More Schools Nationally Missed AYP in 2006

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

NUMBER OF LOW-INCOME SCHOOLS "NEEDING IMPROVEMENT" ROSE IN 26 STATES

Gannett News Service -- November 14, 2007
by Ledyard King

Washington -- About one-fifth of schools in the nation's poorest 
communities were flagged as poor performers last year, and more are 
expected to make the list as a 2014 performance deadline approaches 
under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The number of high-poverty, or Title I schools identified as "needing 
improvement" last year rose in 26 states and the District of Columbia, 
according to federal education statistics recently obtained by Gannett 
News Service.

Experts predict thousands more schools nationwide will stumble unless 
Congress changes the law's emphasis on test score proficiency as the 
sole way to measure a school's worth. No Child Left Behind requires 
every student -- whether low-income, disabled or non-English speaking -- 
to pass grade-level math and reading tests by 2014.

School officials say that's an impossible standard to meet because 
children vary in ability and background and there always will be some 
who struggle. Without greater flexibility to measure student growth, 
thousands more schools will be labeled as failing even if 99 percent of 
the kids at each school score well on standardized tests, they say.

"If we allow that to happen, we'll have a revolt in our nation," said 
schools Superintendent Jack Dale in Fairfax County, Va.

Signed by President Bush in 2002, the No Child Left Behind law requires 
states to test students on math and reading in grades three through 
eight and once in high school.

Schools not only have to meet overall achievement goals set by their 
state, they also must show that students in certain subgroups -- those 
who are black, enrolled in special education classes or 
non-English-speaking, for example -- are making adequate progress. If 
enough students in any subgroup don't score at grade level for two 
consecutive years, the school gets flagged.

There are more than 51,000 high-poverty -- or Title I -- schools in the 
country. According to the Education Department statistics, about 10,700 
of those schools, or 21 percent, failed to meet the No Child Left Behind 
standard last year. That's up about 8 percent from the year before.

Students at schools that have not made adequate progress for at least 
two consecutive years are permitted to transfer to a better school. If a 
school falls short for at least three years in a row, students there 
qualify for free after-school tutoring.

Some Title I schools face closure or removal of staff if student scores 
don't improve over time.

In three states -- Florida, Hawaii and Nevada -- more than half the 
Title I schools were identified as below standard last year, according 
to the federal education statistics.

But experts say that doesn't mean those schools are inferior to schools 
in other states. It may simply mean those states hold schools to a 
higher standard.

Differences in state standards and the huge diversity in student 
populations make it difficult to compare states based on percentages of 
schools that miss the mark, said Jack Jennings, president of the Center 
on Education Policy, a Washington-based think tank.

"The simple answer is to go to national standards and national tests, 
but the solution to one problem creates other problems," he said. "And 
the problem with national standards is: Who sets the standards?"

Congress is considering proposals to soften sanctions imposed on schools 
that miss the mark for one or two student groups.

How schools fall short

A school can miss making "adequate yearly progress" if:

- Its students, as a whole, fall short of targets on state math and 
reading tests.<>

<>- Individual subsets of students fall short. Those subsets consist of 
students who, for example, are low-income, don't speak English as a 
first language, have disabilities or belong to a distinct racial or 
ethnic group.<>

<>- More than 5 percent of students eligible to take the tests fail to 
do so.