2,300 Schools Face NCLB "Restructuring"

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

2,300 SCHOOLS FACE "NO CHILD" OVERHAUL

Associated Press -- June 20, 2007
by Nancy Zuckerbrod

The scarlet letter in education these days is an "R." It stands for 
restructuring — the purgatory that schools are pushed into if they fail 
to meet testing goals for six straight years under the No Child Left 
Behind law.

Nationwide, about 2,300 schools are either in restructuring or are a 
year away and planning for such drastic action as firing the principal 
and moving many of the teachers, according to a database provided to The 
Associated Press by the Education Department. Those schools are being 
warily eyed by educators elsewhere as the law's consequences begin to 
hit home.

Schools fall into this category after smaller changes, such as offering 
tutoring, fall short. The effort is supposed to amount to a major 
makeover, and it has created a sense of urgency that in some schools 
verges on desperation.

"This is life and death," says John Deasy, superintendent of schools in 
Prince George's County, Md., where several schools are coming face to 
face with the consequences of President Bush's signature education law. 
"This is very high-stakes work."

The schools bearing the label are often in poor urban areas, like Far 
Rockaway at the end of the subway line in the New York City borough of 
Queens. But they're also found in leafy suburbs, rural areas and resort 
towns.

Only schools that receive federal aid for low-income students — known as 
Title I — are subject to the law's consequences. But they can be 
brand-new facilities with luxuries like television studios.

"It's not a Hollywood version of a school that's falling down or total 
chaos," says Kerri Briggs, acting assistant secretary for elementary and 
secondary issues at the Education Department.

The 2002 education law, which is up for renewal in Congress, offers a 
broad menu of options for restructuring. They include firing principals 
and moving teachers, and calling in turnaround specialists.

At Far Rockaway High School — or Far Rock, as locals say — restructuring 
has led to a new face in the principal's office and a new teaching force.

The new principal, Denise Hallett, came from the district's headquarters 
about three years ago. She splashed colors like hot pink and sunny 
yellow on the walls of the grand but neglected century-old building. She 
painted the library floors tangerine orange and replaced the moldy books 
with new, grade-appropriate reading material.

She also replaced three-fourths of the staff.

"The instruction wasn't happening," Hallett said, offering an 
explanation for poor test scores, high dropout rates and gang violence. 
"You've got to make changes in the teaching, so that you have wonderful 
things that are happening inside the classroom."

Schools in low-income communities have trouble attracting and keeping 
sought-after teachers. Working conditions are often thought to be poor, 
and teachers in failing schools face increased scrutiny.

The federal law says schools in restructuring can replace teachers. 
Local union contracts can make that difficult, but some collective 
bargaining agreements are starting to permit it. Usually, the teachers 
transfer to another school or work as substitutes.

Hallett says she's giving her brand-new teachers the support they need 
to thrive — and stay. She has a full-time professional development coach 
on staff and has promised more lesson planning time.

"When I first came in I had my family saying, 'You're going to Far 
Rockaway?'" recalls Ronalda McMillian, a new teacher. "But as I've come 
here, I've found I really like it. ... There's a reputation that 
precedes the school that is not actually present when you walk through 
these doors."

Felix Cruz walked purposefully through the halls one afternoon clutching 
balloons for a senior awards ceremony. The 17-year-old says he's proud 
to attend Far Rockaway. "People just think if it's in Rockaway, it's a 
bad school. It's a good school," Cruz said firmly.

He is among the students taking architectural drawing courses. Hallett 
says despite the emphasis that No Child Left Behind places on math and 
reading — the subjects tested under the law — she tries to offer 
engaging classes that expose kids to careers and make school fun.

The last round of test scores showed Far Rockaway students improved over 
the previous year in math but were still struggling to make gains in 
English.

The pressure for principals is real, since principals often are replaced 
when schools don't make gains quickly enough. Nevertheless, Hallett has 
a calm, upbeat demeanor — though expressing a flash of anger when 
talking about the academic years that precede high school.

