No Child test rules relaxed

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

The Bush administration yesterday relaxed the rules on student test participation rates under the No Child Left Behind law, which could help schools in Hawai'i meet the law's requirements this school year.

Schools would be able to average participation rates over two or three years to reach the requirement that 95 percent of students — and students from several sub-groups — take annual tests. Schools will also be able to leave out students who miss the tests because of medical emergencies.

Several schools in Hawai'i failed to make adequate progress under the law last school year because not enough students took the tests. At Kaiser High School, where students did well on reading and math tests, the school did not make progress because 93 percent of white students were tested. At Roosevelt High School, the school did not make progress because 94 percent of low-income students were tested.

"It's hard to be held accountable for something that you don't have a lot of control over," said Anthony Gayer, the vice principal at Kaiser.

"It's a step in the right direction," state Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), said of yesterday's announcement. "That's the biggest cause of grief, especially when it comes to high schools."

U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige, who announced the changes in a speech to the National School Boards Association conference in Orlando, Fla., said the administration recognized that there are circumstances where a few absent students prevented otherwise successful schools from meeting the law's requirements.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.