skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Pushing for More than a Single Test Score

play audio
Play

Thursday, June 28, 2007   

Congress will decide this year whether to reauthorize the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, and they can expect some advice this weekend from over three million educators. Nevada State Education Association's Terry Hickman is one of 9,000 educators in Philadelphia, and he expects the NEA will send Congress the message that the No Child Left Behind Act needs fixing. To be specific, Hickman says the current law puts too much emphasis on a single test.

“Regardless of their learning disability, regardless of their language, they're all supposed to perform at the same level, and that is a ridiculous belief.”

President Bush appears ready for a fight on this issue, saying, "There is no compromise when it comes to setting high standards and measurement." Hickman believes the law needs to recognize that more factors go into measuring achievement than how a student scored one day out of the year on a standardized test.

Hickman notes a major problem with No Child Left Behind is that it forces students who have only been speaking English for a single year to take the same test as kids who have been speaking English their entire lives, and he says kids new to English are the fastest growing population in Nevada schools.

“It's a policy based upon an agenda, not upon the reality that children are not machines, that children learn at different rates. It's unconscionable that we are punishing our schools for the fact that our students are students.”

Hickman adds that Title One Schools, which serve "at risk" students, end up losing money under No Child Left Behind, and he believes that’s wrong. Instead of taking money away from schools struggling with achievement, Hickman argues the logical thing to do is give them more help.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021