Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005

For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Kim Alton
(202) 662-8600
June 13,2006

John Brittain Testifies Before House Committee on Education and the Workforce on “No Child Left Behind” and the Disaggregation of Student Achievement Statistics

(Washington, DC) - John Brittain, Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, (“Lawyers' Committee”) will testify today before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to discuss, "No Child Left Behind: Disaggregating Student Achievement by Subgroups to Ensure All Students Are Learning." In his testimony, Brittain will argue that disaggregating student achievement data into race, income, and other important categories is necessary because it reveals our nation's wide and unacceptable achievement gaps.

The Lawyers' Committee is concerned that the No Child Left Behind Act has been interpreted to mean, “No State Wants to Look Bad,” in terms of annual yearly progress. When states are given a choice between improving the quality of education and lowering the bar to satisfy state goals on standardized tests, state education authorities have opted, “to lower the bar or omit data to look good because this choice offers less resistance than improving the product of education in schools,” noted Brittain.

It is estimated that nearly 2 million students across the nation have scores that went uncounted. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states have the discretion to leave out scores of students if the subgroup is statistically small or “game the system.” Brittain suggests that Congress should close this loophole so that these two million scores are not lost. “Predominantly, it is the African American, Latino, and Native American students that are truly being left behind,” added Brittain.

To ensure that all students are learning under the No Child Left Behind Act, Brittain will urge the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to disaggregate student achievement statistics.

For John Brittain's testimony, click here.

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