Funding Flexibility
But the deal does include a pilot project that would allow districts to try out a weighted student-funding formula, which would create some flexibility in transferring federal funds.
Even though the deal keeps annual testing in place, it would set up a pilot project giving a handful of states the chance to try out local tests with the permission of the federal Education Department.
Importantly, those local tests aren’t supposed to be used forever—the point is for districts to try out new forms of assessment (as New Hampshire is doing with performance tasks) that could eventually go statewide and be used by everyone. That way, states wouldn’t get stuck with the same old assessment for years on end.
What’s more, the deal would allow for the use of local tests at the high school level, with state permission. So a district could, in theory, use the SAT or ACT as its high school test instead of the traditional state exam.
David Schuler, the superintendent of High School District 214 in the Chicago suburbs, is especially excited about the provision. If the deal becomes law, he may try out one of the college-entrance exams in his district, if his state gives the OK.
As for the question of whether states would continue to hold schools accountable, Schuler doesn’t expect accountability to go away.
“Some people might try to portray this as a free-for-all, or the wild, wild west, but that’s not the case,” said Schuler, who is the president of AASA, the School Superintendents Association. “This would allow those conversations to move from D.C., in most cases, to our state capital, and that’s where they should be.”
Article Appeared @http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/12/02/days-could-be-numbered-for-no-child.html