Massachusetts among states granted No Child Left Behind waiver

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

Reporter James Vaznis talks about Massachusetts and nine other states being granted an exemption from the federal No Child Left Behind law.

President Obama is expected to announce this afternoon that Massachusetts and nine other states will be granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Law -- a move that should enable Massachusetts to focus more intently on the schools with the greatest academic needs.

“I think it’s great news for the Commonwealth and a real tribute to the real high standards we have set,” said Mitchell Chester, the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education, in a telephone interview this morning, shortly after he arrived in Washington for the announcement.

Chester, like many of his counterparts across the country, has faulted the 10-year-old federal law for identifying far too many schools as potentially problematic, making it difficult for the state to funnel resources to schools that need it the most.

A key provision of No Child Left Behind calls for every student to be proficient on state standardized exams in English and math by 2014, but in Massachusetts 80 percent of schools and 90 percent of districts are on track to miss that goal. Other states also are falling short at high rates.

But under the waiver that Massachusetts will recieve, the 100 percent proficiency rule will disappear. In its place, the state is setting a requirement that local schools must cut gaps of achievement among students of different races and other backgrounds in half by 2017.

The vanquishing of the 100 percent proficiency rule will also lead to the demise of what many educators consider an annual public ridiculing of public schools. Under No Child Left Behind, state education officials were required to announce each year those schools that repeatedly were falling behind in reaching 100 percent proficiency, labeling schools as needing improvement, corrective action, or restructuring. Those labels will no longer be used.

However, the state adopted a different school accountability plan about two years ago that groups schools together statewide in different performance categories based on scores from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams. That accountability system has led to the designation of 40 schools across Massachusetts, including 11 in Boston, as underperforming -- making them eligible for an infusion of state and federal money and a host of academic and staffing changes.

Noah Bierman and Tracy Jan of the Globe staff contributed to this report