Student transfers under NCLB

An article in today's Journal Sentinel notes that only 280 MPS students are likely to transfer from one school to another under provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind act. Similar numbers in other districts have led to accusations that the districts are deliberately sabotaging student choice.

It is perhaps not surprising that this provision of the NCLB has disappointed its supporters. For one thing, timing is problematic. In MPS, parents start choosing schools in December of the previous year. By the time the NCLB ratings of schools are published, the most popular schools are likely to be filled.

As the superintendent points out, it is not clear that a transferring student student will get a better education in the new school. The new school might actually have lower test scores than the old one, so long as its scores have been showing improvement. And since the ratings of schools are based on absolute scores rather than a value-added measure, a high rating might reflect more the student population than the effectiveness of the school.