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A group of 50 congressional Republicans are expected to introduce legislation today that would allow states to "opt out" of the testing requirements of No Child Left Behind. Proponents of the bill cite criticisms that the education law is too rigid and say they want to give states more flexibility.

In our Reality Check surveys, teachers are by far the harshest critics of NCLB, with 70 percent saying the law is causing problems in their district. Still, few teachers (19 percent) say standardized tests do more harm than good, and most
(77 percent) say their district has been "careful and reasonable" in putting in place higher academic standards.

Relatively few principals (22 percent) and superintendents (9 percent) name NCLB as the most pressing issue facing them. But fewer than half (42 percent of principals, 44 percent of superintendents) think the law will actually raise student
achievement. Principals and superintendents are divided on the usefulness of breaking out test scores by race and for English-language learners, which the act requires.

Still, the vast majority of principals (97 percent) and superintendents (95 percent) say student data can be helpful for improving educational leadership.

All the groups surveyed in Reality Check -- teachers, administrators and parents -- see money, rather than low standards, as a priority. In the 2006 survey, respondents were asked to choose among four hypothetical candidates for
the local school board: one running on a platform of standards and testing, a second backing vouchers, a third backing charter schools, and a fourth calling for more money for schools and smaller classes. Among parents, the standards candidate came in a distant second to a candidate backing smaller classes and more funding. Among the educators, support for a school board candidate focusing primarily on standards and testing is in the single digits.

Two further points on No Child Left Behind: one is that Public Agenda research has found little evidence of a "backlash" against testing. True, support for more testing is tepid at best in surveys, but neither parents nor students report significant concern about the tests youngsters are taking. Teachers are more troubled and frustrated by testing, but the concern is over the amount of testing and how it's used, not whether tests have value overall. Eight in 10 teachers support a high school exit exam covering either basics (62 percent) or more advanced material (24 percent).

In addition, any discussion of public attitudes on No Child Left Behind has to consider how little the general public or even parents know about the law. Some 44 percent of parents told us that they know little or nothing about NCLB. That should be considered a warning sign that survey results about the law are subject to change.

Read the Washington Post story about the testing mandate

Download a copy of Reality Check 2006: Is Support for Standards
and Testing Fading?

http://www.publicagenda.org