NCLB Outrages

The 2% Cap

Write Margaret Spellings, asking what "the best available evidence is" on this 2% cap. Ask, Show me the data!

Margaret Spellings
U. S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202

Primary Phone: (202) 401-3000



This from Washington Partners LLC's NCLB Insights:

On Dec. 14, Spellings announced proposed regulations for states to "modify" achievement standards for certain students with disabilities. According to the DoE, "the best available research and data indicate that--in addition to the approximately 1 percent of students with cognitive disabilities--there is an additional 2 percent of the school-age population who, because of their disabilty, have significant difficulty achieving grade-level
proficiency, even with the best instruction,

So...

Here's the proposed regulation:

Will permit the state to 1. develop modified achievement standards aligned
with states content standards 2. develop assessments to measure the
achievement of students based on such modified achievement standards and
3. include the proficient ad advanced scores based on modified achievement
standards in determining AYP for school accountability purposes, subject to a
cap of 2 percent at the district and state levels.

My questions are:

1. What research caps students with cognitive
disabilities at 2%?

2. What if a school has 2.1 or 3 % of students with a disability?

How exactly does this cap work and isn't it somewhat ridiculous to put a cap on the number of students with cognitive disabilities for any individual school?

This logic appears arbitrary and absurd on its
face.

Comments on the regulation are due February 28, 2006.
_
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/12/12142005a.html

— Judy Rabin, Monmouth University
ARN discussion list
2006-01-09

---

INDEX OF NCLB OUTRAGES