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More students are testing on grade level than last year, but more schools face sanctions By Lisa Schencker Principal Brent Shaw finally has some good news for teachers. His school, Copperview Elementary in Midvale, met the goals of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and no longer faces sanctions. "They're just going to be thrilled," Shaw said. "We are just very proud of ourselves and proud of the kids." More Utah schools this year - 80 percent - made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward the goals of NCLB, a federal education law. Last year, only 75 percent of Utah schools met the goals. To make AYP, each year schools have to have a certain percentage of students who test on grade level in math and reading in each of many ethnic, ability and income groups. The idea behind NCLB is that those percentages must increase over time until 100 percent of students test on grade level in 2014. Schools that don't meet yearly goals but accept federal money for serving low-income areas face sanctions such as having to offer to bus students to better-performing schools or replacing staff, depending on how long a school fails to make AYP. Though fewer schools statewide failed to meet goals this year, more Utah schools are facing sanctions. Last year, 13 Utah schools faced sanctions compared with 15 this year. Still, educators are pleased more schools met the goals overall. "I think part of it could be schools are just paying closer attention," said Judy Park, state associate superintendent. She said high schools also seemed to do a better job of making sure students showed up to state tests. Part of meeting the goals is based on student participation on the tests. Also, more Utah schools appealed to meet the goals. When the state deems a school has failed to meet the goals, but the school thinks that's a mistake or unfair, the school can meet the goals by appealing. This year, 99 schools - about 10 percent of all Utah schools - met the goals by appealing. At this time last year, only 61 schools appealed. Schools can appeal for a number of reasons. Some schools appealed this year because of confusion over changes to the state's math test and curriculum, Park said, though she didn't know how many appealed for that reason. Other schools appealed because of data errors, while others, such as Heartland Elementary School in West Jordan, appealed because of extenuating circumstances. Heartland had to bus its students to a different building last school year while the school was rebuilt. "It was a complete change of schedule," said Heartland Principal Trenton Goble. Schools must meet goals in each of 40 categories to make AYP. In Jordan School District, 11 of the schools that didn't make AYP missed the mark by only one category, said Clyde Mason, Jordan director of accountability and program services. Monte Vista Elementary School in South Jordan missed making AYP because not enough of its students with disabilities hit the mark on the state math test. Principal Tom Little called the miss frustrating. "I feel like my teachers do a great job," Little said. "They really work hard with all the students to meet their needs." Little said the school will just have to work even harder this year. Overall, schools across the state had a difficult time making sure students who have disabilities, who were learning English, who were Hispanic or were from low-income families hit testing targets. Students learning English didn't hit the targets at 20 percent of the state's elementary and middle schools. "It's just one of the reasons No Child Left Behind is so difficult," Park said. "They're called English Language Learners because they don't know English. You're never going to get 100 percent proficiency on that subgroup. It's impossible because the definition of the group is they're not proficient." Some educators praise NCLB for forcing schools to focus on data, accountability and the success of all students. Others, however, say the law's ultimate goal of having all students test on grade level is impossible, and they criticize NCLB for not measuring individual student growth from year to year and for failing schools that miss any one of the 40 categories. Some hope Congress will reauthorize the law in coming years to address those issues, while others would like to see the law scrapped. Neither presidential candidate has made it a big element of the campaign. "I think it's frustrating to be looked at on such a one-dimensional level," said Christine Greenawald, a Heartland fifth-grade teacher. "It doesn't truly reflect all the work we're doing in this school." Heartland parent and volunteer Diana Ballard said it's nice to know her children's school made AYP, but it's not the most important thing to her about Heartland. "I like the school to make it, but as a parent, I think it's my job to work with the school," Ballard said. How AYP differs from U-PASS * What are they?: Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the way the federal government measures school success under No Child Left Behind. U-PASS is the state's system. * Demonstrating proficiency: To meet AYP, every ethnic, income and ability group of students within a school must hit certain testing targets. Those targets increase over time with the expectation that by 2014, all students will read and do math on grade level. This year's targets were the same as last year. To meet U-PASS, 80 percent of students in elementary and middle schools and 75 percent of students in high schools must demonstrate proficiency or a specific level of progress toward proficiency. Unlike AYP, U-PASS lumps all minority, low-income and disabled students into one group, which must also hit the proficiency targets or show a certain amount of progress. * Sanctions: If a school that accepts federal money for serving low-income areas fails to make AYP for at least two years in a row, the school faces sanctions. Those sanctions range from having to let parents choose to bus their children to better-performing schools or, in extreme cases, replacing the school's staff, depending on how long the school fails to make AYP. Schools that fail to meet U-PASS goals face no sanctions. To make AYP in Utah, a school must have: *An attendance rate of 93 percent or better *A high school graduation rate of at least 85.7 percent *At least 95 percent of students tested in all groups At the high school level: *76 percent of students must test on grade level on the state's language arts test. *59 percent of students must test on grade level on the state's math test. At the elementary level: *77 percent of students must test on grade level on the state language arts test. *71 percent of students must test on grade level on the state math exam. |
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