It’s interesting to watch education officials around the Triangle try to explain the dismal No Child Left Behind test scores that were released last week. In Durham County, they’re simply telling the feds to go away.
In Orange County, the Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Denise Morton, tells the News of Orange County that NCLB scores should be taken with a grain of salt. Only four to 13 schools met their Adequate Yearly Progress goals under the federal law. Morton says it’s too hard to meet goals for all the subgroups of kids who attend school. But at the same time, she says she’s committed to educating every child.
You can’t have it both ways, Dr. Morton. If you’re part of a system that functions under the misguided notion that it can be all things to all kids and parents, then you must also live with being evaluated under a system that expects you to demonstrate greater levels of achievement for every single one of those kids.
