behind" law. Now, Massachusetts and a handful of other states are emerging as national leaders in implementing this accountability-based plan.
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So far, the state's experience might be summed up as simply: short-term pain - with possibilities for long-term gain.
"Introducing significant accountability measures in a sector where there hasn't been much accountability is going to be difficult," says Paul Reville, an education analyst at MassINC, a nonpartisan Boston think tank. "Is that short-term dislocation a worthwhile price for creating long-term gain?"
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Another issue is the high price that students may pay for accountability efforts. This year, for example, the state began requiring 12th-graders to pass a test - the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System or MCAS - to receive their high school diplomas. Although this isn't a federal requirement, it's how Massachusetts has chosen to get tough on testing.
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Yet defenders say Massachusetts' tough measurements are a first step - albeit a messy one - toward meaningful reform. As Mr. Bush said this week, "You don't cause a problem by revealing the problem." He and others argue that if kids have to stay in school an extra year to pass the test - as a growing number are doing - so be it. They'll be better prepared for the world, they say.
One positive outcome of the tough test: Community leaders - from Boston's mayor to clergy members - have rallied to try to help kids pass the MCAS. But this may not be enough.
Whether states need more money to implement the No Child Left Behind law is a major debate - one that hasn't been settled by Massachusetts' experience.
Bush and his supporters argue that trillions of dollars have already been spent on education - and that the public is now demanding better results from its investment. Critics counter that Bush's plan fundamentally alters the American approach to education by requiring that by 2014, every student be proficient at math and reading.
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Indeed, if the Massachusetts experiment shows anything, says Dr. Reville, it's that "we're strong on diagnosis, but lacking in the capacity to do anything in the way of intervention." In other words, the hard part is just beginning.
