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U.S. gender wage gap grows for first time in a decade; Trump has embraced NC's Mark Robinson, calling him 'Martin Luther King on steroids'; Volunteers sought as early voting kicks off in MN; Women's political contributions in congressional races fall short of men's.

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Rising threats of political violence, a Federal Reserve rate cut, crypto industry campaign contributions and reproductive rights are shaping today's political landscape.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

No Child Left Behind Act Deemed "Not Proficient"

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Monday, January 8, 2007   


It's the fifth anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act today, and the law is up for renewal this year.
The federal law is meant to hold schools accountable for their performances with proficiency requirements for students. But more than 100 organizations dealing with education, children's issues and civil rights are calling on Congress to make several changes to the law, including less reliance on testing and helping schools with troubled students instead of punishing them.

Glen Koocher with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees says states with historically lower student achievement actually rank higher than Massachusetts under the law because it allows states to set their own standards.

"If you want to set them very low so you'll all make the achievement levels, that's okay with us, and that's what Congress did. Massachusetts, on the other hand, chose to set the standards higher than any other state in the country."

Monty Neill with the National Center for Fair and Open Testing worries that curriculum has become more focused on test scores at the expense of other important subjects.

"Because we only rely on standardized tests and there's so much teaching to the test, we're getting inflated test scores, and that means that you can't believe the results."

While Massachusetts did significantly improve the high school achievement gap on its latest test scores, Koocher says the tests show little of what students are learning.


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