TN to seek waiver extension of No Child Left Behind law

Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration plans to ask that Tennessee be waived of the federal No Child Left Behind law for one more year as state officials draft a new system to measure the performance of local school districts.

Though the state’s waiver application won’t be submitted to the federal government until the end of April, education officials say the new accountability system — still subject to change — would continue to look at both the performance of Tennessee’s 141 school districts overall and of historically disadvantaged student demographics in each.

Among its biggest proposed changes, however: local Tennessee school districts would be compared to one another instead of their past performance and whether tests show a certain percentage of their students to be proficient in a subject.

Tennessee is among 34 states that were granted exemptions from punitive measures within the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. The state’s 2012 waiver is set to expire at the end of this school year.

Waivers give states flexibility in creating their own accountability systems to replace NCLB guidelines, but they must meet approval.

In a letter sent to school superintendents, Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said U.S. Department of Education officials have made clear that Tennessee does not have an option for an “accountability hiatus” for the 2014-15 school year.

Necessitating tweaks is the new Common Core-aligned Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test, which is set to replace the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program in the fall. Because of the change, state officials have sought a system that doesn’t take into account past test performance.

A group of superintendents has worked with state on drawing up the proposal. But some school directors, citing uncertainties of the new computer-based PARCC test, have suggested a “hold-harmless” year on district accountability.

The state says it is collecting more feedback before a final application is submitted.

The proposed accountability system — which would review math and reading at the middle and high school levels — would factor in both district performance and student learning gains within a district through the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, which has been under scrutiny from some lawmakers and teachers.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.