The nation’s education chief said during a Denver visit this week that he continues to support efforts to reduce testing in public schools, while ensuring high standards and accountability.

And U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an interview with The Colorado Statesman that he hopes this is finally the year that Congress fixes what he believes has been a long-broken federal program — No Child Left Behind.

“We have our best chance than I’ve seen over the last few years for Congress to actually do something and fix it for the nation,” Duncan said. “I’m not a betting man — it could happen, it could not happen. But we’re spending a huge amount of time [on this issue] everyday and I hope Congress will do the right thing.”

Duncan was visiting northeast Denver’s McGlone Elementary School, where he praised the work of staff there who have helped to better the once-struggling school.

A few years ago, McGlone was placed on turnaround status, where it received priority improvement designation on the heels of consistently low student achievement levels.

McGlone has since been hailed as a high-performing school by Denver Public Schools for the changes put in place at the diverse school, where 97 percent of its students receive free or reduced lunches.

“There are some pretty amazing kids here and kids in this community historically weren’t served very well by public schools,” he said. “And to see the potential that these kids now have, to see the opportunities they have, the support and the guidance, it’s sort of what it’s all about.”

The turnaround model is a key part of the Obama administration’s school improvement policy. Duncan has visited turnaround schools like McGlone in recent weeks.

“I would say that turning around under-performing schools is probably the hardest and most controversial and most important work that we as a nation are doing,” Duncan said.

Having been the nation’s top education administrator since 2009, Duncan deals with a lot of issues that often are controversial. Near the top of that list is the national debate over student assessments.

That issue took center stage during this year’s state legislative session, when lawmakers, after a laborious months-long debate, reached a compromise on a bill that would reduce the number of standardized tests that students are required to take at Colorado schools.

Many parents and teachers are frustrated over what they believe is a state testing system that is burdensome. Exhausted teachers have raised concerns that they often have to focus their instruction toward getting kids to pass tests, while leaving little time for other classroom functions. And parents have told lawmakers that heavy testing requirements have left their children deflated.

Those concerns have led many parents to opt their children out of assessments in states around the country, leaving many school administrators and elected officials worried that those actions will hurt important testing data that is used to determine how well schools are performing.

And seemingly all parents, administrators and politicos have varying opinions on the use of Common Core standards, a set of English and math standards that outline what students should know by the end of each grade level. Some wholeheartedly believe in those standards, but several states have pulled away from those measures due to vociferous complaints from angry parents.

Duncan said he understands where parents are coming from, having heard countless similar narratives during his tours around the country.

“I’ve been very public and clear, as has the president, that there’s some places where they are doing too much testing,” Duncan said. “And so, where there’s too much, we’re challenging folks to scale back.”

The key, Duncan said, is finding the right balance between easing those requirements and maintaining high standards to ensure a well-educated body of students that can go to college and succeed globally.

“I do think it’s important to assess students annually and find out if they’re learning or not and what they’re strengths and weaknesses are,” he said. “I think there’s a common sense middle ground that many folks are striving to reach and we’re trying to do everything we can to support that.”

Those discussions are currently taking place in Congress over the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind education law, a 2002-enacted federal program that determines testing standards and funding for U.S. schools.

Congress is working on rewriting No Child Left Behind, an effort that Duncan said is long-overdue.

“No Child Left Behind has been broken for years,” Duncan said. “Unfortunately, Congress has been broken for the last ‘x’ number of years. It’s been pretty dysfunctional and hasn’t fixed the law, so (the education department) has partnered with virtually every state, including Colorado to provide waivers, to provide some flexibility.”

Duncan said he is more optimistic now that Congress will get something done than he ever has been in the past.

“It’s not too late and I think after these next couple of months we’ll have a much clearer picture,” he said. “Does this have a real chance or not? And I desperately hope it does.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper, who joined Duncan during the McGlone visit, said assessments are necessary in order to measure student performance.

“Good teaching requires assessments to know who’s succeeding and who’s not; how do we get more time and extra resources to the kids that aren’t making it,” Hickenlooper said.

The governor also acknowledged the fierce debate surrounding the issue and said that teachers need to have more freedom in their classrooms.

“(We need to know) how to make sure that teachers aren’t changing what they’re teaching, that they’re still focusing on making sure student achievement grows, but not feel like they’re teaching to a test.”

McGlone Principal Sara Gips said she is honest with parents about what students can expect during testing periods, which she said helps ease some of the tension around testing.

Gips said she tries not to get too caught up in “the hype” surrounding the student testing debate.

“There are always going to be tests, but that’s not the end-all, be-all of what we do,” she said.

“I think there’s is a lot of hype about testing right now. There’s a lot of testing right now. I don’t know if we need so many tests, but all I know is I’m really good at controlling what I can in my building.”

— Twitter @VicVela1