By Jocelyn Huber
The sometimes glacial pace of education policy reform can be incredibly frustrating. The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the 2001 rewrite of which under NCLB made “disaggregation” a household word and achievement gap closing a national mission, is more than 3 years past its intended expiration date. A bipartisan reauthorization effort in 2007 to rewrite the law was stopped dead in its tracks after an all out effort by adult interest groups, despite the many attempts made to accommodate their concerns. More than three years have gone by since then, and nine years passed since NCLB was signed into law and still politics, not policy, remains the primary obstacle to change.
Inspired by the Race to the Top program, some states have begun to move forward with their own policy reforms. But Race to the Top has not succeeded in universally catalyzing reform across all 50 states. In fact, historically disadvantaged students in some of the lowest-performing states in the country, such as Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, and West Virginia are seeing little in the way of reform, from Race to the Top or anywhere else.
The delays are especially troubling when you consider the impact on students. You don’t have to look far to realize that, despite the efforts of countless individuals, our education system is failing far too many students. According to one report, only one-third to one-half of the country’s 11th graders are proficient based on the common-core standards necessary for college admission. Another study finds that U.S. schools are failing to produce top performers in math and science – two key subjects students need to master for 21st century jobs – which is less surprising but no less discouraging when you consider that less than a quarter of American high school juniors are prepared to tackle college-level scientific reading material.