Earlier this fall, the Shoreline School District took a test and failed. Now it’s looking at what that test means.
In this first year in which the federal No Child Left Behind legislation went into effect, the school district’s two middle schools and two high schools failed to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards set by the measure.
The law requires states do annual standardize testing in reading and math and look at those test scores, along with attendance records and graduation rates to determine the achievement. According to the new law, districts are penalized if any one demographic of students in any school does not meet AYP standards. Schools that don’t make AYP in the same subject area two years in a row are labeled “in need of improvement.” Schools that receive federal money for low-income student populations risk losing the funding, and must give parents the choice to move their children to another school. The law forces districts to use some of the federal funding to transport students to the new school.
In Shoreline’s two middle schools, Hispanic students and special education students fell short in meeting AYP on the WASL reading and mathematics section, and in the two high schools, special education students fell short in reading and math, and English language learners fell short in reading. Kellogg Middle School is the only school, of the four, that receives the federal funding and risks losing it next year if improvements aren’t made.
Over the past several months, district director of curriculum and assessment Linda Gohlke has been visiting schools, going to staff meetings and parent meetings to explain how No Child Left Behind won’t be leaving Shoreline students behind.
She is making presentations at staff and parent meetings “to assure parents and teachers that Shoreline is in good standing and doing well,” Gohlke said. “Even though the federal law is in place, we are supporting teachers so this won’t be a major hurtle for our district.”
Superintendent Jim Welsh points out that there is some good news.
“In this first year … all of our 11 elementary schools met standard,” he said in a letter he posted on the school district web site. “In our four secondary schools, three met standards in 35 (of 37) categories and one met standard in 34. This means we were close to the district achieving the federal standard of adequate yearly progress or 100 percent of the expectations.”
One thing Gohlke and Welsh point out is that the interpretation of the law is being questioned by local and state educators and legislators.
“The essence of NCLB is to have all school children achieve a proficient, highly competent level in reading and mathematics. There are no exceptions, ‘all’ means every child no matter what factors are involved, including learning disabilities, poverty and social problems,” Welsh said.
“In intent, (NCLB is a good law), however, many voices are calling for discussion at local, state and national levels to address implementation issues.”
Gohlke added, “One concern is, if a school doesn’t meet AYP in school improvement, students must be able to move to another school. But what if “Journey” or Einstein (Middle School) is full? This question is left unanswered at the state level.”
Also, in years past, the state has allowed exemptions for English language learners and special education students on WASL tests. But the new federal legislation doesn’t allow any exemptions, and that concerns many.
“We have always tested most students, but if they have less than a year as an English language learner or if they have a developmental need, it’s not appropriate to test them,” Gohlke said. No Child Left Behind requires all students be tested, and their scores counted toward meeting AYP.
“You could move here from Oaxaca (Mexico) today and face taking the WASL tomorrow. The federal government says it doesn’t matter, every subcategory of students needs to reach 100 percent. We question the reasonableness of requiring that of all ELL and special education students,” Gohlke said.
And she’s not the only one.
Superintendent organizations, Parent Teacher Associations, the teacher’s union, Association of Washington School Principals and Washington Association of School Administrators are also questioning the federal law and lobbying federal legislators to change it.
“The National Education Association and the American Society of School Administrators are working on it at a national level, but it’s a big issue at the state level as well,” said Shoreline Education Association president Cheryl Ricevuto.
“I think there are some good things about this legislation to make us look at our practices intentionally, and Shoreline has always done that, but when non-educators make decisions like this, there are unintended consequences that arise that make the legislation unreasonable for kids,” she said.
“We have students that don’t know the language – they might be able to speak it, but won’t be able to read it, and we have some students who are developmentally unable to meet the requirements, and to put those students as scapegoats is not okay for kids, families or teachers,” Ricevuto said.
“Our political action committee is working to support legislators and lobbyists to make sure the intent of the legislation is met without punishing students and schools unnecessarily.”
There are some important benefits to No Child Left Behind, educators say. For one, it has brought to the forefront the needs of the district’s Hispanic students, who scored poorly in reading and math in middle school.
In addition, the legislation has increased accountability in three areas: attendance, graduation rates and in making sure teachers are highly qualified to teach the subjects they teach.
“Before NCLB, with attendance we simply turned in unexcused absences. Now, we must have a parent signature. Also, before, there was no attendance accountability to the state. Now, there must be 1 percent or less. That is not a problem for us here in Shoreline,” Gohlke said.
Also, graduation rates must be up to 85 percent, based on ninth-grade enrollment. “Shoreline right now is at 84 percent,” Gohlke said.
The federal law also requires a tracking system and gives students an ID number that stays with them.
“So if a student comes to our district from another district before Oct. 1, they are counted as our student. If they come after Oct. 1, they are counted by their previous district. And if they come from California to Shoreline, their scores count toward the state numbers, but not the school districts’. This will actually make it easier,” Gohlke said.
The law also requires teachers be “highly qualified’ to teach by holding a teaching certificate in the subject area in which they teach. This is not a problem for Shoreline because most teachers are highly qualified, Gohlke said. It will be more of a problem for smaller districts, she said.
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