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In 2001 the federal government reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) more commonly known as the "No Child Left Behind" Act (NCLB). This law presented an unprecedented opportunity to align state accountability systems with federal initiatives, while at the same time challenging the states to leverage new state education reforms. In Kansas, the NCLB law requires coordination of the existing state accreditation system with the new federal requirements, while ensuring that the integrity and quality of the state educational system is preserved.
ESEA builds on the accountability and assessment requirements Congress put in place in 1994 and emphasizes the direction Kansas took over the past decade, including setting challenging standards, measuring student progress against these standards, providing the help students need, and holding all schools accountable for results.
The new law, however, is more specific and places additional emphasis on states, districts and schools to improve student achievement and close academic gaps among students who are economically disadvantaged, students who are limited English proficient, students with disabilities and students of varying ethnic backgrounds.
The major premises behind this federal law are fourfold:
1. All children can achieve to high standard.
2. All schools are accountable for all students
3. A unitary accountability system must apply to all schools
4. All teachers must be highly qualified |
QPA Framework
Based upon changes in the NCLB and recommendations from the QPA Task Force and the QPA Advisory Council, several of a proposed new QPA framework were developed. Feedback from the field was sought and many comments and suggestions were incorporated into the initial proposed regulations. The final changes were submitted to the attorney general's office on September 24, 2002. A public hearing on the proposed regulations was held during the State Board of Education meeting on December 10, 2002. On December 11, 2002, the State Board of Education approved final changes to the proposed QPA regulations based on comments received at the public hearing and comments received the two months prior to the hearing.
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