LINCOLN — State education leaders want a new way to judge the performance of Nebraska's K-12 schools, one that more fairly identifies schools that are failing to provide a quality education.
That was the message delivered Tuesday to the Legislature's Education Committee.
State Education Commissioner Roger Breed and other officials testified in favor of a proposal that would allow the State Board of Education to devise a “performance index” for state schools that measures several factors, including graduation rates, student progress and performance on state-required tests.
If a school didn't make the grade, the state would form an “intervention team” that would develop a progress plan to improve the school.
The proposal, Legislative Bill 1007 or the Quality Education Accountability Act, was introduced by York Sen. Greg Adams, chairman of the Education Committee.
The bill is an outgrowth of several education improvement programs, including the state's P-16 Initiative to improve graduation rates and increase college attendance.
Proponents told the committee Tuesday that LB 1007 addresses some of the flaws in the school assessments used in the federal No Child Left Behind program and would replace the state's School-based Teacher-led Assessment Reporting System, or STARS.
Critics have said the STARS system, which let schools set their own standards, failed to measure whether or not a district was failing its students and didn't allow for a comparison with other districts.
Adams, a former teacher, said the No Child Left Behind program set an unrealistic goal that every student be 100 percent academically proficient by 2014.
That, he said, would be like expecting everyone attending Tuesday's hearing to be able to high-jump at least six feet high — which brought a laugh from the mostly middle-aged or older audience of lobbyists and education officials.
The federal standards, Adams said, allow no credit for improvement, only whether you can make the six-foot jump.
Because LB 1007 allows measurements of several factors of a school's performance, it's fairer and more accurate, the senator said.
Bob Evnen of Lincoln, a member of the State Board of Education, said the bill was the next logical step for the state, following the adoption of statewide tests for reading and math and statewide standards for schools.
“This really closes the circle on improving education in our state,” Evnen said.
Every major K-12 education group testified in favor of the measure, which raised the suspicions of Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery.
Avery said that in 2008, when the Legislature adopted state testing requirements, education groups had to “be dragged kicking and screaming” to support the idea.
But Tuesday, the senator observed, all those groups supported LB 1007.
“Change is difficult,” said John Bonaiuto, executive director of the Nebraska Association of School Boards. “This is a way to work with that change.”
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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