Issue Brief

Reauthorization of Elementary & Secondary Education Act/

No Child Left Behind: Addressing the Needs of Students with Exceptionalities

CONGRESSIONAL ACTION NEEDED

As Congress reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB), CEC supports provisions that foster high quality teaching and learning, equality of educational opportunity to learn, and improved achievement for children with disabilities and/or gifts and talents through:

· Supporting a well prepared successful educational workforce;

· Meaningful systems that encourage collaborative and supportive measurement, evaluation and reward of professional performance;

· Strengthening assessment and accountability for all children;

· Meeting the unique needs of gifted learners;

· Improving outcomes for all children through the collaboration of all educators;

· Developing improved strategies that create positive school reform;

· Providing full funding to execute the goals and provisions of ESEA; and

· Systems that are carefully coordinated and balanced between ESEA and IDEA.

For the past 30 years, children with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work on their behalf have revolutionized the educational and workplace opportunities available to America’s 6 million children and youth with disabilities, through the implementation of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Now, most students with disabilities spend the majority of their school day in the general education classroom, learning alongside their non-disabled peers. Reauthorization of ESEA/NCLB is an opportunity to ensure that federal education policies foster the academic and developmental growth of students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents.

RECENT ACTION TAKEN BY CONGRESS & THE ADMINISTRATION

In June 2013, both education committees in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives passed bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, neither of which CEC fully endorsed.

CEC supported numerous provisions in the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013, passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, Pensions (HELP) Committee, such as:

· Increased inclusion and protection of students with disabilities throughout the legislation;

· Transparent reporting of academic achievement of students with disabilities in accountability systems;

· Assessments that appropriately include all students and limiting the use of alternate assessments to 1% of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities;

· Alignment with IDEA provide early intervening services to struggling students using Title I resources;

· Increased attention to equitable distribution of teachers;

· Increased focus on gifted and talented education and research;

· Inclusion of the LEARN Act, emphasis on evidence-based interventions, student non-discrimination provisions, school discipline provisions, emphasis on early childhood, and school climate.

Unfortunately, the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013 also included provisions of concern to CEC including an overemphasis on teacher evaluation systems which CEC believes should be locally designed; reinforcing the use of overly prescriptive turnaround models that mandate staff firings which CEC believes would further exacerbate the shortage of special educators; and the allowance of individuals who have not completed an alternate route to certification program to be deemed highly qualified, a designation CEC believes should be reserved for individuals who have completed their preparation program, among other qualifications.

Additionally, CEC had significant concerns regarding the Students Success Act (H.R. 5) passed by the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Specifically, CEC opposed provisions which:

• Weaken accountability systems for students with disabilities;

• Mandate overly prescriptive teacher evaluation systems;

• Eliminate highly qualified provisions which establish a minimum bar to entry to the teaching profession;

• Establish funding levels for all programs that keep sequestration in place;

• Increase use of public funding for private schools, such as through voucher programs;

• Deemphasize investment and role of professional development;

• Fail to include the Keeping Students Safe Act, legislation that addresses the use of restraint and seclusion;

• Neglect the needs of students with gifts and talents.

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While CEC opposes much of H.R. 5, there were provisions which CEC supported such as the elimination of Adequate Yearly Progress and the continued focus on disaggregating student achievement data to allow the public to know how students with disabilities are performing.

CEC encourages Congress to move forward through the legislative process as ESEA is long overdue for reauthorization. As a result of Congress’s delay in reauthorizing ESEA, the U.S. Department of Education has issued thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia waivers to states to provide relief from some of NCLB’s most stringent requirements such as: waiving the 2014 AYP proficiency timeline; waiving portions of the highly qualified teacher plans; allows for flexibility implementing school improvement requirements and allows for transferring funds between some federal programs. In exchange for this flexibility, states must adopt college and career ready standards; guidelines for new teacher and principal evaluation systems; and differentiated accountability systems. Additionally, states will must identify Priority Schools which are the lowest 5% of all Title I schools and Focus Schools which are the next lowest 10% of all Title I schools. Waiver applications are currently under review in eight states.

The ESEA waivers represent a band-aid approach to addressing the challenges that have arisen from NCLB. CEC is closely monitoring key waiver provisions impacting students with disabilities such as the impact of creating “super subgroups”, differentiated achievement targets for subgroups, and creation of teacher evaluation systems that include student achievement data. Overhauling ESEA/NCLB – rather than a piecemeal approach – is critical to better preparing all students for a lifetime of success.

Council for Exceptional Children

2900 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202 • (P) 800.224.6830 • (F) 703.243.3961• www.cec.sped.org

June 2013