NCLB Starts To Cause Problems For High-Performing School

The New York Times (10/31, A11, Winerip, Subscription Publication) reports on Oyster River Middle School, where in the past students have done "so well on state standardized tests - about 85 percent of them rate proficient - there has been little need for test preparation." But 100 percent proficiency will be required of the school by 2014 under NCLB, which has triggered a culture shift that many teachers there believe to be counterproductive. The Times notes Education Secretary Arne Duncan "is a big fan of using state tests to evaluate practically everything," but "could see that matters had gone too far," and as a result the department is granting waivers that would take schools like Oyster River off the failing list. "New Hampshire officials said they did not know whether they would apply for a waiver."