STANWOOD – The focus is on special education students, but school leaders are the ones in the hot seat as they work on a plan to improve test scores.
Stanwood-Camano is one of three local school districts working on improvement plans after failing to make “adequate yearly progress” on the WASL.
Should they fall short again this year, the federal No Child Left Behind Act demands that the state take action against them – anything from mandating new curriculum to abolishing the district.
Nothing so drastic is expected. And state advisers have assured school leaders that they are looking for a long-term commitment, not panic.
Still, leaders in Stanwood are taking a hard look at their strategic plans and seeking ways to bump up their performance. Administrators recently gave school board members an overview of their plans.
There are a number of ways schools and districts can fall short of the No Child Left Behind Act’s progress standards. Students and even subgroups of students can put their school or district on the watch list if they fail to meet reading and math goals.
Stanwood fell short because too few of its seventh-graders in special education passed the WASL math test.
Statewide, 29 school districts are working on improvement plans after failing to make enough progress on the tests. Of those that had enough special education students to count, nearly all fell short with the group at least once.
“The very students that No Child Left Behind was meant to address, in a positive way, have become the groups that are the focus of ‘why our schools failed,’” said Bob Harmon, the state’s assistant superintendent for special programs.
School requests for testing waivers of high-needs students have about doubled, reflecting the pressure, he said. Most are not approved.
State leaders are now lobbying federal policy-makers to separate special education students into their own accountability system under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
“It’s not to circumvent accountability but to have accountability that is fair, just and equitable,” Harmon said.
The Stanwood-Camano School District’s long-term plan for improvement will include an overhaul of the overall strategy for curriculum and instruction.
But in the short-term, the goal is to simply not fall short of the progress standards again. Eight of the district’s approximately 50 special-needs seventh-graders must pass the WASL math test this spring to keep the district out of trouble.
“That doesn’t mean we’re looking just to meet that minimum standard,” Superintendent Jean Shumate said.
Training teachers and support staff on how to make lessons more accessible to students with learning needs – regardless of their grade level – is the main focus of the plan. More attention also will be paid to individual students’ needs.
Teachers in regular education classes are involved in the plan.
That’s key, because the majority of students in special education also attend regular classes, with 36 percent spending 80 percent to 100 percent of their school days in regular classes.
“This is just a reminder that the improvement of instruction and curriculum for our special education students is a job that we all are engaged in, not just special education educators,” said Gale Forrest, special education director.
School board member Ken Christoferson said the law’s statistical approach to school improvement glosses over complexities such as problems at home, students’ differing disabilities and tests that can change from year to year.
“You’ve got a tough job,” school board member Bill Garrison said.
Besides Stanwood, Lake Stevens and Marysville also are working on improvement plans.
In Lake Stevens, too few special-needs fourth-graders passed the WASL reading test. In Marysville, special-needs seventh-graders fell short in reading and math. The district’s dropout rate was also too high.
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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