Don't water down NCLB

I agree entirely with the Hoover Institution's Eric Hanushek, who sent a one-page letter to Congressman George Miller a week ago urging him not to allow NCLB to be watered down by all sorts of "alternative measures of student performance".  Here's an excerpt:

I believe  that backing off from consistent, clear, and measurable standards -- as we  have now -- would be a serious mistake.  Schools of course do more than  just developing reading, math, and science skills -- and it might be important  to try for a consensus on standards, accountability, and expectations in these other content areas.  Such consensus does not, however, currently exist, and the current proposals NCLB would weaken the emphasis on the basic skills  while providing little offsetting gain.  Further, the basic skills are  just what enable more other learning to proceed.

I urge you to hold the line of clear and measurable federal standards for state  objectives.  The states and districts can, and in my opinion should,  recognize that schools have a broader job.  They should on their own  introduce mechanisms to recognize and promote these.  But, it should not  come at the expense of weakening the national commitment to a high level of  basic skills as demonstrated by performance in math, reading, and  science.

The letter is posted at: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/thisweekineducation/upload/2007/08/conservative_scholar_opposes_m/070808GeorgeMiller.pdf