States should take student demographics into consideration when constructing school performance measures, move away from A-F grading of schools and be more innovative in measuring school accountability under No Child Left Behind waivers issued by the Education Department, a new paper presented in the journal Educational Researcher says.
The paper, written by researchers at the University of Southern California and North Carolina State University, is the latest input the Education Department has received as it moves forward with plans to renew waivers for some states through the 2015-16 school year.
A renewal of the law is stalled in Congress, but 42 states, the District of Columbia and eight school districts in California have waivers absolving them of some of the key requirements of NCLB.