Last week Tennessee was one of 10 states to receive a waiver from provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education reform law. The law is praised for drawing attention to education reform but many educators felt the law had serious shortcomings. Sumner school officials, teachers, and administrators are among those praising the waiver, which will allow more area schools to remain in “good standing” status.

“We are excited that the federal government has granted us the waiver. We supported the state’s decision to apply to the waiver in the first place, so we’re pleased to see the request has been granted,” said Sumner schools Community Relations Supervisor Jeremy Johnson.

Currently, NCLB requires schools to have 100 percent of tested students achieve at least “proficient” on the end of year standardized tests by 2014. As that end-date nears, schools that fall behind the increasing pace of the required “Annual Yearly Progress” (AYP) in even one of the 22 categories of students will lose their “good standing” status.  Repeatedly missing goals will trigger ever more invasive outside intervention, even in schools excelling by any other measure.

These standards “were set so high, it became demoralizing to educators,” said Johnson. “By doing it this way you can put more control in the local level, where we felt it probably should have been in the first place.”

Parents should not be worried about Sumner schools backing off under the new standards, says Johnson. “The state of Tennessee has one of the premiere teacher accountability systems in the country... so the ability to track student ability and teacher performance is something we’ve always been able to do.”

This is a point echoed by Special Programs Coordinator Rick Eaton. “The improvement is still there, the instruction is still required, it’s just at a little bit slower pace that’s a little bit more realistic.”

Eaton, too, believes the waiver will be a morale boost to principals and teachers who post solid achievement gains, but still end up on the list of schools slated for “corrective action.” “We’re not going to have the stigma of lists... There’s 22 ways a school can be wrong, if you’re wrong in one area then you’re [seen as] a terrible school, and that’s wrong.”

The changes will not affect students says Eaton. Teachers will still have to teach to standards and meet strict growth and achievement goals. However, the unrealistic goals like in a single year jumping 17 and 20 percent in math and reading, respectively, will be gone says Eaton.

Assistant Director of Schools for Instruction Jennifer Brown also expressed excitement about the waiver. “It was the right thing for our state and our district,” said Brown, noting that half of all schools in the nation failed to meet the NCLB requirements, and in Sumner 19 out of 46 schools failed to meet the AYP benchmarks. In Tennessee, schools face a double challenge from rising federal and state standards, according to Brown.

She, too, believes the waiver is an important morale boost to teachers and administrators. “It’s hard to stay positive and inspired when your school is labeled failing because of one subgroup. The district welcomes this change, and I have heard nothing but positive sentiments from teachers.”

Some of those teachers may feel less pressure to “teach to the test,” in which teaching those specific skills measured by the test are the almost exclusive focus of educators desperate to raise their score. Skills and activities not measured often fall to the wayside. “So often, our district, schools, and teachers are accused of teaching to the test. I think this move will free up some of the anxiety that surrounds the state test.”

Brown also dismisses the idea that the waiver will water down standards or decrease the quality of Sumner’s education. “Parents can rest assured that the standards will not be watered down,” said Brown. Tennessee, she notes, is one of many states moving to the “Common Core” standard, a new set of curriculum guidelines and tests that will allow educators in participating states to compare results against every other state on the standard.

Sumner will still be held accountable by the state’s new accountability system, which lays out clear goals and penalties, and recognizes schools with the most and least growth and achievement gaps, said Brown. Under the current state standards, Sumner County has only one school listed for failing an achievement goal, although this is subject to change.