Brattleboro Reformer (Vermont) March 27, 2009

HEADLINE: Moving the goalposts

By Reformer.com

The numbers released by the Vermont Department of Education on Tuesday show that 29 percent -- that's 88 Vermont schools -- failed to meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standard called for in the No Child Left Behind Act.

In Vermont, there were 218 schools that did meet the AYP standard out of a total of 306 schools that administered the New England Common Assessment Program tests in math and reading to students.

So, does this mean that these 218 Vermont schools are better than the 88 that failed? Last year, there were 116 schools that didn't meet AYP standards. Does this mean more schools improved this year?

There were 77 schools that haven't met the AYP standard for two consecutive years? Does this mean that 1 in 4 schools in Vermont is terrible?

The answers to these questions lie in the standard itself.

The benchmarks that schools are required to meet keeps going up year by year. The goal is 100 percent proficiency in math and reading by 2014. We think this is an unrealistic goal, since there is not a single human endeavor that is 100 percent successful.

And what constitutes proficiency? The ability to answer questions on a standardized test, or a working knowledge of the subject matter that allows a person to function in the world?

The No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to show progress every year, but some schools are finding that their progress counts for little if the standard is higher every year.

For the schools with trouble reaching AYP, there is a common thread. They have more kids in their schools, and more of them qualify for free or reduced price school lunches.

So Brattleboro Union High School is considered a failing school because students with disabilities and low-income students did not show improvement over last year. And Bellows Falls Union High School showed improvement in its scores, but still got a failing grade because the school fell below Vermont's graduation rate standard.

Are these schools failures? In the eyes of the bureaucrats who use unreasonable measurements to rate student achievement, yes.

If so many Vermont schools are failing, why is the state ranked 11th in the nation for the number of adults over age 25 who have completed high school? Why is it ranked sixth in the proportion of the population with a bachelor's degree? Why does Vermont have the accolade of being the "smartest state" in the country? And why is it rated third on national assessment scores, third lowest in drop-outs and fifth highest in graduate productivity?

By those measurements, Vermont isn't doing so badly.

Education reform is one of the many things on the Obama administration's plate right now. Repeal of No Child Left Behind and a return to a reasonable, honest accounting of educational achievement would be a good start.

Instead of setting hard-to-reach benchmarks and constantly moving the goalposts, we should be looking at realistic standards and giving students and educators the resources to meet them.