lUW-Madison will host a conference on \The No Child Left Behind Act and the Federal Role in education: Accountability and Equity in America's Schools"" today through Friday to focus on the No Child Left Behind Act.
The conference is an attempt to engage and discuss a variety of different themes, issues, controversies and potential accomplishments the 2001 legislation has generated from a variety of different perspectives ranging from historical to contemporary practices, said Michael Fultz, a UW-Madison Education Policies professor.
Assessing achievement through the controversial act requires states conduct annual testing, but rather than test the progress of each school, the act requires the testing of subgroups defined by race, economics and special education, said Andrew Resclousty, conference speaker and UW-Madison professor of public affairs and applied economics.
""One goal of No Child Left Behind legislation is to close the achievement gap, which occurs when African American and/or poor children are not doing as well as white children, but that requires a great amount of federal funding,"" Resclousty said.
Controversial issues of funding will be only one of many issues covered by the speakers and panelists.
A variety of other speakers will discuss topics ranging from the history of the accountability movement to its relation with bilingual education. Speakers will cover a wide range of opinions and cover a vast array of backgrounds.
""There is no political agenda in the conference per se, other than to just generate discussion,"" Fultz said.
Panel discussions will take place Thursday and Friday. Morning sessions begin at 9:15 a.m. and there will also be a Thursday afternoon session beginning at 1:15 p.m.
Adam Nelson, a panelist and UW-Madison assistant professor of educational policy studies, said he will discuss ""different ways people have measured accountability over the course of time, which sets the stage for some of the ways people measure school accountability today.""
Fultz urges people to attend the daily sessions, noting, ""They are the heart and soul of trying to get people thinking about various aspects of the legislation.""
""The No Child Left Behind Act has the potential to significantly alter the ways in which public schools are run in this country,"" which is one of the many reasons students should attend the conference, Nelson said.
The conference begins Wednesday, 7 p.m. at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.
