Regulatory Overkill for Massachusetts Schools

Massachusetts has established the nation’s most regulatory climate for public schools. According to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, there are 15 separate elements to the state’s set of regulatory, assessment, accountability and accreditation systems . Superintendents in each district must submit to 106 reporting deadlines every year.

Here's what Massachusetts School Systems are faced with each year: (note that MCAS is only one of fifteen):

1. No Child Left Behind where, right now, there are 54 ways (minimum) for every school and district to be declared “underperforming.”
2. MELA-O (MA English Language Assessment- Oral), and
3. MEPA (Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment).
4. MCAS General Testing in Math and Language Arts at several grades and on several topics.
5. Audits from the successor entity to the Education Management Audit Council whose functions have been moved to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
6. Department of Education Assessment/Accountability Implementation (described in regulations rushed to approval two weeks before the 2006 election). Coordinated Program Reviews which include seven audits:
7. Special Education Program Audits to measure compliance with the Massachusetts special education statutes (“Chapter 766”) and the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provisions.
8. Civil Right Audit
9. English Language Learners Audit;
10. Safe and Drug Free Schools Communities Act;
11. Nutrition and Food Services;
12. Title I Program Review (General and NCLB).
13. Chapter 74 Vocational Program Audits
14. Accreditation (an 18 month process) by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
15. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).