Minot Daily News
August 9, 2011
Headline: Some Minot schools failing No Child Left Behind

By Andrea Johnson

Minot schools are among schools failing to make "Adequate Yearly Progress" under the No Child Left Behind Act guidelines, according to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

The Minot schools on this year's list of schools failing to make AYP are Bel Air Elementary, Bell Elementary, Dakota Elementary, Edison Elementary, Erik Ramstad Middle School, Jim Hill Middle School, Lincoln Elementary, Longfellow Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Minot High School-Magic City Campus, Lewis and Clark Elementary, Perkett Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Sunnyside Elementary and Washington Elementary.

Jeff Holm, assistant superintendent of elementary and federal programs for the Minot school district, said school officials have been setting aside a portion of the federal Title I program dollars it receives from the federal government for remedial measures. Some 10 percent of the Title I monies have been set aside for "school choice," which would enable parents to send kids to a school in the district that is making AYP, and another 10 percent of the Title I monies has been set aside for tutoring. Holm said in the past two years only two parents have chosen to send their children to another school in the district because of a school's failure to make AYP and most of the money that had been set aside for that purpose has sat untouched. Holm said only one elementary - North Plains Elementary - and one middle school - Memorial Middle School - in the district made AYP last year and both are located at Minot Air Force Base. It would be logistically difficult, if not impossible, for a parent from off the base to send their children to one of the base schools. Holm said a number of children have taken advantage of tutoring programs, most utilizing a tutoring program offered at Minot State University.

Holm said the district also continues to take other steps to improve school programs, such as utilizing remedial reading curriculum such as the Read 180 program in place in different schools. Individual schools have also applied for school improvement grants under the program and some have hired reading and math interventionists or consultants to conduct professional development programs for teachers.

Holm said it is more difficult to meet targets as students improve. School officials expected that nearly all of the schools in the district would fail to make AYP because the bar for improvement is set higher. The law's ultimate goal is 100 percent proficiency for all students, a difficult goal for a school to meet.

Holm said he believes the schools in the district are doing a good job. There are certain subgroups of students for which the school district must work to boost achievement.

To make AYP, individual schools and school districts as a whole had to meet or exceed progress goals in high school graduation rates, daily student attendance and student achievement test scores. Schools had to meet the guidelines for both the entire student population and for particular sub-groups of children, such as students with disabilities, students from financially disadvantaged families and students from different ethnic groups.

Children across the state did demonstrate improvement in reading and math tests, but not enough in all cases for their schools to make AYP.

In all, some 242 public schools failed to make AYP in 2010-2011, compared with just 122 schools that failed in 2009-2010. The Department of Public Instruction press release said that the number of schools that didn't make AYP went up so much because those schools had to meet higher achievement goals last year to make AYP. Eighty-four percent of all students had to be proficient in mathematics and approximately 89 percent in reading, depending on the grade configuration and student distribution within each school or school district.

Schools that made AYP had to have a daily attendance rate that meets or exceeds 93 percent at the elementary and middle school level; a high school graduation rate that meets or exceeds 89 percent as well as exceeding the cut-off scores for achievement on student achievement tests.

Under state law, schools that are identified for program improvement must notify parents of the identification and the reason why the school is in program improvement; must develop or revise a program improvement plan no later than three months after the identification and work with parents, teachers and staff on the plan; and reserve no less than 10 percent of its Title I, Part A funds in years one and two of program improvement for high quality, professional development that is specifically designed to improve classroom teaching. The funds can be used district wide.

Schools that fail to make AYP must do what Minot is doing, things such as setting aside Title I funding for professional development for teachers and remedial programs, hiring a consultant or changing administration or teaching staff, depending on how many years they have failed to make AYP. Only schools that receive federal Title I funding are included on the list. Title I monies are distributed based on the number of children in a school who are eligible for free and reduced price lunches.

Of schools that failed to make AYP, 179 failed due to achievement test scores in reading, 80 due to achievement test scores in math; 152 due to reading test scores for white students; 43 due to math test scores for white students; 55 due to reading achievement test scores for Native American students; 39 due to math achievement test scores for Native American students; 13 due to reading achievement test scores for black students; 12 for math achievement test scores for black students; six for reading test scores for Hispanic students; three for math test scores for Hispanic students; seven for reading test scores for Asian students; two for math test scores for Asian students; 36 for reading test scores for students with limited English proficiency; 32 for math scores for students with limited English Proficiency; 146 for reading test scores for low income students; 81 for math test scores for low income students; 112 for reading scores for students with disabilities; 77 for math scores for students with disabilities. Many schools were identified for more than one reason.

DPI released on Monday a list of schools in "program improvement," meaning they failed to make AYP in one or more of the past few years.

Seven schools currently in program improvement made AYP for the second year in a row in 2010-2011 and are being removed from the list for the coming school year. Area schools in this category include Killdeer Elementary School, Nedrose Elementary of Minot, New Rockford-Sheyenne-Elementary School and Wilton Elementary School.

