Montana schools seek new progress marker

HELENA – Citing Montana’s sparse population and small schools, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch said Monday she’s asked the federal government for more flexibility in measuring student progress under the No Child Left Behind Act.

McCulloch, an outspoken critic of the 2002 education reforms, wants the U.S. Department of Education to let Montana use more data in determining whether its schools are meeting the law’s yearly progress requirements.

Currently, progress is measured largely by student test scores.

McCulloch and other state officials say district trends, five-year plans and other long-term benchmarks should be included in the mix because they provide a more valid snapshot of Montana.

“The calculated process is very narrow, and when you’re dealing with small numbers of students we don’t feel (test scores) give a very accurate picture of adequate yearly progress,” said Nancy Coopersmith, assistant superintendent.

State officials have used the more subjective standards to measure NCLB progress at Montana’s smallest schools the past two years but want the model extended to all state schools. All schools in Montana, they say, are small compared to other states.

“Even our largest school districts are rural by definition of other states. … By definition, we believe all our schools would benefit by being in this process,” McCulloch said.

The U.S. Department of Education must approve the request and is currently negotiating with state education officials, said Kerri Briggs, a senior policy adviser with the department.

“We’ve given states a lot of room on this issue in coming up with ways of holding small schools accountable,” she said. “When you have a school with 10 kids, it’s kind of hard to think of putting those results through the typical (annual yearly progress) formula.”

The department has approved the state’s two prior requests for a rural schools annual yearly progress process, largely because it has proven effective and hasn’t skewed results, McCulloch said.

“The scores come out comparable,” she said. “We are doing this, I think, because the process is a valid process. I think it’s much more credible than sticking student test scores into a computer and coming up with a decision that way.”