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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Louisiana Educator: New Accountability Rules

Louisiana Educator: New Accountability Rules:


New Accountability Rules

On May 29 the US Department of Education approved Louisiana's ESEA Flexibility Request. This approval means that Louisiana will be given flexibility in the use of ESEA Title I funds and will be granted a waiver from some of the mandates and possible sanctions of the No Child Left Behind Act. This waiver should allow public schools more flexibility in how they utilize Title I funds and may not force schools to implement programs and practices that have not been found to be ineffective in improving student performance.

According to Dr. Scott Norton, head of Accountability for the State, schools will now be exempted from some of the burdensome regulations and reporting requirements of No Child Left Behind.

In order to be granted ESEA flexibility, Louisiana had to submit a plan for improving student performance, evaluating teachers partially based on student performance, and implement plans for closing the gaps in student performance. This ESEA Flexibility Request contains major changes in Louisiana's Accountability system that