Progress puts school on watch list

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Academically, students at McCook Public Schools are doing a very good job of meeting educational standards mandated by the federal government through a program called "No Child Left Behind."

However, participation numbers by one small subgroup of McCook students fall short of federal "Adequate Yearly Progress" -- AYP -- goals, placing the McCook school on a watch list of schools falling behind "No Child Left Behind" standards.

Carol Huff, the school district's part-time curriculum director, told school board members at their meeting Nov. 13 that she is proud of students' results in the yearlong assessment of their reading and math skills.

Karen Miller, a retired MHS math teacher and now part-time assessment coordinator, said during an interview Wednesday Nov. 15, that AYP is measured in elementary programs at grades three, four and five; in middle schools at grades 6, 7 and 8; and in high schools at 11th grade.

Students are assessed "at the point of instruction," Miller said, throughout the school year, not in a one-day test. A state writing assessment, however, is a one-day test, for grades four, eight and 11.

AYP measures performance (an indication of skills learned) and participation (the percentage of students in each class who are assessed). AYP at the high school level also figures in graduation and dropout rates, Miller said.

In McCook, these groups of students are assessed: all students, white/not His-panic, students who qualify for free/reduced lunches and special education students.

McCook has at least 30 students, a benchmark number, in each group.

In the 2005-2006 school year, McCook scored these results:

READING

At the elementary level: McCook met all performance and participation accountability goals.

At the middle school level: McCook met all the performance goals and missed one participation goal, that by one small subgroup of students, (which Huff and Miller declined to identify further to protect students' identities).

At the high school level: McCook met all the performance goals and missed one participation goal within the "all students" category, when three of 115 students missed being assessed.

MATH

At the elementary level: McCook met all the performance and participation goals.

At the middle school level: McCook met all the performance goals and missed one participation goal, again by one small subgroup.

At the senior high level: McCook met all the performance goals and missed two participation goals, because, Miller explained, two students missed getting as-sessed.

"Overall," Miller said, "we did well. Our performance was outstanding." Miller said that to address areas of concern dealing with participation, the school will use a new computer program that will make tracking the progress and assessment of each and every student much less complicated.

Miller said that every year, standards set by No Child Left Behind increase, and will go up 9 percent next year. By 2013-2014, she said, 100 percent of students must meet 100 percent of goals, which, many fear, is an unrealistic number.

While there are 65 individual schools and 45 school districts currently on the "watch list" of schools whose students are failing to meet all NCLB standards, Miller said she's afraid there will be more as expectations increase.

If a school on the watch list continues to fall short of adequate yearly progress, it goes to the "needs improvement" list. If a school continues to fall behind, federal law allows students to transfer out or receive special services, such as tutoring.

Huff told board members at their meeting that the purpose of assessment is improvement in student learning -- improved student learning, she said, for all students.

Lessons are taught and students are assessed, she said. The results of those assessments should guide instruction.

If assessments are low, Huff said, material is adjusted, if necessary, and rethought. Students are assessed again, and the material is presented until all students master the content.

Increases in expectations from the federal government "forces us to think, work and improve equitable education for all learners," Huff said. "It's a great challenge.

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