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0 <br />purpose that emerged from the original legislation in 2002, with our public school <br />students as the true beneficiaries. <br />NCASA is seeking U.S. Department of Education and/or Congressional <br />actions to address concerns our school administrators have identified with the <br />implementation of the following components of the No Child Left Behind Act: <br />1. Accountability Model of Adequate Yearly Progress <br />2. Personnel Qualifications <br />3. Funding <br />In each of the segments that follow, we outline the concerns school <br />administrators have raised with each component of the federal law and the <br />solution we recommend to help the U.S. Department of Education and our <br />Congress modify the law's implementation for the sake of our schools and our <br />students. <br />Since North Carolina has made great strides in increasing student <br />performance under the state's ABCs accountability model, our state perhaps <br />more than many others, is struggling with the perceived "all or nothing" <br />accountability model mandated under No Child Left Behind. Research-based <br />practices drive the growth-based ABCs model in North Carolina. For a number <br />of years, we have been disaggregating our data and analyzing groups of <br />students to find ways and methods to help those students not at grade level. We <br />are proud of the progress our students have shown. At the same time, we are <br />concerned that our required transition to the Adequate Yearly Progress <br />accountability model will bring this progress to a screeching halt, as parents and <br />communities become unnecessarily alarmed over school performance reports <br />tied to No Child Left Behind, <br />In essence, the problem is this: Schools that miss even one AYP target <br />are given the same "failing" label and sanctions as schools missing multiple <br />targets, We need a better way. This problem is compounded, when you consider <br />that schools with diverse populations have more groups that must reach targets, <br />making it harder for them to perform up to expectations. Here's an analogy. <br />Imagine you are a college student taking seven freshman-level courses, while <br />your roommate is only taking three freshman-level courses. Imagine also that <br />any course grade lower than an "A" means you fail the semester. What is the <br />chance you will make at least one "B" versus your roommate's chances? You <br />have seven chances to fail, while your roommate can focus his efforts on <br />achieving "As" in only three courses. <br />This "all or nothing" approach in the context of No Child Left Behind <br />seems to mandate "Absolute Progress" in requiring schools and school systems <br />to reach ALL their accountability targets, while missing none. We contend that