District 97's Roberts Takes to the Digital Airwaves

Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Supt. Al Roberts has debuted his first podcast on the district's new website. 

The topic? No Child Left Behind.

Roberts said the federal guidelines established in 2001 have some "some really redeeming qualities” and he credits the measure for a boost in assisting those with learning disabilities.

"I support, without reservation, the intent of this law," he said.

But he also calls it "significantly flawed," and one that "misleads the general public and unfairly maligns the hard work of educators across this country."

Roberts takes issue with what he calls a "short-sighted, box-score approach" to achievement. He also said NCLB fails to measure how much progress a student makes in a given year —  a yardstick he says he endorses — in favor of an annual comparison on student performance based on a single standardized test.

"Despite its noble intent, NCLB cannot succeed simply by mandating all student pass a test by 2014," he said, adding that he's instructing all District 97 administrators to identify ways to effectively track student performance and to share the results with the community.

The controversial federal law is on the precipice of change, though. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan anncounced a new plan that would allow states to waive key provisions of the 2001 law. As the New York Times explains,

The standardized tests developed by the states under the No Child law focus on measuring the number of students in each grade level in each school who are proficient in reading and math. The administration would like to shift the focus to measuring each student's academic growth, regardless of the performance level at which he starts.