New resource helps Americans better understand standards, assessments and ways to improve student achievement

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today unveiled a new guide to help families, schools and communities better understand the new accountability provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, including the assessments that will be used to measure students?? and schools' progress in meeting state academic standards.

Secretary Paige unveiled the guide, Testing for Results: Helping Families, Schools and Communities Understand and Improve Student Achievement, during a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

"Accountability means making sure no child is left behind by keeping track of every child's progress. It means demanding a return on our investment," Secretary Paige said. "Accountability requires specific, objective data. And specific, objective data on students?? progress toward state standards comes from statewide assessment aligned with those standards: in other words, testing.

"This new guide will help our families, our schools and communities understand the importance of testing as an instructional tool," Secretary Paige added. "And, it will help answer many of the questions I've been asked in my conversations with parents and educators."

Under the new law, which President Bush signed last month, states and school districts will develop strong systems of accountability based upon student performance. The new law will require states to issue annual report cards on school performance and statewide results. In addition, states now will be required to set clear and high academic standards, and design and administer reading and math assessments for students in grades three through eight. Nearly $400 million is available this year to help states develop assessment and accountability systems.

Paige noted that some states already have clear and high curriculum standards and that some already test in reading and math in some grades. The federal law does not discourage testing in other subjects, but it does acknowledge that reading and math are the central subjects for learning, working and participating as a citizen.

"Test scores give us the information we need to find out what works, find out who needs help, and give more information and control to the people closest to the action: the parents, teachers, administrators and communities," Paige said. "Too often, the reason that schools have trouble is because the people who are the most invested in them are not the people in control. It is time to recognize that the people who know and care the most about neighborhood schools are the people of the neighborhood: the teachers, parents, administrators, and business and community leaders."

In addition to the accountability provisions, the new law also gives states and school districts increased local control and flexibility, removing federal red tape and bureaucracy and putting decision-making in the hands of those at the local and state levels. Parents of children from disadvantaged backgrounds will have options under the new law to participate in public school choice programs or obtain supplemental services such as tutoring if their child attends a failing school. And teachers around the country will be encouraged to use teaching methods that are based upon scientific research demonstrating that they work.

Individuals may obtain copies of the guide by writing to ED Pubs, Education Publications Center, U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, Md., 20794-1398; faxing a request to 301-470-1244; e-mailing a request to edpubs@inet.ed.gov; or by calling 1-877-433-7827 or TTY 1-800-437-0833.

The guide also is available online at http://www.ed.gov/accountability/ayp/testingforresults.html. For more information about the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, visit http://www.ed.gov/nclb/.

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