Published: Saturday, August 15, 2009
School watch list swells
Hundreds of schools across the state join the No Child Left Behind list after their WASL scores stay flat.
Hundreds of more schools landed on a federal watch list after state test scores remained flat across Washington, according to two reports released Friday.
The lack of improvement means hundreds of more students across Snohomish County will be eligible to transfer this fall because test scores at their neighborhood schools fell short of targets set under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
State schools Superintendent Randy Dorn said Friday that schools can do better on the state exams, especially in math, but the federal education law needs changing.
“Our state testing scores are flat, yet the federal system shows an additional 500 schools are failing,” Dorn said. “What is failing is No Child Left Behind. The law is completely unfair. While we know there is certainly room for improvement in our schools, it’s a statistical guarantee in this law that all of our schools will soon be in federal improvement status. That’s unrealistic.”
Under the federal rules, schools and districts are judged not just on their overall reading and math test scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Assessment, but on how students in individual categories perform as well. Those categories include special education, low-income, English language proficiency and by race. Falling short in any one of the 37 categories for two consecutive years can place a school on the federal list for needing improvement.
Statewide, nearly 81 percent of high school sophomores passed the reading section and 86 percent the writing WASL, the two sections they must pass to graduate. Only 45.2 percent of 10th graders passed the math section and 38.6 percent the science.
Nearly double the state’s schools from last year were listed in the federal program as needing improvement despite state testing scores remaining nearly the same as 2008. Many more schools are on the fringe of ending up on the list next year because they missed the mark this year.
Scores in grades three through eight and 10 improved in seven areas, dropped in seven and remained unchanged in six. Yet, the accountability arm of the federal No Child Left Behind Act showed that 1,073 schools need improvement, up from 618 last year.
In Snohomish County, 95 schools have been identified as needing improvement and another 31 schools missed the federal targets and could be placed on the list next year if they can’t improve scores. That means roughly 60 percent of Snohomish County schools are on or could soon be on the federal list.
Last year, schools needed to have more kids pass the WASL to keep off the No Child Left Behind list. At the same time, more schools needed to meet targets for students to get passing scores in areas such as English language learners and special education. By 2014, all students are supposed to be able to pass their state exams under the law.
Some schools in Everett, Marysville, Monroe and Mukilteo are losing enrollment and money because they’ve landed on the list for multiple years. Schools that receive federal Title I funds because of high poverty rates face an escalating series of consequences.
Park Place Middle School in Monroe made solid strides in improving test scores this year, but not enough to meet federal goals. Since Park Place receives Title I funds and it didn’t make adequate yearly progress for two years in a row, it now must bus students who choose to transfer to Hidden River Middle School, which met the federal standards.
Students who choose to stay at Park Place can get free tutoring under the federal requirements. The tutoring will be for students who qualify for a free or subsidized school lunch.
Twelve students made the switch from Park Place to Hidden River last year, but that was before the district was required to provide transportation.
“They will lose more students next year,” said Fran Mester, the district’s assistant superintendent. “The deceiving thing is Park Place showed some nice gains.”
“It’s like a double-edged sword,” said JoAnn Carbonetti, Park Place’s principal. “We have been busting our tails off to meet our kids’ needs.”
For instance, she said, Park Place saw a huge jump in the number of eighth-grade students passing the reading WASL. As seventh-graders, just 55.7 percent passed the reading section compared to 73.3 percent last spring.
In Marysville, five elementary schools — Liberty, Marshall, Quil Ceda, Shoultes and Tulalip — will have to offer students bus transportation to other schools. That’s three more than a year ago.
Everett will be required to provide transportation to students from four elementary schools this fall compared to one a year ago. Those schools are Emerson, Garfield, Hawthorne and Lowell.
“It becomes really logistically challenging because they are all on the north end,” said Terry Edwards, chief academic officer for the Everett School District. “It starts becoming longer and longer bus trips. I think because of the increase of time on the bus, it’s going to be harder for families to choose it as an option.”
Dorn said many schools just missed making the No Child Left Behind grade in special education test results.
Statewide, less than 1 percent of students transfer schools under the No Child Left Behind law. However, that trend could be changing. Several districts saw a big jump a year ago. Mukilteo had 198 students change schools last year.
Mukilteo did get some good news Friday. Two of its schools — Discovery and Fairmount elementary schools — took a first step to being removed from the federal list by reaching the annual goals under the law. If they can repeat this year’s performance, they will be erased from the list by fall 2010.
While the No Child Left Behind law is high stakes for schools receiving the federal Title I money, it has little impact on those that don’t. Some of the county’s top performing high schools end up on the list because not enough special education students can pass the WASL.
Such is the case at Edmonds-Woodway High School, which landed on the federal list for failing to make adequate yearly progress with special education students. Edmonds-Woodway in June also was No. 318 in Newsweek’s listing of the top 1,500 high schools in the country.
In a given year, schools in Washington receive about $180 million in Title I funding. About half of the 2,200 schools in Washington receive the federal funds.
Only one district with more than 500 students — Mercer Island —met all the federal goals at all of its schools, Dorn said.
“The federal law has a great intent, but statistically it is just flawed,” Dorn said.
This year’s results represent the last annual report on the WASL. The WASL will be replaced next school year with Measurements of Student Progress test for third through eighth grades and the High School Proficiency Exam for older students. Beginning next spring, the new state tests will be shorter, the time it takes to administer them will be cut in half and online testing will be piloted in reading and math.
