NAEYC Children’s Champions Update

May 26, 2006

• Next Steps in Federal Budget/Appropriations Process
• Champions for Recess
• State Child Care Licensing Study
• Two states receive approval to use growth model under NCLB

Federal Budget & Appropriations
On May 18, the House of Representatives passed its budget resolution for fiscal year 2007. The House then voted to “deem” the same overall amount as the President’s budget request. The deeming procedure allows the House to move forward with appropriations bills (program by program discretionary funding decisions) even though there has not been a conference agreement with the Senate. Under the House plan, discretionary programs would be cut by $10.3 billion in fiscal year 2007 and $167 billion over five years (compared to the amount needed to maintain current levels of services in these programs). The plan also would reduce entitlement/mandatory programs by $5.1 billion over the next five years. Also, the plan includes $228 billion in more tax spending cuts, which is far greater than the amount of the discretionary and entitlement cuts, thus adding to the deficit. The Senate now will move to have its own “deeming” amendment.

Recess Policies
A recent National PTA survey found that three out of four parents want mandatory recess in schools. Only Michigan and Virginia have laws mandating daily recess, and most state legislatures are reluctant to act on the issue. The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and Cartoon Network announced the launch Rescuing Recess, a campaign that champions the importance of recess for kids and works to help keep and revitalize it in schools across the country. The campaign was developed with direction from an advisory board of leaders and policymakers in children’s health and education, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Education Association (NEA), the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE), The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, New Leaders for New Schools and Health Mpowers. For more on the survey and the campaign, go to www.pta.org/ne_press_release_detail_1142028998890.html

Child Care Licensing
The 2005 Child Care Licensing Study, produced by the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), has released state data tables. Over the next several months, we will be releasing additional data tables on a variety of topics related to licensing program policies and child care licensing regulations. The final report from The 2005 Child Care Licensing Study will be released in October 2006. For more information, please go to www.nara.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=99

NCLB – 2 States Approved to Use Growth Model Assessment System
The U.S. Department of Education granted North Carolina and Tennessee approval to use growth-model assessment systems to meet No Child Left Behind's requirements for showing adequate yearly progress. These are the first states granted approval, under the growth model pilot program, to change the way they determine adequate yearly progress. They will be allowed to measure individual student achievement from one year to the next, instead of measuring an entire grade of different students. Growth models give schools credit for student improvement over time.
Fourteen states applied to use the growth model for the 2005-2006 school year, but only two were ultimately approved. Six states, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, and Oregon, have been offered the chance to revise their proposals and resubmit for the 2006-2007 school year. These states may reapply for the 2006-2007 school year as well. The Department plans to approve no more than 10 high-quality growth models for the pilot program.
In the Department’s announcement, Secretary Spellings said "There are many different routes for states to take, but they all must begin with a commitment to annual assessment and disaggregation of data. And, they all must lead to closing the achievement gap and every student reaching grade level by 2014. We are open to new ideas, but when it comes to accountability, we are not taking our eye off the ball."