No Child Left Behind Falls Short, Study Says

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

Verrrry interesting.... A dry beltway thinktank 
report causes a major TV network to send a camera 
crew and reporter out to East Oakland, CA to an 
EXTREMELY poor school community, and the Oakland 
Tribune also covers the story (see far below).  I 
wonder how this happened.  NEA connections?  Anybody know?

Pete Farruggio


No Child Left Behind Falls Short, Study Says


Linda Yee
Reporting

http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_059222458.html

(CBS 5) OAKLAND They come from low-income 
families, go to school in a high crime 
neighborhood, and their test scores were solow 
for so long, last year Oakland's Sobrante Park 
Elementary was threatened with closure.

"We were among the worst of the worst.," said 
Marco Franco, principal at Sobrante Park Elementary.

Under the federal "No Child Left Behind" law, low 
performance schools are given extra money to 
improve. But they are also put on notice: achieve 
higher test scores, or face drastic 
repercussions, including wholesale changes in staff.

"So the feds came," said Franco. "Okay, do it, or 
we're bringing out the paddle, and you'll be spanked."

In five years, Sobrante Park Elementary school 
teachers worked closely with the children to 
raise test scores, concentrating on math and language arts.

It was one of five Oakland schools to get off the state's watch list.

But a new study by the Center on Education Policy 
in Washington, DC, shows many more California schools are not succeeding.

The National Education Association says the focus 
on testing is wrong. And students are losing out and not really learning.

"Teachers now have been forced to give up 
science, art, music, dance," said Oakland 
Education Association president Betty 
Olson-Jones. "The things that make children's 
heart sing when they go to school. All in the name of higher test scores."

In the coming months, Congress will consider 
renewing the law. Hearings will be held to consider changes.

Teachers say it's a program that needs more 
funding and support, and less emphasis on punishment.

The Oakland teacher's union says the the law is 
so punitive, teachers are frustrated and they are 
seeing a 30% turnover. They're losing good teachers.

Franco agrees, in part. He still likes the program.

"(No Child Left Behind) is one of the best things 
that's happened, but it could be done in a more humane way," Franco said.

Most agree the law needs fixing, or a program 
designed to help children, could be leaving them behind.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Study: School staffing shifts too drastic
Less extreme methods than Oakland's may be key to reform
By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER
02/28/2007

http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_5321103

OAKLAND ­ For many teachers and principals at 
Oakland's most struggling schools, school reform 
has meant looking for a new job.

Perhaps more than in other districts, Oakland's 
efforts to reshape its lowest-performing schools 
have involved significant staff changes, 
according to a report released today by the 
independent, Washington, D.C.-based Center on Education Policy.

The report, "Beyond the Mountains: An early look 
at restructuring results in California," actually 
found that a combination of less-obtrusive reform 
strategies allowed under the No Child Left Behind 
Act might be as effective ­ or more so ­ in raising standardized test scores.

After analyzing the scores of hundreds of 
California schools, researchers found no evidence 
that replacing staff, reopening as a charter 
school or other drastic reform measures were the secret to success.

The study noted that the test score analysis was 
based on just a year's worth of data ­ not enough 
to draw a solid conclusion ­ and that the 
variance could be explained by other factors.

Still, the results came as something of a surprise to researchers.

Conventional wisdom long has discounted the 
less-drastic options for school restructuring as 
an easy way out, said Jack Jennings, president 
and CEO of the Center on Education Policy.

"What we're finding is that in order to bring 
about change, you can't do one single thing, like 
firing the staff or bringing in a new principal," Jennings said.

Oakland's state-appointed schools chief, Kimberly 
Statham, said the report's message about the 
complexity of such reforms was hardly 
"earth-shattering," but she did say the district 
had slightly shifted its approach to staff changes.

"We have to weigh the impact of changing an 
entire staff on a school community," said 
Statham, who added: "If we feel we need to make those changes, we will."

The study's release coincides with an 
intensifying debate over the 2001 No Child Left 
Behind Act, which is up for re-authorization this year.

The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is for 
all children to read, write and do math at 
grade-level by 2014, an ambitious goal that many 
believe sets up schools to fail.

To avoid sanctions, such as mandated 
restructuring, schools must make sure a certain 
percentage of all students ­ including poor 
children, those with learning disabilities and 
those of various races ­ test at grade-level in 
reading, writing and math. In California, that 
means scoring "proficient" or above on the standardized tests.

As the bar continues to rise, the list of schools 
facing restructuring grows. By this academic 
year, 701 California schools were in that 
position after missing the targets for at least 
five consecutive years ­ a 75 percent jump from 
the year before, researchers said.

The report also found 207 of the 358 schools that 
had been "restructured" have failed to meet the 
federal benchmarks for seven years in a row.

Jennings said his organization supported the idea 
that schools should have more time than the law 
currently allows to make their reforms work.

"It's going to take time to bring about long-term changes," Jennings said.

Intervention plans for some of Oakland's 
academically struggling schools are on the school 
board agenda tonight. Unlike previous years, at 
least six proposals do not necessarily entail 
staff changes, although several closures are up for approval.

Of the 18 Oakland schools included in the Center 
on Education Policy report, some have reopened as 
new schools or charter schools. Many, in addition 
to staff changes, increased the level of staff 
collaboration, teacher training and extra help for students who are behind.

Despite such intensive interventions, however, 
just one ­ Sobrante Park Elementary School ­ has 
done well enough on its standardized tests to 
exit the "school improvement" program. It did so 
after meeting all federal targets for two years in a row.

In a Center on Education Policy case study of 
Sobrante Park, Marco Franco, the school's 
principal, told researchers he wasn't sure of 
what to tell his colleagues who approached him in search of a simple solution.

"I've been doing this for six years and just last 
year felt like, 'OK, well, it's coming together,'" he told them.

The report, which also includes case studies of 
Whittier, Highland and Cox elementary schools, 
should be posted soon on the Center on Education 
Policy's Web site, cep-dc.org/