Source Note: “The Backend Accountability Question?”

March 13, 2009 in Research Project

Title: “The Backend Accountability Question?”

Summary: Education blogger feels NCLB needs to be reformatted to provide a better framework for schools to meet proficiency goals.

Topic: Should the Obama Administration reform the No Child Left Behind Act?

Category: Citizen; Personal Blog

Publication Information: Eduwonk, 10/24/08

Author: Andrew Rotherham

Location: Eduwonk.com

Accessed: March 12, 2009

Support:

● Differentiated accountability,” Building On Results: A Blueprint for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB): This Department of Education policy, introduced in the 2007 “blueprint,” was meant to introduce a measure of relativism in evaluating schools identified as in need of improvement. Rotherham feels that this policy has made almost no difference in the scores of repeatedly underperforming schools, as there is still no incentive on the part of the state to take corrective action.

● Education Trust Recommendations for No Child Left Behind Reauthorization: The Education Trust proposed that underperforming schools that adopt strict curriculums and test preparation programs after they have been identified as “in need of improvement” be given an extension to meet proficiency goals. Rotherham feels this is a more realistic way to encourage long-term self-improvement on the part of individual schools.

Audience and Agenda: Eduwonk was created in April 2004 as the personal blog of Andrew Rotherham. Rotherham is the co-founder of the think tank Education Sector, a non-profit group that conducts education policy analysis. Eduwonk counts among its readership such prominent figures as former Bush education advisor Sandy Kress and Jay Mathews of the Washington Post.

Usefulness: Rotherham’s critique of NCLB’s accountability methods outlines specific areas in which the law can be made more responsive to the reality of underperforming schools’ struggle to make adequate yearly progress. As Rotherham is a significant figure in the field of education policy, his arguments for reform carry more weight to many than those of non-professional bloggers, who may (wrongly) be perceived as uninformed by “insiders.”

Works cited:

“About Eduwonk,” http://www.eduwonk.com/2004/04/about-eduwonk.html

“Education Sector: Who We Are,” http://www.educationsector.org/whoweare/