State's No Child Left Behind waiver OK'd by U.S. officials
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has approved the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver request that will help make our Pennsylvania’s public schools better for our children and their families.
The approved waiver is designed to improve Pennsylvania education in three areas: making sure all students are ready for careers or college; developing recognition and accountability standards by the state for all public schools; and supporting effective teachers and principals.
Beginning in the fall, the public will have access to user-friendly information that shows academic progress of all public school buildings across the state.
Through the use of the School Performance Profile, citizens will be able to determine the quality of the educational programs in their schools and how students are performing.
The new educator evaluation system will assess educators on multiple measures of student achievement, will provide schools with access to resources to improve classroom instruction and provide professional development to teachers, principals and superintendents.
The new evaluation system will be in place for teachers beginning with this school year and for principals and specialists in the 2014-15 school year.
The waiver also abolishes the adequate yearly progress designation for each school building and school district. In its place will be the School Performance Profile that will be used to measure the academic progress of all public schools.
Title I schools, those with a high percentage of low-income students, will receive a federal designation of “Priority,” “Focus” or “Reward” based on four measurable objectives.
Schools designated as “Priority” or “Focus” will have access to intervention and support services from the state to assist them in improving student achievement.
Schools that do not fall into a Title I category will receive a School Performance Profiles score rather than a federal designation, but will also have access to all the interventions and supports available.