Despite the changes, passing the exams will remain a graduation requirement and the tests will continue to be used to calculate No Child Left Behind progress.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com
The lack of improvement means hundreds of more students across Snohomish County will be eligible to transfer this fall because test scores at their neighborhood schools fell short of targets set under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
State schools Superintendent Randy Dorn said Friday that schools can do better on the state exams, especially in math, but the federal education law needs changing.
“Our state testing scores are flat, yet the federal system shows an additional 500 schools are failing,” Dorn said. “What is failing is No Child Left Behind. The law is completely unfair. While we know there is certainly room for improvement in our schools, it’s a statistical guarantee in this law that all of our schools will soon be in federal improvement status. That’s unrealistic.”
Under the federal rules, schools and districts are judged not just on their overall reading and math test scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Assessment, but on how students in individual categories perform as well. Those categories include special education, low-income, English language proficiency and by race. Falling short in any one of the 37 categories for two consecutive years can place a school on the federal list for needing improvement.
Statewide, nearly 81 percent of high school sophomores passed the reading section and 86 percent the writing WASL, the two sections they must pass to graduate. Only 45.2 percent of 10th graders passed the math section and 38.6 percent the science.
Nearly double the state’s schools from last year were listed in the federal program as needing improvement despite state testing scores remaining nearly the same as 2008. Many more schools are on the fringe of ending up on the list next year because they missed the mark this year.
Scores in grades three through eight and 10 improved in seven areas, dropped in seven and remained unchanged in six. Yet, the accountability arm of the federal No Child Left Behind Act showed that 1,073 schools need improvement, up from 618 last year.
In Snohomish County, 95 schools have been identified as needing improvement and another 31 schools missed the federal targets and could be placed on the list next year if they can’t improve scores. That means roughly 60 percent of Snohomish County schools are on or could soon be on the federal list.
Last year, schools needed to have more kids pass the WASL to keep off the No Child Left Behind list. At the same time, more schools needed to meet targets for students to get passing scores in areas such as English language learners and special education. By 2014, all students are supposed to be able to pass their state exams under the law.
Some schools in Everett, Marysville, Monroe and Mukilteo are losing enrollment and money because they’ve landed on the list for multiple years. Schools that receive federal Title I funds because of high poverty rates face an escalating series of consequences.
Park Place Middle School in Monroe made solid strides in improving test scores this year, but not enough to meet federal goals. Since Park Place receives Title I funds and it didn’t make adequate yearly progress for two years in a row, it now must bus students who choose to transfer to Hidden River Middle School, which met the federal standards.
Students who choose to stay at Park Place can get free tutoring under the federal requirements. The tutoring will be for students who qualify for a free or subsidized school lunch.
Twelve students made the switch from Park Place to Hidden River last year, but that was before the district was required to provide transportation.
“They will lose more students next year,” said Fran Mester, the district’s assistant superintendent. “The deceiving thing is Park Place showed some nice gains.”
“It’s like a double-edged sword,” said JoAnn Carbonetti, Park Place’s principal. “We have been busting our tails off to meet our kids’ needs.”
For instance, she said, Park Place saw a huge jump in the number of eighth-grade students passing the reading WASL. As seventh-graders, just 55.7 percent passed the reading section compared to 73.3 percent last spring.
In Marysville, five elementary schools — Liberty, Marshall, Quil Ceda, Shoultes and Tulalip — will have to offer students bus transportation to other schools. That’s three more than a year ago.
Everett will be required to provide transportation to students from four elementary schools this fall compared to one a year ago. Those schools are Emerson, Garfield, Hawthorne and Lowell.
“It becomes really logistically challenging because they are all on the north end,” said Terry Edwards, chief academic officer for the Everett School District. “It starts becoming longer and longer bus trips. I think because of the increase of time on the bus, it’s going to be harder for families to choose it as an option.”
Dorn said many schools just missed making the No Child Left Behind grade in special education test results.
Statewide, less than 1 percent of students transfer schools under the No Child Left Behind law. However, that trend could be changing. Several districts saw a big jump a year ago. Mukilteo had 198 students change schools last year.
Mukilteo did get some good news Friday. Two of its schools — Discovery and Fairmount elementary schools — took a first step to being removed from the federal list by reaching the annual goals under the law. If they can repeat this year’s performance, they will be erased from the list by fall 2010.
While the No Child Left Behind law is high stakes for schools receiving the federal Title I money, it has little impact on those that don’t. Some of the county’s top performing high schools end up on the list because not enough special education students can pass the WASL.
Such is the case at Edmonds-Woodway High School, which landed on the federal list for failing to make adequate yearly progress with special education students. Edmonds-Woodway in June also was No. 318 in Newsweek’s listing of the top 1,500 high schools in the country.
In a given year, schools in Washington receive about $180 million in Title I funding. About half of the 2,200 schools in Washington receive the federal funds.
Only one district with more than 500 students — Mercer Island —met all the federal goals at all of its schools, Dorn said.
“The federal law has a great intent, but statistically it is just flawed,” Dorn said.
This year’s results represent the last annual report on the WASL. The WASL will be replaced next school year with Measurements of Student Progress test for third through eighth grades and the High School Proficiency Exam for older students. Beginning next spring, the new state tests will be shorter, the time it takes to administer them will be cut in half and online testing will be piloted in reading and math.
Despite the changes, passing the exams will remain a graduation requirement and the tests will continue to be used to calculate No Child Left Behind progress.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com
Story tags »
• WASLTo check out how an individual school or district did on the WASL, go to www.k12.wa.us and click on “School Report Card” to search.
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