Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to look closely at loophole

~ By FRANK BASS

WASHINGTON -- Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is pledging to scrutinize a loophole that allows states to exclude nearly 2 million student test scores under the No Child Left Behind Act.

"When children are not part of the accountability system, then that's a problem," Spellings said in an interview Thursday at the conclusion of a four-day Associated Press series that highlighted the excluded scores.

Spellings said the AP report amounted to a "truth-in-advertising" exercise for state policymakers, parents and federal officials. She declined to specify exactly how she will address the excluded scores, noting the issue will come up with the law's renewal next year and with pending federal reviews of state education plans.

At least 10 states are seeking permission to change the numbers of students whose scores do not have to be counted in required racial categories.

"Do we need to move forward to include more and more children all the time? Yes, we do. I think you'll see we're going to continue to look at that issue," she said.

Under the law, schools are required to test students in math and reading and report their scores by group, such as race, disability, English language ability or economic situation. If one group of students fails to meet standards, an entire school can face penalties.

States, however, are allowed to set minimum numbers of students to ensure statistical reliability and privacy. AP found that states have set wildly different minimum standards for how many children must be counted, allowing schools to exclude 1.9 million scores in required racial categories.

'One size fits all'

One idea to be considered is "whether a one-size-fits-all solution makes sense or not, and I don't think we know that yet," Spellings said. She emphasized her agency will look at a state's entire education plan, not just the way it sets its group sizes.

Spelling also emphasized the law's accomplishments.

Before Congress passed it in 2001, she said, federal officials had no way to track state progress of roughly 50 million children who attend public school.

Now, she said -- even with nearly 2 million uncounted -- parents, teachers and educators have a better idea of how 23 million are doing because of the law's requirement that children be tested annually in third grade through eighth grade and once in high school.

Spellings also said the law marks a watershed for closing the racial achievement gap. In previous tests, she said, schools could always produce better results by reporting test scores for an entire grade or building. Now, schools are required to report test scores and show progress for different groups.

The schools, she said, "are working on those student groups as they never have before, and that is because of No Child Left Behind. Yes, we need to continue to press them to serve each and every child, but we have made huge progress."

The investigation also found:

* Many education officials are concerned that the law's reporting requirements will discourage schools from integration efforts.

* A huge gap between teacher expectations and parental expectations regarding the law. An AP-AOL Learning Services Poll found teachers are more pessimistic than parents about getting every student to succeed.

* The law has been a boon for educational consultants, teachers and service companies. One estimate puts the burgeoning industry's revenues as high as $22 billion annually.