U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced May 17, 2006, approval of two high-quality growth model pilots in Tennessee and North Carolina. These plans follow the bright-line principles of No Child Left Behind.

"A growth model is a way for states that are already raising achievement and following the bright-line principles of the law to strengthen accountability," Secretary Spellings said.

"North Carolina and Tennessee were recognized by our impressive group of peer reviewers to have written strong growth models that adhere to the core principles of No Child Left Behind."

The Department intends to gather data to test the idea that growth models can be fair, reliable and innovative methods to measure student improvement and to hold schools accountable for results.

Growth models track individual student achievement from one year to the next, giving schools credit for student improvement over time.

The pilot program enables the Department to evaluate growth models rigorously and to ensure their alignment with NCLB, and to share these results with other States.

The bright-line principles for high-quality growth models include:

Set expectations for annual achievement based upon meeting grade-level proficiency and not upon student background or school characteristics;

Hold schools accountable for student achievement in reading/language arts and mathematics;

Ensure that all students in tested grades are included in the assessment and accountability system, hold schools and districts accountable for the performance of each student subgroup, and include all schools and districts.

Tablet PC Education Blog