Association for Compensatory Educators of Texas - ACET

Association for Compensatory Educators of TexasRecommendations on Issues Related to the Reauthorizationof the Elementary and Secondary Education ActSupport for the Reauthorization of ESEAThe Association for Compensatory Educators of Texas (ACET) is a professionalorganization of over 800 state and federal education program educators andadministrators. Our members are responsible for the administration andimplementation of federally funded education programs at the local district level andour association strongly supports the reauthorization of the Elementary andSecondary Education Act (ESEA).ACET members believe that reauthorization of ESEA will help schools and schooldistricts improve academic achievement for all students. Raising the academicachievement of all students should continue to be a national priority and thereauthorization of ESEA will help our schools achieve this goal. We also believethat the federal role in education must continue to focus on disadvantaged andlanguage minority students as a priority in order to eliminate the achievement gapthat exists in our public schools.Recommendations for the Reauthorization of ESEADuring the past three years, ACET members have reviewed and discussedvarious issues and provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. Ourrecommendations for changes to improve the law are based on our experiencesin the administration and implementation of NCLB at the local district level.ACET members urge Congress to address the following issues and provisions inthe next reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Ourassociation supports the following recommendations:1. Adequate Yearly Progress – Designate schools “in need of improvement”only when the same subgroup of students does not meet the state AYP target inthe same subject for two or more consecutive years.2. Growth Models – The new law should include the use of “growth models” or“improvement models” that reward progress and the improvement of studentachievement over an extended period of time.3. Multiple Measures – The next reauthorization of the ESEA should allowstates to use multiple measures of student achievement in determining adequateyearly progress.

4. Schoolwide Programs – Continue the provisions in the law that allow eligibleTitle I schools to implement schoolwide programs using various federal fundingsources.5. English Language Learners (ELL) – Include a provision that allows statesand school districts to use portfolios and other alternate, valid and reliableassessment measures to assess English language proficiency and a provisionthat allows states to exclude the assessment results of recently arrived ELLswhen determining adequate yearly progress.6. Supplemental Educational Services – Establish strong accountabilityrequirements for the providers of supplemental educational services as aprovision in the new law. Providers of supplemental educational services shouldbe held to the same high accountability standards as the public schools theyserve.7. Highly Qualified Teachers – Provide flexibility in the requirements anddefinition of a highly qualified teacher to address the circumstances of secondaryschool math and science teachers, teachers in special education and bilingualeducation programs, and teachers in small schools and rural areas who teachmultiple subjects.8. Funding – A substantial increase in the funding authorization for Title I andother ESEA programs must be a priority in the next reauthorization. Adequatefunding is necessary to provide all of the mandated services and to implementeffective schoolwide programs in all eligible Title I schools.