"You should know this: I have students who come into this building and 
they can't read," she said. "Schools have failed them. ... If I have a 
kid that can't read at grade level four, they're not going to pass a 
state examination."

The pressure to prepare kids for high school is clear at Long Branch 
Middle School, a school in restructuring in a working-class New Jersey 
shore town.

The most obvious sign of the pressure is in a public hallway near the 
school's main entrance where graphs hang in full view of passing 
students and teachers. Each bears a teacher's name and shows a growth 
curve, indicating plainly whether students in a class are making 
progress on reading and math tests given throughout the year.

Superintendent Joseph Ferraina, a former teacher and principal at the 
school, acknowledges that such discomforting changes make teachers nervous.

"It's difficult to change schools," he said. "What often happens is we 
talk about change, change, change, and we go back to what we felt 
comfortable with."

Ferraina says the wall charts are helping force his school to rely on 
testing data throughout the year, not just on the No Child Left Behind 
spring tests.

"There are people working with data every day now," he said. "They're 
sitting down with people and saying, 'You know what, your class seems to 
not be doing well in whole numbers. We need to add a lesson in whole 
numbers.'"

The focus on tests worries some who say teachers are focusing too much 
on preparing kids for exams rather than spending time on important other 
instruction.

Long Branch, like Far Rockaway, has been organized into small academies 
where certain subjects are emphasized. The middle school, in a 
state-of-the-art building, also has moved to block scheduling, where 
core courses last roughly 90 minutes — twice as long as typical classes.

Louis DeAngelis, an eighth-grade English teacher, says that pushes him 
to be more thoughtful and creative about lesson planning. "You can't get 
up there and sing and dance. You should be able to go bell to bell," he 
said.

Whether it's the block scheduling or the other changes, student 
performance is moving in the right direction at Long Branch. Last year, 
only special education students missed annual No Child Left Behind 
benchmarks.

Test scores for students with disabilities, for immigrants, poor 
children and minorities must be separated out under the law. But if one 
group fails to hit testing benchmarks at a school — like last year at 
Long Branch — the whole school gets a failing grade.

Educators say that's too harsh, and lawmakers and the Bush 
administration seem open to an adjustment.

Other changes the administration is pushing include giving schools in 
restructuring more options. The Education Department has proposed 
letting them become charter schools, which are public but operate more 
freely than traditional schools, regardless of state limits on how many 
charter schools are allowed. The administration also wants the federal 
law to override provisions in collective bargaining agreements to ensure 
failing schools have complete control over who works there.

"These are schools where there are some significant problems," Briggs 
said. "Without more serious action, we're going to keep getting what 
we've gotten."

Regardless of whether No Child Left Behind is altered, the message is 
getting to schools that they must make real changes now, said Douglas 
Anthony, principal of Arrowhead Elementary in Upper Marlboro, Md., a 
suburb of Washington.

During a recent visit, first and fourth graders alike were busy with 
math and reading basics.

It was around 2 p.m, shortly before the school day was to end, and a 
time when elementary-age students might typically be playing tag, 
working on craft projects or just easing into the end of the academic day.

But at Arrowhead, a school in the restructuring planning stage, math 
worksheets were on the desks, kids were sounding out vowels and 
special-ed teachers were working with small groups of children.

Superintendent Deasy acknowledges the atmosphere at Arrowhead is more 
intense than at schools that aren't facing restructuring. He said 
lessons at schools missing testing goals have to be very targeted, and 
he says there often isn't time for electives and free play like at other 
schools.

Critics of the law complain about such constraints. But Deasy said 
Arrowhead's test scores are heading in the right direction, precisely 
because students are on task and teachers are talking about instruction 
rather than cafeteria menus or bus schedules.

Said Principal Anthony: "There's a new level of urgency about the work 
we have to do for students."