Alaska is the first state to be granted flexibility under the U.S. Department of Education’s growth-model pilot program, and those who support NCLB’s tough accountability measures are alarmed. Alaska’s system measures growth—literally. To make “adequate yearly progress,” a school’s students must grow, on average, at least one inch from September to June. Shorter students will have to grow more rapidly, in some cases as much as three inches a year. The goal is to get everyone to six feet by 2014. The local teachers union is thrilled to have the “testing monkey” off its back, said a spokesperson, though a Native Alaskan civil rights group is worried about the potential disparate impact on the children of its community, as is the Little People’s Association of America. Floss Whiner at Education Bust is, as usual, apoplectic. He told the Rhymes reporter, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Most troubling is the rumor that Ohio has submitted a similar proposal—but with a target of only five feet, six inches. Accountability systems may change, but the race to the bottom just keeps on going.
“Spellings approves Alaskan growth plan,” Diane Scheme-o, New York Rhymes, March 28, 2006