Ten schools currently in the program improvement list made AYP in the 2010-2011 school year but will remain on the list this year because they need to make AYP two years in a row to be removed from program improvement status. Area schools in this category include: Divide County Elementary School of Crosby, Kenmare Elementary School, Mandaree High School, Sawyer Elementary School, and South Prairie Elementary School.

Fifty schools currently in program improvement failed to make AYP again during the 2010-2011 school year and will progress to the next category in the program improvement timeline. Area schools in this category include: Burlington-Des Lacs Elementary, Central Middle School of Devils Lake; Dunseith Elementary School; Dunseith High School; Edwin Loe Elementary School of New Town; Eight Mile Elementary School of Trenton; Erik Ramstad Middle School of Minot; Four Winds Community High School of Fort Totten; Jim Hill Middle School of Minot; Mandaree Elementary School; Minnewaukan Elementary School; Parshall Elementary School; Roosevelt Elementary School of Minot; St. John Elementary School; St. John High School; Sunnyside Elementary of Minot; Surrey Elementary School; Turtle Mountain Community Elementary, Middle School and High School of Belcourt; Warwick Elementary School; Warwick High School; Washington Elementary of Minot; White Shield Elementary and White Shield High School.

Of the 242 schools that did not make AYP, 83 schools did not make AYP for the first time based on 2010-2011 state assessment data. There are no repercussions for these schools at this time. If they do not make AYP based on the 2011-2012 state assessment, they will be identified for program improvement for the 2012-2013 school year. Area schools in this category include: B.M. Hanson Elementary School of Harvey, Lewis and Clark-Berthold Elementary School, Bottineau Junior and Senior High School, Center-Stanton Elementary School, Eight Mile High School of Trenton, Glenburn Elementary School, TGU-Granville Elementary and TGU-Granville High School, Grenora Elementary School, Hagan Elementary School of Williston, Hazen Elementary School, Leeds Elementary School, Lewis and Clark Elementary of Williston; McClusky Elementary School, McKinley Elementary of Minot, Minnewaukan High School, Minnie H. Elementary of Devils Lake, Lewis and Clark-Plaza Elementary, Prairie View Elementary of Devils Lake; Ray Elementary School; Round Prairie Elementary of the New School District No. 8, Stanley Elementary School of Stanley, Velva Elementary School, and Westhope High School.

Of the 242 schools that did not make AYP, 90 schools do not receive Title I funding but must tell parents they failed to make AYP. There are no further repercussions or requirements for those schools. Area schools in this category are: Bel Air Elementary of Minot, Bell Elementary of Minot, Beulah Middle School, Bowbells Elementary School, Burke Central High School of Lignite, Carrington High School, Center-Stanton High School, Des Lacs-Burlington High School, Devils Lake High School, Divide County High School of Crosby, Edison Elementary of Minot, Fessenden-Bowdon High School, Garden Valley Elementary of the New School District No. 8, Garrison High School, Glenburn High School, Harvey High School, Killdeer High School, Maddock High School, Minot High School-Magic City Campus, Max High School, New Rockford-Sheyenne High School, New Town High School, Parshall High School, Perkett Elementary of Minot, Rickard Elementary School of Williston, Rugby High School, Sawyer High School, Surrey High School, Washburn High School, Watford City High School, Williston High School, Williston Middle School, and Wilton High School.

Eighteen schools failed to make AYP for the second consecutive year and have been newly identified for program improvement for the 2011-2012 school year. Area schools in this category include Burke Central Elementary of Lignite, Dakota Elementary of Minot, Fessenden-Bowdon Elementary, Lewis and Clark Elementary of Minot, Lincoln Elementary of Minot, Longfellow Elementary of Minot, Wilkinson Elementary of Williston.

In addition to individual schools, school districts as a whole can be identified for program improvement. There are 102 districts that did not make AYP last year.

Among area schools, the Nedrose School District was removed from program improvement after making AYP for the second consecutive year. The Devils Lake School District, the McKenzie County School District of Watford City and South Prairie School District all made AYP last year but are still in program improvement this year. Twenty-eight districts failed to make AYP after being identified for program improvement last year and are moving onto the next part of the program improvement timeline. Area schools in this category include Belcourt, Dunseith, Eight Mile of Trenton, Fort Totten, Killdeer, Mandaree, Minnewaukan, Minot, New Town, Parshall, Sawyer, St. John, Warwick, White Shield.

Area schools that failed to make AYP for the first time last year include Beulah, Bottineau, Burke Central, Carrington, Center-Stanton, Garrison, Glenburn, Grenora, Harvey, Hazen, Lewis and Clark Public School District, Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood School District, Mount Pleasant School District of Rolla, New School District No. 8 of Trenton, Rugby School District, Stanley School District, Twin Buttes School District, Washburn School District, and Westhope School District. There are no repercussions for those schools unless they fail to make AYP again this coming school year.

Area school districts identified for program improvement in 2011-2012 for the first time include Fessenden-Bowdon, McClusky, Surrey, Towner-Granville-Upham, Des Lacs-Burlington School District and Williston School District.