Albert Lea educators voiced support Monday for eliminating the No Child Left Behind Act and instead moving toward an education model that measures student growth.

During a listening session Monday at Albert Lea High School, about a dozen teachers and Albert Lea school board members shared their opinions with staff members from U.S. Sen. Al Franken’s office about early childhood and K-12 education topics.

The discussion comes as Minnesota is one of 11 states to request a waiver from the law.

Franken’s field representative Dan Solomon said while No Child Left Behind had the right goal of closing achievement gaps and improving education, Franken, D-Minn., thinks it needs to be overhauled.

He said No Child Left Behind led schools to devote classroom time to teaching students to take multiple choice tests, leaving little time for skills such as critical thinking and teamwork.

Because of these opinions, Franken supported the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee bill to reform the act, Solomon said.

As a committee member, Franken also worked to author four bill amendments, which have passed the committee.

The teachers and board members said they supported many of Franken’s ideas, including eliminating Adequate Yearly Progress as a measure of school success and moving toward a growth model. Adequate Yearly Progress compares one year of students to other years and judges entire schools, while a growth model would look at individual success.

The local teachers also talked about getting as much support as possible for the district’s preschoolers, supporting rural schools and reducing class sizes.

“We want to make sure that as this debate is going on, we’re hearing from educators,” Solomon said. “We need your help. This is an ongoing debate about resources.”

After the stop in Albert Lea, Franken’s staff were headed to Mankato for a similar listening session.