Ed. Dept. to Weigh NCLB Subgroup Issues

The Department of Education plans to re-evaluate how many students' test scores districts and schools will be permitted to exclude when determining whether they've met annual educational goals under the No Child Left Behind Act. At a June 13, 2006 hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond J. Simon assured lawmakers that large numbers of students' test scores were not going uncounted when it came to evaluating whether districts and schools were raising student achievement. But he also said the Education Department would hold a conference in the fall to determine whether states were excluding too many test scores to avoid sanctions under the federal law. Under the NCLB law, which President George W. Bush signed in January 2002, districts and schools much reach annual achievement goals not only overall, but also for specified subgroups of students, such as members of racial and ethnic minorities and students with disabilities.