NCLB AND THE SENSE OF URGENCY (via AWW):

More schools exceed 'tough' academic bar (DIANE LONG, 8/13/04, The Tennesseean)

Ease up on a few rules and work a lot harder.

State education officials say that's the prescription that has reduced the rate of failing schools in Tennessee from 47% in 2003 to 19% in 2004.

That means 81% of schools met all 37 benchmarks for student performance in the state's second year of accountability under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The shorter lists of low-performing schools — dubbed ''target'' or ''high priority'' by the state — were released yesterday by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Education Commissioner Lana Seivers was pleased but not satisfied.

''What I feel is a sense of urgency,'' Seivers said. ''I think we have to celebrate our accomplishments. And that other 19%, some have different degrees of accomplishment. But we have a sense of urgency to make it better now.''

While Tennessee has had a schools accountability system for more than a decade, the rules changed in 2002-03 under NCLB.

No more low expectations.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 14, 2004 4:37 PM